Tascam DP 24 SD Master Comp

[-mjk-]

Mark, as you know while still in Mixdown mode, playing back, does not playback the mixdown file. It just plays back the tracks through the mixer.

I think what you meant to say is, to go into Mastering mode to listen to the mixdown file, before you apply EQ or compression. Just press play and listen to the file all the way through to make sure it plays to the end of the mix. If for some reason the mixdown file is truncated then that's another issue altogether.

 

[-mjk-]

Hi
Here is a utube vid of the problem im having
Sorry that vid picture and sound is poor ....but should be good enough.

I left a comment on the YouTube video. I do not see the failure. Your mixdown file is 33.13 long. You confirm that when you played it back in mastering mode, and by watching the green bar you can see that it goes all the way to the end. When you add compression and EQ, and press record, it goes all the way to 33.13.

What exactly makes you think there's a failure?

 

[Mark Richards]

Mark, as you know while still in Mixdown mode, playing back, does not playback the mixdown file. It just plays back the tracks through the mixer. I think what you meant to say is, to go into Mastering mode to listen to the mixdown file, before you apply EQ or compression...

You're right, thanks for catching that mj. I went back and fixed it. Senior moment!

Notice where the out point is? for a 6:35 song???

 

[Sam Trenholme]

I think the issue here is that the OP appears to be starting a mixdown, stopping the mixdown after 33 seconds, and is wondering why he can only master 33 seconds of his song.

The process is this:

• Mix down the entire song
• After mixing down the entire song, then master the song.

 

[Tyros]

Hi
Thanks to all who have tried to help .There does though seem to be some misunderstanding
About how long the track is.In mixdown { Light flashes }I recorded the entire 6Mins 35 s
I then press Mixdown Mastering Button Again { light stays on } I now Add Master Comp And EQ Then Press Record >This Is Where the Tascam Fails And Locks up As Shown in The Vid.
The display Stops At 33 s .I Have no control over the display.It Stops At 33 s Locks the machine, On viewing the Master song File It plays for Only 33 s .I have Used And Recorded
many songs on the Tascam for A little More Than a year A feel that I am way past a > First time user Making a Basic mistake. The Song Lenth is set Correctly I Assure you And the machine is locking up and displaying the time When it locks up.
# Hope this has cleared up any confusion My first post May have produced .Sorry.

Tyros.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Tyros. The total time display shown under the song name in the mastering screen is the length of the song which is to be mastered. The length is initially defined at mixdown stage, and is either the time between the IN and OUT points or shorter if you pressed Stop manually during mixdown.

There is normally no need to press rewind or stop at any time during mixdown as the machine handles the transport automatically according to the IN & OUT points (see tutorial 10 at approx 6m35s). If you do press Stop prematurely, you'll end up with a smaller master file, and this shorter time will be reflected in the display when you go into mastering mode.

Similarly, in mastering mode, there is no need to press rewind or stop as the master file has already been created, so the machine knows where it starts and ends. If you press Stop prematurely during the mastering record pass, the master file will be shortened, and this shorter time will be reflected in the display.

So as the guys have correctly said, that 33secs display in the mastering screen just shows your master file is 33secs, so this is the reason mastering stops at this point.

13:28 - Update: have just corrected this post to avoid confusion - have double-checked and seems you can alter the master file length in mastering mode by pressing the Stop button prematurely, i.e. without letting the mastering record pass finish. This results is a shorter file, so that's another possible way the file got shrunk to 33secs.... and is something new I've just learned

 

[-mjk-]

Tyros, the DP machines do not render audio; the mixdown must be completed from start to finish, in real-time. That means, even if you have the endpoint set to 6 minutes and something, and you do a 30 second mixdown, that's all you get.

Do another video please. This time:

1. Go to Mixdown mode.
2. Press In and verify that it is set where the song starts. If not, adjust it and set the In point.
3. Press Out and verify that it is set at the end of the song. If not, adjust that point.
4. Press Record and do a mixdown. Do not press Stop. Allow the machine to run to the Out point and stop itself.
5. Press the button again to enter Mastering mode.
6. Verify the length of the master Mixdown file.
7. From there, apply EQ and compression as necessary by pressing Record, and allow the machine to run to the end of the file by itself, and Stop by itself.

This procedure will flush out whatever error is occurring.

 

[-mjk-]

Btw, Tyros, machine did not lock up in the video. Your file was only 30 seconds long; it reached the end and stopped.

 

[-mjk-]

View attachment 1923

You're right, thanks for catching that mj. I went back and fixed it. Senior moment!

Notice where the out point is? for a 6:35 song???

Yes, clearly his endpoint is set wrong.

 

[Mark Richards]

There does though seem to be some misunderstanding About how long the track is.In mixdown { Light flashes }I recorded the entire 6Mins 35 s

Tyros, to help us better see the status of the song in Mixdown mode, please post an image of your song in Mixdown mode with the screen set to Timeline and shortened (use the direction cursors under the jog wheel) so the entire song can be seen.

Your picture should show the song as similar to this in Mixdown mode, with the IN Point and OUT Point markers bracketing the song length:

 

[Tyros]

Hi
There still seems to be some misunderstanding .
Let me explain again how I have Tried on 5 seperate occations to master this song using.
A fresh import of the stems.then a fresh master.then a full master .
Here s what i did.
1 full format the sd card
2 create song ..... Song Lenth is set to 6 mins 35 s....
3 Go in to Mastering { light flashes } At this point the song is 6 mins 35 sec s.... NOT 33 s...
4 Go on to Full master { light on button is now solid }
Its at this point that the machine locks up.
The Display Says 33s .Not because I did not set the IN OUT Points.
The Display is showing the time the machine locks up as it has locked the machine and can not continue because of the Fault.
I did explain that this fault is repeatable .
1. using firmware ver 105.
Brand new tascam approved card.Full format.create new song.set lenth.sub master song .
Go to full master , try to make a full mastered song and the machine locks up.

Lets try again with a new card and older firmware Ver.

2 By now i have the tracks made in the first place saved to my pc.
brand new tascam approved sd card .full format. import tracks made earlier. as in the video.
Take those imported tracks throught to mastermix { light on button flashes } Make a sub master song........ 6 mins 35 s . All Good............
Go through to Full Master { light on button stays solid }
Use Master Comp and Master Eq and the Machine locks .on firmware Ver 104 it locked At 133 min 33s .

Lets try Again
This time firmware Ver 102
Brand new Tascam Approved card.
Full format.
Import tracks.
Lenth Of Song Is Set To 6 mins 35 s.......NOT 33 s ..
Go through to Mastermix down { light on button flashes }
Make a master track 6 Mins 35 s long ...All Good.
Go through to full Master { light on button stays solid }
Make a few Adjustments to the Master Comp And Master EQ .
Press Record To Make A Full Master Song And the Machine Locks up
This time 1 Min 12 s I think This firmware Ver Did.

Rince And Repeat For 2 More Cards And Firmware Ver s

This problem started About a month ago And seems to be getting worse
Im going to call Tec Support To see If they have had the same problem on any other machines
.Hope this clears the issue up
Thanks
Tyros
And to make a vid including formating the card .creating the tracks .Doing the Mixdown Mastering .then a Full master .Just to show you that Im Setting The IN and OUT Points
Would Take At Least 2 Hours That I do Not Have Right Now Sorry.
Thanks Again
Tyros

 

[-mjk-]

I understand Tyros. A photo of the timeline will do. We want to see where the red dots are. Thanks.

 

[Sam Trenholme]

Tyros, please post a picture of the entire song as Mark has requested that you do.

 

[-mjk-]

Tyros, to help us better see the status of the song in Mixdown mode, please post an image of your song in Mixdown mode with the screen set to Timeline and shortened (use the direction cursors under the jog wheel) so the entire song can be seen.

Your picture should show the song as similar to this in Mixdown mode, with the IN Point and OUT Point markers bracketing the song length:
View attachment 1930

The IN/OUT points are always clearly marked right underneath the Song Title. All he has to do is load the song, and take a shot of the screen.

 

[Phil Tipping]

I think that's pretty clear Tyros thanks. Seems to make more sense now I've discovered the master file length (and hence the total time display) depends on when the machine stops mastering, either manually via the Stop button... or if, as it seems in your case, it locks up. I'm stumped - sorry.... but keep on with the investigation.

 

[Mark Richards]

I just snapped a pic of my screen using my smart phone and uploaded it. The video you posted shows the OUT point as 00:00:00:00.0; thus my request for a pic of your Mixdown screen.

Still, if you're doing everything right, then the only other possibility is hardware. Highly unlikely to be the SD card itself.

 

[-mjk-]

 

[Phil Tipping]

Tyros - I've just watched your video again and although the mixdown screen shows 0 for both In & Out points, you say you already went through the mixdown process, so we never actually see this happen in your video. When you then go to mastering mode, the machine will pick up the master file in the last state you left it. The mastering screen shows the total length of the song as 33secs, so however the length was screwed up (operator error or machine lockup), the damage has already been done to the master file, so no amount of mastering as shown in the video will fix it. You have to go back and re-mixdown the song - this will demonstrate that the in & out points were set correctly (I'm sure they were initially), but you must have since pressed Stop during either the mixdown or one of the mastering passes, and this has truncated the master file - permanently.

 

[Tyros]

Here Is the Picture Requested Clearly showing the in and out points set
Im sorry you feel that pilot error is to blame when clealy it is not
IN and OUT point s are not the problem after 5 different attempts on 5 cards
Im not a beginneer to this machine and feel that i have done all that i should .
If I have already set the song lenth to 6 mins 35 s how come it stops at 33s without me touching the machine ,they do not have a preplanned auto stop as far as i am aware .
Thanks
Tyros

 

[Tyros]

Hi
Sorry meant to post both pictures at the same time.
pilot error.

Thanks.

Tyros.