Skippy - help with D824

[oneArtist]

Skippy,
I've tryed using the analog outs to a cassette recorder to make some practice tapes. The cassette rec doesn't indicate any signal. I called Fostex and they said there is always a signal on the analog outs. The Digital in can be changed to analog/digital but the output only allows a Digital out choice.
What do I need to do?
Chuck

 

[ausrock]

Hi Chuck,

I've been doing that with my D160........but I run the Analogue Outs to my mixer then down to the cassette deck with no problems. Your post indicates that you are trying to go direct from the Fostex to your cassette........I dont know that it will work that way.

Now to wait for the Fostex guru aka Skippy to answer.

Regards........

 

[skippy]

I don't know if I'd call myself a guru: I'm just fearless enough to rip into any equipment that comes into the room, warranty be damned!

This problem is very odd. I *only* use the analog outs from my D1624 thus far, and they are indeed always on. Even with the balanced I/O option, the single-ended RCA outputs still work, which can be useful for dubbing off to cassette. I go straight from RCA out on a track to cassette quite often: the levels are -10dB nominal, and this should work just fine on your D824.

One thing that is a tad bit confusing about the 824/1624 back panel, though. The outputs and inputs are in reverse order: they got from high to low numbers as you go from left to right. Don't take this wrong, but are you sure that you're picking up the correct outputs? You might be plugged into 7/8 when you think you're picking off 1/2. Just a thought- the numbers are small, and if it's in a rack this is an easy mistake to make (and you can guess how I know- I wasted about an hour on this when the machine was new...).

If that's not it, and there is never any signal on any of the outputs in play mode, then you probably have a wiring problem in the box. If I recall correctly, the converters are on a separate daughterboard, and the header connector that should join them to the main board may have become displaced in shipping. I have the balanced I/O option, so I didn't pay much attention to the single-ended I/O, so I could be wrong about this, but it is something to check- there are no less than 4 or 5 separate daughterboards joined by various header cables in there.

This would probably be an easy fix, if you were willing to dig into the box. But if you are never getting any output on those guys, something is definitely wrong with the unit, and it should be a candidate for warranty work. Attempt a fix yourself, or contact Fostex- your call on which way to go. Fostex's warranty policy is "you send it to us, and we'll ship a replacement whenever we get through with receiving yours", which can lead to significant downtime...

 

[oneArtist]

syncing sins

Skippy,

Thanks for your reply. To refresh your memory, I'm the guy that has the Pulsar PC soundcards. I was spreading my digital signals to too many components and I lost my sync. That's why no signal was going to the Cassette recorder. I took the 32 channels of ADAT I/O and 2 channels SPDIF I/O
to the Pulsar cards out of the loop. I only added the TMD-1000 digital mixer and the digital POD PRO to the D824. This smaller system will not sync with D824 as master. It will sync with POD as SPDIF master, or TMD as master. I also discovered the cassette recorder can not be turned on when these three digital beast are singing harmonious syncronozations. When the cassette is on first, they will tolerate it.
The quality of the cassette recording from the D824 is way way better than going from mics to the cassette rec.
I was also able to send a D824 song, to the PC, through ADAT/Pulsar/ and record in Samplitude 2496. As I begin to tame these beast and teach them to sing together, I'll let you know how it worked so that when your ready to face the PC monsters, you'll know what armor and weapons to use.

It gives me great pleasure to associate with a guru,
Chuck