Tascam Portacapture X8 Reference Manual Download

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D01392520B

Linear PCM Recorder

Reference Manual

Summary of Contents for Portacapture X8

Page 1: ...D01392520B Linear PCM Recorder Reference Manual...

Page 2: ...peaker 25 4 7 Adjusting the playback volume 25 4 8 Connecting computers and smartphones 25 5 Input and output settings 26 5 1 Using the INPUT SELECT function 26 5 2 Making input settings for each inpu...

Page 3: ...ects FILE DELETE 62 Deleting tracks in projects TRACK DELETE 62 Enabling and disabling protection CHANGE PROTECT 62 Changing names RENAME 62 Viewing the mark list MARK 62 Dividing files DIVIDE 63 Norm...

Page 4: ...ng 80 18 Specifications 82 18 1 Specifications and rated values 82 Recorder specifications 82 Analog audio input ratings 82 Analog audio output 82 Control input output ratings 82 Audio performance 82...

Page 5: ...24V 48V support o o Detachable mic unit implemented with large diaphragm condenser mics o o Both L and R mics can be attached detached from the main unit to form A B X Y patterns o o Multi track recor...

Page 6: ...other content distribution systems pay audio or audio on demand applications and the like or on physical media compact discs digital versatile discs semiconduc tor chips hard drives memory cards and...

Page 7: ...microSD cards to be used with it Errors might occur when recording with this unit using a microSD card formatted by a computer or other device 1 6 Accessories sold separately This product does not inc...

Page 8: ...shows a variety of information Tap it and swipe it to make settings and operate the unit page 10 7 REC 0 button Press when stopped to start recording Press when recording to put the unit in recording...

Page 9: ...HOLD switch Slide this switch toward the icon to turn the unit on and off put it into standby Set it to the HOLD position to activate the hold function Neither the touchscreen nor any buttons can be u...

Page 10: ...ER screen can be used to launch various recording apps and setting screens Launching recording apps 1 As shown in the illustration below slide the middle of the screen to select an app to launch App n...

Page 11: ...s good for recording audio for inter views and video blogs 2 channel recording app FIELD This app is good for recording outdoors 2 channel recording app PODCAST This app is good for recording podcasts...

Page 12: ...and tracks 1 2 can be used in 2 channel recording apps o o Input jacks 5 6 and the EXT IN jack cannot be used at the same time MANUAL app MASTER Inputs Input settings Input selection Mixer Master Inp...

Page 13: ...apable of multi track recording produce a master file as well as track files MANUAL app MASTER Mixer Master Tracks 1 2 stereo mono Tracks 3 4 stereo mono Tracks 5 6 stereo mono Track files Master file...

Page 14: ...ew input jacks 1 6 are assigned to tracks 1 6 by default Using the INPUT SELECT function any pair of input jacks can be assigned to any pair of tracks In this example mics are connected to input jacks...

Page 15: ...een Other screens File name Status Counter e File name Screen name Status Counter Normal display Abbreviated display When recording recording paused HOME screen Other screens e Normal display Abbrevia...

Page 16: ...NPUT SELECT INPUT SELECT INPUT SETTINGS INPUT SETTINGS INPUT SETTINGS RECORDING GUIDE MIX DOWN PUNCH I O GENERAL SET TINGS GENERAL SET TINGS GENERAL SET TINGS GENERAL SET TINGS GENERAL SET TINGS GENER...

Page 17: ...ned from the GENERAL SETTINGS screen SYSTEM page FILE NAME WORD EDIT item Shift Delete one char acter Switch input char acter type Tap the character type button to switch between letters of the Englis...

Page 18: ...rm hearing or cause other trouble 1 Press the microSD card in gently to make it to come out 2 Pull the microSD card out 3 2 Preparing the power supply Notes about power supplies This unit can be power...

Page 19: ...g with a microphone if the unit is too close to the AC adapter In such a case keep sufficient distance between the AC adapter and the unit NOTE o o If an external power supply that provides current le...

Page 20: ...stored NOTE The unit cannot be turned off when it is recording or in recording standby Resume function When this unit is turned off it remembers the position where it was stopped The next time it is t...

Page 21: ...r formatting completes successfully the LAUNCHER app selec tion screen will open CAUTION Formatting will erase all data on a microSD card Back up to a computer for example before formatting a card NOT...

Page 22: ...hey are tight The included mics will not be recognized if their lock rings have not been turned completely o o Always use the included mics together as a pair NOTE o o Reverse these procedures to disc...

Page 23: ...er connecting and making INPUT SELECT settings use the INPUT set tings to select MIC or LINE level Making input settings for each input on page 27 NOTE o o Make phantom power settings when using a mic...

Page 24: ...t setting to LINE Making input settings for each input on page 27 4 4 Connecting cameras When recording video with a camera the same sound can be recorded simultaneously by the camera and this unit In...

Page 25: ...cording in recording standby in recording guide mode or when headphones are connected o o Setting headphone speaker volume to 0 will mute the sound 4 8 Connecting computers and smart phones The follow...

Page 26: ...a pair of tracks to change their input connector assignments 4 Tap the input connector s to assign Repeat steps 3 4 as necessary 5 Tap the BACK icon to complete the setting NOTE o o Since INPUT 5 6 a...

Page 27: ...turning on phantom power and tap YES Phantom power will be provided to the selected input jacks o o When the pop up message is open tap NO to close the message without enabling phantom power o o Even...

Page 28: ...fect of amplifying and attenuating specific fre quency ranges This can be used for example to enhance the sound of individual instruments to adjust the balance of a wide frequency range and to cut spe...

Page 29: ...nked inputs are also linked o o The INPUT GAIN switches of inputs 1 2 stay linked even when the inputs are not stereo linked 5 3 Adding reverb to inputs REVERB Set this with the GENERAL SETTINGS scree...

Page 30: ...ording guide is not needed open the MANUAL app HOME screen press the Shortcut Menu and turn RECORDING GUIDE off This enables recording to be started from other screens in addition to the MIXER screen...

Page 31: ...l Stopped REC indicator unlit Recording guide active only available in MANUAL app REC indicator blinking Recording paused REC indicator blinking Recording REC indicator lit RECORDING GUIDE function of...

Page 32: ...8 Stopped 8 Stopped 09 Recording paused File incremented Recording contin ues in same file Recording pause function off 0 Recording 8 Stopped File incremented See Changing files while continuing to r...

Page 33: ...menu shown below LAUNCHER App switching and unit settings page 10 BROWSE File operations page 58 GENERAL SETTINGS Additional settings page 75 INPUT SELECT Track number and input jack assignments page...

Page 34: ...and continue input signal monitoring Press the REC 0 button again to start recording o o After tapping the GAIN the wheel can be turned to adjust it precisely Press the HOME 8 button to stop recordin...

Page 35: ...page 26 RECORDING GUIDE page 30 MIXDOWN page 69 PUNCH I O page 50 Using the wheel After tapping a GAIN fader or pan control or the MASTER level the wheel can be turned left and right to adjust the set...

Page 36: ...ER MASTER level setting PAN settings Faders To INPUT screen MASTER level Faders Use these to adjust the output levels of each track Pan settings Use these to adjust the left right volume balance MIXER...

Page 37: ...stops the REC indicator will become unlit and the HOME screen will open automatically NOTE When the REC PAUSE function is off the REC p button is disabled See Recording settings on page 48 for other...

Page 38: ...below LAUNCHER App switching and unit settings page 10 BROWSE File operations page 58 GENERAL SETTINGS Additional settings page 75 REC SETTINGS Recording settings and operations page 48 INPUT SELECT T...

Page 39: ...n page 27 for details about input settings Adding reverb to the input REVERB 1 Tap the REVERB setting to turn it on 2 Tap the REVERB TYPE to change the selection 3 Slide the REVERB LEVEL fader to adju...

Page 40: ...58 GENERAL SETTINGS Additional settings page 75 INPUT SELECT Track number and input jack assignments page 26 INPUT SETTINGS Input settings page 27 REC SETTINGS Recording settings and operations page 4...

Page 41: ...the REC 0 button to pause recording and continue input signal monitoring Press the REC 0 button again to start recording Press the HOME 8 button to stop recording See Recording settings on page 48 for...

Page 42: ...g and unit settings page 10 BROWSE File operations page 58 GENERAL SETTINGS Additional settings page 75 REC SETTINGS Recording settings and operations page 48 INPUT SELECT Track number and input jack...

Page 43: ...hanging the gain GAIN Adjust the input gain using the LOW setting first If the gain is insuffi cient switch to HIGH and adjust the gain Setting the filter LOW CUT The low cut filter can reduce bothers...

Page 44: ...ads Project status bar MASTER level setting Faders Input settings Input on off status Shortcut Menu Press the Shortcut Menu button to open the menu shown below LAUNCHER App switching and unit settings...

Page 45: ...to adjust the mix balance MASTER level setting Use this to adjust the level of the mix of all tracks After adjusting the balance of the individual track levels use this when you want to adjust the ov...

Page 46: ...re over view on page 57 Sound files saved in this folder can be assigned to pads e Tap SD CARD Tap the desired file NOTE o o Only sounds that or 48kHz 16 bit WAV format can be assigned to sound pads o...

Page 47: ...card is not loaded in the unit Muting mics Press the mute buttons to mute and unmute channels Not muted Muted Mute buttons Starting playback Press the t 9 button to play the last recorded track file...

Page 48: ...be selected o o Only the master track will be recorded track files will not be recorded SAMPLE Select the sampling frequency BIT DEPTH BIT RATE Select the bit depth rate 32 bit float recording This un...

Page 49: ...uency is 96 or 192 kHz o o FLOAT dual format recording cannot be used in the MANUAL app at 96 or 192 kHz o o When on the low cut filter noise gate limiter equalizer and phase inversion will affect bot...

Page 50: ...he moment to start overwriting The overwriting of the track enabled for recording red will start Punch in During recording sound input on both the track being overwritten red and the playback tracks g...

Page 51: ...SDXC 320kbps MP3 stereo 44 1kHz 222 13 888 53 16 bit WAV stereo 50 23 201 33 24 bit WAV stereo 96kHz 15 25 61 43 24 bit WAV stereo 192kHz 7 42 30 51 32 bit float WAV stereo 192kHz 5 47 23 08 o o The r...

Page 52: ...SE screen master files will be played back regardless of the app used for recording Screen overview Project status bar Search backward Search forward Status Counter Playback bar File name File format...

Page 53: ...evel setting PAN settings Faders MASTER level setting Faders Each project will play back with the mix balance used when it was re corded Changes to a mix balance during playback will not be saved Use...

Page 54: ...wanted The default value is TASCAM The usable characters are as follows Uppercase and lowercase alphabet letters numerals 0 9 and the following symbols _ space File numbers This shows the order recor...

Page 55: ...set to mono Tracks 3 4 stereo linked TASCAM_0001_1 WAV Track file TASCAM_0001_2 WAV Track file TASCAM_0001_3 4 WAV Track file TASCAM_0001_MIX WAV master files are always created Master file Dual file...

Page 56: ...e name The default value is TASCAM WORD EDIT Use this to input the file name For details about character input see App overview on page 11 NOTE If DATE is selected the file name will be created using...

Page 57: ...ed automatical ly during formatting o o Only two levels of subfolders can be created o o The maximum total number of files and folders is 5000 o o Everything in the SOUND folder and its subfolders is...

Page 58: ...der Folder project name Quick playback control Icon The apps used to record files on this unit are shown with icons Folders are shown with Folder file name Folder names are shown for folders If files...

Page 59: ...elete it once and input it again o o See Character input on page 17 for how to input characters Changing the names of folders RENAME Tap the desired folder on the BROWSE screen and do the following Fo...

Page 60: ...ze files SELECT The selected file becomes the current project and the app used for recording appears on the HOME screen Press the PLAY PAUSE y 9 button to play track files in the current project NOTE...

Page 61: ...ntervals between two points in a single file can be played repeatedly loop playback 1 Tap the LOOP playback mode tab 2 When playing or paused tap the IN button to set the playback starting point The p...

Page 62: ...n only be deleted in projects recorded using the MANUAL and PODCAST apps o o Deletion of the contents of tracks does not affect master files Enabling and disabling protection CHANGE PROTECT Project pr...

Page 63: ...nnot be divided o o The DIVIDE function does not affect PEAK marks Normalizing recordings NORMALIZE This function finds the loudest volume in a recorded file and raises the volume of all the recording...

Page 64: ...utomatically when the input signal exceeds the set level TIME Marks will be added automatically when the set time elapses during recording Adding marks when peak levels occur PEAK MARK Set this with t...

Page 65: ...et this with the GENERAL SETTINGS screen CAMERA SETTINGS AUTO TONE item The auto tone function can be used to automatically insert a tone signal whenever recording starts and stops By connecting the L...

Page 66: ...NOTE With a Mac the standard OS driver will be used so there is no need to install any software 12 5 Using as an audio interface This unit can be used as a USB audio interface by connecting it to a co...

Page 67: ...gned to the input jacks to be used as computer inputs If using the ASMR MUSIC VOICE or FIELD app signals from the input jacks assigned to TRACK 1 2 in the INPUT SELECT settings will automatically be u...

Page 68: ...nput monitoring is enabled in the software being used DAW or calling streaming app for example This might cause sudden loud noises which could damage the equipment or harm hearing When returning the i...

Page 69: ...be tuned while checking a tuning meter and an oscillator mode that outputs a standard pitch Tuning by pitch Shortcut Menu button Tuning frequency Operation mode Input track Pitch Meter Remaining batt...

Page 70: ...w project NOTE See File name overview on page 54 for information about the names of mix down files 13 4 Mid side decoding function In the MANUAL app mid side mics can be used for recording and their r...

Page 71: ...DECODE will become the MS decode setting 2 Tap the MS decode setting and slide the slider left and right to adjust the width of the sound At 0 the sound will be 100 mid M The amount of side S in crea...

Page 72: ...device list screen of an iOS iPadOS or Android device Always launch Portacapture Control and use it for pairing o o Refer to the operation manual of the Bluetooth device for procedures 3 Use the smar...

Page 73: ...st the setting 15 6 Resetting the unit to its factory defaults Select the GENERAL SETTINGS screen SYSTEM page INITIALIZE item and conduct initialization NOTE After executing the INITIALIZE function al...

Page 74: ...acklight always on BRIGHTNESS This sets the display brightness INDICATORS This sets how the REC and PEAK indicators light ALL ON Both REC LED and PEAK LED light PEAK LED OFF The PEAK LED will not ligh...

Page 75: ...INCREMENT OFF default 5 min 10 min 15 min 30 min 60 min page 49 I O SETTINGS PHANTOM 24V 48V default page 29 MIC TRIM page 73 MIC L 3dB 2dB 1dB 0dB default 1dB 2dB 3dB MIC R 3dB 2dB 1dB 0dB default 1d...

Page 76: ...E DATE default WORD page 56 WORD EDIT TASCAM default FILE No RESET OFF ON default page 56 RESET LANGUAGE ENGLISH default FRANCAIS ESPA OL DEUTSCH ITALIANO page 73 INITIALIZE EXECUTE page 73 MEDIA FORM...

Page 77: ...ON page 29 MIXER Category Menu item Settings MIXER LEVEL inf 0dB default in 0 5dB steps PAN L20 C R20 When MS DECODE ON WIDE 0 50 default 100 Type of mix file icon STEREO default MONO BROWSE Category...

Page 78: ...erence ASMR EXECUTE page 33 MANUAL EXECUTE page 35 MUSIC EXECUTE page 38 VOICE EXECUTE page 40 FIELD EXECUTE page 42 PODCAST EXECUTE page 44 METRONOME TEMPO 20 120 default 250 page 69 BEAT 1 4 default...

Page 79: ...t divide File too short The file is too short so it cannot be divid ed Can t divide Current file MP3 MP3 files cannot be divided Can t divide No mark Files that do not have marks cannot be divided wit...

Page 80: ...equipment A file cannot be erased o o A protected read only file cannot be erased This unit s files do not appear on the computer o o Confirm that the unit is properly connected to the computer throu...

Page 81: ...e brightness Power saving energy conservation mode on page 74 o o Reduce the contrast Power saving energy conservation mode on page 74 o o Turn the recording pause function on Recording app overview o...

Page 82: ...5mm 1 8 stereo mini jack Input impedance 8 5 k or higher Nominal input level 10 dBV GAIN setting at minimum Maximum input level 10 dBV Minimum input level 48 dBV Analog audio output Line output unbala...

Page 83: ...tee operation with all devices Other Power 4 AA batteries alkaline NiMH or lithium ion USB bus power from a computer TASCAM PS P520U AC adapter sold separately Power consumption 7 5 W maximum Battery...

Page 84: ...84 TASCAM Portacapture X8 18 Specifications 18 2 Dimensional drawings 83mm 41 5mm 205 6mm 83mm 41 5mm 155mm...

Page 85: ...MIXER Tr 1 6 Fader MASTER PEAK Meter BROWSE PLAY Solo INPUT GAIN Any Solo STEREO MONO STEREO H L H L INPUT GAIN INPUT GAIN H L only IN 5 H L only IN 6 INPUT GAIN Operating at 44 1 48 96kHz IN 3 4 MIC...

Page 86: ...in 0dB dBFS 0 20 40 3 0dBV Full scale AMP GAIN 3 8dB 50 70 30 10 10 60 80 3 3dBV HP AMP 3 5dB 40 60 20 0 80 Volume inf 0dB 4 0dBV 10 30 50 70 Volume Margin 7dB 7 0dB 6 8dBV 0 2dBV Digital Gain 0dB 9 7...

Page 87: ...TASCAM Portacapture X8 87...

Page 88: ...ps www tascam eu en Phone 44 1923 797205 Luminous House 300 South Row Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire MK9 2FR United Kingdom TEAC EUROPE GmbH https www tascam eu de Phone 49 611 71580 Bahnstrasse 12 652...

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