Tascam CD R624M User Manual

Xing Technologies AudioCatalyst - MP3 Encoding  
TASCAM CD-R624M  
Apple QuickTime 4.0 - Offers support for more advanced  
multimedia, including playback of MP3 files.  
Packing List  
The QuickTime installer may ask for your type of internet  
connection. The install is on your CD-R624M CD, so an  
internet connection is not necessary.  
The following items should be present in your CD-R624M bundle:  
Adobe Acrobat 3.0 - Reading PDF files  
- TEAC 6x24 external CDR drive (CD-R56S/614)  
- SCSI Cable  
- SCSI Terminator  
- CD-R624M software CD-ROM  
- CD Stomper w/ CD Stomper CD-ROM and CD Labels  
- (2) Blank TEAC CDR media  
Be sure attention is paid to the placement of the files as mentioned  
above for Jam and BIAS Peak LE/SFX Machine Lite. If these files are  
not placed as specified, the programs will lose some functions.  
CDR Introductory Tutorial  
- TEAC 6x24 Installation Guide  
- CD-R624 QuickStart Guide (That’d be this book.)  
CDR (Compact Disc Recordable) media can store up to 74 minutes of  
stereo audio, or up to 650 megabytes of data. CDR media can only  
be written to once, so the CDR authoring software allows you to  
design your CD completely before you burn it. Since the CD must  
contain a directory of what is on it, and since that directory is on the  
write-once only media also, all of the information must be burned to  
the CD at the same time. Recording the information to a CD is done  
in a Session.  
Installing the CD-R624M Bundle  
A hardware installation booklet has been included with this package;  
look to it for installation of the CD-Recorder. Also, if you are new to  
installing software on your Mac, be aware that you will probably have  
to restart the computer in between each installation.  
To install the software, make sure your CD-Recorder is connected.  
Insert the CD-R624W disc into your CD-ROM or CDR drive.  
While audio CD players will only recognize the first session on the  
CD, many CD-ROMs will read multiple sessions. A CD with more than  
one session is called a Multi-Session CD. So, if the first session only  
contained 200 megabytes of data, you could record another session  
behind it up to approximately 450 megabytes. (It won’t be quite that  
big because of the extra space taken by the new directory.)  
Remember though, older CD-ROMs may not search for those extra  
sessions.  
There are several programs you will need to install:  
Adaptec Toast - Data CD Authoring  
Adaptec Jam - Audio CD Authoring  
The CD-R56S driver file MUST  
be placed in the same folder as  
the Jam application. This file is  
on the CD-R624M software CD.  
When you get ready to design the session, you will first need to  
determine the format of the CD. Some of the common CD formats  
you can create with Adaptec Toast and Jam are listed below:  
BIAS Peak LE - Audio Recording/Editing  
BIAS SFX Machine Lite - Effect Processing  
SFX Machine Lite must be placed in the Plug-ins folder  
inside the BIAS Peak LE Folder. Otherwise, Peak LE will  
not add SFX Machine to its list.  
Audio CD - This is the standard CD format you can use in your  
Audio CD player. You can have up to 99 tracks of audio, with  
adjustable silence breaks in between each track. The audio tracks  
Compression: None  
Source: Mic (This assumes you are plugging in to your mic inputs. If  
you have a separate sound card, i.e. IF-PCI16, AudioMedia III, Paris  
System, etc. then select the appropriate input source.)  
Ch: Stereo  
Bit: 16  
Rate: 44.1kHz  
Once you’ve got all the settings properly set, click on OK. You’ll pop  
back into the primary Recording Options Screen. You may want to  
enable the monitoring of the input in Peak LE by clicking in the  
Monitor box just under the level meters. This will allow the signal  
going in to be heard through the speaker outputs. Then, click OK to  
leave the screen.  
Click on the Record  
button to get the  
record screen. Once you’ve  
got the levels set right,  
(watch the levels at the  
bottom of meter at the  
bottom of the screen,) go  
ahead and click on the  
Record button in the Record  
screen and start playing your  
audio. As the recording  
goes along, the waveform  
will appear in the screen.  
While Peak LE is a very capable editor with advanced features, we’ll  
just cover the basics here:  
Tight Leadering - To delete the dead space before and after the  
audio, click and drag across the unwanted audio. You can audition  
the audio by pressing the space bar. To move the edges of the  
selection, hold shift, and drag across to your new selection point. To  
remove the selected area, press delete.  
When you’re done,  
Fade - To add a fade to the beginning or end of a file, simply select  
the portion of the file to be faded, go to the DSP menu, and select  
Fade In or Fade Out.  
click on the Stop key. Peak LE will prompt you to name the  
file. If you want to re-record the file, just cancel out of that screen,  
and record again. If you like what you recorded, save it and Peak LE  
will take you into the waveform screen where the audio is displayed.  
The top two waveforms show the entire sound file, with a box around  
the area that is represented in the bottom screen. The bottom  
(larger) waveforms are where you will do your editing. You can zoom  
in and out by pressing APPLE “[“ and APPLE “]”.  
Assembling Audio CDs  
To start assembling your CD, boot up Jam and simply drag and drop  
all the song files into the Jam window.  
EQ - If you’d like to process EQ on your song, select the part you’d  
like to affect. (To EQ the whole song, just hit Apple “A” to select the  
whole region.) Go to the Plug-Ins menu and drag down to Premiere;  
when the side menu appears drag to SFX Machine Lite. Click on  
Simple Graphic EQ in the second column of the processing screen.  
Audition your EQ settings by pressing “Preview.” Preview will play a  
couple seconds of audio with your EQ curve. Once you like what you  
hear, click on “Process” and Peak will apply the EQ to the entire area  
you selected.  
The songs you have selected for this CD will appear in the window,  
along with pause between tracks, time the track starts, and the track  
length. You can change the order simply by dragging the song files  
around.  
Normalization - If you recorded the audio too quietly, you can  
digitally boost the volume of the recording. Again, select the area  
you want to affect, and then select the DSP menu and drag down to  
Normalize. Peak LE will allow you to select what you want the  
maximum volume to reach. (Because some consumer audio players  
distort signals that approach the maximum volume, we recommend  
keeping the maximum down around 80% to 95% depending on what  
the average volume is.  
There are some powerful real-time (non-destructive) processing  
features in Jam that make assembly of professional sounding CDs a  
snap. You’ll notice there is a column for Gain on each song. If your  
songs are playing back at different volumes because of varied levels  
during recording, you can make fine adjustments here.  
Also, if you are trying to have continued play from one track to  
another, such as with live recordings, you can do a crossfade in the  
Xfade column. For this, this pause between tracks has to be set to  
zero. There are different gain curves that you can experiment with to  
make the transition as smooth as possible. (The crossfades are  
represented by two curves; each curve represents channel levels  
over the length of the crossfade.)  
Once you’ve finished all of this, save your file. You’ve just mastered  
your song!  
Again, there are far more advanced features included with this  
package, but we’ll leave that to the Jam manual.  
Assembling Data CDs  
Once you’ve got your CD assembled, click on Check Speed in the  
upper right corner. For the first few CDs you make, we highly  
recommend doing test burns first. Depending on what your source  
data is coming from, the source drive may not be fast enough to  
support 6x burns. This can be even further complicated if your drive  
is “fragmented,” meaning the data is not in a continuous block on the  
drive. (This happens frequently when the drive is nearing capacity.)  
So just to be safe, run the test before burning so you are sure the  
system will run properly. If your system is having trouble keeping up  
with the drive, read the “Troubleshooting Underruns” section at the  
end of this Guide.  
Open Adaptec Toast, and go to the Format  
menu to select the type of CD you wish to  
record. For introductory purposes, if you are  
simply trying to back up select files from your  
computer, use Mac Files & Folders. If you  
are trying to distribute data to both Mac and  
PC users alike, use the ISO-9660 format.  
(Both PCs and Macs can read those.)  
The files can be selected by dragging and  
dropping the files and folders on the Toast  
window. To see the hierarchy of the disc you  
are assembling, click on the Data button.  
Once the test has successfully been completed, go ahead and click  
on Write Disc. You will get a screen that gives you the option of Write  
Session or Write Disc.  
Write Session means you will go ahead and burn a disc, but you do  
not close it off. An application like Adaptec Toast will still be able to  
write data information in another Session behind it.  
Write Disc means the disc is  
closed off, and no further  
sessions can be recorded  
behind it. If you are making a  
CD that is going to a  
duplication house, you will  
want to use Write Disc. Also,  
if you have no intention of recording anything else after the CD, you  
can close it off.  
Once you’ve clicked on your option, the CD will start recording.  
When it’s finished, you’re on CD!  
You can move files from one folder to another, create new folders, or  
remove files from this screen. To rename the disc, double click on  
the CD icon and name it whatever you like. When you are through  
assembling the CD, click Done.  
AudioCatalyst Tutorial  
Once you’ve got your CD assembled, click on Check Speed in the  
bottom. As we mentioned in the Jam burning process, it is wise to try  
a test burn to get a feel for the performance of your computer. If your  
system is having trouble keeping up with the CDR drive, read the  
“Troubleshooting Underruns” section at the end of this Guide.  
What is MP3?  
MP3 has created quite a buzz, but what is it really? MP3 is a  
compression format for storing audio with excellent fidelity, yet only  
taking approximately 9% of the data space. MP3 is short for MPEG  
(Moving Picture Expert Group) type 1, layer 3. If you’re curious about  
other types of MPEG compression, you can find their web site at:  
What MP3 offers is a way to distribute your music much easier.  
Currently, the main uses for MP3 are for personal players (walkman-  
type units) and for internet distribution of audio. You can use MP3 to  
put a clip of your band on the internet, or even to exchange musical  
ideas with someone else via email.  
AudioCatalyst is an MP3 encoder/player. It can encode regular WAV  
files to MP3. If you already burned your audio to a CD, you can also  
use AudioCatalyst to encode files directly from the audio CD.  
Encoding Options  
Once the test has successfully been completed, go ahead and click  
on Write Disc. You will get a screen that gives you the option of Write  
Session or Write Disc.  
There are a good deal of options when creating MP3 files. There are  
different data rates, CBR vs VBR, and mono vs stereo. For your first  
time, try doing 128kbps, CBR and stereo. That is the typical layout,  
and the most compatible. For reference, the terms are defined  
below.  
Write Session means you will go  
ahead and burn a disc, but you  
do not close it off. Toast will still  
be able to write data information  
in another Session behind it.  
data rate - Data rate simply defines how much throughput the MP3  
file will take. The data rate most people use is 128kbps (kilobits per  
second), but it can vary from 32kbps up to 320kbps. The higher the  
data rate, the higher the quality.  
Write Disc means the disc is  
closed off, and no further  
sessions can be recorded.  
CBR vs VBR - In order to capture different sounds with true clarity,  
some sounds can take less space... other sounds are more  
demanding. CBR (Constant Bit Rate) was the original spec designed  
for MP3, and is compatible with virtually all MP3 players. VBR  
Once you’ve clicked on your option, the CD will start recording.  
When it’s finished, you’ve recorded your CD!  
(Variable Bit Rate) basically adjusts the amount of data used to  
encode the sound according to what is needed. VBR typically  
sounds better, but older MP3 players may not be able to use it.  
Playing MP3 Files  
mono vs stereo - This is pretty self explanatory, but it is important  
to realize that a stereo signal does not necessarily take twice as much  
space as a mono signal. (Ain’t compression skwewy?)  
Encoding MP3 Files  
To encode audio to MP3, start up AudioCatalyst. At the bottom of  
the window, you can select files to encode from either an audio file  
(such as AIFF) or from a CD. Add From File chooses audio files,  
and Add From CD chooses tracks from a CD. The songs will be  
shown in the list in the left side of the window.  
Playing MP3 files is as easy as selecting the file to play. This player is  
the QuickTime 4 Movie Player.  
Select an MP3 file by clilcking on the File menu and dragging to New  
Movie. You will have the familiar browsing windows. When playing  
files, remember that the volume on the front of this player is further  
adjusted by the master volume for the computer in the Sound  
Control Panel.  
To get the balance, bass and treble controls, click on the  
:: button.  
To encode the files, press encode. AudioCatalyst will prompt you for  
a location to save the files to. Once you determine the location,  
AudioCatalyst will begin encoding.  
The player button in the AudioCatalyst window is a convenience  
feature allowing you to launch an MP3 player from AudioCatalyst. We  
have included QuickTime 4 in this package which  
comes with a player, but you may use any player  
you wish. To select which player you’d like to come  
up, go to the Player menu and select Set Player.  
So, one suggestion may be to optimize your source drive. That will  
put each file in one continuous data stream. You can do this with a  
multitude of applications, such as Norton Utilities.  
Troubleshooting  
Underruns  
Another solution is to create a disc image, which will write (in one  
continuous stream) all of the information for the CD to a disk drive,  
including the directories. This is sometimes necessary for slower  
hard disks to operate with faster CD burn speeds.  
Let’s start with a basic understanding of what’s involved. Here are  
some basic terms you will need to understand to navigate the world  
of data transfer:  
Of course, one other solution is just to reduce the recording speed  
of the CD-Recorder. Some source disks may just be too slow for  
higher speed recording (ie Zip, old 44 meg SyQuest, etc). Also, if  
you’re just making one quick CD, it may be faster to simply record the  
CD at 2x or even 1x, instead of defraging the drive, then burning the  
CD at 4x.  
Access Time - How long does it take from the time the computer  
asks a drive for data until the drive starts spitting it out? This is usually  
measured in ms (milliseconds).  
Throughput (aka Transfer Rate) - Once the drive finds the  
information, how fast can it transmit the data? This is usually  
measured in MB/sec (megabytes per second).  
Other problems  
Fragmented or Optimized - Is the information on the drive  
written in one continuous data stream, or is it broken up into several  
pieces around the drive? If the data is in one continuous stream, it is  
optimized. If it is broken up, it is fragmented.  
Jam cannot identify the CD-Recorder -  
There is a file labeled TEAC CD-R56S. This file  
must be in the same folder as the Jam application  
at boot-up. When Jam starts up, it looks for  
these driver files and adds them to their list. This  
file MUST REMAIN in the same folder as Jam.  
Once you understand the previous terms, then we’re ready to  
troubleshoot! Let’s first understand the relationship between all of  
these.  
I cannot extract audio from my CD-ROM. - If you are trying to  
extract audio from an audio CD or trying to copy from CD to CD,  
your CD-ROM must be capable of these functions. (Not all CD-  
ROMs can do that.) If necessary, the 6x24 drive is capable of most  
of these types of functions, so you may use the CDR drive to  
extract to your hard drive, then burn back to the CD.  
Think of a disk drive as a book. If you are reading a book from page  
one to the end, you can read a certain number of words per minute.  
When you read a newspaper, and the story on page B1 is continued  
on page B14, you are spending time looking for the continuation of  
the story. Suddenly, it takes longer for you to read the same amount  
of words. Even worse is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. With  
these, you can only read a few paragraphs before you have to find  
the next part. This slows you down considerably.  
The drive is not recording to the blank CDs. - There could  
be several causes for this:  
So it is with hard drives. If everything is streamlined, then the data will  
flow quickly. If the drive has to search for all the parts continuously,  
the data flow suffers.  
1) Make sure the disc you are using is a regular CDR media. CD-  
RW discs are not compatible with this drive. “For Music Only”  
CDs may also cause problems, as they are designed for use  
with consumer component CD-Recorders.  
2) Make sure the CDR media is on the list of approved media of  
this drive. We have tested many types of CDR media, and the  
The list is kept on the site so it may be kept as up to date as  
possible. For convenience, we have  
SFX Machine doesn’t show up in Peak LE. - The Plug-Ins  
folder of Peak LE is probably not set-up properly.  
1) Make sure you installed SFX Machine Lite. (SFX Machine Lite  
has its own installer.)  
included the list on your CD-R624M  
software CD. Keep in mind that it will  
be updated from time to time on our  
web site.  
2) Make sure SFX Machine Lite is in the Plug-Ins folder inside the  
application for Peak LE. Also, be sure you do not have multiple  
copies of Peak LE on your computer. SFX Machine Lite must  
be in the Plug-Ins folder that is in the same folder as the current  
Peak LE application.  
3) While the CD-Recorder is recording, make sure the CDR drive  
is not agitated. (If you write as vigorously as I do, even writing  
the jewel case insert on the same table as the CD-Recorder is  
on could shake the unit enough.) CD Recording requires  
much more stability than reading. When reading a CD, players  
can take several passes at the data stream if the tracking is lost.  
However, CD-Recorders do not have this luxury. They are  
recording the information on the CD, and need to do so  
precisely the first time.  
3) Peak LE can only support up to 3 plug-ins at a time. If there are  
more than 3 plug-ins in the Plug-Ins folder, then some of the  
others must be removed, and Peak LE must be restarted.  
The system is testing too slow for 6x recording speeds. -  
Chances are there is more processing going on than just your CD  
authoring software.  
Technical Support  
If you are still experiencing problems with the unit after reading the  
previous troubleshooting section, you can check for more up to date  
FAQ documents at TASCAM’s web site at:  
1) If your computer has a lot of applications running in the  
background, this can substantially slow the efficiency of your  
system. (Common culprits are likely to be anti-virus software,  
screen savers, or advanced network applications.) These can  
be temporarily disabled to dedicate more processing  
horsepower to the CD authoring software.  
or contact TASCAM Technical Support at:  
(323) 726-0303  
2) In recent years, large disk drives have become more and more  
affordable, but often the drives many stores advertise are quite  
slow. If the drive is too slow, then you’ll have to try optimizing  
your drive.  

Yamaha CRW2216E User Manual
Transcend Information TS128GSSD25 M User Manual
Toshiba MQ01ABD Series Hard Disk Drive MQ01ABD032 User Manual
Technicolor Thomson DCD SA1 User Manual
Seagate ST64022CF User Manual
Samsung SGH T959ZKATMB User Manual
Pioneer Premier DEH P550MP User Manual
Pioneer DEH P6900UB User Manual
Pioneer DEH P2600 User Manual
Philips CD SOUNDMACHINE AZ102C User Manual