Tascam Portastudio 414mkII Owners Manual

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PORTASTUDIO 414 MKII Brief Guide
For detailed information on each feature, see
Features and Controls, pp. 31-35.
✂
Channels 1 thr
ough 4
EQ  HIGH :Cuts or boosts treble frequencies. Shelving point is at 10 kHz.
EQ  LOW :Cuts or boosts bass frequencies. Shelving point is at 100 Hz.
EFFECT 1 and 2 :These control how much signal will go to the correspond-
ing EFFECT send jacks. They get their signal from a point just after the
channel fader.
TAPE CUE :The EFFECT 2 controls can be switched to act as...

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PORTASTUDIO 414 MKII Brief Guide
DBX switch :Normally, leave this switch at
ON. When you use track 4 to record and
play back MIDI sync tones or time code,
set to SYNC then the dbx is on for tracks
1-3, and off on track 4.
Tape counter :Shows the distance the tape
has moved from a zero reference point.
Counter reset button :Press to change the
counter to 000.
PITCH CONTROL :Increases or decreases
the speed of the transport in Play and
also in Record, over a 10% range
(approx.). Meters :The meters...

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Lets Try the 414 MKII Mixer
To learn how the mixer works, we’ll use a
microphone as the source. If your dynamic
microphone cable has a balanced XLR-type
connector, we’ll use the rear-panel XLR-type INPUT
(L, R) connector. If it is fitted with an unbalanced
1/4 connector, we’ll use the front-panel MIC/LINE
IN jack.
If a signal source is connected to a front MIC/LINE
IN jack whose corresponding XLR connector has a
microphone connected (L=1 or 3, R=2 or 4), the
signal input to the XLR connector will be...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
9
Monitor selection
Press the MONITOR L-R switch on.
10Monitor level
Turn the MONITOR level control up to the
12 oclock position.
11TRIM adjustment
While speaking into the microphone, slowly
push the TRIM control in channel 1. You
will hear your voice on the left side in the
headphones. 
When using a line level source (such as
electronic instruments) instead of a
microphone, the TRIM does not need to be
pushed up very far, if at all.
MONITOR L-R
‘
How to Record on Track 1...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
6
Mic level adjustment
Speak into the microphone. You will see
meter 1 move. Slowly push the channel 1
TRIM control until the meter peaks at no
more than +6.
7Beginning recording
Hold RECORD and press PLAY to initiate
recording.  The REC indicator that was
blinking will turn on solid, indicating the
track is in Record mode.
8Speak into the microphone.
9Stopping recording
Press STOP (or PAUSE) to stop the tape
and finish recording.
10Putting track into Safe
The track 1s REC...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
6
Routing tape signals to TAPE CUE
Locate the EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE level
control on channel 1 and slowly turn it to
the right. Youll hear, in center mono, what
you have recorded on track 1.
7Stopping playback
Press STOP to stop playing.
‘
How to Make an Overdub on Track 2
Overdubbing entails recording one or more
additional tracks on the same tape, while listening to
previously recorded tracks using TAPE CUE.
Leave the microphone connected to the channel 1
input.  There is no...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
6
Locating tape to zero
Making sure that the ZERO RETURN
switch is ON, press REW and the tape will
rewind to the beginning of the track 1
recording.
7Track selection
Set the RECORD FUNCTION switch for
track 2 to its R position. The tracks REC
indicator will start blinking.
8Record level adjustment (TRIM)
Speak into the microphone to check to see
meter 2 move. Slowly push the channel 1
TRIM control until the meter peaks at no
more than +6.
9Beginning recording
Hold RECORD...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
How to Record Tracks 3 and 4
Tracks 3 and 4 can be recorded using almost the
same procedure just shown for tracks 1 and 2. Just
use the applicable RECORD FUNCTION switches,
and the PAN controls should be rotated to the LEFT
for recording on Track 3 and to the RIGHT for Track
4.
How to Record Many Sources onto a
Single Track
In the first example, we recorded one source onto
one track at a time for simplicity. But the mixer of
the Portastudio 414 MKII can take multiple...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
How to Record a Mix onto Two
Tracks Simultaneously
If you want to record multiple sources onto two
tracks, you use the channel PAN controls to send
them to LEFT or RIGHT (or anywhere in between, if
youre making a stereo mix).  The track RECORD
FUNCTION switches choose what track the Left and
Right mixes will be recorded on. Note that in this
method, the mixer channel number has nothing to do
with what track the instrument winds up on. Any
mixer channel can be panned to any...

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Step-By-Step-Operation Guide
Recording on More than Two Tracks
Simultaneously : Direct Recording
It is possible to record on three or four tracks at the
same time by setting the respective RECORD
FUNCTION switches to their numbered (1-4)
position. In this Direct recording, each track gets its
signal from a single mixer channel only — track 1
from channel 1, and so on.
In Direct recording, the MASTER fader has no
effect on the record level. It only affects the level
going to the headphones/monitor...