1 – introduction – Teac FW-1884 Setup Guide User Manual
Page 4

1 – Introduction
4
TASCAM FW-1884
Setup Guide
MIDI CTRL (control) surface mode
In the MIDI control surface mode, the surface con-
trols are mapped to MIDI control messages. The 
BANK
keys and indicators are used to select up to
four banks (that is, 32 modules), and the controls can 
be set to transmit a different MIDI message in each 
bank.
This mapping of controls to messages is set up in the 
FW-1884 Control Panel of the host computer, and the 
process is fully described in the main manual. Basi-
cally, you launch the FW-1884 Control Panel on the 
host computer, then press and hold the FW-1884’s 
SHIFT
key (bottom left of the FW-1884 control sur-
face) and press the
MIDI CTRL
key to enter the pro-
gramming mode.
You may then follow the on-screen instructions to 
continue with the programming.
When a control is mapped to a particular MIDI out-
put port in this mode, when the control is operated, 
the appropriate 
OUT
indicator (green) lights up as the
MIDI data is transmitted from the FW-1884.
Note that you do not need to connect the FW-1884 to 
a host computer to operate the unit in this mode—
you only need to connect a computer when you set 
up and map the MIDI messages.
MIDI THRU routing capability is also available in 
standalone mode. See the section on MIDI connec-
tions "MIDI Routing" on page 11 for details. In this 
MIDI control mode, if a computer is connected, the 
surface controls may also be used to generate MIDI 
messages passed through the MIDI control port.
MON MIX (monitor mix) surface mode
In this surface mode, the FW-
1884 acts as a stand-alone 
mixer, mixing up to eight ana-
log signals together with eight 
ADAT “lightpipe” signals and 
two digital signals received at 
the coaxial digital input. 
The FW-1884 provides level, 
pan, mute and solo capabili-
ties for these eighteen input 
channels, mixing them into 
two outputs (
SURROUND
MONITOR (BAL) 1/L
and
2/
R
). Surround mixing is not
possible in this mode.
It is also possible to monitor 
the signals output from the 
computer DAW software, 
either independently, or 
together with, the input sig-
nals. 
Three banks are available 
using the 
BANK
keys: the ana-
log (
ANLG
), ADAT and the
stereo digital input (
D IN
)
banks. In the last of these, 
only the first two modules are 
active, corresponding to the 
stereo S/PDIF or AES/EBU 
inputs.
When mixing analog signals, the
TRIM
controls can
be used to adjust the signal input levels, which can be 
monitored with the overload (
OL
) and signal detec-
tion (
SIGNAL
) indicators on each module.
NOTE
When mixing digital audio, there should be one, and 
only one word clock in the system. Follow the instruc-
tions in "Word sync setting" on page 14 to set the word 
clock for the system.
Use the master fader to control the master stereo 
level, and the 
MONITOR
control to adjust the level of
the signal sent to the control room monitoring system 
(
1/L
and
2/R
) or outputs
1
—
8
((DAW signals only.
When the FW-1884 is in the monitor mix mode, the 
first three function keys of the top row are used for 
selecting the signals to be monitored:
•
COMPUTER
selects the signals from the DAW
passed through the FireWire connection. The level 
of the signals from the computer is set using the 
master output control of the DAW software and the 
8 analog outputs may be selected (using the soft-
ware Control Panel) for output of these signals.
•
INPUTS
selects the analog, optical and coaxial sig-
nals for monitoring.
•
BOTH
allows the computer signals to be monitored
alongside the input signals
Pan control
Solo control
Mute control
Signal level 
fader (and 
nominal 
position)
TRIM control 
and 
overload & 
signal 
indicators 
(used on 
analog 
inputs only)
