PT v6.1, SYNC I/O, MachineControl v2, DA-88

[Chief Technician]

I am able to control the transport of a DA-88 using MachineControl v2 with the Keyspan adapter. I am also able to perform an Auto-Edit with Pro Tools v6.1.

Despite the indication in Pro Tools v6.1, the tracks on the DA-88 are not being armed. Playing the tape back locally also reveals that my Auto-Edit didn't produce any results.

Has anyone had this problem in the past? I know I could have the DA-88 chase Pro Tools and arm the tracks manually and then program an Auto-Edit or punch in and out, but I'd like to keep it all in the box if possible.

[Richard Fairbanks]

On the DA88's SY88 sync card there is a group of small switches labeled S3. You must pull the card out in order to see that group of switches, thanks Tascam. Switch #7 in that group must be set to "0", otherwise the machine will ignore any 9-pin track arm requests. The other tricky thing is that depending on how switches 4 and 5 are set, the machine responds differently to analog track or digital track arming requests. Check the manual for that stuff because it is completely non-intuitive.

Maybe newer firmware made these parameters accessable from the front panel, but I still have ancient firmware.

[TVPostSound]

Yes the new firmware allows all parameters through the menu. Its version 4.01
Tascam will send you new chips for free, as long as you promise to send the old ones back.
Ask for both chips, one for the DA88 and one for the SY88.

[Chief Technician]

Thank you for the info guys.