TENTACLE SYNC Track E Timecode Audio Recorder User Manual

: June 5, 2024
: TENTACLE SYNC

TENTACLE SYNC Track E Timecode Audio Recorder

OVERVIEW

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GETTING STARTED

SETUP APP FOR iOS & ANDROID
The Tentacle Setup App allows you to operate, synchronize, monitor and set parameters of all TRACK E devices. This includes settings such as audio recording formats, limiter, device name & icon, headphone volume, battery level and more.
You can download the Setup App here: www.tentaclesync.com/apps

Note: Wireless audio monitoring on Android is only supported on Android 10 (API Level 29) and higher.

ENABLE BLUETOOTH ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE
The Setup App will need to communicate with your TRACK E devices via Bluetooth. Make sure Bluetooth is activated on your mobile device. You must grant the app the necessary permissions as well. The Android version also asks for a ‚location permission‘. This is only needed to receive Bluetooth data from your TRACK E. The app does not use or store your current location data in any way.
SWITCH ON YOUR TRACKE
Before starting the app it is recommended to switch on your TRACK E devices. Pull down the user switch on the side to turn on your TRACK E. The device will indicate powering ON with a blue animation of the level LED. Once it’s powered up, the status LED will be pulsating in white for ‚standby‘. During operation, the TRACK E constantly transmits status and recording information via Bluetooth.

ADD A NEW DEVICE
If you open the Tentacle Setup App for the first time, the device list will be empty. You can add new TRACK E audio recorders and SYNC E timecode generators by tapping on + Add Device. This will show a list of available Tentacle devices nearby. Select the one, you would like to add to the list and tap on it. Hold your Tentacle device close to your phone to finish the procedure. This ensures that only you have access to your Tentacles and not someone else nearby. Once a Tentacle is added to the list, it will appear automatically in the device list, next time the app is opened.

TIMECODE SYNCHRONIZATION

With your Setup App, you can easily synchronize all of your TRACK E and SYNC E devices with one button click. At the bottom of your screen you’ll find the SYNC button.

Tap on SYNC and a small window will pop up
Click on Frame Rate and select the desired frame rate from the drop down menu
Time of Day is predefined as a starting timecode. For custom timecode tap on the timecode and choose your desired value.
Press START and all Tentacles will be synchronized one after another within a few seconds

Once your Tentacle devices are synchronized, the app displays Sync Done.

TIMECODE JAM-SYNC
The microphone input can be used to jam-sync your TRACK E with timecode from any external timecode source via cable. Once your TRACK E is turned on, you can jam-sync it as long as there is no other action done (e.g. wireless sync via app or start a recording). Here are the suitable adapter cables in our online store:

5-pin Lemo to Tentacle:
https://shop.tentaclesync.com/product/lemo-to-tentacle/

BNC cable 90°:
https://shop.tentaclesync.com/product/tentacle-to-90-bnc/

RECORDING

To start a recording with your TRACK E timecode audio recorder, you can start and stop it via Setup App or directly at each TRACK E device. With the Setup App all of your TRACK E devices can be started at once or each TRACK E individually in case you are not working with all of your devices at the same time.

MULTIPLE TRACK RECORDING

At the screen you’ll find two buttons RECORD and STOP. These buttons start and stop the recording of all your TRACK E devices in your list.

SINGLE TRACK RECORDING
Next to each TRACK E status information in the monitoring list is a REC button as well, which starts and stops the recording just for this single TRACK E.

INDEPENDENT RECORDING VIA USER SWITCH
If you are unable to use the app or don’t want to, you are still able to operate your TRACK E devices directly and independently from a mobile device. START: Pull up user switch, status LED lights up red during recordings STOP: Pull up user switch again

DEVICE LIST

Once your devices have been added to the list, you can check the most important status information of each unit at a glance. You will be able to monitor the level meter, recording file format, recording time, frame rate, timecode, battery status, Bluetooth range, device icon and name. If a TRACK E is out of Bluetooth range for more than 10 seconds, the status and timecode of it will be maintained. If the app hasn’t received any updates for more than 10 minute, the message will be Last seen x minutes ago. Depending on the physical distance of a Tentacle device to your mobile device, the status information in the list will be highlighted. The closer the TRACK E gets to your mobile device the more saturated the color will be. Remove a TRACK E from the device list You can remove a Tentacle. TRACK E from the list by swiping to the left (iOS) or long pressing (more than 2 sec.) on the Tentacle status information (Android).

DEVICE WARNINGS
Devices have to be synchronized: This warning message is displayed, when inaccuracies of more than half a frame occur between all devices in Green Mode. Sometimes this warning can pop up for a few seconds, when starting the app from background. In most cases the app just needs some time to check the information of each Tentacle device. However, if the warning message persists for more than 10 seconds you should consider re-syncing your Tentacles.

APP SETTINGS

Theme	Here you can choose a light or dark them for the setup app
Audio Monitoring	Here you can select one of two audio monitoring modes:

loudspeaker or earpiece monitoring (details see menu setup app > recording > audio monitoring p. 11 )
Safe Mode| If this mode is enabled, you need to press the STOP button for 2 seconds before the audio recording stops
Remove all Added Devices| Here you can remove all devices from the monitoring list at once
Ask for Help

Acknowledgements

| Here you can send a support request directly to the Tentacle support team

License information with used open-source components

App Version| Here you can view the current app version

Pressing briefly on a TRACK E status information in the monitoring screen, will start a connection to this device and allows you to do the device’s settings. An active Bluetooth® connection will be indicated by a blue status LED. The TRACK E menu is divided into three categories: Recording / Playback / Settings

RECORDING

Device icon| Change the colour of each device icon by tapping on the icon and select the colour you need
---|---
Status|
Ready| Once you have started a recording, it will display
| the recorded time of this audio file
Recording| Shows the recording time
Disconnected| If the unit is completely turned off
Timecode Display| The current timecode is displayed here
Battery Level| The current battery status is shown here
Recording format| The current recording format – float or 24 bit – is displayed here
Audio Monitoring

Earpiece Monitoring

Loudspeaker Monitoring

| By long pressing the speaker button, audio monitoring will be activated. A pop-up window with two selectable modes will appear.

Monitoring via smartphone earpiece is activated, as soon as the smartphone is held close to the ear.

Monitoring via smartphone speaker is activated by clicking on the speaker button.

All headphones recommended by the smartphone manufacturer can also be used here.

---|---
Please note: The use of Bluetooth can lead to a device-dependent, time lag during monitoring. This increases if Bluetooth headphones are also used.
Level meter| Check your recording level in dB
Recording time| The recording time of your current audio clip is displayed here
Remaining Recording time| Shows the remaining recording time of the microSD card
File name| Next to recording time, you can find the file name of your upcoming wave file
Waveform display| Monitor the recording as a waveform visualization. It will be orange coloured during an audio recording
Recording Gain| Adjust your recording gain here. This is important if you choose 48kHz / 24-bit recording format
---|---
Record Button| Start and stop the recording here
Low cut filter| If this filter is ON, it will reduce noise for all fre- quencies lower than 80Hz. This can be useful if working with sounds with too much bass and low frequencies like background noise
Mic Plugin Power| The mic plug-in power is set to ON in the standard settings and has 5V. With this plug-in power, you can use all electret lavalier microphones. You

can turn it OFF if you are working with dynamic microphones.

Note: Usually the enabled plug-in power doesn’t affect most dynamic microphones. However this does not apply to every model. So please check with the microphone’s manufacturer. Plug-in power turned OFF extends battery life.

PLAYBACK
In this section of the menu, you can listen to your recorded files. Connect your headphones to the 3.5mm headphone out of the TRACK E or use the audio monitoring feature via smartphone (see p.11). Make sure to set your headphone volume accordingly.

Playback

File information
Name
Channel Count
Sample Rate
Recording Bit Depth
Length
Timecode

SETTINGS

Device name| Change the predefined device name by simply clicking on the name field, change the name and confirm with ‚return‘
---|---
Note: Creating a new device name will create a new folder on your microSD card named after this device.
Recording format

48 kHz / 32-bit Float

48 kHz / 24-bit

| ****

This format records 32-bit float WAV. files Adjusting the recording gain is not required. As long as maximum input levels are not exceeded, both quiet and loud sounds can be recorded with high quality. This 32-bit float recording will disable the limiter

This format records standard 24-bit WAV. files. Adjust the recording gain, so that the clip indicators do not light up red while recording. In the 24-bit format, the limiter is always enabled

Headphone volume| Tap on the little speaker icon and adjust the volume of the headphone output
Note: US version has the headphone output deactivated during recording
LED Brightness| Adjust the brightness of the LEDs here
LED while Recording| Here you can deactivate the level LED completely during recording
User Switch Assignment| Click on the field and select an action for your user switch on the TRACK E when pulling it up
---|---
Not used| No action will happen, if user switch is pulled up

Start / Stop Playback

Start / Stop Recording

| You can now listen to your last recorded file when the user switch is pulled up

This action is preset and allows you to manually Start / Stop an audio recording via user switch

Format SD Card| To format your SDcard, just press the button and confirm it in the pop-up window
General information|
Firmware Version| Shows the current firmware version running on
| the device
Hardware Revision| Shows the hardware version of this unit
Hardware Serial No.| Shows the serial number of your TRACK E
App Version| Shows the current software version of your setup app
Real Time Clock| Shows the current time and date of the internal
(RTC)| real time clock
Limiter| The limiter icon is only visible in your monitoring view. If you select 48 kHz / 24-bit recording format, the limiter is enabled. In 32-bit float it will be disabled.

The limiter will compress the dynamic range, so that sudden volume peaks can be prevented.

USER SWITCH ON/OFF

The TRACK E has a multi-purpose user switch on the right side.

Power On| Pull down the user switch until the level LED will start a blue animation
---|---
Power Off| Pull down the user switch for more than 5 seconds. The status LED will flash white until the TRACK E is turned off
Start Recording| Pull up the user switch. The status LED will light up red during recording
Stop Recording| Pull up the user switch again. The status LED will go back to white

The Start / Stop Recording action for the user switch is predefined, but can be assigned differently in the settings section of the menu (see p. 15)

TRACK E MICROPHONE

The TRACK E set includes a versatile lavalier microphone (omnidirectional characteristic) with windjammer and clip. Of course, Tentacle TRACK E is compatible with all common lavalier, electret shotgun and dynamic micro- phones. An adapter to 3.5 mm mini jack with a standard Sennheiser wiring may be necessary.

MICROPHONE INPUT
The TRACK E has a 3.5mm mini jack microphone input with screw lock. 5V plug-in power is activated, for dynamic microphones the plug-in power can be deactivated in the Tentacle Setup App. This input can also be used to jam-sync your TRACK E from any external timecode source via cable (see p. 6)

MICROPHONE ADAPTERS
To connect an even wider range of lavalier microphones to TRACK E, you may need an adapter, you may need an adapter with a standard Sennheiser wiring. The adapters and a variety of accessories are available at your local dealer at shop.tentaclesync.com

HEADPHONE OUTPUT

To monitor while recording* please connect headphones with a 3.5mm mini jack connector to the headphone out of the TRACK E device. For a playback of your already recorded files, you also need to open the Setup App playback section in the device’s menu. You can adjust the headphone level for each device in the app.

Note: US version has the headphone output deactivated during recording! The output signal of the headphone out is not a looped signal. It is processed!

MICRO SD CARD

The included 16GB microSD card is located on the left side of the TRACK E. Just pull out the cover and push the card in to remove it. This card can re- cord up to 30 hours in 24-bit recording format and 23 hours in 32-bit Float recording format. Formatting the microSD card is easily done in the Setup App via Bluetooth. You’ll find it in the settings section of the menu.

Note: When using different microSD cards, make sure you use one that is qualified. Recommended are SanDisk/Western Digital 8/16/32GB or similar class 10 SDHC up to 32GB. We recommend to leave the microSD card inside the TRACK E and use the device as a hard drive (see p. 20).

RECHARGEABLE BATTERY

The TRACK E has a built-in, rechargeable and replaceable Lithium-Polymer battery. Charging is possible via USB-C. The charging status will be shown by the charging LED right next to the USB-C port. The internal battery can be charged from any USB power source. The charging time is max. 2 hours if the battery is completely empty. Fully charged, TRACK Es can run for up to 10 hours. When the battery is at less than 10%, Tentacle indicates this by flashing the level LED yellow several times. The device continues to run in this state, until it switches itself off at 3% of battery status. If the battery is completely empty, the TRACK E can no longer be switched on before it has been recharged. The battery is easily replaceable, once the performance is decreasing after 2-4 years depending on the use. A battery replacement kit can be obtained from Tentacle Sync. In this case please contact support@tentaclesync.com

Please note: The charging process of the battery is stopped as soon as temperatures below 0° or above +40° are reached in order to preserve the battery‘s lifetime. This will be indicated by a red charging LED.

USB-C PORT AND CARD READER

The USB-C port at the bottom of the TRACK E can be used for charging and as a card reader as well. As a card reader the USB-C port is used for fast data transmission. This way, there is no need to remove the microSD card from the TRACK E. You can transmit your files directly from the Tentacle TRACK E to your computer.

Connect your switched off TRACK E to your computer via the included USB-C cable. You have to push the cable all the way into the TRACK E until it makes a ‚click‘ sound and the status LED indicates the connec-tion by a short flash.
A hard drive icon will appear on your desktop. You can drag and drop your files directly from the TRACK E onto your computer.
To remove the TRACK E, please eject it correctly from your computer.

FIRMWARE UPDATE
This firmware update will allow you to wirelessly monitor TRACK E audio on the Tentacle Setup App ( iOS/Android ) via Bluetooth. It also improves write performance & battery running time. TRACK E firmware update 2.0.3

Before you start:

Before performing the update, please backup your microSD card in case it contains important files.
Make sure your TRACK E has sufficient battery. If your updating computer is a laptop, make sure it has sufficient battery too or is connected to mains
The Tentacle Sync Studio software (macOS) or the Tentacle Setup software (macOS/Windows) should not be running at the same time as the Firmware Update App. The Tentacle can only be detected by one Tentacle software at a time

Update procedure:

Download the firmware updater app, install it and open it
Connect your TRACK E via USB cable to the computer and switch it on
Wait for the updater app to connect to your TRACK E
If an update is needed, start the update by pressing the „Start Firm-ware Update“ button
During the update process (few minutes) your TRACK E status and level LEDs will blink purple
The Update App will tell you when your TRACK E was successfully updated
To update more TRACK Es you have to close and start the app again

Note:
Make sure you have the latest iOS/Android Setup App installed. Wireless audio monitoring on Android is only supported on Android 10 (API Level 29) and higher. Monitoring latency and connection stability is highly dependent on the smartphone you are using. In the unusual case that the firmware update fails, your device needs to be restored. In this case please contact: support@tentaclesync.com

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

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WARRANTY AND SAFETY REGULATIONS

INTENDED USE
The device is designed to record audio signals via a suitable external microphone (lavalier microphone). It must not be connected to other devices. The device is not waterproof and should be protected against rain. For safety and certification reasons (CE) you are not permitted to convert and/or modify the device. The device can be damaged if you use it for purposes other than those mentioned above. Moreover, improper use can cause hazards, such as short circuits, fire, electric shock, etc. Read through the manual carefully and keep it for later reference. Give the device to other people only together with the manual.

SAFETY NOTICE
A guarantee that the device will function perfectly and operate safely can only be given if the generally standard safety precautions and device-specific safety notices on this sheet are observed. The device is intended for professional use. The rechargeable batter integrated in the device must never be charged in an ambient temperature below 0 °C and above 40 °C! Perfect functionality and safe operation can only be guaranteed for temperatures between -20 °C and +60 °C. The device is not a toy. Keep it away from children and animals. Protect the device from extreme temperatures, heavy jolts, moisture, combustible gases, vapors and solvents. The safety of the user can be compromised by the device if, for example, damage to it is visible, it doesn‘t work anymore as specified, it was stored for a longer period of time in unsuitable conditions, or it becomes unusually hot during operation. When in doubt, the device must principally be sent in to the manufacturer for repairs or maintenance.

DISPOSAL / WEEE NOTIFICATION
This product must not be disposed of together with your other household waste. It is your responsibility to dispose of this device at a special disposal station (recycling yard), at a technical retail center or at the manufacturer.

FCC DECLARATION
This device contains FCC ID: SH6MDBT50Q This device has been tested and found to comply with part 15B of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide rea-sonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equip-ment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit di erent from that to which the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Modification to this product will void the user’s authority to operate this equipment. This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions. (1) This device may not cause harmful interference. (2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

INDUSTRY CANADA DECLARATION
This device contains IC: 8017A-MDBT50Q This device complies with Industry Canada license-exempt RSS standard(s). Operation is subject to the following two condi-tions: (1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. This digital device complies with the Canadian regulatory standard CAN ICES-003.

CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
Tentacle Sync GmbH, Eifelwall 30, 50674 Cologne, Germany declares herewith that the following product:

Tentacle TRACK E timecode audio recorder
complies with the provisions of the directives named as follows, including changes in them that apply at the time of the declaration.