Footswitch doesn't work

[Ted Riley]

I have a brand new Tascam DP-24SD that I got about a week ago. Works great, no problems, and I love it.

I hooked up the RC-3F to the jack on the front, dead right of the headphone jack. I double-checked in Preferences screen and the default settings for the foot switch are all intact (haven't changed them). However, whenever I press any of the switches on the footswitch, no matter how fast or slow I click it, absolutely nothing happens, there is no visible change in the DP-24SD's behavior or monitor screen.

Things like a footswitch usually are pretty bulletproof when it comes to working well and I've never had one arrive DOA. Is there something simple that could be going on that could cause these problems?

 

[Eric Guicherit]

Did you check the batteries?

 

[Ted Riley]

Thanks, Eric. I got the footswitch without any docs and didn't think to check for that. Every footswitch I had before didn't use batteries. I put some batteries in and it works now.

 

[Eric Guicherit]

There are some things on the DP24 that are counter intuitive. Like the remote pedal. Indeed, I too never used one that requires batteries. Then there are the send effects with default settings being “no setting” and which have many people think they have an issue. Otherwise it’s a great piece of hardware.

 

[Ted Riley]

I agree Eric. A fantastic unit but there some quirks that definitely confuse you when you first get it.

Some hoops I had to jump over:

- There is only one internal effect, and that effect is reachable with the Send 1 effect knob. If you don't have the master volume up on it and have it enabled then you won't hear it.
- The send 2 effect knob only goes to an outbound effect unit and you have to use two of the mixer inputs to handle the returns if it's a stereo effect
- The Guitar effect is a 4 sound-block chain that can only be used on one channel at a time. If you use it on another channel, you lose it on the channel you took it away from. If you want to have "more" guitar effects, you have to "print" the effect while recording and then of course you're stuck with it from that point on, on the track. (If any of this is wrong please educate).

But those are just some relatively minor things to work around. I'm so glad to be free of using a PC to record, something I've always disliked. The DP-24SD is wonderfully quiet, has an amazing master Reverb effect, and once you get used to the Record/Mixdown/Mastering workflow is really easy to use and quickly record quality songs with.

 

[David Porter]

I agree that these are excellent machines. But they also have some quirks and limitations. I have said it before... once you get the quirks, limitations, and abilities of the machine decently understood...work-arounds become more clear and work flow improves. I can't believe it's been this long... but I've been using the Roland VS series (VS840 & Vs880EX) on and off for the last 19 years. They are also excellent little digital recorders... but are way more confusing, in my opinion.

"There is only one internal effect"

To be clear, there are 3 distinct "internal" effects... (but even putting it that way is a little misleading because each of those has multiple "effects") although they are different effects and are generally applied somewhat differently depending on what you're wanting/trying to do.

http://www.tascamforums.com/threads/dp24-32-fx-definitive-summary-of-effects.4162/

 

[Mark Richards]

Ted, might this be an imperfect solution re guitar effects:
Record guitar dry on Tr1
Rewind
Turn on Tr1 "Insert Effect" in mixer screen
Turn Tr1 Pan hard left (for maximum volume)
From Guitar Effects choose a single guitar effect or a desired combination and set to "play"
Set effects level as wet as possible (the idea is to minimize the dry guitar sound)
Return to multitrack screen
Set Tr1 fader to unity gain/0dB
Enter bounce mode
Select Tr1 (with the chosen effect turned on) as source, Tr2 as the record track
Record the bounce. This places the guitar effect on Tr2
Repeat with different guitar effects bounced from Tr1 to Tr3, 4, etc.
After last bounce turn off "Insert Effect" for Tr1

Result is a clean guitar recorded only once (on Tr1), and several different guitar effects on Tr2, Tr3, Tr4,...etc. that can be selected and blended with Tr1 on Mixdown, or combined in a bounce to another open track or virtual track. Each effects track won't be completely wet, but should provide enough of a wet sound to blend effectively with the dry guitar on Tr1 or used in some other creative way. It also frees up the block of guitar effects for use on some other instrument during Mixdown.

Not a perfect solution, but might get the job done.

 

[Ted Riley]

Thanks Mark and David.