Model 24 Main Mix/Master help

[xderbyx]

Hey guys, I did search as much as I could but I can’t seem to get a solid answer to my questions! So any help is much appreciated..
I’m using the Model 24 is a home-studio situation and I have a song recorded across 9 tracks. From my understanding the Main Mix is actually that missing 23/24 track. My issue at the moment is that I seem to have my tracks all recorded to the Main but I can barely hear it went played solely from the Main with my individual tracks muted.
My next concern is just getting a finished Master like I would off of my DP-24 and since there’s no “Mixdown/Master Mode” I’m assuming from what I’ve been reading, that the Main is actually my recorded Stereo Master tracks once they are recorded. So once I get that Main level so come in normally, I just record the song again with no REC buttons lit and that’ll record my mixed Stereo Master and save it to the SD (or I would then have to export it to the SD)?
Thanks for any insight guys. The Model 24 is a breeze to work with until I get to this point! Lol

 

[Mark Richards]

...getting a finished Master...

From what I understand, not being a Model 24 user, if you flip your channel switches to MTR (Multi Track Recorder) you can mix the recorded tracks (1~22) with full fader, pan, EQ, and effects to a stereo master (Tr 23/24) by pressing the "Main" button for each channel with an MTR signal. That sends the channel signal to the Main Mix stereo bus.

The SD card is your digital Multitrack Recorder/Reproducer (Tr 1~22) and your 2-Track stereo Recorder/Reproducer (Tr 23/24).

..have my tracks all recorded to the Main but I can barely hear it went played solely from the Main with my individual tracks muted.

Study of the Block Diagram in the OM helps understand how signals move through the unit, and this is why understanding signal flow is so important.

You need to understand how the Main Mix recorded stereo master (Tr 23/24) gets sent to the stereo out bus. Cant' help you with that.

But if you're sending channels 1~22 to the Main Mix stereo bus, and also muting the channels, there's your answer.

 

[xderbyx]

Mark thanks for the reply and for putting some thought into my dilemma. I will study the block diagram a bit either way, but just to clarify my muted channels; I’m only muting them on playback after recording the mix, to isolate what I’m hearing down to just the Main Mix stereo bus to make sure it matches up with what is mixed out on the individual tracks. But that’s when I realised that the sound I’m getting out of the Main Mix is so very minimal! It’s really quite a confusing situation and I feel like I’ve done whatever I could that makes sense, especially based on what experience I do have from the DP-24 and such.

 

[Mark Richards]

I went on line and dl'd the OM.

According to the OM, this is how you hear the stereo master signal recorded on the 2-Track Recorder/Reproducer (the SD card). Maybe the answer lies in there somewhere.

SD MAIN MIX RETURN switch
When this switch is on (pushed in), playback of stereo master files recorded on the SD card is output from the MAIN OUTPUT and AUX OUTPUT MON 1/2 jack

Presumably when that switch is out, the stereo Main Mix signal is coming only from the MTR playback of previously recorded tracks via channels 1~22, which you've muted.

Unless you press the SD Main Mix Return button, you can't hear playback of the mixed down stereo master recording.

I'm sure a Model 24 user will be along to help you sort this out. Good luck.

 

[xderbyx]

Thanks again Mark, much appreciated.

 

[Matthew Fogel]

To add to what Mark said, When you playback, you will always hear the current mix. In order to hear the previously recorded track 23/24, you have to press the SD Main Mix Return. This will playback the recorded Master using the track 21/22 channel strip. You can also use the stereo mixdown feature (as Mark mentioned above) which will also play back completed stereo mix files (they are just Stereo Wav files saved to the Music folder). The Music folder is accessible via the "SD Play" menu on the display.

 

[xderbyx]

Thank you guys for all the help, I was able to figure it out with success!

And here comes a new issue... (Also, does anyone recommend I make a new thread pertaining to the following issue for ease of anyone searching a similar issue?)
I was working on my second song using the Model 24. A few times through recording I received an error message (writing failed I believe) and the recording would start skipping like a cd. Once I finished all of my tracks and had a final mix, I went to record my stereo master track. 25 seconds in it started skipping like a cd again, then I lost most functions. Upon (recommended) restarting of the unit, the song will no longer load, sending the error message “File Error”. Thus far I’ve been unable to load that song and I don’t know how to correct the problem!

 

[Mark Richards]

the song will no longer load, sending the error message “File Error”.

Sometimes Portastudios with faulty unapproved SD cards have the same problem.

It's possible the Model 24 uses the same approach to file creation as that for the Portastudios. Look in the Equipment Tips sticky for the DP-24/32/SD. There are some posts there that may be helpful re SD cards and file recovery.

 

[xderbyx]

Thanks for the quick reply Mark!
Im actually going to pick up a new SD card today just to play it safe for future use.. Im wondering though: do you think I could just pull the file off the old card, put it on the new card and hopefully get back to work? or do you think that the file is just corrupt now somehow?

 

[Mark Richards]

IF you can apply the file recovery method that works for the Porta-studios, then yes, it's worth trying. If successful, the song should open normally on your Model 24 and you then can copy to a new SD card.

Only TASCAM tested/approved cards will work reliably with the Model 24/16/12. You may want to check the support website.
(Lots of good stuff there. Scroll the page).

From the Model 24 Owner Manual (page 18)
About SD cards
A list of SD cards that have been confirmed for use with this unit can be found on our web site. Please access [the] product page of this product to find the list or contact the TASCAM customer support service.

 

[xderbyx]

Mark you are the absolute man..
The DPxx method worked to rid my files of the corrupt ones and allow me to load the song and have a second chance to get this stereo mix recorded. In case the question ever comes up and you beat me to the answer; the DPxx files are in the MTR folder and they end in a .zz whereas in the Model24 just shows the 24 tracks individually and they are a .wav file.. typically if the problem (like mine) happened to me while recording the stereo master (the 23 and 24 track) you just need to delete those files (or whichever track file you were working on that failed you as those would be the corrupt files). once deleted, you should be able to go back into your song and at least have clean, non-corrupt files to work with now.

 

[-mjk-]

Thanks for the follow-up!