Notes for using the DA-88 Digital Recorders

Formatting

Load the tape. It must be a Hi-8 type; you can buy one from me that we special-order. (Don't stick in a Hi-8 tape you use for your video camera.)

Press the Format button once - it will start blinking.

Press the Format button again - the light will remain on.

Select the "Fs" rate (normally, 44.1 kHz).

Push the Record and Play buttons together to start formatting.

This is a real-time process, which means that formatting the tape will take two hours.

Time Striping

Rewind the tape to the beginning.

Press the TC Rec button (on the bottom right).

Push Record/Play together.

Press TC Generate to begin writing timecode to your tape.

Again, this is a real-time process, though it isn't necessary to stripe the whole tape at once (it's probably best, though).

NOTE: timecode can only be written using the main recorder (the bottom one).

Recording

Put whatever tracks you are going to record to in Record Enable mode (by pressing the buttons at the bottom of the meters on the recorder). There will be a flashing red light above the button for each track you enable.

Assign whatever channels you want to record on the console to Submaster 1-8. The Submasters are normalized to the 8 tracks of the main DA-88 recorder.

Set the levels on the input channel and the submaster. Monitor the levels on the recorder to be sure that the levels don't go over the 0 reference.

If you want to monitor the sounds going through the recorder (and any already recorded on other tracks), depress the line buttons on channels 1-8 on the console and assign to Mix (control the levels with the faders; do not turn up the pre-amp gain).

On the recorder, unless you are starting at the beginning of your tape, mark the start-time of your recording session by pressing the Memo 1 button. When you want to return to this point, just push the Loc 1 button and the recorder will automatically rewind to that point.

In order to listen back to what you have recorded, be sure to Record Disable the tracks first.

If you want to rehearse a recording or passage of a recording, use the Memo 2 button to mark the end of the section on the tape, then set the recorder in Repeat mode; it will automatically return to Loc 1, begin playing, stop at Loc 2, rewind, and play back again.

NOTE: Submaster 4 on the console is in bad shape and will distort your audio. If you want to keep your tracks in order, you can patch from another Submaster channel into Track 4 on the recorder at the patch bay. Alternatively, you can patch in on the patch bay to Track 4 from the Insert Send on the channel you want to record. You will have to check the levels carefully, though, to make sure you keep the balance as you want it.

If you want to record more than 8 tracks, you will need to format and time-stripe a second Hi-8 tape. Place the tape with the finished tracks into the upper recorder and make sure it is in Chase mode (the Chase button light should be illuminated). The lead recorder, that you will be adding the new tracks to, should control the upper deck as well (they should play together, rewind, etc.). The tracks on the upper deck are normalized to play back on channels 9-16 on the console, when the Line buttons are depressed.

If you have any problems, please note technical issues in the Log Book, and contact me.