TASCAM D000640100A TEAC Professional Division US-224 Universal Serial Bus Digital Audio Workstation Controller OWNER’S MANUAL 1
Important Safety Precautions CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.
SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Read all of these Instructions. Save these Instructions for later use. Follow all Warnings and Instructions marked on the audio equipment. 1) Read instructions — All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the product is operated. 2) Retain instructions — The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference. 3) Heed Warnings — All warnings on the product and in the operating instructions should be adhered to.
This product is designed to help you record and reproduce sound works to which you own the copyright, or where you have obtained permission from the copyright holder or the rightful licensor. Unless you own the copyright, or have obtained the appropriate permission from the copyright holder or rightful licensor, your unauthorized recording, reproduction or distribution thereof may result in severe criminal penalties under copyright laws and international copyright treaties.
Table of Contents Table of Contents........................................ 5 Introduction ................................................. 6 1.1 Overview............................................ 6 1.2 Features ............................................ 6 1.3 What’s in the package ....................... 6 1.4 Nomenclature used in this manual.... 6 2. Controls and Indicators ........................... 7 2.1 Front Panel ........................................ 7 2.2 Rear Panel ........................
Introduction 1.1 Overview The US-224 is a USB controller designed for Cubasis and other Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software applications. Its design incorporates a two-input, two-output 24-bit audio interface, a 16-channel MIDI interface, and a control surface for your most-used mouse functions. Our goal was to create a device to make your DAW software as easy to use as a Portastudio.
2. Controls and Indicators 2.1 Front Panel 5 6 1 2 3 7 4 17 16 8 15 9 10 11 14 12 13 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Power LED USB LED MIDI In & Out LEDs Mic/Line – Gtr Switches Signal and OL LEDs A and B Input Trims Line Out and Phones Output Levels 8. DATA Wheel 9. NULL Switch and LED 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Input Monitor Switch and LED Bank Switches and LEDs Transport Controls Locate and Set Switches Channel and Master Faders SELect Switches and LEDs, RECord Ready Switch 16. RECord LEDs 17.
2.2 Rear Panel 20 18 25 22 26 19 18. PHONES jack 19. OUTPUT L/R jacks 20. INPUT A and B 21. MIC INPUT A and B 22. Digital In and Out 21 23 24 23. MIDI Out 24. MIDI In 25. USB jack 26.
2.3 Front Panel Descriptions 1. Power LED Indicates that the unit is powered on when lit. 2. USB LED Indicates a valid USB connection to the host computer when lit. 3. MIDI In LED indicates presence of incoming MIDI data at MIDI input. MIDI Out LED indicates transmission of MIDI data from MIDI output. 4. Mic/Line / Gtr Switches switches inputs between Mic/Line level and Hi-Z Level. 5. SIGNAL LED indicates the presence of audio signal on the respective channel.
2.4 Rear Panel Descriptions 14. Channel Faders send continuous controller information for banks of four faders, as selected by the BANK switch Master Fader controls level to the stereo bus output, and/or sends MIDI controller information to the host. 15. SELECT Switches selects channel for editing, recording, etc. SELECT LEDs indicates selected status of channel. RECord Ready Switch when held, pressing the SELECT button toggles the selected channel(s)’ recordready status. 18.
3. Installation 3.1 System Requirements PC: Minimum requirements: Pentium II - 266 MHz (or equivalent) processor running Windows 98 (Second or Millennium Edition), Windows 2000 or Windows XP, 96MB RAM. Recommended: Pentium II 300MHz processor with 128MB RAM or better. (These requirements are for use with Cubasis VST. Other applications will have different requirements. Consult your application's manufacturer for further information.) NOTE: The US-224 is not supported under Windows 95.
MacOS: PowerPC running MacOS 8.6 or better, and a USB port. Any Macintosh computer with one or more USB ports running Mac O/S 8.6 or later (the US-224 has not been tested with Mac O/S X as of this writing. Please check the website for updates). Very early iMac computers may need one (or more) firmware updates to use the US224. Which firmware update(s) is (are) needed depends on which Mac O/S version is installed in the early iMac. Apple provides details in its Apple Support Article #58174.
wizard, which will find the three needed files on its own. This will take about 3060 seconds. In some cases, Add Hardware Wizard may ask for the file "US224WDM.SYS". Should this occur, click Browse and direct it to the path Windows/System32/Drivers. In some cases, Add Hardware Wizard may ask for your Win98 CD-ROM if it is unable to find all the needed system files. We suggest you have it handy. The Setup Complete dialog will appear. Click "Yes, I want to restart my computer", followed by the Finish button.
3.2.2 Macintosh Select “New Studio Setup” from the File menu. When prompted to select a serial (modem or printer) port, leave both selections unchecked. Click yes and continue. OMS will assess all the MIDI ports attached to your computer and build OMS instruments for the ones it recognizes. When the setup is complete you should see a list of all your connected MIDI ports.
Certain devices, such as network cards and WinModems, can cause conflicts with the native handling of USB. Should you experience such conflicts, the offending device can usually be temporarily disabled in the Device Manager. Refer to your Windows manual for detailed instructions on how to resolve conflicts. Increase the amount of RAM in your system.
3.5 Notes on USB interfacing The USB protocol is an extremely versatile one, and much has been made of the possibility of using multiple (over 100) devices on a single bus. While this is certainly a possibility, we recommend using as few other USB devices as possible in a system equipped with the US-224. The demands placed on the USB bus by passing multiple tracks of audio through it are considerable, and adding additional devices will risk reducing that bandwidth.
4. Hooking up Audio and MIDI to the US-224 4.1 Hooking up audio To monitor output from your computer, connect the analog outputs of the US-224 to your mixer, amplifier 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-224’s S/PDIF output. To record audio from the US-224 into your computer, simply connect a device to the appropriate input.
input is passed directly to the application without modification. To reduce the level of the digital audio signal at inputs A and B, you will need to reduce the output level of your digital source. Note about levels and gain structure here. The TRIM controls directly affect the input level at the A/D converters on the US-224, so it’s advisable to use the SIGNAL and OVER LEDs to help set your levels.
4.4 Monitor vs. Master Level It’s important to make a distinction between MONITOR LEVEL control and level of the stereo bus output, as controlled by the MASTER FADER. When using the US-224’s analog inputs, only the TRIM controls actually affect the input level to the audio software application. When using the US-224’s Digital inputs, the digital audio data received at the US-224’s digital input is passed directly to the audio application without any gain or other modifications.
5. The Panel US-224 Control 5.1 Main Page In the Control Panel’s main page, you can specify a number of options of the US-224’s ASIO handling. The Input selector toggles the source of the US-224’s inputs from analog (via any of the mic or line inputs) to digital (via the S/PDIF input).
You can also control the input monitor settings that will be used when the US-224 first starts up. You can choose either the last settings in effect at the previous system shutdown, or any one of the four snapshots. 5.2 Buffer Size Adjustment The US-224 Control Panel contains a second page, tabbed “System”. On this page the buffer size can be adjusted. Smaller buffer sizes will result in lower latency, but requires a faster system. Illustration 5.
The numbers below the tuning lights indicate how far out of tune the note is, in cents (100 cents is one semitone). When the note is in tune, the center ‘0’ light and both the Flat and Sharp arrows are bright green. Illustration 5.03 – The Chromatic Tuner Page Note: The chromatic tuner consumes some CPU bandwidth in your system. Therefore, when you finish using the tuner, we recommend that you either select another control panel tab or close the control panel.
6. Interfacing with your Audio Software This section is intended to present the basic concepts needed to interface the US-224 with the bundled Cubasis VST application. This discussion, however, is not intended to replace your software’s users’ manual. If you’ve got questions specific to Cubasis, please refer to the Cubasis User Manual for the program for further detail.
To do this in Cubase (full versions), for example, select the VST Remote option from the Audio menu, and choose the US428 option (See illustration 6.03). You will also need to set the Input and Output devices to “US-224 Control Port” and the “Remote” setting should match the setting chosen in the US-224 Control Panel (see illustration 6.03). Illustration 6.04 - VST/24 Audio Control Panel 6.3 Input Enabling Illustration 6.03 - Cubase VST Remote Panel You will need to enable the inputs on Cubasis.
6.4 Transport Controls and Locate Points Illustration 6.06 - Input selection window, showing Mutes and Solos Highlight a track in the arrange window, and that track will automatically be RecordEnabled. (see illustration 6.07) Verify that the drop-in and drop-out features in Cubasis (on the transport bar) are not enabled (or if so, that they are enabled at the desired locate points). Press the RECORD button on the US-224.
6.5 Mute/Solo The MUTE buttons toggle the Mute function in Cubasis’ VST Channel Mixer for the selected channel. When a channel is muted, there are two indications: the Mute button in the Cubasis VST Channel Mixer’s display will be activated, and the MUTE LED on the US-224 corresponding to the muted track(s) will be illuminated. The SOLO switch works by toggling the status of the MUTE switches to SOLO mode.
To enable Direct Monitoring in Cubase VST, open the Audio Control Panel. In the “Monitoring” section of the window, check “ASIO Direct Monitor.” (You also need either “Record Enable Type” or “Tape Type” monitoring enabled.
7. A Sample Recording Session in Cubasis Okay. You’ve got your US-224 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-224 and Cubasis. NOTE: This chapter is intended as a quick start guide toward recording and mixing with Steinberg Cubasis and the US-224. It is in no way meant to be a comprehensive guide to Cubasis.
Connect your audio sources to the US-224. Connect an analog source via the XLR or 1/4” inputs, or a digital source via the S/PDIF input. 7.2 Recording Your Tracks In Cubasis, choose the input(s) you wish to enable on the US-224. In the Audio menu, select Input, and click on the input pair on the US-224. The green Input icons will light in VST’s Input window for active inputs. Select the Audio track(s) to record to by highlighting that track in the Arrange window.
When the corresponding LED is illuminated, channel strips 1 and 2 can be used to adjust the level, pan and mute status of inputs A and B, respectively. This will enable the first two faders as Input level monitors, allowing you to hear the inputs at the source, in sync with the previously recorded tracks. selecting Write on the mixer panel in Cubasis, your fader moves panning, etc., (as well as EQ, FX settings and other changes) can all be recorded into Cubasis’ automated mixer settings.
8. Other Applications and US-428 Emulation Mode As we’ve mentioned throughout this manual, the US-224 is an extremely versatile device. Its capabilities as a controller go well beyond those we’ve described thus far with the bundled Cubasis program. Since the US-224 is based on TASCAM’s very popular US-428, it is capable of providing basic functionality in most of the applications supported by the US-428 (subject to its hardware limitations).
8.1 Setting up Sound Manager Support (for use with ProTools Free and Other MacOS Applications) The Macintosh Sound Manager is a standard 2-channel software interface for playing and recording sound on a Mac. The audio inputs and outputs (speakers) that are built into any Macintosh use the Sound Manager interface, and essentially every Mac application that uses sound supports it.
under “Volume” in this control panel is only used to enable or mute the US-224 output. Under “Sound In” you can select the “US224” instead of the Mac’s Built-in sources. You can also do this under the “US-224” control panel’s “System” tab. There you will find a field labeled “Sound Manager Input”. You can change this setting at any time, even while a program is using the Sound Manager I/O.
9. Technical Support 9.1 Troubleshooting When installing the US-224 for the first time, if you experience any unusual behavior, here are some things to check: Under Midi Devices And Instruments you should see: Audio Drivers Expand by clicking on the plus (+) sign and you should see: In Control Panel / System / Device Manager (Win98SE/ME) or Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager (Win2000/XP), find the Audio control panel.
9.3 Troubleshooting FAQs Also, since many of the situations you’re likely to encounter will be related to the software you’re using, it’s a good idea to check not only our website, but the websites and resources of the software program’s manufacturer as well. You can also email us at US428team@tascam.com, or contact our telephone support. Outside the US, please see the Contact page of our website for worldwide contact information.
Appendix A - MIDI Implementation Chart Function Basic Channel Mode Note Number Velocity After Touch Default Changed Default Messages Altered True Voice Note ON Note OFF Keys Channels Pitch Bender Control Change Program Change True # System Exclusive System Common System Real Time Aux Messages :Song Pos :Song Sel :Tune :Clock :Commands :Local ON/OFF :All Notes OFF :Active Sense :Reset Mode 1 : OMNI ON, POLY Mode 3 : OMNI OFF, POLY Transmitted X X X X …… X …… X X X X X X X …… X Recognized X X X X Re
Appendix B – Control Protocol Purpose Provide simple, effective integration between the US-224 and host software applications. Introduction The US-224 provides digital audio I/O, MIDI, and control surface functions in a single affordable USB-based product.
Transport/Locate command set The US-224 contains a set of standard transport switches: REW, FFWD, STOP, PLAY, and REC. In addition, dedicated status LED's are used to communicate the current transport state to the user. The LED's indicate REW, FFWD, PLAY, and REC. (Note that there is no LED to indicate STOP.) Additionally, there are three locate switches, which can be used to set and locate to markers established on the host application's timeline.
Per-channel Control command set The US-224 includes a set of 4 channel-strip controls and LED's. Each channel-strip includes the following controls: a. b. c. d. linear fader for gain control Mute/Solo switch and LED Record-enable LED Select switch and LED Three modifier switches affect the channel strip indicators: a. A momentary NULL switch and LED (to aid the user in matching the fader sliders with the "virtual" value maintained by the application software).
Host to US-224 Messages: Note: In these messages, is a number in the range [0..3], corresponding to the channel-strip #, and is either 0x00 (LED OFF) or 0x7F (LED ON) . Transmit as 0 for now. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
US-224 to Host Commands: DATA_WHEEL (identical to JL Cooper CS-10) a. BF 60 vv, vv = 2's complement using 7 data bits Host to US-224 Messages: UPDATE_ASN_LED: F0 4E 12 0F F7 where Transmit as 0 for now. is either 0x00 (LED OFF) or 0x7F (LED ON) .
Appendix C - US-224 Technical Specifications General Frequency Response 20 Hz - 20KHz 1.0 dB / -3.0 dB LINE INPUT A/B to LINE OUTPUT TRIM min., +4 dBu input LINE OUTPUT level max. MIC INPUT A/B (Analog) Connector: XLR-3-31 ( 1:= GND, 2:= Hot, 3:= Cold ) : Balanced Input Impedance: 2.2k ohm Nominal Input Level (TRIM max.): -54 dBu Nominal Input Level (TRIM min.): -16 dBu Noise Level Maximum Input Level: 0 dBu (TRIM min.) Better than 92 dB A Weight MIC INPUT A/B to LINE OUTPUT TRIM min.
DIGITAL IN Connector: RCA pin jack Format: IEC60958 Type2 Input impedance: 75 ohm Input Level: 0.5Vp-p DIGITAL OUT Connector: RCA pin jack Format: IEC60958 Type 2 Output Impedance: 75 ohm Output Level: 0.5Vp-p MIDI IN Connector: 5P DIN Format: Standard MIDI Format MIDI Out Connector: 5P DIN Format: Standard MIDI Format USB Connector: USB Down stream connector Format: USB Version 1.1 LINE OUTPUT (DIGITAL IN to LINE OUTPUT) Nominal Output: +6dBV 0 dBFs input, LINE OUTPUT max.
Ž US-224 Printed In Taiwan MA-0631 44
