Tascam DA-98 Owner's Manual

Also see for DA-98: Setup guide

Contents

Tascam DA-98 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 47 page image

Section 8 – Advanced operations8-8 – 1.00 – 06/978.10 Digital recordingThe DA-98 is able to accept (and output) digitalsignals at the DIGITAL I/O connector [45] in TDIF-1 format. The IF-88AE and IF-88SD interfaceunits provide conversion to and from AES/EBU(and SP-DIF) and SDIF-2 formats.The DA-98 should be connected to other TDIF-1equipment using a PW-88D or PW-88DL connec-tor cable.The DA-98 should be set to be either a word clockmaster or a word clock slave when connected toother digital equipment. There can only be oneword clock master in a setup.Since the TDIF-1 format carries a word clock aspart of the interface, there is no need to make aword clock connection when recording throughthe DIGITAL I/O connector.8.10.1 Changing between digital andanalog inputsTo change between digital and analog inputs, sim-ply press the DIGITAL IN switch [15]. The DIGITALIN indicator will light.8.10.2 Selecting word lengthWhen data is accepted through the DIGITAL I/Oconnector, the word length of the incoming datamust be set. This can be selected from between16-bit, 20-bit or 24-bit. To set the word length:1) Select menu 2, move the cursor to Word Len ,and press ENTER:2) Use the UP and DOWN keys to change the valuebetween 16, 20 and 24 bits.We suggest that you experiment with the dithersettings (see 8.13, “Dither”) if you find you arerecording quantization noise at low levels whenthe input word length is set to 20 or 24 bits.Though you will lose a little in the signal-to-noiseratio, total harmonic distortion figures will beimproved.8.11 Routing digital inputsWhen recording analog signals, it’s usual to routethem through a console’s sub-grouping system orif the number of groups is not sufficient, throughan external patchbay.Neither of these is an easy option with digital sig-nals, and so the DA-98 provides a kind of internalpatchbay in the form of the Track Copy function(see 8.11.1, “Track Copy (channel-to-track rout-ing)”).The default setting for this feature is “straightthrough”, as shown below.WARNINGOnly use a TASCAM digital cable when making digitalaudio connections to the DA-98. Other types of cablemay cause damage to the system, and the warranty willbe voided if such damage is caused by use of the wrongcables.NOTEIf you attempt to record digitally from a digital sourcewhich has a different frequency from that previouslyrecorded as the DA-98’s tape format, the Fs indicatorcorresponding to the tapes sampling frequency will startto flash. This indicates a frequency mismatch.Recording with different sampling frequencies is notrecommended – problems will certainly occur on replayof such a recording.T D I F W o r d L e n g t h1 6 b i tNOTEIf you are dubbing tracks from a DA-88, this value mustalways be set to 16 bits.3 4 5 6 7 8211 2 3 4 5 6 7 83 4 5 6 7 8211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Track CopyInput 12345678 (Dig)TapeTrack 12345678 onInputsTapetracks