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Fostex X-34 manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    Model Owner’ s Manual Multitracker[...]

  • Page 2

    2 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER - SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL. CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN "WARNING" "TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MO[...]

  • Page 3

    3 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Thank you for pur chasing the F ostex Model X-34 multitr acker . The X-34 is a four-tr ack, four-c hannel cassette tape r ecor der that features four line inputs, plus two inputs that accept a range of inputs fr om line level to mic level. Eac h channel module is equipped with a two-band EQ for superior sound quality [...]

  • Page 4

    4 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Cautions for Using the X-34 * If a monitor speak er with an internal amplifier is connected to the MONITOR OUT jac ks, do not advance the monitor speaker volume contr ol or the X-34 MON MIX/A UX knobs. Doing so could gener ate a loud noise fr om the speaker or headphone and damage your hearing . * When plugging extern[...]

  • Page 5

    5 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Names and Functions <T op Panel> 1. Input/playbac k level contr ol faders These faders have two functions: One function contr ols the r ecor ding level. Input levels applied to the INPUT jac ks (fr ont or rear) ar e contr olled by this knob . The other function contr ols the tape playback le vel of each tr ack. [...]

  • Page 6

    6 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual 10. A UX return knob [A UX RTN] This knob allows you to adjust the input level of pr ocessed signals fr om a connected external ef fect unit. The le vel of both signals input to A UX RTN L/MONO and R ar e adjusted equally . 11. Monitor master knob [MONIT OR] This knob allows you to adjust the final le vel of monitorin[...]

  • Page 7

    7 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Note> The REC button will be ineff ective if the “cassette erase prev ention tab” is broken. P ause button [P A USE] Y ou press this b utton during playback or r ecor ding, the tape will stop (the PLA Y and RECORD buttons will r emain depr essed). If you press this b utton again, stop mode will be canceled [...]

  • Page 8

    8 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Rear P anel> PUNCH IN/OUT 12V DC IN ON STANDBY OFF ON DOLBY NR TAPE OUT 1 2 3 4 54 3 21 10 9 8 7 6 1. Mic input jack [MIC IN 1/3, 2/4] Plug in a micr ophone her e. Y ou can input any signal, ranging fr om mic level to line level devices, because the X-34 featur es a trim knob for each input. Both XLR connectors[...]

  • Page 9

    9 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Basic Operation: “Let’ s Record!” Initial mode after the X-34 is powered on: When you connect the A C adapter and turn on the power to the X-34, it automatically engages “T rack Down mode, ” and the T rack Down indicator lights up as shown below . Please r efer to the following “Initial setup of the X-34?[...]

  • Page 10

    10 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Front panel LINE IN/INSER T jack Normally , a line level sound sour ce with a 1/4" type plug is connected her e. (Y ou cannot plug in a micr ophone her e.). Signals applied to each input jac k ar e r ecorded on the tr ack selected by the corr esponding REC TRK switch. Ther efore , by connecting four differ ent s[...]

  • Page 11

    11 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Using both MIC IN jack and LINE IN/INSER T jack> K eep the following information about the MIC IN and LINE IN/INSERT jacks in mind when r ecor ding sound sour ces using both types of input jacks. The fr ont panel LINE IN/INSERT jack has priority . F or example , if you attempt to input differ ent sound sources[...]

  • Page 12

    12 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Basic Recor ding - 1 (Recording fr om the fr ont panel LINE IN/INSERT jac k) F irst, let’ s connect your musical instrument and try r ecor ding on a specific tr ack. In the following example, a synthesizer will be r ecorded on tr ack 1. This and other explanations assume an A C adapter is connected to the X-34 and [...]

  • Page 13

    13 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Note> When T rack Down is “ON, ” the REC TRK switches are disabled. Also , if the Auto Bounce button or T rack Do wn button is s witched on and off while any one REC TRK s witch is set to REC READ Y state, the selected REC TRK s witch will be canceled. In this case, reselect the recording trac k using with[...]

  • Page 14

    14 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Basic Recording - 2 (Recor ding with the rear panel MIC IN jack) This section describes how to r ecor d a vocal on track 1 by plugging a micr ophone into the r ear panel MIC IN jack 1/3. * Bef ore proceeding to the next step , remember to reset the X-34 to its “initial settings. ” (See page 9.) Also , make sure t[...]

  • Page 15

    15 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Basic Pla yback Pr ocedure Let’ s play back and listen to the r ecorded sound. This pr ocedur e assumes differ ent sounds have been recor ded to tape on trac ks 1 - 4. * Bef ore proceeding to the next step , reset the X-34 to its “initial settings . ” (See page 9.) Make sure that the T rac k down indicator is t[...]

  • Page 16

    16 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Multitrack Recording Y ou should now have a good understanding of the basic r ecording and playbac k operation of the X-34. Now let’ s try the X-34’ s multitrack r ecording functions. The following sections explain o verdubbing, whic h is a fundamental function in multitrack r ecor ding, and also the mixdown pr o[...]

  • Page 17

    17 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual 1. Rewind tape to its starting position ([000]) for recording. 2. Plug the electric bass into front panel LINE IN/ INSERT jac k 2. (Y ou can use any a vailab le LINE IN/INSERT jac k.) <Note> This is the simplest wa y to record a bass. Y ou can also use an amplifier or a direct-input box to create different soun[...]

  • Page 18

    18 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Mixdown (T rack Down mode) After all four trac ks have been r ecorded, the ne xt step is mixdown (T rack Down mode). Mixdown is the pr ocess of adjusting the sound volume and ster eo image of what you r ecorded on trac ks 1 - 4, and as a final pr ocess, mixing them to two channels (ster eo) and dubbing (copying) it t[...]

  • Page 19

    19 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Note> There are no fixed rules for determining the playback sound image position of each trac k using the P AN knob at mixdown. This is where your creativity comes in. T r y for a sound that pleases you! 9 . Y ou can adjust the headphone or monitor speaker v olume using the MONITOR knob. 10. When you finish ma[...]

  • Page 20

    20 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual F or example, part of the electric bass r ecor ded on track 2 will be r eplaced during over dubbing. W e assume that you have already loaded a pr er ecor ded tape in the X-34 and re wound to the be ginning of the r ecorded tracks. 0 0 0 LINE OUT R L MONITOR OUT R L AUX RTN R L/MONO AUX SEND 2/4 1/3 MIC IN TRIM 2/4 TR[...]

  • Page 21

    21 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Recording the Punch-in 12. Make sure that track 2 is in REC READY mode. (If not, press the REC TRK switch on channel 2 to select track 2). Recor d track indicator 2 on c hannel 2 lights up and the REC indicator flashes slowly . 13 . Press the REC button to start the tape from slightly before the punch-in point. The R[...]

  • Page 22

    22 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Beware of oscillation during ping-pong recording> When you ping-pong record between adjacent tracks (such as from track 2 to track 1 or 3), oscillation may result if the gain control is raised too high. If this happens, immediately stop recording. If you are monitoring with headphones or an external monitor wh[...]

  • Page 23

    23 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual <Monitoring> F or monitoring, the P AN knob of the channel to which ping-pong is carried out is fully left (L) or right (R). The other channel P AN knobs are fully rotated in the opposite direction. Using these settings, you can separately monitor the sound of the ping-pong receiving channel (track 4 in this ex[...]

  • Page 24

    24 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Recor ding a sync signal 1 . Connect the FSK output of the MIDI/FSK con ver ter to the LINE IN/INSERT 4 jac k of the X-34, and connect a MIDI sequencer to the MIDI/ FSK con ver ter via MIDI. 2. Press the REC TRK 4 switc h to select track 4 for recor ding. 3 . Star t playing the sequencer and adjust the recording le v[...]

  • Page 25

    25 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual 1 . Connect the input of an external effects processor to the A UX SEND connector on the rear panel of the X-34. 2. Connect the outputs of the external effects processor to the A UX RTN connector s (L/ MONO , R) on the rear panel of the X-34. 3. Set up the master recorder and the X-34 f or mixdown rehear sal as descr[...]

  • Page 26

    26 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual In this example , a micr ophone is plugg ed into the MIC IN jack 2/4 and a vocal is r ecorded to tr ack 4. 1. Connect the microphone to one of the MIC IN jacks 2/4 (1/4” or XLR) on the rear panel of the X-34. 2. Connect the input/output of the compressor/ limiter to the insert jack 4 as shown in the drawing. 3. Pre[...]

  • Page 27

    27 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual T roubleshooting Prob lem Wo w , flutter , or dropouts Sound quality and lev el significantly diff erent from when recorded. No sound from the headphones or monitor speak ers Unable to record on the desired track. Unable to ping-pong record. Unable to select a recording trac k using the REC TRK switch. Unable to appl[...]

  • Page 28

    28 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Maintenance 1. Cleaning the exterior * For normal cleaning, use a soft dr y cloth. F or stubborn dirt, moisten a cloth in diluted deter gent, wring it out f irmly , and wipe off the dirt . Then wipe down the unit with a dry cloth. Never use solvents suc h as alcohol, thinner or benzene, since these will damage the pr[...]

  • Page 29

    29 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual Specifications MIC INPUT (x 2) Connector : XLR type connector (Balanced) : ø 6 PHONE jack (Unbalanced) Input impedance : 10k Ω or higher Ref erence input lev el : –50 ~ –10dBV LINE/INSERT (x 4) When using the LINE IN jack: Connector : ø 6 PHONE jack Input impedance : 10k Ω or higher Ref erence input level :[...]

  • Page 30

    30 Model X-34 Owner’ s Manual FOSTEX DISTRIBUT ORS LIST IN EUROPE *Including non - EU countries. * underlined: contracted distributor s (as of August, 2000) <A USTRIA> N AME: A TEC Audio-u. V ideogeraete V ertriebsgesmbH. ADD: Im W inkel 5, A-2325 V elm, A ustria TEL: (+43) 2234-74004, F AX: (+43) 2234-74074 <BELGIUM> N AME: EML Sound[...]