Tascam Midiizer MTS-1000 Manual & Cables

altruistica said:
I'm also beginning to wonder if it's time to copy the EPROMS from the working Midiizer to new EPROMS before it's too late? That is, whether the Midiizer has a finite life given the EPROM situation?
Al
Click to expand...

I would definitely do that if you have the capability.
 
Hey Trance,

Just powered up my NW Midiizer.

I changed the battery in it a few days ago and afterwards left it on overnight. When I powered it down in the morning and re-booted it, the display was just the same. On this one, the displays shows as follows:

00 00 00 00 MST
*
Sng Bar Beat Tempo

If you go into the song data .....you know what, this would be easier to film which I'll do now.

Al
 
Go into utility mode as follows.

"After the machine is power up, press OTHER, then press UTILITY, then hold down SHIFT and OTHER together and the software version will appear on the screen."

This should check if your EMROM's are loading up their data or not
 
Hi Trance,

Sorry YouTube has gone wayward for me tonight....don't seem to be able to upload.

Basically, the EPROMS look like they may be fine. They both read 'C2.00, M2.00' in the display following your instructions, but the Midiizer is still not right...that's what I'm trying to show in the film.
I'm thinking if my EPROMS are ok then if I can get them copied, they might sort out your Midiizer. My problem may be something other than EPROMS.

Al
 
If you have intermittent power & operational issues it's often the case that the power rectifier, filter & stabiliser circuit is not working right in supplying the exact voltages needed for the unit to work. Some parts might need replacing due to age. If that machine had a new battery installed it's best to confirm that it is holding charging when powering of & off.

Are you using the Midiizer for song tempo operations? I've never done it that way as I use MTC with a sequencer to add the tempo changes.
 
Hey Trance,

The Midiizer sure seems like a quirky bit of kit (I don't mean in the design sense........when it was designed it really was a great bit of kit for tying midi and tape together), I mean in the build design. It appears it was designed to be used every day or very frequently. I wonder if as computers became more powerful and also hard disk hardware came about, many Midiizers were probably left on top of cupboards gathering dust. They may have been powered down for years.

With the two units I own, it does seem like lack of use might have been their downfall. When I uploaded the most recent film of the NW machine, I looked back at the film I made of the then NW machine I'd bought from the States, back in May. It also hung when I turned it on, I replaced the battery, still hung occasionally, didn't read code properly, then all of a sudden, it starts behaving itself a few weeks ago???????

I'm still puzzled why it's suddenly working fine. The 'remote side' of that Midiizer (ie. functioning as a remote for the MSR16) always did function ok, whereas this one never has. I'm going to keep the power on to this unit for a couple more days and see what gives. I don't think the units consume much power as they never even seem particularly warm.

My main intention is to use the Midiizer as a remote for the MSR16 machines and also a sync box between them and the MX2424 hard disk recorder. The 'tap tempo' facility is a great one when creating a midi tempo map from an acoustic (live) recording where no click track was initially used, so I'll probably use that in the future.

I am definitely going to take JP's advice and look into getting both machine's EPROMS copied while the software is still intact.

I'll keep you posted.

Al
 
Maybe these old machines do need to be powered up regularly for a while before they work properly. I had the same experience with my TSR8, which was not used for the best part of a decade. . Perhaps some of the electronic components need to adjust to normal operating temperature after the machine has been little used over the years.
 
midiizer not locking machines

Hi all, I know this is an old thread I hope that it still gets read. I have a Midiizer that seems to power up and work well. I have X2 238 syncaset machines. All have been hooked up via ACC2 ports using made up Pw5Md cables from pin details derived from this forum. The guy who made them for me is an old professional guru and I trust his work. As said, the Midiizer is not locking the transports of the machines. It does however successfully operate all other functions and separately can control each machines transport...but not locked together at once. Interestingly, when the Midiizer goes through the "learn tape machine functions" mode (the process just after stripping tape in the MTS manual) both machines do start and run together correctly in this mode...but only in this mode.
In response to the boot up sequence of the Midiizer as discussed previously in this thread, the read-out does display the ACC2 serial hook up.
The only thing I can guess as a potential problem could be that the made up Pw5Md cables are fully shielded...as in every wire has a shield, though only the correct pin is soldered/shielded/terminated. I cant really see how that would be an issue but I guess that's a question I must ask you guys?
Has anyone else had this particular problem?
Does anyone know whether the shielded pin/wire needs also to be shielded to the outside of the metal plug casing...or is that just ridiculous? I don't know I am running out of ideas?

appreciate any help. Cheers :confused:
 
robertrichards said:
Hi all, I know this is an old thread I hope that it still gets read. I have a Midiizer that seems to power up and work well. I have X2 238 syncaset machines. All have been hooked up via ACC2 ports using made up Pw5Md cables from pin details derived from this forum. The guy who made them for me is an old professional guru and I trust his work. As said, the Midiizer is not locking the transports of the machines. It does however successfully operate all other functions and separately can control each machines transport...but not locked together at once.
Click to expand...

Clearly the serial comms is working, and what you're describing sounds like the capstan servo line isn't working properly for some reason. Regarding shielding, I think the big problem is having the capstan servo line NOT be shielded. If everything is shielded I can't see that being an issue. (Mine isn't shielded but does work - I guess I got lucky.)

Could you possibly link to or supply the pinout? There were several variants and some of them are wrong.
It's also a good idea to check continuity on the capstan servo line - I've had problems where the pins come desoldered on occasion - which doesn't help matters.

Here's something to check - does the 238 have the 3 lights by the varispeed control like on the TSR-8 and MSR-24? 'Fixed', 'Varispeed' and 'External'? If so, is the External light coming on? And is it solid or flashing?
 
jpmorris said:
Clearly the serial comms is working, and what you're describing sounds like the capstan servo line isn't working properly for some reason. Regarding shielding, I think the big problem is having the capstan servo line NOT be shielded. If everything is shielded I can't see that being an issue. (Mine isn't shielded but does work - I guess I got lucky.)

Could you possibly link to or supply the pinout? There were several variants and some of them are wrong.
It's also a good idea to check continuity on the capstan servo line - I've had problems where the pins come desoldered on occasion - which doesn't help matters.

Here's something to check - does the 238 have the 3 lights by the varispeed control like on the TSR-8 and MSR-24? 'Fixed', 'Varispeed' and 'External'? If so, is the External light coming on? And is it solid or flashing?
Click to expand...

Hi Tape Wolf thank you for your reply. Yes, the 238 does have the lights next to the varispeed as you have described. They are flashing, sometimes in unison and sometimes alternatively. The worst thing about something like this is that if you have no prior experience with this particular gear its hard to know exactly what "isn't" happening as it should. I am unsure whether these lights should be steady and together or whether flashing is ok? I agree with your assessment that the cable must be working...as it appears to be operating every function as it should. On further inspection/debugging I have noticed a distinct level drop on playback on one machines striped tape. Swapping tapes from machine to machine the recorded level seems ok within accepted variables...so I am now thinking that if the playback on one machine isn't great then the midiizer would not be able to read the smpte code and therefore would not lock. If I am able to fix the playback level it may fix the lock problem...do you think this sounds reasonable or am I over simplifying it? I now have my tech guy setting up rec and playback levels within the machine...hopefully this may resolve the issues. I will be sure to post any results.
 
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here is the pin wiring I had done.

pw-5md...8 connections both ends at pins 2,4,5,6,7,8,13,14

8...8 (gnd/common return)

7...7 shielded cable...
and shield to 14 both ends (cv/fm speed control/servo)

6...6 ctrl (tach pulse)

13..13 (control request)

5...5 (direction)

4...cross to 2 (rxd data rcv)

2...cross to 4 (txd data send)
 
EDIT: Yes, that appears to be the pinout I used on mine. I'll have to check what the EXT light does on mine when I get home. IIRC it flashes amber, but I believe that on the slave deck it should go solid during synchronization.

As for the playback level, sync units nearly always display the timecode for each machine, or ideally, both. On the ATS-500 there's only display so you have to switch between master and slave, but I would check that. There may also be a mode to show the difference between the two, and that is also handy for diagnostics.

There should also be LEDs that say whether the synchronizer is reading timecode OK. Both should be on steady when playing back.
If one of them is off, or if it flashes or flickers, that definitely indicates a problem reading the timecode. There may be some kind of input gain which can help.
If it is a playback issue, make sure that the timecode tracks do NOT have noise reduction. On the TSR-8 etc there's a SYNC button by the noise reduction controls which disables DBX just for track 8 (or 16/24 on the MSRs). The 238 probably has the same. Make sure you record the timecode and play it back with SYNC enabled.
 
Hi Tape Wolf your info is extremely useful. My Tech hasn't got back to me regarding progress on playback level but to answer your questions: The midiizer does toggle between machines giving smpte readouts and those readouts definitely are not good. Instead of a continuous stream of numbers running in linear direction the readouts show intermittent jumps in hours and minutes at its own discretion....though the seconds and frames seem to be constant and linear but I cant be sure whether that's what's actually happening. Whilst this is happening the slave deck is chasing continuously. Also there are lock lights on the midiizer as you have described and they are flashing indicating bad lock/read...just as you have said.
On the 238 the dbx is automatically disabled on track 8 via a switch on the back of the machines when placed into sync, so I think that should be Ok.
Your questions and advice is helping me greatly, as its not only bringing new info but also helping me logically work through all the possible variables. thanks again mate cheers
 
robertrichards said:
Your questions and advice is helping me greatly, as its not only bringing new info but also helping me logically work through all the possible variables. thanks again mate cheers
Click to expand...

Glad it's useful. I hope you get it going, I remember struggling with this at first, mostly because the cable pinout in the manual was wrong and didn't include the servo line.

Anyway, I didn't have time to set up a chase lock today, and the video I took last year was too low-res to see what the EXT light does.
However, the MSR-24 manual says something like this:
FIX LEDEXT LED
On solidOffNo sync signals are coming in
On solidOffOnly the control signal is coming in
On solidFlashingOnly the frequency reference is coming in
OffOn solidBoth control and reference signals are coming in

...so it looks to me like the FIX light should go out and the VARI light should come on solid during full sync. On mine it tends to flash amber while the ATS-500 is switched on, and then goes solid when both decks are being synchronized.

However it sounds like you have problems with the integrity of the timecode signal and that needs to be sorted out first. Check the heads - clean them and record a fresh timecode. If you have a spare preamp or something it might be worth sticking that between the timecode out from the deck and the timecode in on the synchronizer. If the MTS1000 has a trimmer on that back to adjust the input gain on the timecodes, use that first.
If you go the preamp route, don't go crazy. If it's a signal level problem, there will be a sweet spot. Too low and you'll get dropouts. Too high and it'll distort and the TC reader won't like that either.

I have a pair of TimeLine Lynx synchronizers which I could never get working with the TSR-8s... But they do make handy timecode displays, and they also have the useful property of being able to clean up the incoming timecode by reconstructing it. I get significantly more reliable sync by passing the signals from the decks into that first. That's an expensive way to do it.

It's perhaps worth a note of caution that I originally started doing this to lock two TSR-8s together. This worked, and I recorded about 4 albums with it, but I did get really sick of it because it made mixdown a pain, sometimes there'd be a dropout or a loose cable and I'd have to start over.
What I did in the end was get a 24-track deck (originally an MSR-24, later an Otari MX80). I now record the main tracks from the synthesizers on the 24-track under sequencer control, and things which are performed manually or will otherwise require a ton of punch-ins (e.g. vocals, bass, special tape effects) are done on the TSR-8 and then dubbed onto the 24-track when I'm happy. That (A) saves wear and tear on the more expensive machine, (B) means that I only have to worry about tape sync when I dub the bass and vocals across and (C) means I can do time-shifting things like copy-paste choruses all-analogue by altering the timecode offset.

In short, tape sync is useful, and there is definitely a sense of achievement and satisfaction in seeing two decks run together under automatic control. But a deck with more tracks will make your life easier :3
https://youtu.be/0Muo8JLONlQ?t=53 (The Otari in the background is master, the TSR-8 in the foreground is slave - note how it winds back to the cue shortly after the song starts playing )
 
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Very, very nice set up mate, looks like a room I would never want to leave! Living in Tassie those types of machines are very few and far between due to shipping costs I suspect. Still another very useful post, especially the Lynx timecode machines and alternative patching/gear advice. Cheers again :)
 
After a few months I have a reply from a German Tascam service company regarding the Tascam MTS-1000 Midiizer faulty EPROMS.

I've sent the details from the Main & Control PCB's with the EPROM IC designation part numbers, labels & manufacturer details on the chips.

Maybe someone has the EPROM's available for the Midiizer after all?
 
That is very interesting indeed, hopefully a new resource. When looking for parts for my Tascam 238's I searched world wide and the only Tascam company I found that still admitted they had stock was in Montreal. Happily I was willing to pay the $400 aus dollar a motor only to find them backing out of it when they realised I lived in Australia. Apparently each country is supplied an amount of repair stock which they are only allowed to sell in that particular country, lucky for me I know a guy that is a resident and he graciously bought the gear and shipped it out to me. Yes a great friend and an act of kindness I wont soon forget. I certainly hope this doesn't happen to you mate. I have all my gear locked up and working well and have recorded the full album (just drums for the moment) on it. I am very happy with the sonic performance of the gear and will record other projects on it again before dumping into Pro Tools. I was wanting to load up an audio file for you guys to listen but just cant get the uploader on this site to work...just keeps spinning endlessly...cant even upload a photo of the set up...so I gave up in the end. Here's hoping it all works pout for you Trancedental.
 
It's not really a problem as I have a working Midiizer, but I would like to get the NW Midiizer working again!

It doesn't seem right to throw it in the rubbish as it works apart from one EPROM IC, even last night before I checked the PCB parts & IC codes the Midiizer came on fine.
 
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