Basic Facts: Model 24, 16 & 12

[Mark Richards]

What are the Model 12/16/12

• The Model 12/16/24 is a FOH mixer with multitrack recording/mixdown capability and D.A.W. interaction.
• The Models have on-board "MTR" (MultiTrack Recorder) with straight forward "overdubbing"; "punch in"; and "auto-punch" capability.
• If you do not have or foresee a future need to edit tracks, do post-production work or master your work, then these Models should get the job done for you easily as a stand-a-lone production tool.
• If you do have or ever foresee a future need to edit tracks, do post-production work or master your work, then these Models will require using a D.A.W. program to accomplish those production tasks.

How Are the Model 12/16/24 Configured
If you have a Model 12 you have:

• A digital 10 track multi-track recorder/reproducer (1~10)
• A digital 2-Track mastering recorder/reproducer (11/12)

The Model 12 operates 100% in the digital domain. It has "Live" mixer capability; Multi-track Recorder capability; 2-Track Master Recorder capability; and can also perform as a digital control surface for a D.A.W. program for interface, recording and playback via a D.A.W.

The Models 16 and 24 operate in the analog domain. With the Models 16 and 24, you also have:

• A digital 14 or 22 Track multi-track recorder/reproducer (1~14 and 1~22 respectively)
• A digital 2-Track mastering recorder/reproducer (15/16 and 23/24 respectively)

The Models 16 and 24 have "Live" mixer capability; Multi-track Recorder capability; 2-Track Master Recorder capability. When connected via USB to a computer/D.A.W., the Model 16/24 when set to "PC" can record to/playback from a D.A.W. rather than the internal MTR. However, the Model 16/24 cannot act as a control surface for the D.A.W.

What Do the Model 12/16/24 Have Most in Common?

• All use WAV file format for their tracks.
• All have a Display Menu option that permits the proprietary 2-Track stereo master WAV files (Tracks 11/12; 15/16; 23/24 respectively) to be exported as a standard integrated stereo WAV file.
• All require using a D.A.W. for editing and mastering. They have no on-board editing/mastering capability.
• All can use a D.A.W. as an external multi-track recorder/reproducer, with the added benefit of the D.A.W.'s full editing and sound manipulation capabilities in addition to the sound manipulation capabilities available on the Model 12/16/24.
• Individual Inputs are hard-wired to the related specific Tracks (Input 1/Track 1, etc.)
• On playback, you hear the current stereo mix tracks (11/12, 15/16, 23/24 respectively); and can hear playback of previously recorded stereo mix tracks using the Bluetooth Channel strip. There's also an "SD Play" mode feature to play back Stereo WAV files in the Music folder.

Compared to the DP-24/32/SD Portastudios

• The Portastudios are stand-alone, self-contained full 24 or 32 track studio tracking/mixdown/mastering production consoles, all within the digital domain.
  • The Portastudio is a multi-track recorder/reproducer (24 or 32 track respectively).
  • The Portastudio is a 2-Track mastering recorder/reproducer.
  • The Portastudio is a 2-Track Mastering console.
  • The Portastudio does not require any D.A.W. production capability, but tracks can be imported/exported to/from D.A.W. programs.
• The stand-alone tracking, production and post-production capabilities of the Portastudios exceed those of a stand-alone Model 24, and for some may be worth the less convenient need to work with the primary one level menus that permit :
  • Assignment of individual Inputs to specific Tracks;
  • Individual Input Effects (Compression,Exciter, De-Esser, Noise Surpressor);
  • Individual Input and Individual Track Mixer settings (3 bands of parametric EQ, Pan, Phase, 2 Sends);
  • FX selection and parameters; and
  • Song Creation, Selection, and Maintenance.
  • Phantom power selectively for Inputs 1-4 and 5-8.

Suggestions:

• Get the searchable .pdf OM from TASCAM support site.
• This Sweetwater video demonstrates (IMO) the most efficient and effective way to make use of the Model 16/24 in a studio setting.
• Videos in the Forum "Videos" Sticky demonstrate how the Model 12 acts as a control surface for various D.A.W. programs. As I recall, the Model 12 can only control 8 tracks at a time in the D.A.W.
• Assure you're running the most recent OS release for your computer; and the most current version of the TASCAM firmware and software driver for your Model.
• Use only a TASCAM tested/approved SD card to avoid unexpected file and boot-up errors. The TASCAM support page has a list of tested/approved SD cards.
• Use a checklist to help assure that for each track during production, all the things that need to be turned on, switched on, or engaged are active (or in some cases disengaged/inactive).

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From the Model 24 Nov 2019 OM.

Italics/Blue are the words found in the OM current as of November 2019 v#042862302. Text in black is my comments, as best I can decipher the OM. If you stitch together the scattered sections of the OM, you get :

OM page 37: Recording; and the Block Diagram on Page 160
REC buttons (1-12, 13/14-19/20, 21/22) select the channels to record to the SD card
i.e., when a Channel is set to "Live",PC,or MTR MODE and the Channel REC button is activated, and when the Transport REC button is pressed, a stereo mix of up to 22 channels will be recorded on the MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24 (the 2-Track recorder/reproducer).

When the MTR is selected, the Channel input source also will be recorded to the associated MTR track. The Block Diagram suggests it's necessary to engage the Channel MAIN switch to get the stereo signal to the MAIN MIX L/R bus and thence to Tracks 23/24 on the SD card.

When a MODE switch is set to “MTR” [Channels 1~22], the signal from the input jack on that channel will be recorded [to the associated MTR Tracks (1~22) if the channel REC button is activated and the Transport REC button is activated. A stereo mix of up to 22 channels will be recorded simultaneously on the MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24 whenever the transport REC button is engaged. The Block Diagram suggests it's necessary to engage the Channel MAIN switch to get the signal to the MAIN MIX L/R bus and thence to the SD card.]

The MAIN MIX L/R bus does not have a REC button...it is always in recording standby. The signals of the MAIN MIX L/R bus ["Live", PC, or MTR] will always be recorded [on MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24] when the Transport REC button is pressed.
[Block Diagram suggests it's necessary to engage the Channel MAIN switch to get the signal to the MAIN MIX L/R bus and thence to the SD card].

OM page 32: Managing Songs
Song WAV files are saved for 22 [MTR] tracks and a stereo master file [MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24 ]...Songs [and related WAV files] are created/saved in the MTR folder on the SD card.

OM page 24: SD MAIN MIX RETURN switch
When this switch is on (pushed in)...playback of the stereo master file recorded on the SD card [i.e., the current stereo mix recorded onto MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24 in the MTR folder] is output from the MAIN OUTPUT and AUX OUTPUT MON 1/2 jacks. The sound of the MAIN MIX L/R bus [Channels 1~22] is not output.

OM page 44 Stereo Mix Export
MAIN MIX L/R bus files [MAIN MIX L/R bus MTR Tracks 23/24] can be converted to a single stereo [WAV] file. Converted stereo [WAV] files are saved in the MUSIC folder.

OM page 48: Playing [previously recorded] WAV files ([Menu] SD PLAY mode)
WAV files [placed] in the MUSIC folder on an SD card can be played back...Playback signal is sent from channels 21 and 22 [the Bluetooth interface channels].

PLEASE POST SPECIFIC QUESTIONS IN THE GENERAL FORUM.

 

[-mjk-]

This post is part of the sticky topic because there are a number of comparisons to the DP series (and some misconceptions) and it's necessary to understand that the Model series and the Portastudios are not directly comparable. The Model series is not a successor to the Portastudio series.
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I may be trading off some important stuff, but I like the real time controls for EQ, Comp, & whatever else. The 24 & 32 have a bigger footprint than I have space for, plus everything is menu & jog dial based....
Kenny

The DP machines have real-time controls too - you just have to know how to use them. When mixing, you press the select button for the track of interest, and start turning knobs. But, honestly, outside of FX, who actually adjusts the EQ on a mix, in real time? If you blow one section you have to keep doing the mix over and over. It's better to do a bounce of those sections and then mix steady-state. This is the stuff of recording engineering.

What seems to bother most new users is the "print FX to track" issue of the DP machines. We get that a lot on the Forum. Typically this is viewed as a "limitation" on the DP machines. You cannot record the send FX (I did not say dynamics) to tracks directly when multitracking. [Edit: You can record the Guitar FX when tracking.] But, that is actually a protection from committing to a certain FX during tracking, that doesn't work when mixing. Since one can bounce tracks and add FX, or even a separate FX track altogether (due to the high track count of the DP machines), there isn't any real reason to record FX to track. That's the best way to ensure that you don't (for example) have a drum track that you recorded with reverb that sounded cool on it's own, but when mixed with instruments you recorded later, doesn't fit anymore. This is how we work in the professional recording world.

As for "everything is menu & jog dial based" I'm not sure how to answer that. Every thing you implement has to be configured somehow. You have to adjust something. The DP machines have mixer controls, so things like EQ, Pan, FX sends, are all knobs. You can change to the mixer screen if you want, but the knobs work on whatever track or input is selected. When you choose a reverb or other effect, you have to set it up. The jog wheel and cursor buttons are a very convenient way of doing that. The jog wheel isn't used for assigning/record arming/recording/playback/RR/FW/muting/grouping/selecting/bouncing, or using the faders. So I don't really see the issue. You are going to have to adjust things on any device you use, and they all have menus.

 

[Mark Richards]

Model 12/16/24 MAIN Fader Only Affects Audio to the XLR Speaker Outputs

• Tascam Support confirms that the MAIN fader only effects the audio signal going to the XLR analog speaker outputs.

• The Control Room and Headphone circuits have their own separate stereo volume control knobs for the audio going to the Control Room.

• These signal flows are shown clearly in the Block Diagram.

Moving the MAIN fader has no impact on the mix-down of the signal on the Channels (1~10, 1~14, 1~22, respectively) regardless of whether the Channel strip MODE is set to "Live", PC, or MTR.

Therefore it is not possible on the Model 12/16/24 to print a fade-out at the end of a song directly to the 2-track stereo master MTR Tracks (11/12, 15/16, 23/24 respectively) because the MAIN fader is not part of that mix-down circuit.

Only the Channel faders can be used to adjust the signal going to the 2-track stereo master MTR Tracks (11/12, 15/16, 23/24, respectively).

TASCAM made a design change in later production units. Please read this post also:
https://www.tascamforums.com/thread...ase-add-your-own-discoveries.7977/#post-39983

 

[Matthew Fogel]

Stefan dropped a new Model 24 video!

 

[-mjk-]

Originally posted by @Doing It Dawless and moved to this thread. Thank you for your contribution.

Why I record with the TASCAM MODEL 24