Many Thanks

[Doodle46]

Many thanks to David Porter for the help he gave me on my Tascam. DP-32sd & Lexicon Effects Processor.

 

[David Porter]

Very welcome, sir.

 

[Doodle46]

David,
When we left each other yesterday, everything looked good, and my audio was strong. I followed your instructions precisely, and left settings as they were. However, when I recorded vocal, the playback was very faint... almost nonexistent. On the Home Screen, Stereo Track 9-10 showed a signal, but it never rose very high.
I tried resetting the Mix every way but Sunday, and nothing solved it. Do you have any idea why this method is not working for me?
Even if I can never get my External Effects to work, I am still very appreciative of your help.
• In reference to your previous question, my effects processor is a Lexicon 300.

 

[David Porter]

So is your Lexicon unit this one:

Or is it this one:

Top one or bottom one??

 

[David Porter]

Ah... this just occurred to me while looking at the block diagram... I did not mention in our step-by-step back and forth that you'll also need to adjust the input "Trim" knobs for inputs E and F. I can't be sure but this may be why you had low recording level.

 

[Doodle46]

My Lexicon is the bottom one. I thought about the trim knobs, but nothing helped.

 

[David Porter]

If I'm counting right.... your vocal signal is traveling through 6 signal level adjustments - on it's way to being monitored/recorded. It's important that these are set appropriately. I'm not sure how to help beyond checking these in this order:

1) Input A trim adjustment level
2) Input A level adjustment - only accessed (and adjusted using the jog wheel) in the "Input A" mixer screen
3) Send 1 level (green)
4) Send 1 master level (gray)
5) Input level control of the Lexicon (I didn't see that it has an output control)
6) Input E and F trim adjustment level(s)

BTW -your Lexicon MX300 manual says this:

7. Balanced Analog Line Input Pair
Left and Right active analog 1/4” TRS or XLR balanced line inputs. If only a single plug is connected to the Left input, the signal can be split and sent to both the Left and Right input paths by selecting Analog Mono L in the Input Source section of the System Menu.

You may want to check the above setting. ; - )

 

[Doodle46]

Thank you, David. It appears that you went to a fair amount trouble for this info. I will study what you sent me, and apply it as I understand it. It makes sense to me. I will let you know the outcome. Thanks again.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Re. levels, you may need to turn up the send & master send levels quite high (full?) as the MX300 inputs appear to need a hefty signal (spec on page 50 in manual says +4dBu professional level). I don't think the send outputs on the dp machine are that high, but I may be wrong.
A friend had a similar problem with his MX200 - the input lights hardly indicated anything.
There's also a switch for the MX300 output to set pro levels (+4) or consumer levels (-10) - see top of page 32, so may be worth checking this.
By the way, the Monitor Select button can help track down level problems. Treat the monitor as a 'probe' you can connect to various points in the machine. Anything on the monitors will be heard, but more importantly it will be displayed on the far right L/R meter bars, so you can easily check for healthy levels and overloads/clipping.

 

[Doodle46]

Thank you, Phil. I did turn the send & master levels all the way up, but it changed nothing on the weak recorded playback. One of David’s comments reminded me of something I wondered about, and that was... “Why could I run only one cable to the Lexicon (Left) Input, but need two cables that run from the Lexicon Outputs to the D-32 Inputs?” Could this have something to do with it?
It’s was a real shock to me, having such a strong audio while recording, and then, almost nothing on the playback. One consolation is, and thanks to you, I’m having a fair amount of luck with the Internal Effects. It’s just that they are complicated (for me), and I don’t feel as confident using them.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Using one cable in and two out should be ok. The Lexicon can handle different configurations, so as long it's set up correctly, if you just plug one cable into the left socket, it knows it's a mono signal. Are you getting a signal indication on the Lexicon lights?

The reverb effect creates multiple delayed versions of your mono input (vocal) and sends them to both the left & right outputs to create a sound which reflects (sorry about pun!) how you would sound in a real hall, where sounds bounce off walls all around you.

When these left & right signals come back into the Tascam machine, you will retain this stereo 'spread' as long as you route those 2 inputs correctly. You can do this several ways depending what you want to do with the effect signal:

• The simplest way is to assign them to a stereo track, so no panning is reqd. either for recording or for playing back.

• You could assign them directly to the stereo or bounce buses (e.g. for mixdown or bouncing), but in those cases, you must use the input pan controls to route the left input signal to the left and the right signal to the right so they are allocated to the buses correctly.

• You could assign them to mono tracks; no panning is reqd for recording, but when you play them back, you have to use the track pans to allocate the track outputs to the stereo bus correctly.

 

[David Porter]

What Phil pointed out above about the Lexicon output level... you may want to check this. Here is what it says on page 32 of the Lexicon MX300 manual:

Analog Out Level
The MX300 outputs can be optimized to run with equipment requiring
different output levels. High end audio systems run at +4dBu levels while
many inexpensive system levels run at –10dBV levels. Consult the technical
guides that came with the equipment you will be connecting the MX300
to so as determine which output level should be selected. Use Knob B to change between –10dBV or +4dBu.