Miscellaneous Utilities, Functions, and Parameters

Before we close out the chapters on the VS-880/890 series, I wanted to mention a few miscellaneous utilities, functions, and parameters. Although you probably won't use these utilities and functions on a regular basis, you should know that they are available. Likewise, many of the parameters can be left at their default values, but there may be times when you want to change them.

Drive Check

This utility will scan your hard drive to see if there are any damaged or unusable clusters. It will also check for clusters that are cross linked, meaning a cluster is detected as belonging to more than one song. It will also check some of the internal file structures that are used to store information on locators, markers, effects, Automix, and so on. To execute the Drive Check utility, press the SYSTEM Edit Condition button repeatedly until you see SYS Drive Check ?, and then press YES and follow the prompts.

System-Level Parameters

There are a number of system-level parameters that control the operation of various functions. These are found via SYSTEM SYSTEM SYS PRM? Weve already covered some of these in previous chapters, but here are a few more:

• Marker Stop: When set to ON, the VS will play back or record until it reaches the next marker, and then it will stop.

• Fade Length: When punching in or punching out within a track that already contains audio, the VS will attempt to do a very quick fade-in /fade-out between the audio passages. If you hear noise between these audio passages, you can adjust the fade length. The default is 10ms. Using multiple microphones to record a single source can cause phase cancellation, and you can flip the phase of one or more tracks to help correct it.

• Shift Lock: When set to ON, pressing the SHIFT key once lights up the SHIFT key and keeps the SHIFT key activated. To deactivate it, press the SHIFT key again so that it is not lit.

• Fader Match: This setting has two values: NULL and JUMP. When you switch between mixer modes, the fader may not match the actual level you had previously set for that fader. The default is Jump, meaning as soon as you adjust any fader, the level you previously set automatically jumps to the new level. Null means that the fader must first be moved to the previously set level before you can adjust the level to something different.

Mute and Solo

By holding the SHIFT key and pressing the EZ ROUTING/SOLO button, the VS will enter Solo mode. During this time, pressing any track's SELECT button puts that track in Solo. To exit Solo mode, hold SHIFT and press EZ ROUTING/SOLO again. To enter Mute mode, hold the EZ ROUTING/SOLO button and press the SELECT button for the tracks you wish to mute. When you release the EZ ROUTING/SOLO button, these tracks remain muted, even if their track STATUS button is lit for playback.

These functions should be used with caution. Once you invoke Solo mode for a track in the Input Mixer while recording, you effectively mute the other input signals, and they will not be recorded. I personally don't see much value in the Mute function. I can just as easily mute tracks by pressing their STATUS button. Also, there is no indicator visible if you mute a track via the Mute mode.

Vari Pitch

This function changes the playback speed of the tracks, allowing you to record new tracks at a higher or lower speed. This is useful when you change the pitch of previously recorded tracks to match the pitch of tracks you want to record. To change the playback speed, hold SHIFT and press the VARI PITCH button, then use the jogwheel to adjust the value. The value is shown in terms of sample rate, so you'll need to cross reference the key you want to the appropriate sample rate.