DP-01FX/CD Not Recording

[Brendan312]

Hey guys, I just joined this forum today and am new to home recording, having only received the last piece of equipment for my mini-studio yesterday.

I have the Tascam DP-01FX/CD hard disk recorder and I'm having trouble with it straight out of the box. I did buy it second hand off eBay but the person I bought it off had hardly used it and it's basically in as-new condition. Anyway, I've been unable to start the recording process on this device. I have assigned the input, armed the track (which all seems to work normally) but when I go to hold down record and press play, nothing happens.

I'll paste a copy of an email I sent to tascam below which explains my problem.

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Hi there. I recently purchased a Tascam DP-01FX/CD which I am attempting to record on.

I've followed the procedure in the manual to record a track however, it refuses to actually begin recording.

I have assigned input A to track 1, armed track 1 which appears to work normally, I then hold record and push play but nothing happens. The record and play lights do not light and the machine appears to do nothing, with the track one recording light still blinking.

I have connected a Yamaha keyboard to input A using a 1/4" jack and I can hear the keyboard through the monitor speakers so I'm pretty sure that is functioning correctly, I just can't get it to commence recording. I've tried everything I can think of, including creating new songs and starting over to no avail.

Also, the input A and B lights remain lit constantly and I can't turn off an input using the SHIFT and ASSIGN button combination.

Please help!

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Have any of you guys had this problem before? Or do you have any ideas? I'm desperate to start recording and I'm seriously hoping my machine is not a lemon.

Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Brendan

[mrmoe]

a common problem is failure to actually arm the channel on which you want to record.....there are 2 meters that need to indicate recording level; on the left of the meter are the 2 input levels and to their right are the eight track levels.....if (for example) track #1 is properly "armed", there should be activity in both the input and track bars on the meter......only then will the dp-01 record...

[Zaphod B]

Originally Posted by mrmoe

a common problem is failure to actually arm the channel on which you want to record.....there are 2 meters that need to indicate recording level; on the left of the meter are the 2 input levels and to their right are the eight track levels.....if (for example) track #1 is properly "armed", there should be activity in both the input and track bars on the meter......only then will the dp-01 record...

I agree. On my 2488, at least one track has to be armed for recording to be able to record. (Makes sense, doesn't it? )

[Brendan312]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. I'm positive the track is correctly armed. I assigned input A to track 1 then armed the track. The armed light then begins to flash. Also, all the meters indicate there is signal, except for the right stereo meter, but that's because I only had a mono source.

Anyway, I'm starting to think the machine is faulty, because track 4 refuses to arm, mute or assign and I can't assign or turn off input B. (I think there is a problem with the buttons themselves because it probably isn't recording because the record button doesn't work.)

Any thoughts? Is there any way I can reset it? It's starting to look like a trip to the repair man is inevitable.

Thanks again for the help.

-Brendan

[mrmoe]

you should still have 2 meters moving!.....the left input meter and the track 1 meter.....

[Brendan312]

Yep there are two meters moving, it just simply isn't starting the recording process. Very frustrating.

[dalematt]

I sometimes have the same problem and, in my case, the problem is simple as is the solution.

Problem: What I sometimes mistakenly do is have 2 tracks armed and try to record on the third.

Solution: Make sure that no other tracks are armed except the one I'm recording on.

Subsequent problem: Forgetting what I'm doing wrong and not remembering the solution.

Subsequent solution: Get another brain. LOL Anyone have a spare?

Dale

[Brendan312]

Hey dale, I don't really use mine much so I spose I could give you a loan. :P

Nah, I'm positive there is no more than one armed track. I'm %99.92847 certain the machine is broken, so I'm going to have to take it to a service centre. So it'll be another month before we can start recording anything.

Oh well. Thanks again for the help anyway everyone. What a great response.

-Brendan