Tascam IF-AE8HR User manual

High Resolution Digital Audio Interface Unit
OWNER’S MANUAL
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 pres-
ence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature
accompanying the appliance.
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert
the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure
that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.
This appliance has a serial number
located on the rear panel. Please record
the model number and serial number
and retain them for your records.
Model number
Serial number
WARNING: TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK
HAZARD, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS
APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.
D00556700A

2TASCAM IF-AE8HR
Important Safety Precautions
IMPORTANT (for U.K. Customers)
DO NOT cut off the mains plug from this equipment.
If the plug fitted is not suitable for the power points in your home or
the cable is too short to reach a power point, then obtain an
appropriate safety approved extension lead or consult your dealer.
If nonetheless the mains plug is cut off, remove the fuse and dispose
of the plug immediately, to avoid a possible shock hazard by
inadvertent connection to the mains supply.
If this product is not provided with a mains plug, or one has to be
fitted, then follow the instructions given below:
IMPORTANT: The wires in this mains lead are coloured in
accordance with the following code:
GREEN-AND-YELLOW : EARTH
BLUE : NEUTRAL
BROWN : LIVE
WARNING: This apparatus must be earthed.
As the colours of the wires in the mains lead of this apparatus may
not correspond with the coloured markings identifying the terminals
in your plug proceed as follows:
The wire which is coloured GREEN-and-YELLOW must be
connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked by the letter
E or by the safety earth symbol çor coloured GREEN or GREEN-
and-YELLOW.
The wire which is coloured BLUE must be connected to the terminal
which is marked with the letter N or coloured BLACK.
The wire which is coloured BROWN must be connected to the
terminal which is marked with the letter L or coloured RED.
When replacing the fuse only a correctly rated approved type should
be used and be sure to re-fit the fuse cover.
IF IN DOUBT — CONSULT A COMPETENT ELECTRICIAN.
TO THE USER
This equipment has been tested and found to
comply with the limits for a Class A digital device,
pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference when the
equipment is operated in a commercial
environment. This equipment generates, uses,
and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not installed and used in accordance with the
instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications.
Operation of this equipment in a residental area
is likely to cause harmful interference in which
case the user will be required to correct the
interference at his own expense.
CAUTION
Changes or modifications to this equipment not
expressly approved by TEAC CORPORATION
for compliance could void the user’s authority to
operate this equipment.
For the consumers in Europe
WARNING
This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment, this
product may cause radio interference in which case the user
may be required to take adequate measures.
Pour les utilisateurs en Europe
AVERTISSEMENT
Il s’agit d’un produit de Classe A. Dans un environnement
domestique, cet appareil peut provoquer des interférences
radio, dans ce cas l’utilisateur peut être amenéàprendre
des mesures appropriées.
Für Kunden in Europa
Warnung
Dies is eine Einrichtung, welche die Funk-Entstörung nach
Klasse A besitzt. Diese Einrichtung kann im Wohnbereich
Funkstörungen versursachen ; in diesem Fall kann vom
Betrieber verlang werden, angemessene Maßnahmen
durchzuführen und dafür aufzukommen.
For U.S.A

TASCAM IF-AE8HR 3
CAUTION:
…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.
4) Follow Instructions —All operating and use instructions should be
followed.
5) Cleaning —Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning.
Do not use liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for clean-
ing.
6) Attachments —Do not use attachments not recommended by the
product manufacturer as they may cause hazards.
7) Water and Moisture —Do not use this product near water —for
example, near a bath tub, wash bowl, kitchen sink, or laundry tub; in a wet
basement; or near a swimming pool; and the like.
8) Accessories —Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand,
tripod, bracket, or table. The product may fall, causing serious injury to a
child or adult, and serious damage to the product. Use only with a cart,
stand, tripod, bracket, or table recommended by the manufacturer, or sold
with the product. Any mounting of the product should follow the manufac-
turer’s instructions, and should use a mounting accessory recommended by
the manufacturer.
9) A product and cart combination should be moved with care. Quick stops,
excessive force, and uneven surfaces may cause the product and cart com-
bination to overturn.
10) Ventilation —Slots and openings in the cabinet are provided for ven-
tilation and to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect it
from overheating, and these openings must not be blocked or covered. The
openings should never be blocked by placing the product on a bed, sofa,
rug, or other similar surface. This product should not be placed in a built-in
installation such as a bookcase or rack unless proper ventilation is provided
or the manufacturer’s instructions have been adhered to.
11) Power Sources —This product should be operated only from the
type of power source indicated on the marking label. If you are not sure of
the type of power supply to your home, consult your product dealer or local
power company. For products intended to operate from battery power, or
other sources, refer to the operating instructions.
12) Grounding or Polarization —This product may be equipped with a
polarized alternating-current line plug (a plug having one blade wider than
the other). This plug will fit into the power outlet only one way. This is a
safety feature. If you are unable to insert the plug fully into the outlet, try
reversing the plug. If the plug should still fail to fit, contact your electrician
to replace your obsolete outlet. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the
polarized plug.
13) Power-Cord Protection —Power-supply cords should be routed so
that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or
against them, paying particular attention to cords at plugs, convenience
receptacles, and the point where they exit from the product.
14) Outdoor Antenna Grounding —If an outside antenna or cable
system is connected to the product, be sure the antenna or cable system is
grounded so as to provide some protection against voltage surges and built-
up static charges. Article 810 of the National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA
70, provides information with regard to proper grounding of the mast and
supporting structure, grounding of the lead-in wire to an antenna discharge
unit, size of grounding conductors, location of antenna-discharge unit, con-
nection to grounding electrodes, and requirements for the grounding elec-
trode.
"Note to CATV system installer:
This reminder is provided to call the CATV system installer’s attention to
Section 820-40 of the NEC which provides guidelines for proper grounding
and, in particular, specifies that the cable ground shall be connected to the
grounding system of the building, as close to the point of cable entry as
practical.
15) Lightning —For added protection for this product during a lightning
storm, or when it is left unattended and unused for long periods of time,
unplug it from the wall outlet and disconnect the antenna or cable system.
This will prevent damage to the product due to lightning and power-line
surges.
16) Power Lines —An outside antenna system should not be located in
the vicinity of overhead power lines or other electric light or power circuits,
or where it can fall into such power lines or circuits. When installing an
outside antenna system, extreme care should be taken to keep from touch-
ing such power lines or circuits as contact with them might be fatal.
17) Overloading —Do not overload wall outlets, extension cords, or
integral convenience receptacles as this can result in risk of fire or electric
shock.
18) Object and Liquid Entry —Never push objects of any kind into
this product through openings as they may touch dangerous voltage points
or short-out parts that could result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill
liquid of any kind on the product.
19) Servicing —Do not attempt to service this product yourself as open-
ing or removing covers may expose you to dangerous voltage or other
hazards. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.
20) Damage Requiring Service —Unplug this product from the wall
outlet and refer servicing to qualified service personnel under the following
conditions:
a) when the power-supply cord or plug is damaged.
b) if liquid has been spilled, or objects have fallen into the product.
c) if the product has been exposed to rain or water.
d) if the product does not operate normally by following the operating
instructions. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating
instructions as an improper adjustment of other controls may result in
damage and will often require extensive work by a qualified technician to
restore the product to its normal operation.
e) if the product has been dropped or damaged in any way.
f ) when the product exhibits a distinct change in performance –this
indicates a need for service.
21) Replacement Parts —When replacement parts are required, be
sure the service technician has used replacement parts specified by the
manufacturer or have the same characteristics as the original part.
Unauthorized substitutions may result in fire, electric shock, or other
hazards.
22) Safety Check —Upon completion of any service or repairs to this
product, ask the service technician to perform safety checks to determine
that the product is in proper operating condition.
23) Wall or Ceiling Mounting —The product should be mounted to a
wall or ceiling only as recommended by the manufacturer.
24) Heat —The product should be situated away from heat sources such
as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other products (including amplifiers)
that produce heat.
ANTENNA
LEAD IN
WIRE
ANTENNA
DISCHARGE UNIT
(NEC SECTION 810-20)
GROUNDING CONDUCTORS
(NEC SECTION 810-21)
GROUND CLAMPS
POWER SERVICE GROUNDING
ELECTRODE SYSTEM
(NEC ART 250. PART H)
NEC - NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE
ELECTRIC
SERVICE
EQUIPMENT
Example of Antenna Grounding as per
National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70
GROUND
CLAMP
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

4TASCAM IF-AE8HR
TASCAM IF-AE8HR
1 Introduction
The TASCAM IF-AE8HR provides a convenient way
of exchanging digital audio data between TDIF-1-
equipped devices, such as DTRS recorders, and AES/
EBU devices.
A single TDIF-1 connector carries eight channels of
digital input and output. Four XLR-type connectors
accept four two-channel input signals, and another
four XLR-type connectors output four two-channel
input signals.
The word synchronization is selectable, using a front
panel switch, from any of the four XLR-type inputs,
from the TDIF-1 source, or from an external inde-
pendent word clock source.
The IF-AE8HR allows high-resolution (up to 24 bits)
audio data to be transferred between units. No set-
tings are necessary to set word length.
In addition, four channels of high-frequency audio
data at 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz may be selected from the
front panel and transferred using the IF-AE8HR.
Separate word clock outputs are provided for either
high-frequency or normal-frequency data clocks.
When a high-frequency data rate (88.2 or 96) is
selected, the IF-AE8HR provides a choice of how the
data is physically transmitted: either using a single
high-speed connection (HI SPEED) or two parallel
“normal”speed connections (DUAL).
The audio data format output from the XLR-type
outputs may be selected from the front panel as either
AES (professional—PRO) or as IEC-60958 TYPE II
(SPDIF—CONSUMER).
Consumer and professional formats received at the
XLR-type inputs are automatically distinguished by
the unit.
1.1 Mounting, etc.
The IF-AE8HR is a 1U unit, designed to fit into a
standard 19-inch rack.
Included in the package are;
•The unit itself
•This manual
•A rack-mounting kit
•A 2 m (6 ft.) power cord
•Four rubber feet
If any of these items are missing, contact your TAS-
CAM distributor.
Install the unit in the 19”rack as shown below:
2 Front panel
1Power switch and indicator
Push the POWER switch once to turn on power, and
again to turn it off. The POWER indicator lights
when power is supplied to the IF-AE8HR.
Note that settings made are not memorized. When-
ever the power is turned on, the CLOCK source is set
to WORD 3, the SAMPLING FREQUENCY is set to
44.1k 4and the CHANNEL STATUS is set to PRO
5.
2LOCK indicator
When a valid clock signal is received at the selected
clock source, this indicator will light.
If this indicator starts to flash, the IF-AE8HR is not
locked to the external clock (as specified by 3). This
13245

TASCAM IF-AE8HR
TASCAM IF-AE8HR 5
occurs if there is no clock signal or the signal is ±6%
outside the nominal frequency. In these cases, once a
valid clock signal is received again, the indicator will
light steadily.
3CLOCK switch and indicators
This switch allows you to cycle between the six pos-
sible clock sources for the IF-AE8HR: the WORD
SYNC –IN 9connector, the DIGITAL I/O (TDIF-1)
8connector, or any of the four two-channel AES/
EBU connectors (DIGITAL I/O (AES/EBU) INPUTS
(1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8) 7), as shown by the indicators to
the right of the switch.
NOTE
There should usually never be more than one word clock
signal in a digital audio system. If there is more than one
word clock, at worst, damage may occur to speakers,
amplifiers, etc. as a result of high-frequency noise gener-
ated by word clock incompatibilities, etc..
4SAMPLING FREQUENCY switch and
indicators
This switch allows you to select the sampling fre-
quency at which the IF-AE8HR outputs data, either
to the XLR-type connectors, or to the TDIF-1 con-
nector: 44.1k, 48k, 88.2k or 96k.
There are also two other settings that may be selected
with this switch: DUAL and HI SPEED, which only
become options when one of the high-frequency
options (96k or 88.2k) has been selected. Repeated
presses of this switch will cycle between the follow-
ing settings:
● = LED off
❍ = LED on
DUAL mode and HI SPEED mode (AES
format)
Usual mode (FS=44.1 or 48)
In this mode, one XLR-type connector carries two
channels of data. Since the IF-AE8 is provided with
four such XLR-type connectors for input and four for
output, the data for eight channels can be transferred
in total.
DUAL mode (Fs=88.2k or 96k)
Data is transferred in over two channels in the DUAL
mode. In high-frequency sampling modes (88.2k and
96k), there is twice the amount of data compared to
the usual modes (44k and 48k). In DUAL mode, one
XLR-type connector carries the data for one channel,
allowing four channels in total to be transferred.
In this mode, channel 1 is carried by connector 1-2,
channel 2 by connector 3-4, channel 3 by connector
5-6, and channel 4 by connector 7-8.
HI SPEED mode (Fs=88.2k or 96k)
In the HI SPEED mode, data is transferred at double
speed. As mentioned above, in high-frequency sam-
pling modes (88.2k and 96k), there is twice the
amount of data compared to the usual modes (44.1k
and 48k). Here, the transfer speed is doubled, so that
one connector can carry two channels’data.
In theory, this would allow eight channels to be trans-
ferred at high speed, but for the reason below, only
four channels may be transferred using the IF-
AE8HR.
NOTE
NOTE
In TDIF version 2 format, only the DUAL mode is sup-
ported. If
HI SPEED is selected, only DIGITAL I/O
(AES/EBU)
connectors 1-2 and 5-6 are used. Therefore,
INPUT and OUTPUT terminals 3-4 and 7-8 cannot be
used in this mode.
Error modes
These LEDs are also used as error indicators, to show
an error condition with regard to the input signals.
The selected frequency indicator will flash to show
an error under the following circumstances. When
appropriate steps are taken to correct the problem, as
shown below, the indicator will stop flashing and will
light steadily.
•The sampling frequency of the signal at the AES/
EBU inputs and the TDIF-1 connector differ. Cor-
rect the sampling frequency settings of the attached
units.
•The TDIF-1 connection is not made properly. Make
sure that it is connected correctly.
•The signals at the four AES/EBU inputs have dif-
ferent sampling frequencies. Make sure that all sig-
nals received at these connectors are at the same
sampling frequency.
•Incorrect data is being received at one of the AES/
EBU inputs. Make sure that all data sources are
correctly set up.
44.1k 48k 88.2k 96k DUAL HI
SPEED
Meaning
❍●●●●●
44.1 kHz
●❍●●●●
48 kHz
●●❍●❍●
88.2 kHz DUAL
●●●❍❍●
96 kHz DUAL
●●❍●●❍
88.2 kHz HI SPEED
●●●❍●❍
96 kHz HI SPEED