Tascam Digital Audio Workstation Controller US-428 Owners Manual

TASCAM  US-42811
3. Installation
3.3 Tuning Your Computer
A few words about computers and audio.  Much has
been written about the best ways to optimize your PC
or Mac for handling audio applications, and generally
speaking, it’s a much deeper topic than we’ve got space
for in this manual. But here are a few basic points to
help you get the best out of your audio programs:
≠Don’t run extraneous applications.  While it’s likely
you’ll sometimes use your computer for applications
other than audio, it’s...

12TASCAM  US-428
4. Hooking up Audio and MIDI to the US-428
4.1 Hooking up audio
To monitor output from your computer, connect the
analog outputs of the US-428 to your mixer, amplif ier
or powered monitors.  Output volume is controlled by
the LINE OUT level pot. If you’ve got a digital mixer,
external D/A converter, or other device with S/PDIF
input, you may prefer to monitor via the US-428’s
S/PDIF output. 
Illustration 4.01 - Connecting audio to the US-428
To record audio from the US-428 into your...

TASCAM  US-42813
4. Hooking up Audio and MIDI to the US-428
4.2 Hooking up MIDI
The two MIDI in and out jacks are independent,
giving you a total of 32 channels of MIDI I/O. Simply
connect the MIDI out of your keyboard or other
device to a MIDI in jack on the US-428, and vice
versa. If you’ve got a MIDI sync box, you can dedicate
one of the two MIDI I/O’s to sending and receiving
MTC (MIDI Time Code). This allows you to sync
tracks from your MTC-capable Portastudio, DTRS
multitrack, or any other machine...

14TASCAM  US-428
5. Interfacing with your Audio Software
This section is intended to present the basic concepts
needed to interface the US-428 with an audio
software application.  We should point out that
different programs will implement some of the
features described here differently.  As it would be
beyond the scope of this manual to detail the
operation of each individual program, we’ll discuss
the concepts presented here as they relate to the
operation of the US-428 with the Cubasis VST audio...

TASCAM  US-42815
5. Interfacing with your Audio Software
The Input Monitorarea is a viewable and controllable
version of the US-428 INPUT MONITOR mixer.
Here you can control the level and position of each
US-428 input as it will appear on the LINE OUTPUT,
DIGITAL OUT, and PHONES connectors.  Three
controls (level, pan and mute) are available for each
input A, B, C and D.  Note that these controls can also
be changed from the US-428 by pressing the INPUT
MONITOR switch on the unit, and using channel...

16TASCAM  US-428
5. Interfacing with your Audio Software
Then select the inputs on Cubasis’ internal mixer.
Hold Contol and left click on the input selector above
the channel strip, and select the desired input.Verify
that the designated channels inputs (IN) are
selected, and the associated channels are receiving
signal. (see illustration 5.06)
Highlight a track in the arrange window, and that
track will automatically be Record-Enabled. (see
illustration 5.07) Verify that the drop-in and drop-out...

TASCAM  US-42817
5. Interfacing with your Audio Software
5.4 Transport Controls and Locate
Points
The transport controls on the US-428 are set up to
directly correspond to the on-screen transport controls
in Cubasis. So, for example, pressing PLAY on the
US-428 will activate the PLAYmode in Cubasis.
Pressing STOP will halt playback on Cubasis. Pressing
REW or FFWD will activate Cubasis’ transports to
Rewind or Fast Forward, respectively. The DATA
WHEEL, when AUX is not selected, will also act as a...

18TASCAM  US-428
5. Interfacing with your Audio Software
5.6 EQ controls
The US-428 control surface has dedicated EQ controls
that let you make changes to the setting on up to four
bands of EQ in the internal mixer of your audio
recording program. In the case of Cubasis, the US-
428’s LOW and HIGH EQ buttons address the lower
and upper bands of Cubasis’ two bands of internal EQ,
respectively.
Press one of the EQ band selection buttons (LOW,
LOW-MID, HI-MID or HIGH) to activate the
associated band of...

TASCAM  US-42819
6. A Sample Recording Session in Cubasis
Okay.  You’ve got your US-428 connected to your
computer, and you’ve loaded the drivers.  Your audio
software is loaded, and you’re ready to cut some
tracks.  Let’s walk through a typical recording session
with the US-428 and Cubasis.
6.1 Setting Up
Before starting Cubasis, make sure that the US-428 is
runed ON, that its USB cable is connected to your
computer’s USB port, and that the device has been
initialized. 
When turning the US-428 on or...

20TASCAM  US-428
6. A Sample Recording Session in Cubasis
If your input signal is too high, the OL LED will glow
steadily red.  If the signal level is too low, you might
only see a flicker, or nothing at all, on the SIGNAL
LED. 
You can regulate the input level of the input source in
several ways.  First, make sure that the signal you’re
sending to the US-428 is within a reasonable range –
it should illuminate the green SIGNAL LED, but the
red OL LED should only flicker occasionally. You can
then f ine...