Slaving Tascam 688 to Logic?

T

tapecanaveral

New member
hey all,
i have a tascam 688 that i’m hoping to get slaved to Logic Pro X. i was able to get Logic slaved to the 688 using software, but it didn’t sync reliably enough to be usable. i know it’s possible to slave the 688 to a DAW, but i’m not sure how/what gear and cabling id need. i’m pretty inexperienced when it comes to synchronization, so a “for idiots” explanation would be greatly appreciated. thanks
 
Welcome. Do you have the manual? Starting on page 30, there's a section on MIDI sync. Have you read that yet?
 
I didn't see anything in the manual about slaving the 688 to a sequencer (only the other way around), but there was a bit about slaving the 688 to another tape deck. In that section, it says this:

The 688 is equipped with a serial interface port (ACCESSORY 2) that allows it to be either master or slave when connected to the TASCAM MIDIIZER or other synchronizers that support the TASCAM serial interface standard. A complete explanation of procedures will be found in the manual for your synchronizer, but here are a few notes about recording and playing back SMPTE that you must know.

It sounds as though you may need a TASCAM MIDIIZER or some other external syncing device that stripes SMPTE. There are other devices that read/stripe SMPTE, such as a JL Cooper PPS-1 or PPS-2, but I don't know if they would do the trick or not.
 
thanks for the info! yeah ive read through that part of the manual. I'm trying to avoid getting a midiizer as theyre pretty pricey at the moment. I don't think the JL Cooper would work for slaving the 688, as the 688 can only control external MIDI and not the other way around (I could be wrong).
 
Understand that when you are slaving a DAW to a tape machine, the DAW “listens” and synchronizes SMPTE timecode converted into to MTC or in some cases directly to SMPTE timecode, the SMPTE timecode being striped to a tape track. The 688 has an onboard MTC synchronizer for do this, like an onboard MTS-30. You don’t even need the JL Cooper unit if you have a MIDI interface for your computer and DAW. But that’s for slaving the DAW. You’re right…that doesn’t work the other way. If you want to slave the tape machine to the computer a synchronizer with the capability to do this, such as the MTS-1000 MIDIIzer, or something like a Timeline Micro Lynx, is needed. That’s because those synchronizers are able to receive the MTC from the DAW and convert that to capstan control voltage to vary the speed of the capstan motor in the tape machine, while reading SMPTE timecode from the tape machine and comparing that to the MTC from the DAW. And you have to have a rare interface cable to go between the synchronizer and the Accessory port on the tape machine, and that cable is specific to the equipment being used; the tape machine and the synchronizer. So your fantasy about trying to avoid getting the MIDIIzer or something like that because the are pricey, is just that…a fantasy…because you cannot slave the tape machine to the DAW without one. I’m not trying to be a black rain cloud, that’s just the reality. My advice? Save yourself the agony and figure out why your sync relationship with the 688 as master wasn’t reliable. Typically it is comparatively dirt-simple to slave the DAW, and like I said the 688 already had the capability onboard. All you need is a simple USB MIDI interface, which is often part and parcel to a USB audio interface, connect the MIDI out jack of the 688 to the MIDI in jack on your interface, set Logic to sync to incoming MTC, and then follow the instructions in the 688 manual for setting the machine up to reproduce the MTC for the DAW listen and sync to. Somebody tell me if I’m wrong because I never did it that way, and I’ll stay off my philosophical soap box here, because I still maintain slaving the tape machine preserves your digital audio and is the way to do it if you are syncing tape to DAW, but it was an expensive PITA back when I was doing it, and it’s only gotten harder as equipment availability dries up along with expert help you need to get it setup. I think for you, you really ought to take the easy path and slave the DAW. It should work. What do you have for a MIDI interface?
 
I agree. I've had great success slaving Reaper to a Tascam 246 using a JL Cooper device. It took a little bit of figuring out, but once I did, it worked like a charm. I never tried it with my 688 (I've since sold that), but, as Sweetbeats said, you shouldn't even need any external gear to do that, as it has the capability onboard.

What exactly is the issue you're having with slaving Logic to the 688?
 
i don’t understand how i’d use a USB MIDI interface to slave logic. can logic receive MTC from a midi cable? i just have a simple mio 1-in/1-out usb to midi.
sweetbeats said:
Understand that when you are slaving a DAW to a tape machine, the DAW “listens” and synchronizes SMPTE timecode converted into to MTC or in some cases directly to SMPTE timecode, the SMPTE timecode being striped to a tape track. The 688 has an onboard MTC synchronizer for do this, like an onboard MTS-30. You don’t even need the JL Cooper unit if you have a MIDI interface for your computer and DAW. But that’s for slaving the DAW. You’re right…that doesn’t work the other way. If you want to slave the tape machine to the computer a synchronizer with the capability to do this, such as the MTS-1000 MIDIIzer, or something like a Timeline Micro Lynx, is needed. That’s because those synchronizers are able to receive the MTC from the DAW and convert that to capstan control voltage to vary the speed of the capstan motor in the tape machine, while reading SMPTE timecode from the tape machine and comparing that to the MTC from the DAW. And you have to have a rare interface cable to go between the synchronizer and the Accessory port on the tape machine, and that cable is specific to the equipment being used; the tape machine and the synchronizer. So your fantasy about trying to avoid getting the MIDIIzer or something like that because the are pricey, is just that…a fantasy…because you cannot slave the tape machine to the DAW without one. I’m not trying to be a black rain cloud, that’s just the reality. My advice? Save yourself the agony and figure out why your sync relationship with the 688 as master wasn’t reliable. Typically it is comparatively dirt-simple to slave the DAW, and like I said the 688 already had the capability onboard. All you need is a simple USB MIDI interface, which is often part and parcel to a USB audio interface, connect the MIDI out jack of the 688 to the MIDI in jack on your interface, set Logic to sync to incoming MTC, and then follow the instructions in the 688 manual for setting the machine up to reproduce the MTC for the DAW listen and sync to. Somebody tell me if I’m wrong because I never did it that way, and I’ll stay off my philosophical soap box here, because I still maintain slaving the tape machine preserves your digital audio and is the way to do it if you are syncing tape to DAW, but it was an expensive PITA back when I was doing it, and it’s only gotten harder as equipment availability dries up along with expert help you need to get it setup. I think for you, you really ought to take the easy path and slave the DAW. It should work. What do you have for a MIDI interface?
Click to expand...
 
so update: i was able to send mtc from logic to the 688 via MIDI, but can’t figure out how to receive it back from the device.
 
tapecanaveral said:
i don’t understand how i’d use a USB MIDI interface to slave logic. can logic receive MTC from a midi cable? i just have a simple mio 1-in/1-out usb to midi.
Click to expand...
Yes. The 688 outputs MTC via the MIDI out. You stripe SMPTE on track 8, and then reproduce track 8 and that is read internally by the onboard MIDI sync interface and converted to MTC and output via the MIDI OUT jack. Then you connect that to the MIDI IN of your computer MIDI interface and in Logic there should be a place where you select the sync reference…usually there are options like internal word clock, external word clock, incoming MTC. You have to configure the MIDI interface so Logic can connect to the MIDI IN jack on your MIDI interface, but that’s how you do it…tell Logic to sync to incoming MTC.
 
tapecanaveral said:
so update: i was able to send mtc from logic to the 688 via MIDI, but can’t figure out how to receive it back from the device.
Click to expand...
No.

You don’t send MTC TO the 688…unless you have one of those relatively unobtanium and expensive synchronizers…you need to produce MTC FROM the 688 to Logic.
 
tapecanaveral said:
hey all,
i have a tascam 688 that i’m hoping to get slaved to Logic Pro X. i was able to get Logic slaved to the 688 using software, but it didn’t sync reliably enough to be usable. i know it’s possible to slave the 688 to a DAW, but i’m not sure how/what gear and cabling id need. i’m pretty inexperienced when it comes to synchronization, so a “for idiots” explanation would be greatly appreciated. thanks
Click to expand...
Logic drops a ton of frames and really sucks at this compared to other DAWs. Pro Tools works much better as does Reaper. Worth trying before you go down other rabbit holes - these other methods tend to be full of headaches.
 
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