Hi
Just changed to a dual head graphics card & 2 monitors so I dont have the mixer obscuring the timeline, but is there any way I can resize the the mixer so its like landscape instead of portrait size when working with a lot of tracks & fits the pc screen better. I’ve got ntrack version 4.0.4?
thanks
jetboy
Hi jetboy:
I have a Matrox G-550 graphics Card on an Intel P-4 Dual boot machine…
'98SE and XP Home…
n-Track displays very well on both operating systems…
I am able to “Float” the VU Meters, plug-ins, mixer configs. and anything that can be un-docked to whatever screen I choose…
I believe that right-clicking on the mixer strips will re-size the mixer to whatever size you decide is right for your setup…
There are settings in n-Track’s config. panel that are available to adjust when using dual monitor screens…
By-the way…
What graphics card are you using with your setup and what operating system are you using 
?
Bill…
Thanks Bill
You were right, in the ntrack preferences panel/appearances tab I was able to tailor the layout of the mixer so it fits the monitor screen. Wonderful, what a godsend this is. Changing to a dual head card is one of the best improvements I’ve made, being able to have a clear view of the timeline on one screen & the whole mixer with 35 odd faders accessible on the other is so good.
I also have a Matrox G550 (picked one up cheap on ebay)& XP Home.
Also fitted a 2nd hard drive & an extra 1Gb of RAM.I reckoned the PC was almost a family member, why should the kids get all the money.
Cheers
Jetboy
Thanks for your reply:
That Matrox G-550 card is a great card for recording-and-editing audio using n-Track…
(in my opinion)…
However, when I built that P-4 way back when I paid some $285.00 for that card…
Way too much…
If I were still playing with audio like I was back then, I think I would seriously consider a Tri-Head Matrox card…
I think they are called the G-750 series of cards…
Or something…
I found when your are editing tracks on the timeline and have them (the tracks) expanded out to a workable limit, you need all the timeline real-estate you can manage…
then be able to keep mixer and plugs and meters visible at the same time… two monitor screens are tight-for-space…
at times…
If I remember, it was back in v 4.2.1 build that I used to edit with the P-4 in the studio…
Now I have a P-111 with v5.1.1 (latest builds)…
I don’t have a dual head graphics card on this machine…
I wish I did…
There appears to be some improvements regarding graphics on the later builds of n-Track…
I believe…
you should be able to go up to v4.2.1 build 2099 for no charge… It might be interesting for you to try that version/build…
to see how it behaves on your machine…
AND…
there is a difference in n-Track’s graphics config. panel in v5.1.1 latest builds…
It would be interesting for you to see how that version behaves on your set-up…
Do you have-and-use the 24-bit version of n-Track ?
Bill…
Wow I paid
£14 for that card last week on ebay! I have the 24bit version of ntrack & despite only being middle aged, in some ways I have an old mans approach to things & am reluctant to upgrade ntrack to a newer build. The last time I did it I immediately regretted losing the version I had got used to. I’d rather spend time making music than reading a manual any day.
Jetboy
Hi jetboy:
I hear you…
I’ve never been able to keep my fingers off or out of of things in my computers that worked perfectly well…
Having said that I will continue fuddling around with my computers by updating and downloading the latest-and-greatest of whatever it might be. I used to sit and wait till everyone else tried out the new builds of n-Track…
Now I download and install the builds of n-Track as Flavio posts them…
I’ve gotten caught out a few times with issues…
but by-in-large if an issue in a build develops Flavio will address the issue in the next series of builds… As well, Flavio has added an on-line n-Track failure log where a .dmp file gets created and automatically gets sent to FaSoft showing what caused n-Track to fail…
From the .dmp file that gets sent to him he fixes the issue and posts another build…
If I recall, that feature was added to v4.1.1 or somewhat close to that version…
I believe it was after v4.0.4
Anyway v4.2.1 build 2099 and later had that feature…
Bill…
Hey all…
Speaking of dual monitors
Just to let everyone know, if you ever upgrade to Vista (eventually, most will) you will have to have a dual monitor card to run two monitors.
Just adding an additional card won’t work as Vista will recognize only ONE card.
Just to let ya know…
cliff
Hi g8torcliff:
That’s interesting to hear…
Have you moved on and into VISTA?
If you have, how are you finding working-and-dealing with audio is working for you?
AND What types of computer hardware are you using with VISTA…
AND
have you found the move into VISTA painless ?
Bill…
After I bought a new graphics card with dual outs everything has gone pretty smooth.
A couple pieces of software (steinberg virtual sound canvas and Reason v2.??) won’t install but I don’t use them much anyway.
I had to do the usual tweaks and shut off a bunch o’stuff that MS seems to think everyone needs.
But that was no big deal.
Another thing I found with my new PC is that not only do most come with Vista but they also have the new SATA drives.
I have a whole cupboard filled with old drives - including the one from the XP machine that just crashed which necessitated the new PC. None of the old drives are SATA, so I purchased one of these.
Pretty cool little gadget.
Now all of my old drives are pretty much like plugging in an old floppy.
ONE THING FOR SURE:
After using dual monitors, I will never be able to go back to just one (unless its a really BIG one).
cliff
I can’t live with one monitor anymore!
This might be of interest. Multiple adapters is still supported in Vista but that are some restrictions.
Vista and MultiMon
I say get a new card that have multiple outs and be happy. That’s what I have at work. I used to have three PCI cards (yes, three monitors), and it would work until Windows Update decided that my drivers were old. Actually, they weren’t old. They were beta drivers that had a “fix” that would allow three or more instances. There was a bug that would cause bad random crashes occasionally, so the final released drivers had that feature pulled. I can’t complain. It was unstable as heck…but as I said…I can’t live without multimon!
Hi Gents:
I think I see that you have an SATA type of Mainboard…,
Is that what I read ?/
Haveing said that your earlier setup was IDE types of hard drives…
??
But with this adaptor harness you can connect your drives to the new setup you have VIA a USB-to-SATA Mainboard setup… ?
If I read all of this correctly…
that is that setup you now have…
Your music files are on these drives…
I ask…
How does your .wav music files stream from these drives and is the USB rev. 2.0 fast enough to stream these tracks?
If so…
what is the limit of tracks you can stream with this setup?
How many tracks can this setup comfortably stream ?
Bill…
[EDIT]
Hi phoo:
What is this graphics card you make reference to? The one that has multiable monitor output terminals…
Bill…Yes you read correctly.
With the device I bought, my IDE drives connect to my new SATA MB through a USB port.
The old drive shows up on my new PC as H:
My old projects on these old drives are usually located in the “Music Masters” directory.
Even though I use R***** quite a bit, I purchased and installed N 5.x and set it up on my new PC. If I want to work on an old project I dump it onto my new PC and work from there.
I have not attempted to stream the .wav’s so I don’t know if the USB would be fast enough or not.
I am just happy that I can access all of my old discs and its as easy as inserting a usb plug.
I was a little hesitant when I first purchased the connector because I thought “it can’t be that easy”…but, it works perfectly. (no, I’m not selling them…and, yes, this is still just a hobby…
)
cliff
Hi g8torcliff:
Thanks for that reply…
I’m a man after your heart.
I’m trying to keep all this old hardware technology running for as long as I can…
I envision that there will be a day when IDE Hard Drives will be a thing of the past as far as buying them…
I’m considering a network server kind of hard drive Computer/case that will serve as a storage space that can be accessed by any number of computers on a LAN setup…
Maybe, even wireless
?
However, I don’t know if a setup like that will be able to stream all the tracks on a timeline that I might create… within a project…
Then I’ll be able to do away with all these hard drives on each of these computers, I have…
Bill…