Help needed for home recording...

Gang-(I apologize in advance for the length...)

I finally got around to opening up my Tascam DP01 Hard Disk Recorder yesterday and I don't know where to start.

I should say operating and setting things up like this, the family home theatre system, etc., confounds me and I avoid it at all costs. (Our 11 yr. old figured out the home theatre business and is away for another week or so, lol..)

My first question I suppose is how to best hook it up? I have no real interest in recording "tracks" and then somehow merging them all together. I just want to grab the final output signal from my box mixer and go straight into the Tascam.

Here is a link to the images of the unit... http://www.tascam.com/products/dp-01;9,16,33,18.html

Nowhere in the owners manual does it say explicitly I can plug a box mixer into into this thing, but I'm guessing/hoping that where it says "Synths, pre-amps, etc" is the correct ones. There are two inputs on the front of this unit....each has its own input level control.

Would I come out of my RCA's "Tape/Line Outs?" and run one side (red) to one input, the other (white) to the other one? Set the volumes evenly and move on? Will this produce 1 track or will I have to merge them later?

If anyone was willing to have a little phone conversation, I'd be thilled...Just contact me via email: corfieldb@aol.com and I'll incur any charges...

Thanks very much...



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Bill in Dayton

Talk to UNCLE DAVE

I just bought one of these recorders on ebay, a ton of fun.
Out of the mixer you can run the line outs, the main outs, the rca's if you want just not speaker outs if it is a powered mixer.
Did you get the quick start manual with the unit? I got it as a pdf file and that's all I need to know because like you, I think, I'm not interested in any real heavy duty mixing and over dubs.
I've sent you the quickstart pdf just in case you didn't get it.
Feel free to contact me

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qqqwq@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 07-08-2008).]

I'd run the kb direct and use the PA as a monitor from the Tascam's outputs. That gives you the cleanest signal going to the recorder. Call if you need help! 215-284-1328

And Bill,
don't forget to pass along any good tips you get from Uncle Dave I'm only two weeks into this so I'm a beginner also.

Not to cast a doubt on your purchase, Bill, but if you are not the slightest bit interested in mixing, overdubbing and editing, surely a simple device like a Zoom H2 would serve you better as a simple stereo audio recording device, with the additional advantages of easy portability and built-in mikes for location recording...?

I went back and forth between the 2 units actually before deciding on the tascam.

I chose the tascam because while not planning on doing much that way, it gives me the option of being able to perform other tasks should I ever want to.

This sucker's a little complicated for my small mind...but I was able to get a dummy recording done, mastered and saved. Now the trick is to get my PC to recognize the dp-o1 as a usb device so I can actually do something with these files/songs...



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Bill in Dayton

UPDATE!!!

Miraculously. I've been able to record a dummy song...master it...export it...access it with my PC...convert it from a wav file to a wma file and posted it to my website...

The dummy file can be listened to at www.billcorfield.com > Hear a demo > then click on the "test" listing...

Clearly, something is wrong with the recording.

1) There's a profound metallic/almost phasing sound to the recording...Is this caused by my vocal mic picking up the output from the speakers? My hunch is lose the speakers and put on a pair of headphones...

2) I'm running out of the boxamp rca's but only using one of them going into the main input of the Tascam. When I play it back it seems to sound balanced through my computer speakers. Can anyone confirm or reject that notion for me?

Thanks gang-

(This is the closest I'll ever come to playing metal, lol!!!)

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Bill in Dayton

BINGO ! That's almost certainly it.

Anytime you're recording vocals it is essential that you monitor with headphones. It is very likely that you'll pick up some type of feedback or unwanted noise if you record your vocals without the use of headphone monitoring. When using these types of recorders--many users (myself included) find it way more efficient to use headphones to monitor all tracks.., and then use external monitors for mixing.