Newbie DM-24 user - Help my brain hurts

William Rees

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DM-24 DA-88 DA-20
Hi to you all

I have been recording for more than 45 years - just to give you an example

I have here the granddaddy of samplers - the EMAX 1 keyboard lol just 8 note poly and 8 bit sounds
but those sounds are great and you cannot reproduce this kinda warm fuzzy 8 bit noise on a modern computer ! This keyboard actually replaced the legendary Yamaha DX 7 which I had - 4 note poly and 21 sounds I think ! so going up to an Emax was luxury AND it had a floppy disc drive too !!

I have also got the wonderful 1st digital reverb ever made by a company Dynachord
It has got a massive 8 presets !! and cost me £500 back in 1979 ! but those 8 presets do sound great !

It was actually named the DRP-16 because for a further £375 you could buy an add-on chip which you retro-fitted and gave you ..…..another 8 presets !!

It made a refreshing change to the old spring reverb I had - which looked like a 4ft length of blue pipe the plumber has left behind !!

And recording ? Started on a Phillips 2 track which they manage to get a small add-on box which meant you could over-dub on 1 track !

Moved onto of course the 1st Tascam Portastudio 4 tracks ! - well actually not - you had to stripe
the 1st track with white noise so that the drum machine (Yamaha x15) would be able to follow -
so then ONLY 3 tracks to use for recording - yes you learnt instrument and vocal placement in the stereo field the hard way !!!


So here I am I've gone digital after all these years of resisting it - ALL my old analogue gear
is STILL working after 40 years of use !! Yes EMAX 1 yes Dynachord DRP-16 yes Roland SDE 1000 (anyone remember THAT !)

And for guitar work ? I have got here the almost the ' lost in time ' Axxeman 1 u rackmount unit in a fetching light blue 4 guitar presets 3 chorus presets (well they are activated by push latching switches ) no solid state switching back then either ! With overdrive and fuzz control knobs !!! really ! lol Drove all way down to Hertfordshire to pick it up from the 2 gentlemen who were making it in a shed in the back garden of their house (I kid you not !)

So I have managed to get myself a really really nice condition DM-24 it is really like new ! got it from a guy who used it only as a 16-2 monitor mixer to monitor Welsh Choir singing only on a Sunday ! so it is unmarked none of the 100 snapshots have been used none of the user preset slots have been use AND he fitted a brand new LCD screen to it last year costing him £200 - I bought it for £185 !! lol

Now I have a good knowledge of recording gear and most times I do NOT read the manual never had to with analogue gear at all (this mixer is replacing my Soundtracs 24 channel desk which is STILL going strong after 30 years of use (British made that's why !) )

So I set up to record - I've followed all the instructions in the qs guide and the user manual - BUT having read ALL the manuals from front to back - NOWHERE is there any mention of what the hell the RECORD switches on the DM-24 do ! or how to activate them !!! after 3 days of frustration

MY BRAIN HURTS !! lol

So can someone PLEASE tell me how to activate the record switches on the DM-24 which
surely means that the DM-24 channels are RECORD READY and will send out signal to the multitrack

I have got hooked up a DA-88 and an Akai DR-16 both ARE recognised by the system and are
set up as DIRECT OUT and RETURN to AUX 1-2 everything is fine and dandy with that
BUT how do I hit the record switches to get the channels to send my signals to these 2 machines?

As I say I have found by reading ALL the manuals (which I hate doing but 'needs must' and all that)
There is NO mention of probably THE most important switch on the whole mixer - the RECORD switch - it's what mixer are designed for no? to mix - to record said mixes ? no?

I think it's deliberate - The Japanese do like puzzles - they like Kareokee and beer too - together !
I know this I have visited Japan many many times ( I was Technical Manager for ALPS ELECTRIC Co Japan)

Yes - ALL Tascams are stuffed with ALPS components - faders switches - tact switches encoders potentiometers lcds etc etc me and my team designed most of it !!

Tascam are about no 7 on the ALPS customer list behind Sony Nissan Honda Ford BMW Mercedes
Toshiba Apple Microsoft Dell Samsung etc (not Yamaha - they use Panasonic components )

Pretty much the entire UK Pro-Audio industry is using ALPS components from Solid State Logic
AMS/Neve Amek DDA Soundcraft Soundtracs Allen+Heath

Used to have tea and cake with Mr Rupert Neve and discuss circuit designs and played too much golf with Mr Dearden Davies and his brother Andrew (DDA Consoles) My kids went over to Graham Langley's house to play (owner of Amek ) he would come and have Sunday dinner with me and the family


Why ALPS ? simply they are the best ! they make components that will give long life and service for many many years - see above lol I have a Sony Hi-fi amp the TA-AX3 it's been with me since I was 22 !! IT STILL WORKS perfectly !!

So answers on a postcard please - or here will be fine !!

Thanks for reading - Sorry the post is longish - but I am 64 years old and I like to ramble on !! lolol

Regards
Billr
 
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If you want hitting the record button on the DM24 to put your recorder into record, you have to make midi or 9 pin control connections between the devices.
Then you have to select it as a remote device in the DM24 Machine control window (Page 80 in the DM24 manual.)

Best -
Will Miho
 
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Thanks for the reply Will

And thanks for the comments mjk

I have a query perhaps someone has the answers

I have my Akai DR16 hooked up to the DM24 via ADAT light pipe cable. This will only give me 8 tracks in/out at one time. Is there any way to get the other 8 tracks out ?

As far as I can see - no

You can record tracks 9-16 into the DR16 by using the track switch function on the DR16 or by simply copying tracks 1-8 over to 9-16

But how can you get the full 16 tracks playback in the digital domain ?

Tracks 1-8 yes via ADAT of course
But 9-16...??

Akai did make an ADAT card that would get you 16 tracks playback

But the DM-24 has only the standard ADAT card fitted so it will only recognize 1 lot of ADAT tracks/signals for tracks 1-8 only

The only way I can figure is for tracks 9-16 to go via analogue outs

Thanks
 
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Get a light pipe card on eBay. They're cheap.

- Will
 
hi Will

No putting another adat card into the DM-24 will not work...

The control scheme is that the DM-24 ONLY 'sees' 1 block of adat tracks and the default
scheme is tracks 1-8 always 1-8

The slots on the back of the DM-24 will accept adat or tdif - my DM-24 has 3 tdif slots
and 1 adat slot which I use...but the scheme is always just tracks 1-8 for whichever slot
you use - The DM-24 then ROUTES/SENDS these 1-8 tracks in slots 1-2-3-4 etc to channels 1-8 9-16 and 17-24

That is why Tascam built the DA-88/74/98 with only 8 tracks each because the scheme is set as default tracks 1-8 regardless of machine - the mixer then routes the default 1-8 tracks from whatever slot to the channels.

Therefore there is no way to get the DM-24 to accept a track scheme 9-16
sent from any machine you can think of...the Tascam DM range of digital mixers are designed to take only the scheme - tracks 1-8 from any slot. In coming tracks/signals from any other machine which has a track scheme - 1-8 AND 9-16 will ONLY be recognised by the Tascam mixer for tracks 1-8

Adat is the exact same - ADAT was set up in direct competition to Tascam TDIF scheme of getting 8 tracks (1-8 ) into/out of mixers recorders at once - but it has ALWAYS and ever been
just tracks 1-8

As I said Akai DID make a card that will output tracks 1-8 and 9-16
BUT no digital mixer has ever implemented this scheme of tracks 1-8 AND 9-16

So....I think it will have to be analogue outs for tracks 9-16 on my Akai DR16

Not a big problem really.....

Thanks
 
Try this. Assign all your returns to nothing by turning the data wheel all the way left. Then assign the card slot lightpipe for channels 1-8 returns and the built in lightpipe for channels 9-16 returns. The built in adat lightpipe will receive from Busses 1-8 out, the card slot from directs 1-8.
That's what's in my DM24.
And a firewire card. The routing is not as flexible as a DM3200 or a DM 4800, but you can do it.
At least mine does, I'm on software 3.0 for the FireWire card.

- Will
 

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See fixed outputs, direct 1-8 feed 1-8 on whatever cards you have in either slot. Two adat cards would ideal for you, because the built in adat only receives from busses 1-8 instead of directs 8-16 - but no big deal.
So set up ch 1-8 direct out and 9-16 on the busses 1-8. You can track 1-16, and come back digitally from your recorder.

- Will
 

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hi will

Well now I will look into that - but my AKAI DR16 HAS ONLY 1 ADAT card - hence I think
only 8 tracks will come out to the DM24 at a time - it can be tracks 1-8 from the Akai or it can be tracks 9-16 but NOT TOGETHER FROM THE AKAI

There are limitations to the Akai DR16.....ONLY 1 ADAT CARD (and I had to 'steal' this card from my old Akai DR8 )

OK enough of that !!

I have just gotten the opportunity to get another DM-24 for a good price and the machine is in excellent condition

I do need more inputs - that's for sure - but not exactly know what real benefits another DM-24 will give me ? Will?

Yes motorized faders for the extra inputs - but I can have my old Soundtracs PC Midi analogue mixer handle the extra inputs I need …...so I am not sure what the benefits would be ?

The mic pres on the Stracs are very good indeed and the eq is great sounding ! I can get a lot of 'warmth' to the signals via this board......so is it better just because the DM24 is digital ?

PLUS - My DM-24 has a meter bridge this one I'M looking at buying does NOT
And my Stracs console also has a meter bridge - which for me - with my eyesight
is a big benefit - I do not want to be squinting at that little 5" screen while I am playing recording
or singing....not good performance wise...

I have spent some serious money on mike pres to warm up the sound going into the DM24

So does getting another make any sense at all ? Seems to me a lot of people are doing just this trying to get that Analogue sound back into their digital recordings...…

There is a whole section of the Pro-Audio market dedicated to just this - mic pre with ' Tube '
sound with old fashion tape compressor sound - anything to get an analogue sound into the digital domain.....

I'll make a prediction - I think SSL have got it right make a great Analogue console in the 1st place and have it deeply integrated with any major DAW

Their AWS and Matrix consoles look great and sound great

So I predict that analogue consoles might make a comeback !!!

Anyway - getting another DM-24 …..

Before anyone answers - will I need a special cable to link the two together ?
And if so - does the cable still exist ? or will I have to spend months looking for something that no longer is available ? if that is the case then it's pointless

thanks
 
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William, the Akai DR16 adat card has 16 digital outputs. Only 8 digital inputs on a single card, but 16 digital outs. Took me about a minute to check the manual!

- Will
 

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