Yamaha DMR8 v.3.0 Technical Information download pdf (Page 4)

attempted to replay material which appeared to have recorded OK. A quick

check using the C2 error flag display confirmed that there were problems on

these two channels, and a check of the Head On Time showed that this

machine had been used for a total of 25 hours since it left the factory. These

two displays which proved to be so useful at this point were readily available

from the Help Menu on the DMR8. Yamaha were very good about this

problem, and arranged to bring me a replacement DMR8 the very next day.

I decided to record most of the MIDI instrument data into a Macintosh II

computer running Performer MIDI sequencer. Once this was done, I took a

cable from the DMR8's dedicated MIDI Time Code DIN socket to the

Macintosh, and put the Mac in external MTC sync mode. I had to format a

DMR8 tape cassette before I could use it, which took one 20-minute pass, as I

decided to format the whole tape at the outset. During this process, SMPTE

timecode was generated by the DMR8 and recorded onto a special track for

this purpose. Once this was done, I just had to choose a SMPTE start time in

the Macintosh, and everything synced up straight away.

The next problem surfaced when I was rolling the tape back - I heard various

bits of MIDI gear 'firing off' in bursts as the tape rewound. This became a

major annoyance as I worked on the MIDI recording, and I became very

adept at switching the sequencer out of sync while rewinding the DMR8. I

enquired about this at Yamaha R & D, and was told that it was due to bursts

of MIDI Time Code being sent from the dedicated MTC output and intended

to keep slave tape machines in sync with the DMR8 master. They have now

realised themselves that this is not ideal when syncing to MIDI equipment,

and there is a possibility that future versions of the DMR8 will let you switch

these MTC bursts off or on as needed. It does seem a little remiss of the

designers not to have considered this usage of the DMR8 with an external

sequencer at the original design stage, however!

Once everything was set up properly, and I started to get more familiar with

the DMR8, which all took about a week, things then started to run much

more smoothly. I worked mostly in Sync Overdub mode at first, as I was

recording guitars and vocals to the multitrack while monitoring my MIDI

gear which was playing back through my Teac analogue mixer. Once I had

the guitars and a guide vocal on tape, I wanted to set everything up as it

would sound in a mix, but still be able to drop into record new tracks at any

time. Unfortunately, the EQ and effects sends don't work in Sync Overdub

mode while you are monitoring tracks off tape. These only work in Mixdown

mode, and I couldn't work in this mode and drop in to record at a moment's

notice. I remember working on various analogue consoles which also had

this limitation, but I would have expected the DMR8 to provide this kind of

flexibility as a matter of course.

It quickly became obvious to me that I really needed about four DMP11

submixers to take the separate outputs from my samplers and synthesizers.

Using the digital cascade connections, I could have submixed all my MIDI

gear using the DMP11s and brought them into my DMR8 mixes alongside the

eight tracks coming off tape. I would then have had eight extra mixer channel

inputs available in mixdown mode on the DMR8 via the existing HA8/AD8X.

I could have used these to hook up a couple of extra synths and a drum

machine which another musician had brought in for the session. To use the

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Comments to this Manuals

No comments

Yamaha DMR8 v.3.0 Technical Information Page 4

Comments to this Manuals

Related products and manuals for Audio mixers Yamaha DMR8 v.3.0