Tascam Modular Digital Multitrack Recorder Da-88 Manual

							As Simple To Operate
As An Analog Tape Deck
Making the move from analog to digital requires no
re-training. That’s because the DA-88’s transport controls
are just as simple to use as any commercial analog tape
deck. The PLAY, RECORD, FF, REW and STOP buttons
are right where you’d expect them to be. And they work
just as easily, too. Recording with the DA-88 is as simple
as inserting a Hi8 tape, feeding signal to any of the 8
tracks, setting proper recording levels on the 15-segment
LED peak displays and pushing PLAY and RECORD.
As an added bonus, you can take full advantage of the
accuracy and precision of digital audio with the DA-88’s
shuttle wheel. This allows you to advance or rewind the
tape at your own pace; from 1/4 speed to eight times the
normal playback rate.
Superior Format and Superior Transport
The DA-88 uses the latest tape and transport technology
to provide users with the best system on the market. Hi8
is a metal particle tape that provides higher density
recording which means safer and better sound. This
newer tape technology solves many of the problems of
older tape formats, where tape exposure and tracking
problems sacrifice reliability and sound quality.
The DA-88’s tape transport system is unmatched in any
other modular digital multitrack. Built to take a beating, the
transport features direct drive brushless motors. It is fast
and strong and made to handle continuous operation in a
studio environment. Plus, the DA-88 uses an exclusive,
write-after-read, 4-head interleave system of data
The Ideal Modular
Digital Multitrack System
Digital is the future of recording. Now personal,
project and major production studios can get into
digital multitrack recording at a cost previously
unheard of. The DA-88 is just one component of
a well thought out modular system that expands
as you need it.
The DA-88 is an eight track digital multitrack
recorder that utilizes the preferred Hi8 tape format
to provide one-hour, forty-eight minutes of crisp
digital audio on eight tracks. Combined with a
rugged transport, ergonomic design and a full
complement of production accessories, it is the
ideal multitrack for music recording, audio for
video post-production, live remote recording,
broadcast production and more. 
CD-Quality Digital Masters
The sonic results you get with the DA-88 are simply
astounding. With a flat 20Hz to 20kHz frequency
response and dynamic range that exceeds 92dB, the
DA-88 is known to be the best sounding digital multitrack
on the market. That’s because of the DA-88’s premium
quality A/D and D/A converters that feature 16-bit linear
quantization at either 44.1 or 48kHz. You never have to
worry about sample rate conversion and are assured the
most faithful sound reproduction. The DA-88 delivers the
pure, clean digital sound you’ve come to expect from
professionally produced CDs.
DA-88 
MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 1 of 6
19 (482mm)
18 (456mm)
4 (101.5mm)7 (176mm)
14 7/8 (377mm) 
						

							optional in/out footswitch when it’s time to punch in or
out. Plus, the DA-88 offers a sophisticated rehearsal
mode allowing you to practice your punch in/out prior
to committing it to tape.
All in all, the DA-88 is the latest generation of digital
multitrack technology. It results in a more reliable and
superior format than any other modular digital multitrack
format available.
Easy To Maintain, Service Or Upgrade
The DA-88s modular circuit board design makes servic-
ing and maintenance simple for qualified personnel.
Transport, analog/digital and digital/analog PCB board
sub-assemblies easily plug-in and out of the well-
shielded studio-ready, rack-mountable chassis. A further
benefit to modular design is that future upgrades and
third party add-on products will be as easy to incorpo-
rate to the DA-88 as a simple board swap.
Auto Locate Means Marking and
Finding Specific Selections Easy
If you need to loop a certain musical passage, or want to
mark a certain point on the tape, use the DA-88’s
MEMO and LOCate functions. Simply press the MEMO
reading/writing. This interleaving design yields signifi-
cantly more read area on Hi8 tape than on others. As
a result, the DA-88 ensures better data integrity and
provides superior dropout protection.
The Most Advanced
Tape-to-Head System
Only the Hi8 format, featured on the DA-88, provides
the safety and security of ATF (Auto Track Finding).
This system embeds timing information into the tapes
subcode area during the helical scan. This means there
is no analog control track, such as on some systems,
which is subject to tape stretching, fraying or other
failure. However, with ATF on the DA-88 you are
guaranteed of perfect tape inter-changeability
between different DA-88s.
Precise Editing — Seamless
Punching In/Out
Because digital recording is so precise, you can select
tighter punch-in/out points than previously available in
the analog world. The DA-88’s variable digital crossfade
technology promotes seamless overdubbing and error
correction. You can adjust the crossfade from 10 to 90
milliseconds in 10 millisecond increments. At the appro-
priate time you either hit the track button or use the
DA-88 
MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 2 of 6
SHUTTLE
ALL
INPUTAUTO
INPUTINSERT DISPLAY VARI SPEED
POWER
MEMO 1 MEMO 2ERROR
44.1k 48kFs
FORMAT
WARNING
CASSETTE IN  EJECT
REC
INHIBIT
RHSL
CLEAR REPEAT
LOC 1 LOC 2 AUTO
IN/OUTAUTO
PLAYDIFF PITCHHM S FGENOFFSET
TCMEMO 2MEMO 1
ABS
DIGITAL IN
REMOTE
REW F FWD STOP PLAY RECORD
CHASE CLOCKREC FUNCTION
INTWORDVIDEO
DA-88
1
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
•
•
•
•
2
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
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•
•
•
3
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
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•
4
OVER
0
2
4
8
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-dB•
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5
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
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40
50
-dB•
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6
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
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7
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
•
•
•
•
8
OVER
0
2
4
8
12
20
30
40
50
-dB•
•
•
•
•
TC GENERATETC REC
Familiar tape deck controlsDual Locate and Memo points save time
during punch-in rehearsing and overdubbing Hour, Minutes, Seconds, 
Frames LED tape counterVariable-speed shuttle dial 
for pinpoint song section 
location and cueing15-segment record level LEDs 
mimic those of many mixing consoles, 
for easy matching of recording levels
Front Panel-DA88 
						

							SMPTE/MIDI/Chase Lock
Synchronization
The SY-88 is a single add-in card solution that allows
you to chase lock one or more DA-88s to wide variety
of audio/video and MIDI gear. Simply plug it into a slot on
the rear panel of the DA-88, and the SY-88 generates and
reads SMPTE timecode formats based on an internal or
external clock reference (video or word). It also provides
full implementation of the MIDI machine control (MMC)
protocol, and VTR (Sony 9 pin/RS-422) interface and
emulation. The SY-88 turns the DA-88 into a production
powerhouse for film, video and project studios.
button when tape is rolling or standing still, and you elec-
tronically mark that point on tape. To quickly go back to
that point simply press LOCate. A REPEAT button allows
you to continuously play a loop of tape between two
MEMO points.
8 to 128 Tracks
The DA-88 modular digital multitrack gives you eight
simultaneously recordable tracks with which to create
your musical masterpieces. But if your plans are ambi-
tious or a client requires more tracks, it’s easy to expand.
You can easily link up to 16 DA-88s for expansion of up
to 128 synchronized tracks. Best part is, they lock up
lightening fast.
Optional Equipment And Accessories
Complete The Modular System
The DA-88 is well-supported with optional accessories
and equipment that allows you to get more from your
DA-88, make some operations quicker and easier, and
allows you to integrate with analog, video, MIDI equip-
ment, hard disk systems and more.
The RC-808 Basic
Transport Controller 
The RC-808 allows you to control all the basic func-
tions of the DA-88 from across the room — includ-
ing transport, record, 2-point autolocator, monitor
switching and auto punch-in/out controls. The
RC-808 is ideal when you’re both the engineer
and the performer.
RC-848 Remote Control Unit 
The RC-848 coordinates the simultaneous operation
of up to six DA-88 units from one space-saving high-
tech control station. With one RC-848 you can drive
an entire rack full of DA-88s, maintaining complete
transport and track control in perfect synchroniza-
tion. It controls all transport functions, provides 99
tape location memory points, a dedicated master
shuttle wheel and dual LED tape position counter
that details current tape position and an alternate
locate point. It can also address track delay, locate
preroll time and many other functions. It also con-
trols parallel port devices such as the TASCAM
MSR-16, Otari MTR-90 and other non RS-422
VTRs via the EXT 1 (Accessory 1) port. 
DA-88 
MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 3 of 6
REC FUNCTION
REW F FWD STOP PLAY RECORD
1
ALL
INPUT
AUTO
INPUTINSERTREPEATMEMO 1MEMO 2
REHEARSALAUTO
IN/OUTCLEARLOC 1LOC 2
2345678
RC-808 REMOTE CONTROL UNIT
142mm
149mm
38mm
Remote Control Unit-RC-808 
						

							DA-88 
MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 4 of 6
Remote Control Unit-RC-848
RC-848 REMOTE CONTROL UNIT
12345678
2526272829303132
910111213141516
3334353637383940
1718192021222324
4142434445464748
REC FUNCTION
ALL
SAFEREC
READYALL INPUT
MACHINE MEMORY POINT
MEMORY NO. LOCK STATUSAUTO INPUT INSERT
INT WORDCLOCK
VIDEO
PRE
AUTO PUNCHPOST
IN
RHSLOUT
CLEAR DOWN UP
PLAY REC STOP F FWD REWCHASE MACHINE TC RECREPEAT START END
AUTO
IN/OUTAUTO
PLAY
JOG/SHUTTLE
SHUTTLE
GROUP–+
ESCAPE
ENTER
SHIFTMENU
789
456
1
0
+
23
-
STR
RCL
CLR
LOCCUE
STR
•JOG
123456
123456E1 E2
E3
MEMEORY NO.
H
TAPE TIME
H
MSF
MSF
ABS TC
IN OUT
PRE POST
START END
14 5/8 (372mm)2 1/2 (63mm)
8 11/16 (220mm)
MU-8824 METER UNIT
RELEASE TIMESLOW FAST
PEAK HOLD
MACHINEOFF ON
CONT
23AUTO
RESET
1
OVER
12
24•8•12•20•30•4050
REC–dBOVER
2
4
•
8
•
12
•
20
•
30
•
40
50
REC–dB
345678
OVER
910
24•8•12•20•30•4050
REC–dB
111213141516
OVER
1718
24•8•12•20•30•4050
REC–dB
192021222324
Meter Board-MU-8824
CONTRAST EXT 1
(ACCESSORY 1)EXT 2
(ACCESSORY 2)REMOTE OUT
(TO DA-88)EXT 3
(RS-422) 
						

							The DA-88 interfaces easily with a myriad of digital
equipment with simple interface units:
• IF-88AE for AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital interfacing
• IF-88SD a digital interface that enables connection to
  DASH machines.
The Best Value in Digital
Multitrack Recording
• Total 108 minutes of recording time on low-cost Hi8
tape (over twice the recording time of others
• 92 dB dynamic range
• Auto Track Finding constantly realigns tracks and
eliminates tape skew and distortion
• 16-bit linear D/A and A/D quantization for error free
sound reproduction
• Simple one cable (PW-88M) interface locks
up to 16 DA-88s (one cable required for each machine)
MMC-88 MIDI Machine Control Interface
The MMC-88 is an optional MIDI accessory designed to
connect directly to the SYNC port of a DA-88. It provides
two-way communication and allows information to be
transferred to the slave DA-88s. If you’d like more infor-
mation on the MMC-88, please call our FaxBack number
and request document #9150.
MU-8824 24-Channel Meter Bridge 
The MU-8824 24-Channel Meter Bridge centralizes 24-
tracks of 15-segment LED peak meter displays of three
DA-88 units. It can either be rack mounted (RM-8824)
or can be mounted to the RC-848 (MK-8824). Because
it’s a vertically modular bridge you can easily stack two
MU-8824s to handle level display for a 48-track (six
DA-88s) master recording suite. PW-88M cables handle
connections between DA-88s and the meter bridges.
DA-88 MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 5 of 6
Back Panel-SY-88
ACCESSORY
(RS-422)TIME CODE VIDEO
INMIDI SYNC
IN OUTOUTINOUTTHRU
BALANCED (1-8)
BALANCED (1-8) DIGITAL I/O
TDIF-I METER UNITSYNC OUT
(TO DA-88)MACHINE ID REMOTE
PUNCH IN/OUT REMOTE IN WORD SYNC
IN
(FROM RC-808)
REMOTE IN/SYNC IN
(FROM RC-848/DA-88)
IN
D/A A/D SYNCDSPSYS
12345678
12345678A/D
D/A
DSP
SYSIN OUT
Unbalanced RCA-type and balanced
25-pin D-sub input and output jacks
Rear Panel-DA-88 
						

							Precision Features
• Advanced variable crossfade technology
• Programmable track playback delay (-4 to +150 ms)
lets you allow for signal processor delays, phase
alignment anomalies or to add subtle special effects
• 8-digit multi-function display shows absolute time,
locate time, variable speed, offset and other parameters
• Pitch control ±6% at either 44.1 or 48kHz sampling
frequencies
• Auto Punch In/Out capability
Rugged Construction
• Direct drive brushless transport motors
• Super-rugged, reliable transport built to take years of
constant stopping, starting and shuttling
• Moderate speed rotary transport head minimizes tape
stress
• Modular sub-assembly design aids in qualified servic-
ing and maintenance and minimizes down time.
SPECIFICATIONS
Tape: Hi8 video tape
Recording Time: 108 min. (NTSC 120 tape)
113 min. (PAL/SECAM 90 tape)
Fast Winding: 80 sec. (100 x play speed)
Tracks: 8
Quantization Bit: 16-bit linear
Sampling Rate: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
Pitch Control:± 6% (in 0.1% step)
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz (± 0.5 dB)
Dynamic Range: More than 92 dB
Total Harmonic
Distortion: Less than 0.00496%
DA-88 
MODULAR DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDER
page 6 of 6
Channel Separation: Better than 90 dB at 1 kHz
Wow & Flutter: Unmeasurable
Analog Audio Input: RCA x 8 (-10 dBV/50 kohms,
unbalanced)
D-sub 25 pin x 1 (+4 dBm/10
kohms, balanced)
Analog Audio Output: RCA x 8 (-10 dBV/250 ohms,)
D-sub 25 pin x 1 (+4 dBm/75
ohms, balanced)
Digital Audio I/O: D-sub 25 pin x 1 (TDIF-1 format)
Power consumption: 74W
Weight: 14kg
The DA-88 Modular Digital Multitrack System includes these
optional system enhancements:
RC-808: Basic Remote Control
RC-848: Remote Control for up to
six DA-88
SY-88: SMPTE/Midi/Chase Locke
Synchronization Card
MU-8824: 24-Channel Meter Bridge;
Centralizes 24-tracks of
15- Segment LED  peak
meter displays
IF-88E: AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital
interfacing
IF-88SD: Digital interface enables
connection to DASH machines
PW-SD1: DASH output cable to IF-88SD
PW-SD2: DASH input cable from 
IF-88SD
HC-8: Head cleaning tape
Specifications and features subject to change without
notice or obligation.
For more information about other TASCAM
FAXBACK literature, call 1-800-827-2268.
©1997 TEAC America, Inc. All rights reserved. 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, CA  90640 (213) 726-0303
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