Tascam 2488 User Manual
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Tascam 2488 User Manual

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USER'S GUIDE
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.
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APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.
D00776200A

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Summary of Contents for Tascam 2488

  • Page 1 D00776200A Digital Portastudio USER’S GUIDE CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT Ü REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL. The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert ÿ...

  • Page 2: Important Safety Instructions

    Do not install this apparatus in a confined space the manufacturer. such as a book case or similar unit. The apparatus draws nominal non-operating power from the AC outlet with its POWER switch in the off position. TASCAM 2488 User's Guide...

  • Page 3: Important Safety Precautions

    RED. this equipment. When replacing the fuse only a correctly rated approved type should be used and be sure to re-fit the fuse cover. DOUBT — CONSULT COMPETENT ELECTRICIAN TASCAM 2488 User's Guide...

  • Page 4: Safety Information

    LASER KLASS 1 Optical pickup: Type : SF-W35 Manufacturer : SANYO Electric Co. Ltd. Laser output : Less than 0.7 mW (Play) and 74 mW Laser output (Record) on the objective lens Wavelength: 780 - 786 nm TASCAM 2488 User's Guide...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    Setting up the 2488 ...........10 3 – Effects Shutting down the 2488........11 Mic effects ............31 Some general notes on using the 2488 ..11 MIC X 4 The HD indicator MIC X 8 Saving songs Assigning mic effects ........31 Navigation Selecting mic effects..........
  • Page 6 Deleting the active location mark Recording to CD-R (multiple tracks) ....62 Editing the active mark........44 Playing back CDs using the 2488 ....64 Using the location mark list......45 Locating using the list 6 – Disk management and file import/export...
  • Page 7 Mixer preferences ..........84 Fader matching Digital input Recorder ...............85 User word ............85 10 – Specifications, etc. Block diagram .............86 Level diagram ............87 Dimensional drawing ........88 Specifications ............88 Audio connections ..........88 Audio performance ...........89 Physical specifications, etc........89 TASCAM 2488 User's Guide...

  • Page 8: Setting Up And Introduction

    USB 2.0 connection. or pre-recorded audio CD. A disk, on the other hand, 7, “Backup and restore” (page 72) refers to the 2488’s internal hard disk drive, or that of a connected computer. ensure the integrity of your projects, you should back...

  • Page 9: Copyright

    The “road map” above can help you find your way with a little time, you will become familiar with the around the 2488. At first, the array of keys and con- layout and operation of the 2488. trols may seem a little daunting, but we are sure that...

  • Page 10: Setting Up The 2488

    Especially, you should never move it while the HD indicator by the display is lit or flashing. Leave a little space at the back of the 2488 to plug and unplug microphones, etc. Plug in and turn on the 2488. The power switch is on the rear, by the power cord.

  • Page 11: Shutting Down The 2488

    1 – Setting up and introduction Shutting down the 2488 It may seem odd to talk about turning off the 2488 Press and hold down the key for SHUT DOWN before you’ve even started to use it, but there is a rea- a second or two.

  • Page 12: Confirming

    SHIFT You can also use the up and down cursor keys as NOTE “shift” keys, allowing you to select between: As the 2488 is shipped from the factory, if you press the • —uppercase CAPITAL LETTERS CAPS SHIFT key and do not press another key within a sec- •...

  • Page 13: Main Menu

    CD player. It will, naturally, be play- aging of CD-R discs will include one of the follow- able on the 2488. This is in no way a limitation of the ing logos: 2488 itself, but of the difference between the differ- ent types of media and the methods used to read them.

  • Page 14: Handling Of Compact Discs

    • If you are in any doubt as to the care and handling from sources of heat such as radiators or heat-gen- of a CD-R disc, read the precautions supplied with erating electrical devices. the disc, or contact the disc manufacturer directly. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 15: Never Use A Stabilizer Or Printable Discs

    Normally, NOTE though, this won’t be needed. The 2488 is shipped from the factory with a new song ready to for you to record. However, if the 2488 has Press the key, and use the...

  • Page 16: Setting The Tempo

    1 – Setting up and introduction Setting the tempo The 2488 has a built-in metronome. We’ll set up a through, to drive the metronome and help you stay in very simple 4/4 beat which stays the same all the way time.

  • Page 17: Recording The Guitar

    1 – Setting up and introduction Recording the guitar Plug the guitar into the GUITAR [H] input on the front of the 2488. Then plug a pair of headphones into jack on the front PHONES panel. Play the guitar, and adjust the level...
  • Page 18 To return to the zero position, where your song began, press and hold the key, and press the STOP (marked as —“return to zero”). When you’ve finished recording, press channel 1’s key to safe the track. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 19: Lead Line

    ENTER choices, move the cursor to PRESET select the preset multi-effect library. Use the wheel to select the preset multi effect. See “Using the multi- effect library” on page 33 for details of the effects available. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 20: Congratulations

    By now you should be familiar with the basic con- operated, how recording and playback take place, cepts of the 2488: how the inputs and channels work and a little about the location and effect facilities pro- together; how the mixer controls are accessed and vided by the 2488.

  • Page 21: Mixer

    2 – Mixer Inputs and assignments The 2488 has eight inputs, marked from through Assigning inputs is carried out by pressing and hold- and twenty-four mixer channels. ing the appropriate input key below the con- TRIM trols (the key flashes), and then pressing the...

  • Page 22: Saving And Loading Assignments (Quck Routing)

    NOTE If you save a routing assignment to the BOUNCE slot, even if you are not in bounce mode (“Making a bounce mix” on page 49), the 2488 will enter bounce mode Press the QUICK ROUTING key to bring up the when this assignment is next recalled.

  • Page 23: Effect Send

    A high Q value provides narrow filtering. On the 2488 channels, you can adjust the gain (the amount that the signal is cut and boosted) by ±12 dB, As you adjust the equalization, the graph at the bot-...

  • Page 24: The Fader/Pan Screen

    “unity gain” position of 0 dB. key: NULL Because the 2488 supports the storage and recall of scenes (see “Scene memories” on page 29), as well as MIDI control of the faders and other mixer con- trols, it may sometimes happen that the physical fader position is not the same as the internal “virtual”...

  • Page 25: Mute

    (see “Recorder” on page 36). The output from this bus can be monitored as the At the final mastering stage, it is possible to add selection (see “Monitoring” on page 27) equalization and dynamics to the stereo bus. STEREO TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 26: Dynamics

    Use the wheel to select library entries and press to load the entry. ENTER If you save a setting, you can add a title to the current stereo dynamics settings and press to save it ENTER as a user library effect. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 27: Fader

    Monitoring Monitoring is a vital part of the whole recording and The level for these two monitoring systems is set production process. The 2488 provides stereo moni- using the control. MONITOR LEVEL toring facilities through an external amplifier/speak- ers combination, as well as headphones.

  • Page 28: Mono Monitoring

    If you are using the microphone toring through headphones. The indicator MUTE in the same room as the 2488, you should then use lights when muting is active. headphones when monitoring. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 29: Soloing And Toggle

    Sub mix The 2488 sub mix facility allows you to add up to Press the SUB MIX key to bring up the appropriate eight more inputs (usually on mixdown) to the screen (if it’s not already displayed):...
  • Page 30 Take care when recalling a scene. The audio level may select a scene. jump dramatically from the current level. You can also add meaningful titles to the scenes by pressing the shifted key ( ). See MENU TITLE “Titling” on page 12. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 31: Effects

    3 – Effects The 2488 includes high-quality effects that may be The parameters of the effects may be edited and used to enhance your playing. stored in libraries allowing the same effect setting to be used on multiple tracks or used in different parts They may be used in a number of different ways for of the same project.

  • Page 32: Editing Mic Effects

    FREQUENCY DEPTH effect. Multi-effect On the 2488, a “multi-effect” is a chain of effects A multi-effect is made available together with the which can be used together as one insert effect for four mic effect setting. processing a guitar sound, for example.

  • Page 33: Modulation Effects

    ) is always shown in the right column DIST-FLG vides a description of the effect ( GRUNGE LEAD of the list, so even if you call it , for HEAVY LEAD , etc.). SOLO example, you can still recognize the basic starting point. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 34: Single Effect

    (for example ), the three-letter HEAVY BASS writing an existing setting or adding a new setting. abbreviation of the original preset that was edited to create the user setting is always shown (for example TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 35: Tuner

    TUNER not be used with any other input. screen. When a note is played, the 2488 tuner displays the note closest to that note, and the bars under the name show whether the actual note is more sharp (the bars...

  • Page 36: Recorder

    Reverting to the previously saved version of a song If you have saved a song and you want to return to The 2488 asks if you are sure. Press if you the version of the song at the time it was last saved:...

  • Page 37: Erasing A Song

    ENTER item as a tool to back up songs to another partition The 2488 asks you if you are sure that you (you can also back up to CD-R, but this is a separate want to make the copy. Press to continue process).

  • Page 38: Deleting Unused Space From A Song

    The 2488 asks you if you are sure. If you want to delete all the unused portions of the song, New guitar solo over the old press .

  • Page 39: Transport Controls

    4 – Recorder Transport controls Most of the 2488 controls work the same as a normal tape recorder, but there are a few important differ- ences, as outlined below. Setting the playback position The 2488 provides you with a number of ways to set points”...

  • Page 40: Fast Forward And Rewind

    On a tape recorder, you can use the fast forward and You cannot perform this operation while recording— fast rewind keys to spool through a tape. A disk only from playback. recorder like the 2488 works in a somewhat different From the stop position When playback is way.

  • Page 41: Recording (Ii)

    Sometimes, even with the undo facilities and the vir- ing, but the input signal, although passed through to tual tracks of the 2488, it may be useful for you to the disk track, does not actually go to the disk.

  • Page 42: In/Out/To Points

    2488’s internal map, that of a Standard MIDI File selected for playback, or There are three modes in which the time can be else from the pattern tempo map (see “MIDI”...

  • Page 43: Direct Location (I)

    1/24 of a second. In the last mode, you can locate to “musical” time, when the display shows bars (mea- beat accuracy. sures) and beats, and the 2488 is synchronized to a Direct location (i) For the first two modes ( tempo map.

  • Page 44: Location Marks

    Location marks As mentioned earlier, the 2488 allows you to set up be entered when fast forward or rewind is taking to 999 location marks in each song. These location place.

  • Page 45: Using The Location Mark List

    Locating using the list To locate using the location mark list: Press the key. LOCATE Select the location mark using the wheel (or the cursor keys). Press . The playback point jumps to ENTER the selected location mark. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 46: Using The In Out And To Marks

    The 2488 allows you to set a time between reaching the OUT point and starting to replay from the IN point again: from 0 seconds to 9.9 seconds.

  • Page 47: Setting The Punch Points

    4 – Recorder Setting the punch points The 2488 provides three different punch settings. NOTE It is not strictly necessary to have a track armed when With at least one track armed (the indi- you first press the AUTO PUNCH key, but this is proba- cator flashing), and playback stopped, press bly the most logical way to work.

  • Page 48: Recording The Punch

    EXIT ORIGINAL version). NOTE Press to select the selected take (or the original You must select one of the takes or the original to exit version). auto punch mode. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 49: If You Change Your Mind

    Bouncing tracks Like many multitrack recorders, the 2488 allows you In the case of the 2488, you can bounce up to 23 to “bounce” a collection of recorded tracks to a tracks into one track or 22 tracks into two tracks. In smaller number of tracks.

  • Page 50: In, Out And To

    (rather than a whole track). Entering the edit mode Use the wheel to highlight the track editing Make sure that the 2488 is stopped (not play- function you will be using and press the ing back or recording). key.

  • Page 51: Copy -> Paste

    You can set this value from section. The destination is longer than it was before Press to perform the operation or to leave the operation. this screen. You can copy the section more than once in one operation. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 52: Move -> Paste

    Nothing is overwritten on Press to perform the operation or to leave the destination, as any material following the TO this screen. point is moved to the end of the newly-inserted TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 53: Open

    ( , etc.), or all the tracks ( Press to perform the operation or to leave this screen. NOTE You can also use the SHIFT + DELETE key combina- tion to enter this function easily. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 54: Clone Track

    UNDO and REDO Unlike a tape recorder, but like most word-proces- • Auto punch operations sors, you can undo your mistakes (the 2488 remem- • Mastering operations bers up to the last 999 operations you perform in In addition, all these operations are stored as part of each song).

  • Page 55: Undoing And Redoing Actions

    Press . All steps up to and including the ENTER For instance, if you decided that you wanted to have selected step are now undone. another go at repairing the lead guitar bridge… TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 56: Virtual Tracks

    These “spare tracks” are known as virtual tracks. To assign a virtual track to a disk track: With the 2488, you can record up to 250 tracks per Press the shifted key.

  • Page 57: Varispeed Operations (Pitch And Ssa)

    (the SSA—Slow Speed Audition feature). This allows normal playback,; that is, if they have been assigned to a you to rehearse tricky lead lines, etc. at a slower channel, the volume, etc. is controlled by the channel fader and controls. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 58: Pitch

    (it is not surrounded by the the 2488 shows the home screen, simply press the thicker frame), press the Ó key to move the key briefly to turn the indicator on and PITCH/SSA cursor there.

  • Page 59: Mastering

    Recording the pre-master The maximum length for a CD track recorded from the To record the pre-master stereo tracks, press and hold 2488 is 80 minutes. Tracks made from the 2488 should key, and then press the key. Both RECORD...

  • Page 60: Exiting Mastering

    Make sure the 2488 is in “normal” mode, that too much “dead time” or a cough, fret noise, etc. is, not in the master check mode or mastering before the start of the track, or there may be too much mode.

  • Page 61: Recording To Cd-R

    Recording to CD-R There are two ways of using the 2488 to record a disc Remember that whichever method you use to record either a track at a time; TAO (Track At Once) with your CDs, you can record a maximum of 99 tracks on...

  • Page 62: Finalizing The Disc

    5 – Mastering The 2488 makes an image of the song on disc If you finalize the disc at this stage, you cannot (to allow for smooth and easy transfer) and record any further songs on it. If you do not then starts writing it to the CD.
  • Page 63 If you use CD-RW media, you cannot play the resulting screen. This allows you to set the gap between discs in most audio CD players. tracks on the CD (press to return to the EXIT song order screen) TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 64: Playing Back Cds Using The 2488

    • If an audio CD (either finalized or unfinalized) is The track list and the lengths of the tracks. inserted into the 2488’s CD-RW drive, the 2488 can The current track is indicated by an arrow play it back. (when the CD player function is first...

  • Page 65: Disk Management And File Import/Export

    6 – Disk management and file import/export Disk management The 2488 formats its hard disk into multiple parti- The rest of the hard disk is formatted in the 2488 tions. One of these partitions is in FAT-16 format and “native” format, further subdivided into partitions is used for exchanging files between the 2488 and a (see the section below for details of how to do this).

  • Page 66: Formatting The Disk

    NOTE While the format operation is taking place, the HD indicator lights and you cannot perform any operations. Make sure that you do not turn off the 2488 during the format operation. When the format operation is complete, a new blank song is automatically created on each partition.

  • Page 67: Reformatting The Fat Partition

    6 – Disk management and file import/export Make sure that you do not turn off the 2488 during the to continue with the format operation. ENTER format operation. Press to halt the operation. EXIT When the format operation is complete, a new...

  • Page 68: File Import And Export

    2488 internal tone generator magically recreate the extra eight bits. And if you The WAV files used by the 2488 are assigned to vir- import a 24-bit audio file into a 16-bit song, the bot- tual tracks. Since virtual tracks are mono, the audio tom eight bits will be truncated.

  • Page 69: Usb Export (Audio Files)

    PLAYER NOTE tor mode, press the key (above MIDI PLAYER Note that there is no SMF export function (the 2488 fader): STEREO cannot create or edit MIDI sequences). You can repeat step 3 as many times as you like, fol- lowed by steps 6 through 8 as many times as you like.

  • Page 70: Disc Import (Audio Files)

    5 through 7 as many times as you like. Disc import (audio files) The 2488 can only read mono WAV format files from Use the wheel to select the wave file to be the top-level directory (root) of a data disc with no...
  • Page 71 Select the resolution of the resulting file (16 or press 24 bits). The resolution of the exported data ENTER affects the size of the file. Press to copy the virtual track con- ENTER tents to disc, or EXIT to cancel the process. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 72: Backup And Restore

    7 – Backup and restore Backup You can use the 2488 disc drive to back up your work Press , and a popup appears, telling ENTER to disc. You can either use CD-R media (cheaper, but you that the song is being saved. The HD indi- you can only use it once) or CD-RW media (slightly cator lights as the song is saved.

  • Page 73: Using Usb For Backup And Restore

    Using USB for backup and restore By using a USB cable to connect the 2488 and a per- However, you should always follow your computer’s sonal computer, it is possible to back up songs and instructions on how to disconnect a USB removable restore them to and from the computer’s disk drive.

  • Page 74: Backing Up

    DATA BACKUP USB BACKUP The screen shows a list of songs on the current Drag and drop the song file from the 2488 to partition, and their size. your computer’s disk. You can then archive it, burn a backup CD-R, etc. Note that you should not rename it at all—when you come to...
  • Page 75 When the copy is finished, the song is auto- matically loaded and becomes your current working song. You can then use the song man- agement features to load another song, if you want (“First steps in recording (song manage- ment)” on page 36. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 76: Midi

    SYNC/MIDI MIDI PLAYER NOTE This allows you to use the 2488’s playback facilities to drive external MIDI devices, whose audio outputs can then be recorded through the audio inputs of the 2488. The Standard MIDI File format provides a common...

  • Page 77: Editing The Midi Instruments

    : Select the instrument for this part from changes to these parameters, or if an external Control INSTRUMENT Change message is received to change any of them, the the standard GM instrument list. settings you make here are overridden. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 78: Tempo Map

    If one song. Tempos can be set between 20.0 and there is no tempo assigned to a song, the 2488 will 250.0 beats per minute. have no way of “thinking” in bars and beats Use the cursor keys to navigate around the (see“Markers”...

  • Page 79: Time Signature

    8 – MIDI Time signature In order to accurately display bars and beats, the This is very similar to the tempo map. Use the 2488 needs to know the time signature of the music INSERT DELETE keys to insert and delete being played.

  • Page 80: Patterns

    8 – MIDI Patterns In addition to being able to play SMF pieces, the ture of the selected section is shown at the bottom 2488 can also play backing patterns (drums and per- of the display. cussion only). • (if you choose a length different to the...

  • Page 81: Selecting The Drum Kit

    42), this reflects the settings made here. Selecting the drum kit The 2488’s tone generator includes a number of dif- Twenty different kits are available for use, including ferent drum kits, which you can use to give a differ- Latin sets, famous drum machine sounds, and so on.

  • Page 82: Midi Time Code

    MTC sent SYNC/MIDI FRAME TYPE select the option and press ENTER and received by the 2488. This can be either SYNC (film), (EBU TV), (29 fps drop-frame, used with NTSC color), (29fps non-drop, also used...

  • Page 83: Midi Clock

    GENERATOR CLOCK synchronized to the 2488 which need timing informa- the 2488 can be used to control an external sequenc- tion should either be synchronized using MTC, or have ers, drum machines, etc. whose audio outputs are fed their own tempo maps.

  • Page 84: General Preferences

    There are four sets of general preferences that you Access all of these through the menu. PREFERENCES can make in order to customize the 2488 to your working style. Global preferences These all affect the overall operation of the 2488...

  • Page 85: Digital Input

    NOTE The 2488 can accept digital audio from 44.1 kHz NOTE Note that the setting made for this option will apply to sources.

  • Page 86: 10 - Specifications, Etc

    10 – Specifications, etc. Block diagram TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 87: Level Diagram

    10 – Specifications, etc. Level diagram TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 88: Dimensional Drawing

    Nominal output level: –10 dBV Maximum output level: +6 dBV EFFECT SENDS 1 and 2 1 x unbalanced 1/4" jack per send Output impedance: 100 Ω Nominal output level: –10 dBV Maximum output level: +6 dBV TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...

  • Page 89: Audio Performance

    545 x 355 x 145 (mm), 21.5 x 14 x 5.7 (in.) Weight 8 kg (17.6 lbs) Power requirements (USA/Canada 120 VAC, 60 Hz International 230/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz Power consumption 41 W Applicable electromagnetic environment: Supplied accessories Power cord TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...
  • Page 90 Notes TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...
  • Page 91 10 – Specifications, etc. TASCAM 2488 User’s Guide...
  • Page 92 2488 TEAC CORPORATION Phone: +81-422-52-5082 www.tascam.com 3-7-3, Nakacho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8550, Japan TEAC AMERICA, INC. Phone: +1-323-726-0303 www.tascam.com 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, California 90640 TEAC CANADA LTD. Phone: +1905-890-8008 Facsimile: +1905-890-9888 www.tascam.com 5939 Wallace Street, Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 1Z8, Canada TEAC MEXICO, S.A.

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