Newbie Question re Volume on DP01

[dalematt]

I just got the Tascam DP01 (Christmas present to myself). I've been working diligently at learning how to use it which has been quite daunting as I have never used a digital recorder before (the only recorder I have ever used is a little cassette).

The DP01 has 4 volume controls: 1 for the "Assign", 1 fader for each "Channel", 1 for the "Master" fader, and 1 for the "Headphones". The manual says to experiment to find the combination preferred. What I need is a starting point.

To date, I have been successful in recording, transferring the song to the computer, and burning to a CD. The problem has been the volume. No matter what I have done, the volume on the computer or CD player has to be turned pretty much to maximum in order to be (barely) heard.

I need suggestions on where to have the volume controls set when recording and mastering and whenever else in order to have a "normal" volume on the finished product (on the computer or the CD).

Thanks,
Dale

 

[Trillian]

The Assign volume controls the amount of level sent to a track when recording. The master volume should be set roughly 3/4 of the way up and left there for the most part. It controls the overall level of the mix. You mainly adjust it if you need a little more boost when recording a track, or to do fade in/outs, etc.

The track faders only work when playing back a recorded track. The headphone volume controls how much signal is sent to the headphones. It has no effect on the actual levels. A common newbie mistake is to crank up the headphones while keeping the track volumes too low.

Make sure when recording that the meters are just below the level that causes the O/L light to flicker. Ignore the level in the headphones. The meters are the most important guide to your true levels. Once you have everything set, then you can adjust the phones to a comfortable level.

Note that pro studios use tons of compression to achieve the maximum amount of signal. The DP-01/FX doesn't have this ability, so you'll be unable to make your CD-Rs sound as loud as discs you buy in the music stores.

 

[dalematt]

Trillian:

Thank you very much for your advice. That is exactly the type of information I need. Yesterday, I experimented with an idea that was almost the same as what you suggested and it worked much better than anything I had tried until then. Today, I'll do what you suggested knowing that it will be even better!

Thanks again. I really appreciate you taking the time to help!

Dale