...in for a penny

[HellvisPresley]

Greetings, all:
Yep, just got my second unit (a MK-I from NYC, freshly refurbed in LA due to needing a battery/bios reset!). Came with two AES cards.

Today's questions - I'm running v1.20 OS in my original unit - I see some references to folks running v2.x; is this a version intended for MK II units that works in MK I's?? Where can I download it, and is it better?

I've been trying to figure out how to route subgroups back into track pairs for an "internal" audio submix. Is this possible?

The best solution to a company discontinuing a fine product (after issuing a MK II version only a year ago!) - immediately scoop up a spare! Folks dumping them all over ebay; get you one now!

HP

 

[HellvisPresley]

Righty-O:

Answering my own questions, as usual! Reading that one of the "fixed" features on the v2.03 firmware was ACTUAL functionality of the AES cards (see above), I took a leap of Tascam faith and loaded it onto my MK-I unit. Seems to work fine - at least it boots!

After much re-reading of the original manual, I cannot find a way to route ANY internal outputs to the inputs - only "slot" designates from the rear panel. Whoops! A quick route through my Fireface 800, SPDIF-to-SPDIF got-er done, and we're now comping in fine style.

Ironically, I now remember having the exact same difficulty using Nuendo - if you want to create a track bounce reflecting panning/level choices from multiple tracks, a route-through is required from the outside world. Guess they're scared to give us the power of patching, due to the possibility of feedback loops? Even my ancient Spectral Synthesis DAW allowed an internal mixdown to a set of "virtual" tracks.

Of course, my mighty Pyramix DAW offers this feature in spades; too bad I only use it for mastering, not multitrack work. Damn thing's so complicated I can barely stay afloat....
my old ears yearn for the days of simply threading a multitrack or two track tape machine...

HP