Tascam Digital Mixing Console DM-24 Owners Manual

							9 – Grouping—Grouping layers
 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual 71
ing the SEL key to turn the channel into a slave chan-
nel brings up a warning message (
Re-assign fader 
grouping?
), and pressing ENTER reassigns the group. 
Any of the cursor keys may be used as “no” or 
“escape” keys here.If a channel has already been assigned to a group as a 
master, pressing the 
SEL key clears the whole group. 
A popup message appears (
Clear this fader grouping?), 
and pressing 
ENTER clears the group. Any of the 
cursor keys may be used as “no” or “escape” keys 
here.
Fader groups to mute groups
At the right of the display, about halfway down the 
screen, there is an on-screen 
LINK button. 
When this button is off, it is labeled 
FADER>MUTE.
Moving the cursor to this button and pressing 
ENTER brings up a popup asking whether a link 
should be made: 
Grouping link(Fader -> Mute) (ENTER 
for yes, cursor keys for no).This transfers the fader groupings to the mute group-
ings (that is, the mute group settings become identi-
cal to the fader group settings). This is a “live link”—
when changes are made to the fader groups, they are 
echoed in the fader groups and the other way round.
The button is now labeled FADER=MUTE and is shown 
in inverse, showing that the link is active.
Pressing the 
LINK button in either the fader or the 
mute group screens deactivates the link.
Turning groups on and off
When a fader group is highlighted on screen (the cur-
sor box surrounds it), either use the fourth soft key or the ENTER key to turn the group functionality on or 
off. This does not clear the group settings.
Grouping layers
It is often useful to make groups of groups in order to 
simplify mixing. This applies to both fader groups 
and to mute groups.
For example, when using mute groups, you might 
find it useful to group the vocal microphones of a 
session into one mute group, the drum microphones 
into another, and other percussion microphones into 
yet another.
In order to cut out any microphone spillage, these 
three microphone groups could be layered into a 
“supergroup” which controls all the microphone 
inputs.
It is also possible to layer the layers, 
The right part of this detail showing a three-level lay-
ering setup is a tree diagram, showing that group 6 is 
the “supermaster” group. In other words, pressing the 
master 
SEL key of this group controls the status of groups 7 and 8 (for mute groups) or moving the mas-
ter fader of the group.
These “submaster” groups in turn control groups 1 
and 2 (controlled by group 8) and 4 and 5 (controlled 
by group 7).
To use these grouping layers:
1Use the § and ¶ cursor keys or dial to navi-
gate the cursor to the master groups shown 
as horizontal rows in the matrix at the lower 
part of the screen.
Empty groups (with no master or slave) are 
shown with an 
x by the group number)
2Use the 
SEL keys of modules 1 through 8 as 
group selectors to assign slave groups. 
NOTE
Note that here the SEL keys do not refer to channels—
they refer to the groups that have been set up in the 
top part of the screen. They can be used in this way in 
the two channel layers (
1-16 and 17-32) but not in the 
MASTER layer.
Pressing the SEL key corresponding to any group 
except the highlighted master group adds (check 
mark) or removes (dot) the group to or from the layer 
controlled by the master group. The master group has  
						

							9 – Grouping—Grouping layers
72 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual
a bullet mark added by its number when a subgroup 
is added (groups 6, 7 and 8 in the example screen).
The tree diagram is updated.
Pressing the 
SEL key corresponding to the master 
group brings up a popup message asking if the cur-
rent group should be cleared (
ENTER for yes, cursor 
keys for no).
Attempting to make a “circular group layer”, for 
example making group 5 into a submaster of group 2, 
and then attempting to make group 2 a submaster of group 5, brings up an appropriate error message 
(
Cannot assign fader grouping layer).
Moving the cursor to the 
CLEAR button allows all 
grouping layers to be cleared together. A popup mes-
sage appears (
Clear all mute grouping layers? (or fader in 
the case of fader grouping layers)). Pressing 
ENTER 
clears all group layers, but does not clear the groups 
themselves). Any of the cursor keys may be used as 
“no” or “escape” keys here. 
						

							 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual 73
10 – Monitoring
The DM-24 contains a sophisticated monitoring sys-
tem which allows different mixes to be set up in the 
control room and the studio, as well as an integral 
talkback microphone, lineup oscillator, etc.
Control room monitoring
The control room (CR) monitoring section, which 
also includes two stereo headphone jacks, is located 
to the right of the stereo meters.
Control room outputs
As might be expected, the control-room output sig-
nals are always output from the balanced 1/4” analog 
CR (BAL) connectors (+4 dBu) 6.
However, if the digital outputs are not being used for 
any other purpose, the 
I/O OUTPUT screen may be 
used to assign the control room outputs to either the 
DIGITAL 1 or DIGITAL 2 sets of outputs.From the I/O screen, use the third soft key to bring up 
the output selection screen.
Move the cursor to either of the selection boxes 
opposite the 
DIGITAL OUT1 or DIGITAL OUT2 selector.
Turn the dial until 
C.ROOM is shown, and press 
ENTER.
The control room signal will now be output from the 
selected digital outputs.
NOTE
The signal is sent from both the XLR-type jack and the 
RCA jack simultaneously. The output format (AES/EBU 
or SPDIF) is set using the 
DIGITAL display FORMAT sub-
screen.
The level of the signal sent from the analog outputs is 
adjusted by the 
CR control.
The level of the signal sent from the headphone jacks 
(both headphone jacks together) is adjusted using the 
PHONES control.
Control room signal selection
There are four signal selection keys for the control 
room signal.
These are: 
STEREO, SEL 1 (AUX 1-2), SEL 2 (D IN 
1)
, SEL 3 (2 TR IN).
The first of these, 
STEREO, is hard-wired. That is, 
when this option is selected, the control room outputs 
as selected above will always output the stereo buss 
signal.
The other three keys are “soft”, and may be patched 
internally to output signals other than those given as 
the defaults (in parentheses on the panel). 
The default settings may be useful when used in the 
following way, however:When recording, aux sends 1 and 2 may be used as 
the studio cue mix, leaving aux sends 3 through 6 for 
effect use, etc. By using the 
SEL 1 key set to the 
default 
AU X 1 -2 setting, it is therefore possible for 
the control room monitor to echo the signal sent to 
the studio.
When mixing, the mastering devices (connected to 
the stereo buss) may be digital or analog. The 
SEL 2 
key is by default set to the first digital input (whether 
this is the XLR-type connector or the RCA jack is 
determined in the channel
 IN screens of the I/O setup) 
and can therefore be used for monitoring the replay 
from the digital 2-track mastering device. 
The 
SEL 3 key is by default assigned to the analog 2-
track inputs 
9. These are typically used to monitor  
						

							10 – Monitoring—Studio monitoring
74 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual
the playback from an analog mastering recorder con-
nected to the DM-24.
The setting of these keys may be changed using the 
MONITOR screen. 
With the 
SHIFT indicator lit, press the METER/
FA D E R
 [MONITOR] key to bring up this screen:Use the cursor keys to move the cursor to the three 
selection key icons (
SEL 1, SEL 2 and SEL 3).
Turn the dial to select from the available options: 
AUX 
1
, AUX 2, AUX 3, AUX 4, AUX 5, AUX 6, AUX1-2, AUX3-4, 
AUX5-6, buss 1, BUSS 2, BUSS 3, BUSS 4, BUSS 5, BUSS 
6
, BUSS 7, BUSS 8, BUSS 1-2, BUSS 3-4, BUSS 5-6, 
BUSS 7-8, DIGITAL IN 1, DIGITAL IN 2, 2-TR (ANALOG).
Press 
ENTER to confirm the choice.
NOTE
It is possible to assign the same option to more than 
one of the monitor selection keys.
The Follow LINK Setting also affects what is output 
from the control room outputs. If a mono source 
which has been stereo linked (that is, an individual 
aux or buss) is selected, and the checkbox here is 
checked, the source will be stereo linked to its “part-
ner” in the monitoring.
In this case, the odd-numbered aux or buss will be 
output from the left channel, and the even-numbered 
aux or buss from the right channel.
2-track input
Because of the analog nature of the 2TR IN inputs, 
the following should be noted when monitoring from 
this source:
 Dimming when monitoring this signal is fixed at a 
level of –30 dB relative to normal and cannot be 
changed.
 If the control room output is set to one of the 
DIGITAL OUTPUTS (1 or 2) as explained earlier (“Control room outputs” on page 73), it is not pos-
sible to monitor the 2-track source
 In addition, even though the studio output is an 
analog output, if the control room monitoring sys-
tem is set up to use a digital output, it is not possi-
ble to monitor the 2-track inputs through the studio 
system when echoing the control room outputs to 
the studio (see below, “Studio monitoring” on 
page 74).
Studio monitoring
The studio monitoring can be selected to follow the 
control room monitoring selection or to be indepen-
dent of the control room monitoring using the same 
screen as the control room setup (above).
To make the studio outputs follow the control room 
sources:
On the main monitoring page (soft key 2) move the 
cursor to the 
From CONTROL ROOM “radio button” and 
press 
ENTER. When this is selected, whatever is 
selected for the control room output will also be out-
put from the studio monitoring outputs.To set a different source for the studio, move the cur-
sor to the output select “radio button” and press 
ENTER to select the monitoring source displayed to 
the right of the radio button.
After this, move the cursor to the right and use the 
dial to select from the list: 
Stereo, Buss 1-2, Buss 3-4, 
Buss 5-6, Buss 7-8, Aux 1-2, Aux 3-4, Aux 5-6, Digital In 1, 
Digital In 2, 2TR(Analog). Press ENTER to confirm the 
selection.
A pair of aux sends makes a good choice for the stu-
dio source, as these can be individually adjusted pre-
fader, and a completely separate studio mix can be 
built up in this way. 
						

							10 – Monitoring—Soloing
 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual 75
Studio monitoring volume
The volume of the studio monitoring outputs is set on 
the same screen as the output selection, using POD 4. The level is adjustable from –∞dB (silence), to 
+10 dB.
Soloing
The solo facilities have been described briefly in the 
module section (“SOLO” on page 22), but are 
repeated here for convenience.
Note that soloing is provided only for the 32 input 
channels. It is not possible to solo aux sends or bus-
ses (use the control room selection “Control room 
signal selection” on page 73 for this).
The DM-24 provides two modes of soloing, as 
explained here. Soloing occurs when both the 
SOLO 
key (above the stereo fader) and the 
MUTE key of at 
least one channel are active. What happens when this happens is dependent on the settings made in the 
SOLO screen (from the OPTION display).
MODE SELECT
Either Mix Solo or Exclusive Solo can be selected here. 
The 
Mix Solo mode allows a number of channels (that 
is, all whose 
MUTE keys are flashing or lit in solo 
mode) to have their outputs added together to the solo mix. The 
Exclusive Solo mode only allows one 
channel (the one whose 
MUTE key was pressed last) 
to be soloed at one time.
SOLO LINK
This option allows the fader and mute groups (see 
“Grouping” on page 69) to be used with the solo 
function. 
If one of the group options (
MUTE GROUP or FADER 
GROUP
) is enabled, selecting a group master channel 
solos or unsolos the whole of the group. This is 
regardless of the 
Mix Solo/Exclusive Solo setting 
described above.If a group slave channel is selected, the solo status of 
only that slave channel is affected. The effect on 
other previously-soloed channels (whether or not 
they are part of the group) depends on the 
Mix Solo/
Exclusive Solo setting described above.
See also “Turning soloing on and off” on page 76.
SOLO TYPE
There are three options that may be selected here: 
PFL (pre-fader listen), 
AFL (after- or post-fader lis-
ten). Again, these are explained in more detail in the 
solo section, but briefly:
PFL provides a way of listening to the signal before 
it is sent through the panpot and fader. The stereo outputs are unaffected (soloing is only done through 
the monitor outputs—
CR and STUDIO).
AFL outputs the post-fader (pre-pan) signal from the 
selected channels through the monitoring system.
INPLACE SOLO monitors the soloed signal(s) via 
the stereo outputs while all the other signals are cut 
from the stereo outputs. 
						

							10 – Monitoring—Dimming and talkback
76 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual
Depending on the solo type selected, the SOLO key 
(above the 
STEREO fader) and the MUTE key of any 
soloed channel(s) will flash or light:
Inplace solo defeat
The solo defeat option prevents channels selected in 
this way from being muted when other channels are 
soloed. It can be used with a pair of effect returns, for 
instance, so that these effect returns will always be 
added in the inplace mix, together with those other 
channels selected for inplace soloing.Inplace soloing will output the soloed channel(s) 
from the stereo outputs, and cut all other channels.
Use the cursor keys (or the channel 
SEL key) to high-
light a channel (“box” cursor), and the 
ENTER key to 
change the status of the 
INPLACE SOLO DEFEAT.
SOLO level
The level of the PFL and AFL signals is determined 
by the 
SOLO control above the monitor selection 
keys. The indicator by this control lights or flashes (depending on the selected solo mode) when any 
soloing is taking place.
Turning soloing on and off
The SOLO key with integral red indicator above the 
STEREO fader is used to turn the solo mode (as 
selected in the option screen) on and off.
When soloing is active;, this indicator lights or 
flashes (as does the indicator above the 
SOLO level 
control). All previously-lit 
MUTE indicators go out.
The 
MUTE keys are used to control which channels 
are soloed. Pressing the 
MUTE key of a channel will 
un-mute it, therefore soloing it. The 
MUTE indicator 
of a soloed channel lights or flashes.
If 
Mix Solo is selected as the solo mode (see “MODE 
SELECT” on page 75, pressing another 
MUTE key 
will add that channel to the solo mix. If solo linking 
is switched on, and the channel is a group master, all channels which belong to that group will be soloed. 
More than one group may be soloed at a time in Mix 
Solo mode.
If 
Exclusive Solo is selected as the solo mode, the 
channel whose 
MUTE key was pressed last will be 
soloed. If solo linking is turned on, and the channel is 
a group master, all channels which belong to that 
group are soloed. If another channel’s 
MUTE key is 
pressed (whether or not the channel is part of the 
group or not), only that channel will be soloed. Only 
one group at a time may be soloed in Exclusive Solo 
mode.
The type of soloing (pre-fader, etc.) is determined by 
the settings described in “SOLO TYPE” on page 75.
Dimming and talkback
On the same screen as the control room selection, it 
is possible to change the amount by which the control 
room outputs are “dimmed” (attenuated) when the 
dim is active or the studio-routed talkback is active.
Use POD 2 to set the level to the level that the 
dimmed output will be, relative to the normal control 
room level. This can be set from 
–40 dB to 0dB in 1 dB 
steps.
When dimming the studio output, the 
DIMMER key 
acts as a “smart” key. That is, if pressed and released 
quickly, the dimming status latches on or off. Press-
ing and releasing the key quickly again changes the 
status back again.If the key is pressed and held for more than half a 
scone, the switch becomes non-latching, that is, the 
dimming status is on as long as the key is held down.
Whenever the dimming is active, the indicator is lit.
The level of the talkback microphone (which is 
located below the 
PHONES control) can be adjusted 
using the 
T/B control.
The talkback signal can be routed to the studio out-
puts (use the 
STUDIO key) or to a “slate” (use the 
SLATE key), that is, to a selected group of aux and 
buss outputs, as explained below.
Both the 
STUDIO and SLATE keys are smart keys 
working in the same way as the 
DIMMER key. If 
PFL fast flashing
AFL slow flashing
Inplace lit 
						

							10 – Monitoring—Slate settings
 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual 77
pressed and released quickly, they are latching, but if 
pressed and held, they are non-latching. Indicators 
show the active status of these keys.
Slate settings
The DM-24 allows you to define the “slate”—the 
destination of the talkback microphone.
From the 
MONITOR screen, press the third soft key 
(
OSC/COM) to bring up the oscillator and slate setting 
screens.
Use the 
SLATE panel in this screen to choose which 
aux sends, output busses and stereo channels will be 
included in the slate.Use the cursor keys to move along the row, and the 
ENTER key to include and uninclude the busses,
Lineup oscillator
The DM-24 includes a lineup oscillator, which can be 
assigned in the same way as the slate output.In addition to being able to choose the outputs to 
which the oscillator is sent, POD 1 allows the oscilla-
tor frequency to be selected (
100Hz, 440Hz, 1kHz or 
10kHz).
The level of the oscillator is also variable (POD 2) 
from 
–36.0dBFS to 0.0dBFS in 0.5 dB steps.
Use soft key 1 to turn the oscillator on (button is in 
inverse video) and off.
Meters and faders
As well as the stereo meters, the DM-24 provides on-
screen metering for all modules in the console.
With the 
SHIFT indicator unlit, press the METER/
FA D E R
 key.
The following screen shows the metering for the 
input channels:The 
METERING POINT for channels 1 through 32 
(
CHANNEL) can be set as INPUT (before the digital trim 
and after the input selection), 
PRE (pre-fader and 
before any assignable send/return insert), or 
POST 
(post-fader, and post any assignable send/return 
insert).
The 
MASTER (aux sends, busses, stereo) metering 
point can also be set: 
INPUT (buss level, before any 
compressor insertion), 
PRE (pre-fader and post any 
compressor insertion), and 
POST (post fader).
Since only 24 channels can be shown on screen at 
once, there is a choice of what will be metered on 
screen at any one time: either the 24 track returns, the  
						

							10 – Monitoring—Meters and faders
78 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual
24 channels or a screen with channels 25 through 32, 
aux sends 1 through 6 and busses 1 through 8:
The 
SEL Key Follows Fader Layer allows the setup of the 
automatic linking of the selected channel to the 
selected meter layer.
When this option is selected, if a channel is selected, 
the fader layer is changed, and then the fader layer is 
changed back again, the originally-selected channel 
is automatically selected. 
For example, if this option is active, and 
SEL 2 key is 
lit with fader layer 1-16 active, fader layer 17-32 is then selected, 
SEL key 3 (channel 19) is selected, and 
then fader layer 1-16 is then re-selected, 
SEL key 2 
will be active.
If the option is not active, any 
SEL key which is lit 
remains lit when the fader layer is changed. For 
example, if this option is not selected, and 
SEL key 2 
is lit with fader layer 1-16 active, and fader layer 17-
24 is then selected, 
SEL key 2 will still be lit (that is, 
channel 18).
When the
 Meter Follows SEL key option is checked, the 
meter layer automatically changes when an appropri-
ate 
SEL key is pressed. The modes are as follows:
NOTE
If the FADER->METER Follow option is checked, and the 
SEL Key Follows Fader Layer is not checked, the meter 
follow option will not be enabled. 
These settings can also be made in the 
OPTION 
PREFERENCES
 sub-screen (“PREFERENCES” on page 21).
Master meters
As well as the option described immediately above, 
pressing soft key 3 in the 
METER/FADER display pro-
vides a view of the master meters and faders as 
shown here:The 
METERING POINT can be set (ENTER key, dial and 
ENTER key) in the same ways as described earlier 
(here the options are described as 
PRE (pre-fader), 
POST (post-fader) and INPUT (input)). Changes made 
here are reflected in the 
METER screen and vice versa.
Use the 
SEL or cursor keys to move the box cursor 
around the screen in groups of 4 modules, and the 
PODs to set the fader values.
Fader layer SEL keys Meter layer
CH 1–16 CH 1–16 CH 1–24
CH 17–32CH 17–24 CH 1–24
CH 25–32 MASTER/CH 25–32
MASTER Buss 1–8/Aux1–6/Stereo MASTER/CH 25–32 
						

							10 – Monitoring—Meters and faders
 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual 79
Channel faders
It is sometimes useful (for instance, in automation) to 
have a view of the fader levels while another fader 
layer is selected.
The 
FADER screen shown here (accessed with soft key 
2), as well as the 
MASTER M/F screen immediately 
above, provides such a view.In addition, the pan settings and fader levels of the 
channels (fader level only in the case of the aux sends 
and busses) can be changed.
The mute settings for all modules can be viewed.
Use the cursor and PODs to change the pan settings 
or the fader levels on screen. Channels are selected 
using the cursor and 
SEL keys in blocks of 4, corre-
sponding to the 4 PODs.
NOTE
If the DM-24 is in a surround mode, these pan controls 
affect the position of the channel in the front L-R out-
puts.
If the fader layer being edited is selected, the appro-
priate fader(s) will move as the on-screen faders are 
moved.
Normalled faders change appearance, as in “Fader 
section” on page 51.
The 
SEL keys can also be used to navigate around 
the groups.
Meter and fader setup
Use this screen to set meter characteristics, and to 
transfer a specific value to a fader or group of faders.
Fader level Use POD 1 to change the fader level 
(
LEVEL) between –∞ and –36dB in 128 steps. 
Use POD 2 to select the scope of the setting: groups 
of eight channels (
CH1–8, CH9–16, CH17–24, CH25–32
), the eight busses (BUSS1–8), the six aux sends 
(
AUX1–6), the stereo master (STEREO), the individual 
channels (
CHx), the individual busses (BUSSx), the 
individual aux sends (
AUXx) or all channels (ALL CH).
Press 
ENTER to copy the level. A popup message 
appears. Press 
ENTER again to confirm the copy, or a 
cursor key to cancel the operation.
Meter ballistics (METER SETUP) The 
RELEASE (fall time) of the meters can be set to either 
Slow, Normal or Fast using POD 3.
Use POD 4 to set the peak hold time (
PEAK HOLD) to 
Off, 1, 2, 4, 8 or ∞ (seconds). In the case of an infinite 
hold (∞) the peak levels can be reset by selecting 
another value or changing the meter layer.
These settings refer to both the on-screen meters and 
to the optional meter bridge meters. Note that when 
the meter layer is changed using the optional meter 
bridge, the STEREO master meter peak hold is not 
cleared. 
						

							80 TASCAM DM-24 Reference Manual
11 – Machine Control/Location
The DM-24 is capable of acting as a remote control 
unit for a wide variety of external devices. 
The exact functionality of the machine control 
depends, of course, on the device to be controlled.
The device control is carried out through the DTRS 
control port, the MIDI connections (for MMC), or 
the serial port (
RS-422).
Different devices can be selected for simultaneous 
control by the DM-24, with different devices being controlled in different ways. For instance, it is possi-
ble to select one device to have its transport functions 
controlled by the DM-24, while the DM-24 controls 
the track arming functions of another device.
NOTE
In this section, the term “controller” is used to refer to a 
part of the DM-24 software controlling an external 
device, rather than a hardware feature of the device or 
the DM-24.
Selecting devices for control
The EXT CTRL – MIDI/MC key is used to set up the 
control of external devices.
1With the 
SHIFT indicator lit, press the EXT 
CTRL [MIDI/MC]
 key.
2Use the second soft key to bring up the 
machine control screen (
MACHINE CTRL):
3With the cursor pointing to either the