Stupid Deal of the Day = TASCAM DP-008EX Digital 8-Track Pocketstudio

[Farrell Jackson]

On a completely unrelated topic, Farrell are you at all familiar with the fostex wav converter? I'm having issues importing tracks from the computer to the card. They export fine but I can't get it to import. Just wondering if you use program with your tracks, probably not though now that I think about your recorder & computer being set up in different rooms. Oh well...have fun with the new toy. Try recording something entirely on the 008, I'd like to hear what you can do with it!
Rock On!

Sorry Hook, I can't help you with the wav converter problem. Currently I just record my tracks to a CDRW from the  VF160 and then record them into the computer using Windows media player. The VF160 doesn't have a USB plug or a card reader. It does have optical, SCSI, and RCA outs but it's too much of a hassle to move my VF160 to where the computer is located. My plan is to rework my studio one of these days with a dedicated laptop in the loop so I can just stay in the studio. My wife says if I do that then she'll never see me, lol!

Farrell

[64Guitars]

This one has peaked my interest, they ditched the cd burner.

That DP-03SD looks interesting. I never cared for CD drives in a recorder. Seems pointless to me, and it's one more thing to go wrong. I always move my tracks to the computer anyway for final mixing or at least for trimming, normalization, etc. So, if I want to burn a CD, it makes sense to do it from the computer, not the BR.

Funny thing though. If I search Google for tascam "dp-03sd", the only major retailer that seems to have it is Musician's Friend / Guitar Center. It's not even mentioned on TASCAM's own website:

http://tascam.com/applications/recording/mtr_digital_portastudio/

I wonder if Musician's Friend has had TASCAM build this version exclusively for them?

[64Guitars]

On a completely unrelated topic, Farrell are you at all familiar with the fostex wav converter? I'm having issues importing tracks from the computer to the card. They export fine but I can't get it to import.

What happens when you try to copy WAV files from the PC to the MR? Are the WAV files listed and the tracks checked as shown in the image below? Do you get an error message?



According to the WAV Manager manual, you click the "PC to MR" tab then select the folder containing your WAV files in the directory tree at the left. Any WAV files found in that folder will then be listed. Below that list of WAV files, you need to put a checkmark next to each track you wish to copy to the MR. Then you make sure the correct drive letter is selected for your MR and you select the desired song from the drop-down list. When you click the Export button, the checkmarked tracks will be copied to the selected song in the MR.

Note that your WAV files must be named in the format "trxx.wav", where "xx" is a track number from "01" to "08". Case doesn't matter, so "tr01.wav", "TR01.WAV", Tr01.wav", etc. are all acceptible.

By the way, the WAV Manager documentation uses the term "export" for going from the PC to the MR, and "import" for going from the MR to the PC. This is the opposite of what we're used to with the Boss BR Wave Converter. I guess an import to the BR from your PC is the same as an export from the PC to the MR. It's a matter of viewpoint and direction of transfer. When the direction is PC to BR/MR, it's an import from the viewpoint of the BR/MR but an export from the viewpoint of the PC. And when the direction is BR/MR to PC, it's an export from the viewpoint of the BR/MR but an import from the viewpoint of the PC. TASCAM chose to take the viewpoint of the PC. I suppose that makes sense since the software is running on the PC, not the MR. So maybe it's Roland who got it backwards. Yet, somehow I find Roland's usage easier to relate to.

[Hook]

I'm gonna try to export (import in my mind) tomorrow just to make sure but I don't recall it being like that. I feel like it showed me wavs in my desktop folder & I cold highlight them but there were no checkmarks & it wouldn't let me click one in. Do I have to change the name of the track I want to expot onto the MR8? I'll try & experiment some tomorrow & get back to you. Thanks 64!!!

[64Guitars]

Do I have to change the name of the track I want to expot onto the MR8?

Yes. In the instructions for exporting (PC to MR), the manual says...

"With the WAV Manager, you can only export files whose file names are of the form "tr**.wav" (** shows the track number). Note that uppercase and lowercase characters are not distinguished."

I wouldn't rename the original wav files. Instead, I'd make copies of them in a temp directory and rename those copies. Then when you're finished exporting, you can delete those temporary files. And your original files will still have meaningful names like "lead guitar", "bass", or whatever you named them, instead of "tr01.wav", "tr02.wav", etc.

[Speed Demon]

Regarding the use of CDRW disks; if you initialize and write to a rewriteable disk using the VF160 is it capable of being read on a PC?

I'm under the impression that an an unfinalized CDRW can only be read on the device that initialized it.
Of course, times, and hardware, have changed since the last time I actually used one. A lot of time.   

[64Guitars]

Regarding the use of CDRW disks; if you initialize and write to a rewriteable disk using the VF160 is it capable of being read on a PC?

I'm under the impression that an an unfinalized CDRW can only be read on the device that initialized it.
Of course, times, and hardware, have changed since the last time I actually used one. A lot of time.   

I'm not sure. Maybe Farrell can try it and let us know. If it's a problem, he could always finalize the disc each time, then erase it when he wants to use it again.

I think the need for finalization depends somewhat on the device that it will be played back on. Some devices seem to be more compatible than others. For example, I often burn my songs to a CD-RW so I can take it downstairs and play it in my Sony mini stereo to see how the mix sounds. The burning software always warns me that not finalizing isn't recommended. It also warns that using CD-RWs for audio discs is not recommended. Yet they always play just fine in my Sony mini stereo. When I'm done checking the mix, I erase the CD-RW so it's ready to use the next time I need it.

Maybe some CD players will only work properly if the CD is finalized. But my Sony doesn't seem to care if it's finalized or not.

[Farrell Jackson]

Regarding the use of CDRW disks; if you initialize and write to a rewriteable disk using the VF160 is it capable of being read on a PC?

I'm under the impression that an an unfinalized CDRW can only be read on the device that initialized it.
Of course, times, and hardware, have changed since the last time I actually used one. A lot of time.   

I'm not sure. Maybe Farrell can try it and let us know. If it's a problem, he could always finalize the disc each time, then erase it when he wants to use it again.

I think the need for finalization depends somewhat on the device that it will be played back on. Some devices seem to be more compatible than others. For example, I often burn my songs to a CD-RW so I can take it downstairs and play it in my Sony mini stereo to see how the mix sounds. The burning software always warns me that not finalizing isn't recommended. It also warns that using CD-RWs for audio discs is not recommended. Yet they always play just fine in my Sony mini stereo. When I'm done checking the mix, I erase the CD-RW so it's ready to use the next time I need it.

Maybe some CD players will only work properly if the CD is finalized. But my Sony doesn't seem to care if it's finalized or not.

I can honestly say that I've not tried to play a CDRW on my PC that was finalized by the VF160. I only use the disc recorder in the VF160 to capture the songs data and then  store the disc away. I have two dual tray cdr/cdrw recorders (Teac and Phillips) that are connected to the VF160 using the optical out/in and RCA out/in. When I finalize a CDRW on either of these machines I can play them on all trays of either recorder and my PC. Without finalizing the disc, it will only play on the record tray of either machine, not my other players, and not my PC. Once my PC finalizes a CDRW I can't unfinalize it on the Teac or the Phillips recorders but I haven't tried to unfinalize one using the VF160.......ummmmm now that is something to try. I hope you can follow what I just wrote because I can barely sort it out, LOL!

Farrell