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4 DTRS Machines – Care and Us e
SDDS Print Master Guidelines, Page 11 of 26
4 DTRS Machines – Care and Use
4.1
Models
DT RS machine ar e s emi -pr ofessional machines designed f or “large” home s tudi os .
T hey became qui ckl y adopted as a s t andar d 8 track digital tape machine i n European
dubbi ng s tudios . It is still often the for mat of choice for moving mater ial between
studios. There ar e two makes and s ever al models, the mos t important of which are
listed below.
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T ascam DA88 – the or i gi nal
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Sony PCM800
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T ascam DA98
At present the S DDS masters must be i n standard 16 bit format. New high bit rate
modes are now available, but the camer a s i t es only have s tandar d PCM800s and
DA88s so they can’t play back the new formats .
4.2
L evels
Note that the DA88 and PCM800 are factor y set so that +4dBu = –16dBfs. An
allowance for this has to be made if mixing wi th studio operating level s other than
0dBu (as 0dBu = –20dBfs). The machine i ts el f can be modi fi ed for different levels, or
console i nput/output trims can be us ed. If in doubt, check using the S DDS DTRS test
tape. The DA98 has software s el ectabl e l evel s for +4dBu = -16, -18 and – 20dBfs.
4.3
Clean air
T here i s a cooling fan in the DA88 and PCM800, which sucks air through the machine.
T here i s no filter and the onl y entry hole i s the cassette dr awer . This means that any
dirt, cigarette s moke etc. in the ai r is pulled di r ectl y over the heads , which is very bad
for the per for mance of the machine. It is recommended that the ai r around the
machines is kept as clean as possible, with no smoking in the s ame r oom. There i s a
simple modi fi cati on to change the di r ecti on of the fan and add a f ilter. The machine
seems to be s lightly hotter after this mod, so car eful checks must be made after war ds .
Details are on Eddi e Ciletti’s web s ite www.tangibl e- technology.com
4.4
Errors
Errors can occur for a var i et y of reasons. Problems caused by dirty or worn heads can
be checked for by playing back the mas ter after recording. However, many recent
problems we have found wer e all caused by tape path misalignment. This means that
the tape will play back fine on the machi ne on which it was recorded, but causes errors
on other machines.