Alesis ADAT-XT TRANSPORT CONTROLS

Chapter 4: Basic Operations

42 ADAT XT Reference Manual

TRANSPORT CONTROLS

The XT’s six transport control buttons resemble those of a conventional tape

recorder, although there are several extra features.

EJECT

Press the [EJECT] button to eject the tape from the XT. If the tape is moving, it will

stop before ejecting. In a multiple XT system where there is one master and one or

more slave XTs and/or ADATs, pressing [EJECT] on the master will eject the tapes

on all machines; pressing [EJECT] on a slave machine will only eject the tape on that

machine.

J

The

[EJECT]

button will not operate while recording or formatting to avoid interrupting

these processes.

REWIND/R EVIEW

Press the [REWIND] button to rewind the tape; the [REWIND] LED lights. When fully

rewound, the [REWIND] LED turns off and the [STOP] LED lights.

• Pressing [REWIND] while recording punches out before rewinding.

• Threaded tapes rewind at about 40 times normal play speed. Unthreaded tapes

rewind slightly faster.

• Pressing [REWIND] while holding the [PLAY] button initiates “Review” mode. The

tape rewinds at about 3 times normal play speed, and you can hear chunks of

attenuated audio so you know where you are on the tape. The [PLAY] LED will

be lit, and the [REWIND] LED will be flashing. Pressing the [PLAY] button alone

returns the transport to normal play mode.

FAST FORWARD/CUE

Press the [FAST FWD] button to fast forward the tape; the [FAST FWD] LED lights.

Upon reaching the tape’s end, the [FAST FWD] LED turns off, and the [STOP] LED

lights.

• Pressing [FAST FWD] while recording punches out before fast forwarding.

• Threaded tapes fast forward at about 40 times normal play speed. Unthreaded

tapes fast forward slightly faster.

• Pressing [FAST FWD] while holding the [PLAY] button initiates “Cue” mode. The

tape fast forwards at about 3 times normal play speed, and you can hear chunks

of attenuated audio so you know where you are on the tape. The [PLAY] LED will

be lit, and the [FAST FWD] LED will be flashing. Pressing the [PLAY] button

alone returns the transport to normal play mode.

PLAY

Press the [PLAY] button to play the tape ([PLAY] LED will light). The [PLAY] button

by itself has no effect while playing, but it will terminate recording. While locating,

Contents

Main I H OW T O U SE T HIS M C Page I HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL Page C 1: SETTING UP7 2: YOUR FIRST SESSION WITH THE ADAT XT 13 3: CONNECTIONS 23 4: BASIC OPERATIONS 29 5: MULTIPLE ADAT-XT OPERATION 55 6: APPLICATIONS 67 APPENDIX A: DIGITAL RECORDING CONCEPTS 73 APPENDIX B: TROUBLESHOOTING 75 Page CHAPTER 1 SETTING UP any UNPACKING AND INSPECTION AC POWER H OOKUP AVOIDING GROUND LOOPS Page LINE CONDITIONERS AND PROTECTORS ABOUT AUDIO CABLES BASIC AUDIO HOOKUP INPUT NORMALING THREADED VS. UNTHREADED bandwidth Making Backups premium quality, name brand A WORD ON ADATS S-VHS CASSETTE TAPE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THERMAL CONSIDERATIONS IN RACK MOUNTING MOUNTING ON A SHELF OR NON-R ACK ENCLOSURE AVOIDING ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE YOUR FIRST SESSION WITH THE ADAT-XT FORMATTING A TAPE A MUST! SAMPLE RATE SELECTION F ORMATTING A N RECORDING WHILE FORMATTING MAKING A RECORDING TRACK SELECTION AND SETTING LEVELS TIME COUNTER TRANSPORT BUTTONS R P REVIEWING AND CUEING L Page CREATING A LOOP D AUTOMATED RECORDING D R 1 70. 0 mS D TRACK COPY DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS C ANALOG AUDIO UNBALANCED INPUTS ANALOG AUDIO UNBALANCED OUTPUTS ANALOG AUDIO BALANCED INPUTS AND OUTPUTS Larger Key Notch Note: INPUTS OUTPUTS ANALOG AUDIO INPUT MODE SYNC IN/OUT DIGITAL AUDIO IN/OUT F THE XT REMOTE CHAPTER 4 BASIC OPERATIONS T APE F J FORMATTING CONSIDERATIONS COMPLETE FORMAT RECORDING WHILE FORMATTING FORMAT EXTEND WRITE PROTECT OVERRIDE READING THE DISPLAY DISPLAY ICONS format extend Page TIME COUNTER & ABS/REL BUTTON The Locate Points addresses are displayed in the format of the display mode youve selected. 0 : 03 : 28 : 15 Autolocation minutes seconds 100ths-of-seconds BASIC EDITING EDIT V Examples: s AND t BUTTONS ENTERING NUMERIC VALUES INPUT SELECT ANALOG INPUT TRACK COPY Digital In/Out DIGITAL INPUT Page INPUT MONITOR AUTO INPUT MONITOR ALL INPUT MONITOR Transport Function Auto = Off All = Off Auto = On All = Off Auto = Off/On M PEAK MODE B UTTON PEAK CLEAR BUTTON FINE METER MODE RECORDING A B ENCHMARK TAPE RECORD ENABLE Transport Controls SETTING LEVELS Be sure the output level of your mixer matches the inputs connected to the XT (+4 or -10). TRANSPORT CONTROLS E The button will not operate while recording or formatting to avoid interrupting these processes. REWIND/R EVIEW RECORD/PUNCH IN OR OUT S SAMPLE RATE (CLOCK) before , and , Each time the DISPLAYING FRAMES VS. 100THS/SECONDS PITCH CONTROL The icon should be off. Note: This is not possible while recording. TRACK DELAY D Repeat steps through D AUTOLOCATION CONTROLS Each Locate Points address can be displayed and set using either Absolute or Relative Time. ABSOLUTE (ABS) TIME VS. R ELATIVE TIME LOCATE 0 SETTING LOCATE POINTS L AUTO LOOPING AUTO RETURN only AUTO PLAY LOOP LIMIT AUTO RECORD LOOPED RECORDING R FOOTSWITCH CONTROLS FOOTSWITCH CONTROLLED PUNCHING FOOTSWITCH CONTROLLED AUTOLOCATING USING THE XT REMOTE CHAPTER 5 M O O SYNCHRONIZING MACHINES Combining XTs and ADATs Sync In/Out MASTER/SLAVE INTERACTION but do not have any master tracks record-enabled A CHIEVING L INDEPENDENT SLAVE MODE F ORMATTING MULTIPLE T MASTER FORMAT ENABLED, COMPLETE FORMAT MASTER FORMAT ENABLED, FORMAT EXTEND MASTER FORMAT DISABLED MASTER FORMAT DISABLED, FORMAT EXTEND RECORDING DIGITAL AUDIO B MAKING DIGITAL BACKUPS is selected and there is no optical input, the If RECORDING DIGITAL AUDIO FROM OTHER SOURCES clock DIGITAL CLOCK CONSIDERATIONS TAPE OFFSET D COMBINING XTS AND ADATS XT T after S INPUT MONITORING POLARITY DIFFERENCES Possible problem: C Here are some possible solutions: Page Page CHAPTER 6 A O COMBINED MULTITRACK/M ASTERING DECK LIVE/LONG-TERM RECORDING continuous recording Note: and , LOCKING TO VIDEO: CODE ONLY MASTER C OMPUTER C MIDI SYSTEMS: VIRTUAL TRACKING MIDI MACHINE CONTROL: VIRTUAL REMOTE CONTROL LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES MODULAR RECORDING USING TRACK COPY AS A DIGITAL ROUTER CALCULATING TAPE OFFSET USING THE LOCATES D APPENDIX A D IGITAL R ECORDING C ANALOG RECORDING BASICS DIGITAL RECORDING BASICS A/D WHY S-VHS? APPENDIX B T TROUBLE-S HOOTING INDEX Symptom Cause Solution RE-INITIALIZING CHECKING SOFTWARE VERSION E RROR RATE D error rate The TIME counter will briefly read: ADAT HEAD MAINTENANCE D RUM TIME D The number of drum hours will briefly appear in the TIME counter. TAPE MAINTENANCE: SAFE TAPE MAINTENANCE/SERVICE C M R EFER ALL SERVICING TO A OBTAINING REPAIR SERVICE Page APPENDIX C ERROR CODES Automatic Brake Calibration Procedure STEPS TO TAKE BEFORE CALLING FOR HELP APPENDIX D S Transport Audio Analog Inputs/Outputs Digital Inputs/Outputs General G A B C D Page N O P Q R S Page INDEX