Connecting CD Player to 424

[studiodrum]

ahhhhh, very cool . . .

Counter clock-wise, . . .CCW. I like that! I gotta rememeber that. . . .


. . .and just to make sure, . . the MASTER should roughly be about the *7* position level, . . ?

 

[studiodrum]

Im still strugglin' with the Effects knobs!

Okay, . .explaining to me like I'm a 2 year old, . . or a paragraph from ' The Tascam 424 For Dummies'. . . what position should the EFFECT 1, and EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE KNOBS be in for RECORDING (Direct mode) and/or PLAYBACK, . .and also what position should the EFFECT 1, and EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE SWITCHES. . .

cause I'm getting different signal levels when I raise or lower them, and I'm wondering what's the best position to have these knobs and switches.

I know that you explained the Effects, and Cue to me before, . .But, unfortunately, it zoooomed right over my head. sorry

 

[The Ghost of FM]

studiodrum,

Those effect and cue levels have nothing to do with the actual recording.

They are strictly for your own monitoring convenience and you adjust them to taste only. There is no magic setting for them.

Reverting back one topic;

Home CD players output a 2 volt signal and standard line level on TASCAM gear is looking for a .316 volt signal.

That is why the signal sounds so hot coming off a CD player on your meters and why you need the trim all the way down and the channel fader down as well.

I think it was all some sort of dirty trick, way back when, when CD players first came onto the market. It's the old trick of louder sounds better and CD players, home ones anyway, are much louder then home tape decks and record players because of their artificial loud output gain standards.

Cheers!

 

[DigitalSmigital]

what position should the EFFECT 1, and EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE KNOBS be in for RECORDING (Direct mode) and/or PLAYBACK, . .and also what position should the EFFECT 1, and EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE SWITCHES. . .

cause I'm getting different signal levels when I raise or lower them, and I'm wondering what's the best position to have these knobs and switches.

Effect2/Tape Cue switch should be in the left (EFFECT2) position for mixing down and in the right position (TAPE CUE) for multi tracking, generally speaking of course.

The different signal levels you speak of are in the monitor mix which doesn't effect what is being printed to tape. (called the main mix) You can control what the musicians hear in the monitors or headphones as they play/record the next track, adjusting the levels on track one, two, etc, even putting effects like echo without printing the effect to tape.

I have a 424 like yours and a 464, which uses buttons instead of those confusing switches, and the cue knobs have only one purpose instead of two (like the 424) and is much less confusing because of that. But once you get used to it, it's all good.

 

[studiodrum]

Thanks 'Digital'. . .

. . .'Reel', and 'FM', . .

One thing I have noticed is that when recording in DIRECT mode on Tracks 1, 2, 3, & 4 simultaneously, . . If my individual track levels,..are ok, . .that sometimes that my MAIN L & R levels, . are 'blaring' hot and spiking like crazy. . and it seems that the Main L&R levels can become really hot if I turn the Effects Cue knob up, . . is that possible,. or is it just my imagination . .

Also,.should the MAIN FADER, . be at roughly level (7) when recording, . .or does it matter?

 

[The Ghost of FM]

the Main L&R levels can become really hot if I turn the Effects Cue knob up, . . is that possible,. or is it just my imagination . .

Have you ever been in a room where a couple of people are talking, say a quiet restaurant and then go into a popular bar with 100 people in it?

Do you notice a difference in sound level? Hopefully, the bar will be much noisier!

The same thing is true with your stereo buss. The more channels of sound you put through to it, be tape signals and effects return signals, they all contribute to the gain summation on the main stereo buss and thus, that's why your track level meter level is lower by it lonesome compared to the stereo buss which is being fed more stuff.

Cheers!

 

[studiodrum]

Ahhhhhh,..okay

Now that makes sense. . . So, then would I need to adjust the main stereo levels down, so they are not too hot . .and are the MAIN STEREO FADER levels,. the actual levels that is being recorded to tape?. . .and is it possible to damage anything in the 424 if the Main Stereo levels are so hot, . or will that only result in distortion. . .

I guess, what I'm asking is , . what's the best way to maintain, and control the proper levels,c. if your track levels are fine,.but your main Stereo Levels are too high. . Thanks, . sorry for so many 'ands'

 

[studiodrum]

another Connecting CD Player to 424 question!

sorry to resurrect this thread, since everyone answered all of my questions brilliantly, . . But, I was curious if there is an advantage of using a cd player that is equipped with (2) XLR Balanced OUTS, compared to the usual RCA OUTS, . . and hooking up the cd player to Channel 1 and 2 of the 424 mkII. . .? will you get a much more balanced mix, . or is the sound negligible. . .?

Thanks guys!

 

[A Reel Person]

Negligible.

...........

 

[studiodrum]

really. . . ????

ahhhhh, that sucks!

So, whats the point for having 2 XLRs on some of these Pro cd players . ..?
Thanks Ghost. . . !

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Balanced lines were invented out of necessity many years ago to act as a noise canceling agent in long cable runs of 30 feet or more.

Wires do a couple of bad things when you make them long enough.

The first thing they do is lose signal because of the resistive characteristics of all electrical conductors. The longer the run, the greater the resistance so, if we are doing let's say a 200 foot run from a microphone on stage all the way back to the mixer in the middle or back of the house. (venue), you could easily loose a few dB's of signal strength by the time the signal gets to the other end of the wire so, by starting off with a healthy +4db signal at one end, we have a reasonable hope that there will still be a usable signal at the other end of out wire.

In home studio set-ups where connection points are usually much shorter then 30 feet, a +4db signal is un-necessary.

The second problem with long wires is that they can behave like and become antennas, picking up RF and hum along the way if the shielding is insufficient so, by using a 3 wire system where you have signal, reversed 180 degree signal and the third outer shield which is usually a braid or spiral rap outside of the inner two signal conductors, you will phase out any picked up interference along the way. ...Noise canceling headphones work on the same principle too of taking in the noise outside of the headphones, re-amplifying it out of phase and mixing it back into the phones and the noise is magically reduced to a meaningful degree.

With your home studio, it's basically just over kill to need the balanced outs.

Get the picture?

Cheers!

 

[studiodrum]

Hey Ghost, thanks for the reply, . .!

I believed ya, . .I wasn't trying to be a ass, . . I was just curious why, . .that's all. . as always thanks for the info! Your insight is always much appreciated. . . But, are you positively sure it's. . . . . ? Nah, I'm just jokin' Gotcha!

Have a great Thanksgiving man.
Ray--

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Gotcha!

Have a great Thanksgiving man.
Ray--

Thanks, I did!

Canadian Thanksgiving comes in late October as our harvests and celebrations of them come earlier because of the cooler climate here.

Cheers!