Establish your connection type. Some older computers call for a USB connection, newer machines have a Firewire port for faster data transfer. For example, the MacBook Pro is Firewire enabled. If you are using Firewire, plug the Firewire expansion port into the expansion port slot on the rear, then connect a Firewire cable to the port. If you are using USB, plug a USB cable directly into the slot on the rear. Connect the cable to your computer.
Turn on your computer and open Cubase. The Firewire icon on your computer flashes when the machine recognizes the new device. Select "Devices" from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Scroll down to "Device Setup" and left-click. Select "Mackie Control" from the menu, this gives you more device options. Select "Tascam DM4800" from the options by left-clicking it. If you are not offered the "Mackie Control" option, you are offered the "Tascam DM4800" option. Older Tascam products were connected via a Mackie control system, so older versions of Cubase might be expecting this component to be connected. New versions of Cubase have been updated to offer "Tascam DM400" as an option, without Mackie control.
Left-click every midi-port and audio input on your Cubase system to highlight them all. Left-click the "+" sign in the top left corner to assign a device to each channel. Other software programs might automatically assign the Tascam DM4800 to all inputs, but Cubase calls for a manual selection.
Assign the channels in reverse if you were prompted to select "Mackie Control" from the "Device Setup" menu. You need to do this because your version of Cubase expects your Tascam DM4800 to be connected via a Mackie control interface. In such cases, you route the first eight DM4800 channels into the Mackie, which then re-assigns them from right to left. Because these channels are going directly into Cubase from left to right (one through eight), you need to compensate for this when assigning them otherwise your actions on the DM4800 desk won't correspond with the Cubase interface. So channel eight on your desk is channel one in Cubase, channel seven is channel two and so. Once you've assigned each channel, select "Apply" and "Save Settings."