DP-02 Copy/Paste Operations Mangling Paste Job

[Not My Name]

The first piece in a song that I copied and pasted worked great. The copied piece pasted perfect with no audible seam and right on the beat. Now I can't get any further paste actions to work properly.

The pasted part does not sync properly with my To point. In rehearsal mode, looping the In and Out points does not play properly it adds a big gap between loops.

The counter is set to bar mode. I have my points set like this for instance...
In=80-01
Out=92-04
To=60-01
The same way I did the first copy/paste but with different set points.

Anybody know whats happening here?

 

[Jidis]

Not My Name,

Sorry I don't know enough about this thing yet to be of any help on the paste issue, but I believe that inability to loop smoothly is unfortunately part of its design. I looked into it on mine and there's some "pre-roll" pref or something you can change, but you can only make the gap *larger*. I think its minimum/default is a second or half second or something. <- someone please correct that if I missed something and it is possible

It also can't use those custom "in" points to start a master. You have to start it at zero, then load/trim the output file somewhere else. This thing is so nice in some areas, but has quite a few of these weird flaws and missing features. Seems like some of the testers or people they consulted would have pointed them out way before it went into production.

George

PS- And don't even get me started on the preamps. The box is supposed to be a standalone simple multitracker with only two input channels. Why on earth would they make them so weak? Then there's no normalize or anything, so you have to either export everything and bring it back to process your levels, or mix with a big pile of air. All in all, I like the thing ...but damn.

 

[A Reel Person]

OT: DP02(cf) Weak preamps.

Yeah, unfortunately that's true. I'm with you on this.

Not having used the DP02cf very much, but I got the best results with a Tascam 244 or 246 as front end input mixer, output in stereo to the DP02cf A/B inputs. The 244/246 mixers (and many others at hand) have PLENTY of gain on the preamps, so... problem solved. It also gives me a lot more flexibility for EQ on inputs and bussing certain input signals together when necessary.

However, a 2-piece solution is no longer a Portastudio, which by definition is supposed to be a single unit solution. I was even a little peeved when they split the power modules of the most modern Portastudios, but it's beyond the pale when the preamps are so weak.

I have a feeling that the DP-02's preamps are so weak because a normally high gain might reveal a high pitch squeal in the audio picked up from the poorly shielded power module. Just MO. YMMV.

I also have no insight to the copy/paste issue. Sorry.

 

[Jidis]

Tascam 244 or 246 as front end input mixer, output in stereo to the DP02cf A/B inputs.

Man, I miss my 246. I worked on one of those for years. Even built a custom base cabinet for it where it was sunk down flush with the top, and the jacks I needed were brought to the side. Wish I had sense to have taken pictures at the first place I was in. Had some cool furniture.

That thing did have 1/4" hi-Z ins only though. I remember having to use a transformer, which I believe even broke some solder joints before I started using the cabinet. Re: mixer/pre's these days, I don't even mind the things they put in those Behringer Xenyx's. With as cheap as that stuff is, I agree with you on the DP-02 pre's. There had to have been some reason for them to do that. I ordered the service manual and was thinking about seeing if there might be a way to squeeze something better in there or swap out some components, but unfortunately, the schematics and PCB diagrams in it are more or less "unreadable". I have no idea how it got such a horrible looking copy in 2014, but I put a support ticket in with them about a week back and am hoping maybe they can resolve it. In addition to the illegible diagram labeling, it's not only among the skimpiest Tascam SM's I own, but was also possibly the most expensive (ironically, 10 bucks more than my DP-02CF was). I've got Tascam service manuals from 1980's gear which are like short audio electronics textbooks, not only showing you what's in the piece, but giving you some of the theory behind what everything is doing.

Take Care

PS- Seems like the "01" or one of the others gets these same low gain complaints online. I wonder which units have that issue and which don't.