Welcome to the FW-1884 For Dummies Page

Thanks to Sean Cummins and Herman Fermin for help with compiling this document. Feel free to E-mail me with any updates and I will add them to this document.

Top Panel on the left hand side of the FW1884

This panel contains 2 columns. From left to right then, on to the next row of buttons:

• Flip - Pan
• Aux 1 - Aux 2
• Aux 3 - Aux 4
• Aux 5 - Aux 6
• And Aux 7 - Aux 8

shortcuts

• Control panel [single button on that row]

This panel contains 2 columns. From left to right then, on to the next row of buttons:

• save/F1 Revert/F2. Note: revert is the "undo" function in Sonar.
• All Safe/F3   CLR Solo/F4
• Marker/F5 Loop/F6
• Cut Del
• Copy    Paste
• ALT/CND   , [the alt key] Undo
• and Shift    CTRL

Channel Controls

From left to right:

• Top eight knobs are Trim 1 thru 8, values 0 to plus 54
• Next row down, knobs 1 thru 8 "Pan/Send"
• Next row down, buttons 1 thru 8, "SEL"
• Next 2 rows, "Solo" 1 thru 8, "Mute" 1 thru 8
• And Faders 1 thru 8

Right side of board starting at top, going from let to right:

• Knobs:  Solo,
• Monitor,
• And Phones Level.
• Next row down, 2 buttons: "REC", ”High"
• Under the "REC" button are 3 knobs: (Gain), (Freq), and (Q)
• Under the) high" button are 3 buttons: "High-MID", "Low-MID" and "Low"

EQ's That Can Be Controled In Sonar

The Sonar plug-in now supports three types of EQ:

• 1. Built-in Sonitus (4 band) EQ found in Sonar,
• 2. Sonitus FX EQ Plug-in.
• And 3. Cakewalk FX EQ Plug-in.

Note: remember that it's possible to achieve finer adjustmenst by pressing down the shuttle button. Even finer adjustments can be achieved by holding the shift key down whilst using one of the knobs such as the gain etc.

In order to swwitch control between these three EQ’s, do the following:

• Built-in Sonitus: hold down the Set button and press the HIGH button.
• Sonitus EQ plug-in: hold the set button and hold down the HI-MID button.
• And FX EQ plug-in: hold down the set button and press the LO-MID button.

These buttons illuminate to show the current mode when the SET button is down. The Sonitus built-in EQ button is always active by default.

Sonitus Built-in EQ

Access is only available in the first four bands of the EQ E.G, bands 1-4 as that’s all that Sonar provides access to. Note: it is possible to alter the functions of the knobs in the EQ for Band 1 and 2. Usually, the 3 knobs control Gain, Freq and Q. However, if you press the band button for band 1 or, band 2 then, the knobs become: Freq, Q and filter. This only happens when the low or, Mid-low button is pressed. Pressing the low or, Mid-low button again, will change the knobs, back to there normal function of Gain, Freq and Q. Also, pressing the "High-MID" or, "High" buttons will toggle the knobs between an enabled or, disabled state. Meaning that, it's possible to press ether the "High-MID" or, High" knob then, attempt to control the "Gain" "Freq" or, "Q", for the above-mentioned bands however, because the buttons are disabled, nothing will happen in the "High-MID" or, "High" bands. It's also worth mentioning that the lights for bands 5 and 6 will iluminate on the FW1884 but not actually be engaged in Sonar.

• CTRL-BAND toggles filter type.
• SHIFT-BAND toggles band on/off.
• And CTRL-SHIFT-BAND (any band) toggles Sonitus EQ on/off.

Sonitus FX EQ plug-in

Controls all six bands, bands 5 & 6 are accessed by pressing LOW or LO-MID twice. Pressing HI-MID twice (upper band) controls output gain. Note: for some reason, this particular EQ doesn't seem to work in the Bus view in Sonar.

• CTRL-BAND toggles filter type.
• SHIFT-BAND toggles band on/off.
• CTRL-SHIFT-BAND doesn't do anything (ie. no EQ on/off.)

Cakewalk FX EQ plug-in

Controls all six bands, top four bands accessed by hitting a band twice, (inverted lights.)

• SHIFT-BAND toggles a band on/off.
• CTRL-BAND does nothing.
• And CTRL-SHIFT-BAND toggles Bypass on/off.

Moving Focus For Controls Between The Track/Bus View

it's possible to use controls such as the faders, mute, solo EQ etc in both the track and bus view.

• To Move the focus for controls from track to buss view, press set and bank right.
• And To move focus back to the track view, press set bank left.

Changing Which Controls Are Controlled On a Track/Bus

When mixing, there could be some occasions when for example, you may wish to control tracks 2 through 9 or, bus 2 through 9. To do this, press Shift bank right. To restore the faders so that they are again controlling tracks or, buses 1 through 8, press Shift bank left. Note: changing assignments like this will depend on which view the FW-1884 has focus in at the time. In other words, if you’re in the track view then, the control assignment will change there. Tip: you can move the control assignment up or, down by using the above-mentioned procedure. For example, if you wanted to control the faders on tracks 2 through 10 then, you would press the key combination, Shift Bank Right, twice. Also, if you have used the key combination Shift Bank left several times then, you could be stuck on the control for tracks or, busses one to 8. That’s because you can’t go any further left. Similarly, if you have pressed the keystroke, Shift Bank right, such that the only controls in the track/bus view that have control are the controls for the first fader, solo, mute etc then, you can’t bank any further right as there are no more tracks/buses left to control.

enableing Automation Read/Write

the "AUTOMATION button" can be used to enable the automation read and write buttons on a track/bus. Note: pressing the AUTOMATION button for a given track/bus, acts as a toggle. For example: if you press the AUTOMATION button then, this will toggle it's state from read to write etc. The "AUTOMATION", button will stay in read or write mode, until the AUTOMATION button is pressed again.

Far right mid section

From left to right:

• Buttons:  "Computer", "MIDI CTRL", "MON Mix" and "Clock"
• Next row down a single key, "ROUTE"
• Next row down: Function KEYS F7, F8, F9 and F10
• Next row down: AUTOMATION read/write, button used to toggle from automation read to automation write. next button to the right: CLOCK RATE:  READ 44.1  WRT 48  TCH 88.2  LATCH 96
• WHEEL  with SHTL button to the left
• Next row down:  BANK Left/Right NUDGE LEFT/RIGHT
• And LOCATE LEFT/RIGHT" SET" "IN"  "OUT"

Transport controls

from left to right:

• REWIND
• FAST FORWARD
• STOP
• PLAY
• And REC

Bottom BACK PANEL

From left to right:

• MIDI IN 1 - 4 & OUT 1-4,
• Fire Wire:  1 & 2,
• To the right of the firewire are the D-In Coaxial S/PDIF coaxial digital D-In Coaxial output on RCA connectors, top is in and bottom is out.
• to the right of the S/PDIF are the ADAT Lightpipe and 2-channel Input/output Fiber-optic connectors. These can be used to accommodate eight-channel ADAT and two-channel digital lightpipe formats.
• And to the right of the S/PDIF are the word clock input and output connectors. Word Clock is offered on 75 Q coaxial BNC connectors.

Top BACK PANEL

From left to right:

The FW1884 has 8 microphone inputs in 2 banks of 4. The Phantom power is selectable for inputs 1 to 4, and 5 to 8 respectively. The Phantom power switch for inputs 1 to 4, can be found, just to the left of input 1's XLR socket. The Phantom Power button for inputs 5 through 8, is located, between XLR 4 and 5's sockets. Input 8, also has a guitar/line switch. [MIC INPUTS: 1-4 PHANTOM 48V, 5-8 PHANTOM 48V, 8 IS GUITAR LINE.] Above the XLR sockets for each of the inputs, are the quarrter inch jack balanced line sockets. Next to each of the quarter inch jack sockets, are the stereo quarter inch jack sockets Insert [ring and tip], [LINE IN  INSERT 1-8.] Just to the right of input 8's XLR socket, are the FW1884's balanced jack outputs. These outputs can be used for surround sound mixing or in the case of versions of Sonar from 7 and beyond, for use with the External Insert plug-in or, for sending outputs out to other devices. From left to right: Outputs 1 through 8. Above outputs 7 and 8 or, the Monitor surround section are 2 jacks, "Foot Switch" and "Phones"

Section #1 Functions Of Buttons When In Computer Mode

• Flip: Reverses the function of the rotary pot with the (sliders faders).
• Pan: This restores the rotary pot back to a Pan from being assigned to a send volume.
• Auxiliary Sends: 1 through 8 adjust the volume of respective track send that have been inserted on a given track. Holding down one of the send buttons and pressing the solo button for a given track E.G, Aux 1, will enable/disable the send for Aux 1 on a track. Holding down the send button and pressing the mute button for a given track E.G, Aux 1, will toggle the pree/post button on the send for Aux 1 on a track.
• To Set the Aux Send Pan on a Track: Re-press and hold down the active AUX key. Then, turn the track's encoder to adjust the pan value. Hold down SHIFT or turn the SHTL key on for finer resolution.
• Control Panel button: This quickly pulls up the FW-1884 control panel settings.
• save/F1: Saves current project.
• Shift F1: Saves project as.
• Control F1: accesses Sonar's file, more print option
• Revert/F2: Steps forward one event in the undo function; opposite the continuing backward motion of undo.
• Shift F2, selects all tracks from beginning to end of song.
• Control F2, Unselects all.
• All Safe/F3: Unarms all tracks.
• Clear Solo/F4: Clears all solos.
• Shift F4, clears all Mutes.
• Marker/F5: Brings up the new marker function.
• Control F5, Brings up the markers view.
• Nudge left and right keys: used to tab forward and backwards through open dialog boxes in Sonar.
• Control plus shift plus nudge, cycles you through the various Windows that you currently have open in Sonar. To close the markers view, you must use control plus F4 on the PC keyboard. Or, if your actually in the markers view then, use the FW-1884 keystroke for closing the Window that is currently in focus, [Control F8.
• Loop/F6: Turns on and off looping between the currently defined loop points.
• Control F6: sets loop points to selection
• Cut Button 7: Cuts selected material.
• Del Button 8: Deletes selected material.
• Copy Button 9: Copies selected material.
• Paste Button 10: Pastes selected material.
• ALT/ Button 11CMD: used to toggle the menus in Sonar
• Undo Button 12: This key is equal to the standard undo in the Edit menu.
• Shift Button 13: same as using the shift key on your computers keyboard
• And CTRL Button: same as using the control button on your computers keyboard.14:

Section 2

• Top eight knobs are: Trim/Input Gain 1 thru 8, values 0 to plus 54
• Second row down: Continuous data knobs: use for both pan and send volumes.
• First row of buttons: (select), 1 thru 8, calls the attention of Sonar to the corresponding track in the current bank.
• Second row: (Solo), 1 thru 8. Solos and unsolos the corresponding track in the selected bank.
• Third row: (Mute), 1 thru 8 mutes and unmutes the corresponding track in the currently selected bank.
• Control/Mute: archives or unarchives a track.
• Touch sensitive Faders 1 thru 8: 100 millimetre faders that can swap functions with the Continuous data knobs using the (Flip) button.

Section #3

• Solo, Monitor and Phones Level: These adjust the volume to the headphone and outputs 1 through 8 on rear of board. Below (Solo) is a button (PFL) for switching from pree fader to post fader in monitor mode.
• E.Q section: This section is vertical and is two columns wide. First column is as follows:

• First button (Rec),is for arming and unarming a track when used in conjunction with the (selection) buttons in the currently selected bank.
• Gain: This controls the volume of the frequency selected plus 18 DBU and minus 18 DBU.
• Frequency: This controls the frequency sweep of the band chosen from the column to the right.
• Q: This knob controls the width of the frequencies affected by the gain knob.
• Second Column: (high), (High Mids), (Low Mids) and (Lows): These select the corresponding frequency bands in Sonar’s E.Q. (High) equals band 4, and (low) equals band 1 etc.

Section 4, funtion of Function Keys In Computer Mode

• F7: acts as the Enter key.
• F8: Acts as the space bar.
• F9: cancels a dialog.
• F10: acts as the escape key.

Functions Of Function Keys In Monitor Mode

• F7: keystroke used to mute all audio from the hardware inputs. Useful if you wish to mute all of your microphones etc that are currently plugged into your FW-1884's inputs and still play audio back in Sonar.
• F9: used to unmute hardware inputs. Note: it's possible to have pressed F9 in order to unmute the hardware outputs and still not hear anything. This will occur if your hardware inputs are turrnned down, muted or soloed.
• Control Shift F8: used to reset all MIDI parameters in the FW-1884 back to factory defaults.
• And Control Shift F10: used to set all faders to unity gain.

FW1884 Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How do I know if I have the latest drivers and control surface for the FW1884?
• A: if you have downloaded the package from this web page then, you have the very latest and greatest.

• Q: How do I enable scrubbing on the FW1884?
• A: In order to enable scrubbing, you will need to add a couple of entries to your Cakewalk.ini file.  If your using Sonar 8, and you have installed Sonar on your C drive then, this file can be located in the following location:

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Cakewalk\SONAR 8 Producer Edition

Folder.

Add it to the [WinCake] section so it looks like this:

[WinCake]

JogPosTimer=60
PauseOnJog=1

• Q: I have been told that I will achieve better performance in Sonar with ASIO drivers. Is this true?
• A: Not necessarily. We have found that in general, most people seem to achieve better audio performance on core duo and above PC's with WDM drivers. My advice, try both as in some instances, you will achieve better performance and lower latency with WDM drivers, rather than ASIO ones.

• Q: I am using WDM drivers. How do I achieve the lowest possible latency?
• A: First, it's important to remember that when using WDM drivers, there are two places where settings need to be adjusted that affect latency. First, go into your sound cards control panel and set your sound cards buffers to 64. Note: Sometimes what you actually see in your sound card control panel, may look a little different. For example, in the Tascam FW-1884 control panel, this setting is achieved by putting the slider to 16%. Then, go back into Sonar and set the latency slider in the "Audio Options" dialog box to 3%. This should give you latency of around 1.5MS. If you get dropouts then, bring the slider up in the "Audio Options" dialog box in Sonar and reprofile your sound card until the dropouts stop.

• Q: I want to use WDM drivers. Are there any special settings that I need to know about?
• A: you may want to try altering the KsUseInputEvent entry in your Aud.ini file. Changing this setting from 0 to 1 can sometimes improve audio driver performance.

If your using Sonar 8, and you have installed Sonar on your C drive then, this file can be found in the following location:

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Cakewalk\SONAR 8 Producer Edition

Folder.

Once you have altered the entry, it will look like this:

KsUseInputEvent=1

• Q: What are the differences between the Tascam FW1884 and the Tascam FW1082?
• A: Probably the major difference between the FW1884 and the 1082 is that controls on the FW1082 double up.  Meaning that you don't have dedicated controls for Pan, Send and EQ on the 1082 as you do on the FW1884.  This means that you would have to toggle the status of the controls on the 1082.  Also, the FW1884 has 8 dedicated aux's which, the FW1082 doesn't have.  The 1082 has 60MM faders where as the FW1884 has full length 100M faders.

Do you require the latest FW1884 Firmware, drivers and manuals in accessible format?