Tascam PORTA02 manual

» 9101411800 O WNER ’S MA NU A L[...]

2 Important Safety Instructions .............3 1. An introduction to the Porta02 .......4 1.1 Multitrack recording – a brief introduction ..................4 1.2 Some safety notes and precautions ..............................5 1.3 What you need to make recordings ................................8 1.4 Connecting the Porta02 ..........8 2. Parts o[...]

3 Important Safety Instructions CA UTION: • Read all of these Instructions. • Save these Instructions f or later use. • Follow all W arnings and Instructions marked on the audio equipment. 1) Read Instructions — All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the product is operated. 2) Retain Instructions — The safety and[...]

1 An introduction to the Porta02 4 1 – An intr oduction to the P or ta02 The T ASCAM Porta02 MiniStudio allo ws you to produce recordings which are not possible with an ordinary stereo cassette recorder . W e suggest that you read at least this sec- tion 1 and also 3, “Making your first recording” before you start using the Porta02. Spending[...]

1 An introduction to the Porta02 5 and on A/V cue-equipped cassette record- ers. Notice that the stereo cassette arrange- ment allo ws you to use both sides of the cassette, by playing the tape in the other direction. The Porta02, ho wev er , uses the whole width of the tape. Notice also that one pair of L and R tracks on the stereo cassette take u[...]

1 An introduction to the Porta02 6 audio equipment). If any liquid or an y objects such as paperclips, guitar picks, etc. fall inside the Porta02, do not try to operate it. Return it to a T ASCAM service center for repair . • If the case of the Porta02 becaomes dirty , clean it only with a damp (not wet) cloth, moistened with a little detergent. [...]

1 An introduction to the Porta02 7 1.2.4 Cleaning the heads Y ou should clean the tape heads of the Porta02 regularly to k eep it working properly . Dirt and tape oxide buildup on the heads will force the tape aw ay from the tape head gaps that record and play- back. Head cleaner will remov e the dirt and restore the sound quality . In addition to [...]

2 Parts of the Porta02 8 1.3 What y ou need to make recordings Apart from the Porta02 itself, you will need: • Some kind of stereo mastering recorder to produce the stereo record- ings. This can be a cassette recorder such as the T ASCAM 102Mk II or an MD recorder such as the T ASCAM MD301. A recorder which does not hav e recording lev el control[...]

Parts of the Porta02 9 P ar ts of the P or ta02[...]

Parts of the Porta02 10 [1] PO WER IN and switch Use this jack to connect the PS-P2 AC adaptor which comes with your Porta02. When connecting the po wer , make sure the po wer switch is of f (slide it to the right, as you look from the back). Slide the switch to the left (looking from the back) to turn on the po wer to the Porta02. [2] MIC/LINE 2 U[...]

Parts of the Porta02 11 clockwise to MIC for any channel which is recording a microphone. Instruments such as electric guitars pro- duce a signal which is between MIC and LINE le vels and the TRIM control should therefore be some where between fully clockwise and fully counter-clockwise. See 3.3, “Setting the le v el” for full details of ho w t[...]

Parts of the Porta02 12 IN jacks. The y should be used together with the TRIM controls (see 3.3, “Setting the le vel”) to adjust the le vels of the sig- nals routed to the tape tracks. [16] RECORD indicator This red indicator lights when the RECORD and PLA Y ke ys are pressed, and at least one of the REC FUNCTION switches is not in the SAFE pos[...]

3 Making your first recording 13 3 – Making y our first recor ding This section describes ho w to make a 4-track recording using the Porta02. For this, we will assume that you are making a recording of your voice on tw o tracks (1 and 2), using a microphone, and recording a part of a stereo CD or cassette on the other two tracks (3 and 4). Make [...]

3 Making your first recording 14 3) Play the tape f or about 10 seconds and then stop the tape. 4) Press the counter r eset button. 3.3 Setting the level The aim of this section is to teach you to set the input le vel so that the av erage signals coming from the microphone will light the 0 meter indicator , and the loudest will light the +6 indicat[...]

3 Making your first recording 15 3.4 Recor ding the first trac k 1) Set the REC FUNCTION switch of INPUT 1 to 1 . Y ou are no w ready to record on track 1. Make sure the REC FUNC- TION switch of INPUT 2 is set to SAFE , so you don’ t record on it by accident. 2) Press the RECORD k ey (which will also press the PLA Y key) and start recording the [...]

3 Making your first recording 16 3.5 Recor ding the next trac k Since you plugged the microphone into MIC/LINE 1 / MONO , and didn’t plug an ything into MIC/LINE 2 , the microphone signal is split as if it was plugged into both channels. 1) T ake fader 1 to the 0 mark. 2) Set the lev el for input channel 2 in the same way as y ou set it f or inpu[...]

3 Making your first recording 17 3.6 Recor ding the stereo bac king No w that tracks 1 and 2 are filled with spoken words, we’ ll put some backing music behind them. W e’ll assume that you’ re using a CD player here (of course, it may be an MD player or a cassette player). 1) Make sur e the volume on the amplifier is tur ned all the way dow[...]

3 Making your first recording 18 3.7 Mixdown Make sure that your mastering recorder is connected to the monitor - ing system. 1) Set both REC FUNCTION switches to SAFE , and move both faders down to 0 . This will stop any e xtra unwanted noise from the inputs appearing in the final mix. 2) Make sur e the mastering recorder is ready to r ecord, and[...]

3 Making your first recording 19 7) Mix the tracks, fading the backing music on tracks 3 and 4 to taste. 8) At the end, stop both machines. Rewind the mastering recorder . 9) Set the amplifier input source to the mastering r ecorder , and replay y our mix. 10) If you ar e not happy with the mix, you can do it again, either recording o ver the old [...]

4 Hints and advanced tips 20 4 – Hints and adv anced tips This section gi ves a fe w hints and tips which may be useful to you when you make recordings using the Porta02. 4.1 Recor ding techniques Learning ho w to record is an art, not a science. One of the best teachers is expe- rience. Ho we ver , there are a few things mentioned here which may[...]

4 Hints and advanced tips 21 4.1.3 Metering In general, you should not try to record at too high a le vel, and the +6 indicator should not be lit more than half the time (at the very most). The meters display the input le vels to the channels at all times except when playing back with the input channels in SAFE mode. When playing back if one or bot[...]

5 Troubleshooting 22 track tape in the Porta02. The left and right stereo tracks of the mastering recorder can be used as tracks 1 and 2 of the Porta02, leaving tracks 3 and 4 ready for recording. There are a fe w points to remember: • Although you can repeat this process of mixing 4 tracks to 2 and then add- ing 2 more, as you repeat the mix pro[...]

6 Specifications 23 6 – Specifications The P AN controls don’t w ork If you’ re listening through headphones, is the Porta02’ s MONO switch pressed? If you’ re listening through speakers, is there a MONO switch on the amplifier which has been pressed? Recorded sound is distorted when recording When monitoring while recording, the sound [...]

6 Specifications 24 LINE outputs (2 x RCA jac ks) Output level Output impedance –10dBV 10k Ω Headphone output (1/4" stereo jack) Output level Output impedance 60mW + 60mW 30 Ω Frequency response 50Hz – 12.5kHz ± 3dB Signal-to-noise ratio 43dB T otal Harmonic Distortion Better than 3.0% (400Hz, –10dB) Channel separation Better than 4[...]