Use for Tascam 788

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sqwire03

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I have a Tascam 788 digital hard disk recorder which I bought before buying Cubase SL and have about 15 songs on there. Does anyone out there have the 788 too and use both the 788 and Cubase. If so, how would I go about using the two together in a practical sence and, more importantly, how would I set up the two up so I can transfer my songs over to Cubase (if transferring the songs is even necessary).

Any help is greatly appreciated so I can blow the dust off my 788 if there's a use for it.
 
I don't have this Tascam but the reviews I read on it claim it breaks down after awhile and it has a lousy s/n ratio. I don't know if that helps you to decide whether to keep it but you might want to back up your songs.

You can do so by exporting the tracks into Cubase by using the optical S/PDIF output assuming your soundcard can accept that. Other than that it looks like you'd have to use the stereo mixdown outputs to transfer tracks.
 
NYMorningstar said:
I don't have this Tascam but the reviews I read on it claim it breaks down after awhile and it has a lousy s/n ratio. I don't know if that helps you to decide whether to keep it but you might want to back up your songs.

You can do so by exporting the tracks into Cubase by using the optical S/PDIF output assuming your soundcard can accept that. Other than that it looks like you'd have to use the stereo mixdown outputs to transfer tracks.
Click to expand...

I have a 788 and use Cubase.

First, mine has performed flawlessly for the last year, and I have not heard of problems from others. I have heard of issues with the older eprom (I think 2.01 is latest?) and problems with the newer 2488. Look around, I think you'll find the 788 is well-liked.

Where did you hear about a bad s/n ratio? I have no noise issues. Quiet as a church mouse.

If you can't use the S/PDIF option, I would find the Tascam CD burner to export WAV's. When you back it up to CD, you have an archive, and an easy method of transporting the WAV's to other devices. Cost about $150.

The sound quality of the 788 is actually quite good. No one else lets you record 6 tracks at once at 24-bit uncompressed for about $500 brand new.

I record live gigs all the time, take it home and import into Cubase or just mix it down on the 788 and then finish it in Wavlab where I can use my good plugins. The onboard effects on the 788 are probably the weak link. Reverb is ok, compression is weak IMO. There's where going into Cubase helps.

I don't know how off the top o' my head, but I've read you can output 6 tracks at once each separately out of the mains, monitors and aux sends.

If you desire to use the 788 WITH Cubase, you can midi them up and have more tracks at once plus midi all at the same time. Kind of a pain, but it can be done.

788 is a solid machine
 
Thanks for the feedback. I find that the 788 produces great sound. As a matter of fact I have yet to get the same punch out of Cubase as I did with the 788, but I'm still a newbie at Cubase. My only problem with the 788 is I can't produce tracks quick enough like I can using Cubase. I have not had a problem with it holding up at all. I do have the cdrw788 cd burner that was made for it but have not used it to archive any songs or tracks because frankly I don't know how. Right now both are sitting collecting dust. At least I know that I can use both.

Leddy can you tell me how to hook the two up so I can import or export (whatever it is) the tracks and songs I've done on the 788 into Cubase so I can add more to them and mixdown in Cubase. If you told me in the last response I did not quite understand.
 
Assuming you have them physically hooked up correctly with a blank CD in the drive, you go to:

While in the song you want to export:
Press Menu, scroll down to select CDRW
Then select WAV Export
A list of tracks will pop up. Highlight track and press "insert" to put a check by each track you wish to export.
It will prompt you for 16 bit or 24 bit (select 24 for best quality in Cubase, dither to 16 later)
Press "Yes" at the prompt.

If you get an error several minutes into the process, you may be trying to put more data on the CD than it can hold. Try splitting the tracks on to multiple CDs.

Check out this thread as well regarding Cubase quality vs. 788:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=1360773#post1360773
 
Thanks Leddy for the info and the other thread link! I'll try it out....
 
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