Synchronized wave export to digital multitrack recorder?

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Hi,

I create quite a bit of audio on my PC by means of trackers, MIDI and
samples, however I find mixing with a regular mixing board a lot more
practical than moving around knobs and faders with a mouse with all
latency problems associated with that.

Because of this, I'd like to export my audio from PC to a multitrack
recorder.

Unfortunately I don't own a multichannel soundcard- and even if I
did, I'd run into the same type of synchronization problems if I'd
want to go over 8 tracks, which is the maximum number supported of
channels by most multichannel adapters.

What are the possibilities of solving this? Any possibilities to do
this with my existing hardware? My multitrack is an EMU darwin with
ADAT sync, soundcard is an audigy.

Best regards,
Marc Brevoort

 

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"Marc Brevoort" <mrjb@dnd.utwente.nl> wrote in message
news:8a509cf1.0501140328.452afa87@posting.google.com
> Hi,
>
> I create quite a bit of audio on my PC by means of trackers, MIDI and
> samples, however I find mixing with a regular mixing board a lot more
> practical than moving around knobs and faders with a mouse with all
> latency problems associated with that.

Never heard of gain envelopes, I take it.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <8a509cf1.0501140328.452afa87@posting.google.com> mrjb@dnd.utwente.nl writes:

> I'd like to export my audio from PC to a multitrack
> recorder.
>
> Unfortunately I don't own a multichannel soundcard- and even if I
> did, I'd run into the same type of synchronization problems if I'd
> want to go over 8 tracks, which is the maximum number supported of
> channels by most multichannel adapters.
>
> What are the possibilities of solving this? Any possibilities to do
> this with my existing hardware? My multitrack is an EMU darwin with
> ADAT sync, soundcard is an audigy.

I's been a long time since I've seen a Darwin, but does it have any
file import capability? That would be the way to do it if it's
possible. I know that there's an optional SCSI card for connecting it
to a computer, but I never learned exactly what you could actually do
with that connection. Besides, I thought the Darwin had only 8 tracks.

You could transfer a track or two at a time using MIDI or SMPTE time
code to synchronize the DAW with the Darwin. Or if you could find an
optional ADAT interface card for it (you'd probalby have to buy a
whole other Darwin equipped with one) you could get an ADAT interface
card for your PC for not much money.


--
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However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Mike Rivers wrote:

> I's been a long time since I've seen a Darwin, but does it have any
> file import capability?

Not this one, at the moment. And the promise "Darwin will evolve" faded
away as the machine isn't supported anymore.

> I thought the Darwin had only 8 tracks.
> you could get optional ADAT interface card for it

Yes, it's an 8-track machine, and actually already equipped with ADAT
sync. Meaning, if I can get synchronized audio to the Darwin,
transferring it to multiple ADAT tapes is the least of the problem.
Main reason not to get an ADAT lightpipe/sync card for my PC is driver
compatibility.

> You could transfer a track or two at a time using MIDI or SMPTE time
> code to synchronize the DAW with the Darwin.

This seems pretty realistic, I've seen my PC sync to the Darwins MTC.
But I'm wondering how accurate it can be? MIDI data transfer rate is
31250 baud (3125 bytes per second if including start and stop bit),
transferring a timecode would takes a few bytes, so it might be
possible to attain accuracy within a few milliseconds, but would
sample-precise alignment be possible?

 

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In article <1105784265.145356.217000@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> mrjb@dnd.utwente.nl writes:

> Yes, it's an 8-track machine, and actually already equipped with ADAT
> sync. Meaning, if I can get synchronized audio to the Darwin,
> transferring it to multiple ADAT tapes is the least of the problem.
> Main reason not to get an ADAT lightpipe/sync card for my PC is driver
> compatibility.

If it can derive word clock sync from the incoming lightpipe stream,
then all you need is a lightpipe interface for your computer. The
Frontier Design Wavecenter PCI card is cheap, reliable, and they keep
drivers up to date. Transfer all 8 tracks in one pass and they'll
maintain their time relationship.

http/www.frontierdesign.com/products/wavecenterpcimain.html

If it's not documented or not on a menu somewhere, you can test the
Darwin's ability to sync its word clock to the incoming data by
hooking up an ADAT to it and trying to transfer a recording without
connecting the ADAT sync cable between the two units. If that doesn't
work (the symptomp will be clicks on the Darwin copy), I'm almost
positive that you can set the Wavecenter card so that it uses incoming
lightpipe to synchoronize the word clock (check with Frontier on
this). So all that takes is a lightpipe cable from the Darwin OUTPUT
to the Wavecenter INPUT (and of course the proper menu selection) and
the data will be synchronized - no clicks and pops.

You can see how that works by connecting both lightpipes between the
Darwind and the ADAT and setting the ADAT's clock to DIGITAL input.

> > You could transfer a track or two at a time using MIDI or SMPTE time
> > code to synchronize the DAW with the Darwin.
>
> This seems pretty realistic, I've seen my PC sync to the Darwins MTC.
> But I'm wondering how accurate it can be? MIDI data transfer rate is
> 31250 baud (3125 bytes per second if including start and stop bit),
> transferring a timecode would takes a few bytes, so it might be
> possible to attain accuracy within a few milliseconds, but would
> sample-precise alignment be possible?

You can't get sample-accurate sync this way, but you probalby don't
need it. Time code sync is sufficiently accurate for music. The only
place where it falls down is if you have a lot of leakage between
tracks and transfer two tracks in two passes that have substantially
the same program material. But if your recordings are made a track at
a time or with good isolation between tracks, you won't have any
trouble with time code accuracy.

I just checked the web site and the Wavecenter card is more expensive
than I remembered. Maybe it's just not as popular as it used to be.
But it's still in production and still supported, so if you find a
second hand one for $100 or so (I was surprised not to see any on
eBay) you'll have no problem using it. Still, I think it would be
worth pursuing. It will be a lot easier and more reliable than doing
it a couple of tracks at a time with time code sync.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo