8 – DTRS synchronization–Digital dubbing
54 TASCAM DA-98HR

8.5 Digital dubbing

When you copy tapes between DTRS units in the
digital domain, there is no loss of quality. A “work-
tape” or copy is therefore indistinguishable from the
original (also bear in mind that the media used by
DTRS units is relatively low-cost, so making bac k-
ups is in all ways a painless procedure).
You may want to exploit these features of the DTRS
system to make archive copies, and “safety copies”
of important material (see 1.5, “Recommended
tapes” for our suggestions on tape use).
NOTE
When you copy tracks from DA-88 units, the input word
length should be set to 16 bits.
You cannot copy from a source tape with one sampling fre-
quency to a destination DTRS which does not support
high-frequency sampling frequencies, or from an HR tape
to a DTRS unit set to normal resolution (this always means
the DA-88, DA-38 and DA-98 units).
1With the power to all units turned OFF, make
the synchronization connections as described
in 8.1, “Synchronization connections”, remem-
bering to terminate the slave unit.
2Connect the DIGITAL I/O u of the master unit
(source) to the TDIF-1 (DIGITAL I/O) of the slave
(target).
Use only approved cables (PW-88D or PW-
88DL) to connect the DTRS units. Use of any
other cables can cause damage to the units and
will invalidate the warranties.
3Turn on both units. Make sure the machines’
IDs are correctly set (8.2.2, “Setting machine
ID”).
4Insert the master tape into the source master
and a blank tape, formatted with the same
sampling frequency and bit resolution as the
master tape, into the target slave.
5Select the digital inputs on the target slave (this
differs between models—for the DA-98HR, see
6.3.3, “Selecting input sources”).
6Put the target slave machine into CHASE mode
(8.2.3, “Master/slave settings (CHASE
mode)”).
7Locate the master tape to a point before the
material you want to duplicate. The target
slave also locates since it is in CHASE mode.
8Arm all tracks (REC FUNCTION) on the target
slave machine and make sure that all REC
FUNCTION switches on the source master are
turned OFF (press the ALL SAFE key to make
sure).
NOTE
If any
REC FUNCTION
switches on the source master
are turned on, you will erase your master tape! You may
want to use the tape’s write-protect tab to prevent any such
accidents.
9On the master machine, hold down RECORD
and press PLAY.
No recording will take place on the so urce mas-
ter, but the tracks will be recorded digitally on
a one-to-one basis to the target slave.
There is no need to carry out any special pre-
dubbing procedure such as timing the digital
output, as the digital and analog outputs are
separate.
You can use the Track Copy (DA-38, DA-98) or
the input patchbay functions (DA-98HR or
DA-78HR) on the target slave machine to
transfer tracks from the source master tape to
different tracks on the target slave. Note, h ow-
ever, that you cannot combine tracks by this
method.

8.5.1 Synchronized formatting

When several DTRS units are connected together,
you can format several tapes simultaneously, using
one machine as the master. This can be a very conve-
nient way of saving time and effort.
1Make sure that all machines have their IDs set ,
that they are connected together using the
SYNC connections, as described above, and
that the last unit in the chain is terminated.
SOURCE
MASTER
TARGET
SLAVE
PW-88D or PW-88DL
(digital I/O cable)
PW-88S
(sync cable)
Terminator
plug