TASCAM X 48
Dear friends,
Let me introduce myself, I am a small recording and mixing music STUDIO in PARIS / FRANCE:
http://www.studioalaville.com, and must be the only studio in the world to use the TASCAM X48 instead of ProTools !!!, too expensive for me in the pro version (HD with 16 simultaneous inputs + the mixer / remote, etc. .. etc. ..).
(sorry for my english)
I came first:
1 / ask for solutions for my problems
2 / evoke all that is missing unfortunately to work efficiently on this machine!
3 / Tell you about all my discoveries positive and negative
The X48 is the best machine I've seen so far in my niche of use: easy to record a rock band for instance , remaining available artistically and very precise for the audio editing based keyboard / mouse / screen-waveforms.
Unfortunately it comes with the worst manual I've met , a lot of things are not or poorly explained (the editing and import / export file .. which is the more complicated considering the subject and the restrictions of the machine , are all explained in 2 pages !!!!).
And all this , with a very poor and even non-existent support from the importer in Europe, who has no interest in this machine and do not know it at all!
In an audio show in Paris, the X48 was there in a corner, not trendy, a little dusty ... Brief shame!
And when we ask questions ... assuming we manage to reach them by phone or mail, or they do not know or they do not respond!
I tried to ask technical questions to Tascam USA by mail, they don’t want answer me and send me back to Europe Tascam importer! Back to square one!
I tried to ask the same questions SANEWAVE, no answer. In the forums, almost no info and nothing about my problems.
Here are my questions and unsolved problems:
Q - EXPORT WAV STEREO
I made a stereo mix recorded on tracks 47 and 48, and with the audio CD that I burn for my client, I want to give him this mix also as a WAV file burned onto CDs, so he can listen on a CD WAV (or load it in itunes), or listen on a USB key drive (or load it into his itunes easily from his key)
But when I export WAV files from X 48 tracks 47 and 48, CD stereotrack1 will have the WAV of track 47 and CD stereotrack 2 , the WAV of track 48, but the CD stéréo track 1, will not have WAV 47 to the left and that of the 48 right as I wish.
So how is it , to export two files of X48 tracks 47 and 48 consolidated form , as a single STEREO WAV file ,readable on wav players as “
Track 1 = 1st song..in stéréo ??
Q - INSERT INTO A CLIP AND PUSHING ALL WHICH FOLLOWS SIMULTANOUSLY
How to make a paste of a clip in a track , at a place determined by the read head and push all audio clips which are behind on the track,????
( therefore rejects everything that follows in the exact duration of the clip inserted)
NOW HERE IS A LISTING OF ALL MY DREAMS FLY!
Here , everything which are not possible with the existing system and would be so useful (unless of course something that has escaped me, in which case it would be cool to explain it to me!).
1 / I place my playhead to a edit point, I type on my keyboard I ,
I put my playhead further on another edit point, I type in O on my keyboard, and it's done ... .. automatically : an area to edit, copy, etc. .. is determined on the activated tracks ,unfortunately , this doesn’t work on EDIT mode !! it exists, but it only determines a Punch In / Punch Out point.
2 / Cannot "LOCK" (pair) 2 tracks (or 2 clips) adjacent to deal simultaneously crop / copy / cut . Every time ... I must reselect the second track to be sure to apply the same edit on the two tracks / clips.
3 / I read the project from a starting point whatever, I stop, I press the return key on my keyboard, and now I am back to the starting point of my last reading.
Simple isn’t it ??.. well …no ! , too simple for the X48, this is not possible!!!!
This requires reading from a Marker, and especially not to touch anything else .. unless the return on the marker by pressing the return key on the keyboard , does not work!
4 / No templates creation or management (patterns stored in memory that can be recalled , for instance the startpattern for recording a rock band.)
Example: I am preparing a project with all types of settings for rock band drums (names of tracks, loops, placement of markers, INPUT sources on each track, etc ...), I call it "ROCK TEMPLATE"
OK I record the band No. 1 and then SAVE AS
"the group name N° 1" and I have his file .ndr(X48) and AUDIO file .
Arrive another customer, another rock band, another day , I start with
" ROCK TEMPLATE " , record Band N° 2 , I SAVE AS “the group name N°2“ : BIG BIG PROBLEM: the audio of group No. 2 is in the same AUDIO FOLDER than group No. 1 !., which extremely complicates export or deletion of a group and not the other;
Indeed all “Under projects“ share the same AUDIO FOLDER.
You cannot create a “TEMPLATE PROJECT“.
I assure you, I worked on it for days, no help for it, even by creating a TEMPLATE in DATA does not work ,as far as an AUDO FOLDER is created in DATA , that contains all the files of clients I recorded starting with this “ DATA TEMPLATE“.
If you want for example delete (or export) the whole project of band 1 as wav files, you’ll have to enter into the audiofile list to delete those from band 1 and not those from band 2 ....
THEREFORE ADVICE:
Enable function “name the files from the project name "and especially not from “track name“, because in this case,we do not know which file belongs to which project!
WARNING: If you click 2 times on the AUDIO folder in Window "project", you’ll see nothing, nothing can be done on these files! You must go to "File Manager" to see the files and copy or delete!
The result of all this: Well I enter again settings and names for all the tracks to each new client or sometimes even song;
Very boring !!! Dur Dur!
Only a very few general settings can be memorized (like Sampling frequency for instance),in “settings“ menu .
To complete the templates problem, I see in DATA window a folder named TEMPLATES, in principle, should be precisely what I want : to memorize (record) configurations , patterns, …well ... ... NO INFO in the manual about this! Trop fort ! Too much!
I tried to find out by myself how to use it ... I give up, I have already spent over 2 months trying to discover everything that is not written in the instructions! Enough !
5 / ATTENTON LARGE TRAP!
I lost 3 days with that!
I desperately contacted support ... no reply as usual, forums etc ... nothing !
There is a function "trap" at the bottom in the EDIT menu, but only in mix mode (and as I do not use it ...), which is
“SELECTION ON ALL TRACKS“ .
You imagine , this function does not appear in the EDIT menu in normal mode (recording / editing), but it still applies in this mode !!!!!
Then you make a selection area in a clip and .... This area applies to all tracks ... how to disable ... we try ... nothing!!!! "
I discovered by chance that in MIX MODE this function was enabled! , I do not know how ! and found it also applied to the editing functions.
6 / CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL HARD DISK BACKUP
A half-page in the manual! In fact it was quite complicated:
I bought a La Cie 500GB.
Problem, it must be set and then we go in fifteen different windows, which I understood almost nothing.
After several tries, I've finally realized the need to partition the HDD to say what place allocated to any particular thing. Well I got there , the next time I'll know what to do.
You think the manual would have mentioned what I just explained on the PARTITION ?????.... course NOT! !
NOW THE GOOD THINGS THAT I HAVE DISCOVERED
because of course not or very little or poorly explained in the instructions!
This could be useful for you! Although some of these details are obvious to some of you!
If on your side you have made interesting discoveries in "editing", in particular, or have better solutions than those I'll expose you, thank you to let me know.
.####### 1 / FILE NAME
Incidentally, nowhere in the manual of course, we see an allusion or reference to the type of file generated by a project X48, so here's a list that will be useful for managing these files!:
A X48 PPROJET .ndr)
It contains an audio folder containing all audio files of all sub-projects (all SAVE AS), and a folder for each sub-project as .ndr
A SOUND CLIP in a project X48 is composed of two files:
. wav and. spk
A TRACK (or area) which has been consolidated appears as two files per consolidated track (or area)
_ren_00_.wav and _ren_oo.spk
A OPEN TL PROJECT appears in the form of .tl
We do not see it .tl immediately in the File Manager, you must double click on the project to appear inside :
- An AUDIO FOLDER : “audiofile“ (in addition to the audio file of the X48 project , the same copied?? Mystery ??? ) is displayed
- a TRACK FOLDER
- and a .tl FOLDER
A PROJECT AAF appears in the form of:. ... .aaf
Beware, it "uses" the audio file of the X48 project .ndr
So be careful when you make backup copies on a hard drive or other to check that the audio accompanying the project .ndr or .aaf or .tl. Better to save the whole project which contains its various versions, that venture to save the sub-projects independently or a version of the project independently.
######### 2/ ARBORESCENCE (sorry don’t know English name !)
Same, no explanation in the manual on the principles of the « tree », so I give you what I found:
1 st Level
ROOT list of locations and external media:
Double click on DATA (or your external hard drive for example), access to 2nd level
2nd Level
DATA : different folders: settings, audio system (including the templates !?).
Double click on Xproject: Access to 3rd level
3rd Level
XPROJECTS : We see the names of the projects.
You’ll see the extensions .ndr and ;tl only on the 4th level : "subproject" .
On this level you can see the .aaf extensions but you cannot open them (it is an export format but the X48 does not recognize it)
Double click on a project X48: Access to 4 th level
44th Level
SUBPROJECTS: ONE AUDIO FOLDER shared by all the recordings from this project + (x) X48 files, as much as we did the "SAVE AS".
(- If you double click on an Open TL then appear 3 folders: audiofile, trackfiles and .tl)
Double click on the audio file (only possible in the filemanager or “import audiofile“: access to 5th level
5th Level
We see the list of all files of clips, each with his .wav file and his .spk file , and may also contain consolidated files as _ren_
######### 3 / REMOTE
I bought the remote from JL Cooper ES 450 RS 422, it works "almost" well with the X48.
We can do SCRUB / SHUTTLE, return 7 locators, transport management.
The least:
• - We can not handle the track arms of course(only 2 first), and when you press the STOP button it goes into pause, and impossible to access with “Press again STOP button“ to stop, you will have to go through the "computer" Keyboard to go to STOP.
(when you are in “pause » you can’t do anything on the X48)
• - To return to a "Locator" place, you must first press the "GO TO", then it would have been much easier to press only LOCATOR 5 directly. ... Again, why do simple when you can make it complicated? , Appears to be the motto of some designers.
Despite that I find it very useful because I'm used to locate an edit point with the SCRUB functiun.
########## 4 / SCREEN
I found a MARVELOUS large screen for computers , 28 "to work with the X48, the HANS G: HG 281D (Full HD 1080p) and with this screen you are working in 1200 x 1980 with the X 48 ... happiness !!!!!
######### 5 / AAF EXPORT and IMPORT/EXPORT OF OPEN TL
The following may be obvious to you, but I have put 15 days to fully understand these procedees hardly explained in the manual!
Simple but good to remember , as far as you use a CD or DVD for backup , you don’t care of the destination support , as far as when you press “BACKUP“ button in the filemanager, of course, your files will go to the CD/DVD.
EXPORT in AAF or OPEN TL (in factwhat is open tl exactly,with which Workstation ca nit be recognized ?, I do not see it anywhere else?)
- First of all we must convert the X48 project . ndr , in .aaf project (or open .tl), via the function "Export Project":
Open the project, go to EXPORT PROJECT, choose .aaf (or. tl) and Save!
- Then it will be in "File Manager" for copy or export:
We find the project in .aaf (or opentl), as well as in X48 version .ndr which is still there, then you can copy either one or the other version of the project on CD / DVD by "BACKUP" or external hard drive or USB key, or even SD card inserted into a USB adapter , with "COPY", after of course selected the / export file and "open" the destination media, chosen by double clicking its name.
IMPORT OPEN TL
Conversely, if you must retrieve a project from the outer : OPEN TL (AAF not possible) will require first , the RESTORE (DVD)/ COPY (HARDDRIVE) from external support to the X48, with the FILE MANAGER, then in a second time convert .tl project. to .ndr X48 in “IMPORT PROJECT“!
####### 6 / SPECIAL IMPORT OF WAV
We will use this time :IMPORT AUDIO FILE
• Prepare a project "Receiver" (or "cradle" ?), turn on Track 1 (becomes blue), move the playhead to where you want the files start (at 0 or 1 minute for example), and leave the project open.
• The first imported file will be placed on the first track "blue" (activated) at the position of the playhead.
• The second file will be imported on the next track at the same time address, and so on (if you have enabled "import to current playback position",inside “import audiofile“ window)
• OK Jump in AUDIOFILE IMPORT function, and highlight the wav files to import, and OK
• So if you want to import multiple wav files on the same track, you will import 1 by 1, by changing the "current position" of the playhead each time(unless you "crush" the previous file).
For example if you want to import multiple tracks as stereo wav files from a USB stick , and place them one behind the other on the same 2 tracks , must first import the first stereo wav file that will be put on track 1 and 2 (if you have highlighted the track 1 of the project recipient) or track 23 and 24 (if you have highlighted the track 23!), then import the second stereo wav file , taking care to place the playhead after the end of the first imported file! and so on, phew!
######### 7 / SPECIAL EXPORT OF WAV
• First “consilidate“ tracks in the project for 1 track = 1 file.
• you select (highlight) all tracks of the whole project, and it goes according CONSOLIDATE.
• These new files will appear in the file manager in the Audio folder of the project as:
nameoftheproject_track1_ren_00.wav and
nameoftheproject _track1_ren_00.spk
(This is the _ren_ which characterise (signify) consolidated files)
You will export only wav files, I made it, it works. To retrieve the files elsewhere, there is no need to copy .spk. (Unless you have other info about this?)
• Go to the File Manager, highlight the files _ren_ to export
And use BACK UP to copy to CD / DVD or COPY for other media.
For “COPY “
(thinking to appear in the area to the right of the file manager, where you will export files , opening the destination support by double clicking on its name)
########## USEFUL INFO
Often we discover many things with a double click:
Example, double clicking on the AUDIO folder in the Project window you can see nothing! it's scary! Well no , it's normal for the X48, you will go to the File Manager, double click on the AUDIO folder to view files .WAV!
########## 8 / COPYING PROJECT IN ANOTHER (its only audio files. Copy a project with all its "history" not possible or I didn’t find it!)
We must first make the process of consolidation in the "SOURCE" project (as in the export of WAV files), then open the"DESTINATION" project, by placing the playhead where you want to copy the source project files , and highlight the track where you will place the first source project file (as in the procedure of export wav)
Then go to IMPORT AUDIO FILE, and highlight the source project consolidated files you want to import inside the destination project,and OK.
########## 9 / CHANGE OF NAME
In the file manager you can change a project name by double clicking on it (but beware : the old files will have the old name and new recordings or files will have the new name, it can be confusing),
You can also change the name of an audio file.
Well I stop there and I'll buy a ProTools ... ... I'm just joking!
Jack
http://www.jacquesportet@laposte.net
Tascam X 48 For Best And Worst, Questions and discoveries
Sun 7 Mar 2010, 10:38
