Do I need a cord with two larger "v" ends on both ends of it to connect these two? or can I use the one with the large end on one and and plug the small end into the card? Also asked before if Ntrack will record the midi in (like with a keybaord) while recording the analog RCA in simultaneously as well?
The firewire cabling has four wires for the actual data and two for buss powered devices. The small plug on your card has the four data wires. In the case of using that plug, you would have to power the M-Audio with it's wal-wart power supply. If your card has buss power available, you could transfer data AND power the M-Audio with one firewire connection.
Yes, you can record MIDI data and audio data simultaneously. How well that works in n-Track? Dunno... it works great in brand 'R'...
D
What is brand "R" I am afraid I am not hip to the music industry acronyms I got I hunch I know who it is...since I got a proggy with that as a first letter a few years back with an Audiophile soundcard delta? it is tabbo though me tinks to say it allowed here....I got no reason to do so...tee hee.
Anyway the M-audio comes with Cubebase light...so I have to assume such a function would be acceptable through it. I know in Audigy it allows you to select the "input" device, but only one at a time, mic in, "what you Hear" etc etc.
So let me see if me understand you correctly fred, If I get a wire that has the bigger ends on both ends it will power the M-audio interface instead of using the power supply/adapter?
I read somewhere that the firewire power did not have enough juice to power the phantom power for the XLR inputs on some of these devices....
Mine does not have phantom power...in fact it only has the two RCA in/outs, a midi in/out and a S/pdif in/out whatever that is?
Which brings me to the other slew of questions about the unbalanced in/out RCA thingy.......... What is the detriment if any should I use a balanced out of the soundcraft into the unbalanced in on the M-audio?
And what possible device would I use to send a S/pdif signal into this puppy?
I have a tube preamp question as well..but will put it in the other thread that applies to it.....
BTW thanks for all the help guys and for tarrying with me.
I use the Tascam US-122 also - have for years - never a problem - they even have Vista drivers for it!
Direct monitoring so you get 0 latency for overdubs - has midi I never use.Phantom power etc...
The US-122l is great too from what I hear at the Tascam forum.
"Direct monitoring"
I was curious as to how that works....?
I mean how does it monitor the tracks that are already on the computer without playing them? or do you mean you can hear the tracks you are currently adding without the computer having to play them aloud? And if it is the later, than how do you hear the tracks on the computer while also hearing the tracks you are playing from the device?
My soundcraft mixer boast the direct monitoring feature as well, just wondering how I was going to hear the other tracks already in the computer at the same time.....
Just a heads up, I am clueless as to what AUX in FX send and all those other channels on a mixer are for, I've only ever used the XLR mic and 1/4 DI ins on the first two channels..... How would I wire this puppy up to be able to hear what is being played on the computer and what is being currently played through the same headphones?
I'm thinking of adding a Firewire port to my PC, I'll get better data speeds and maybe I can have more than just two I/Os.
But is the 800 Mbps speed widely used when it comes to audio interfaces these days? It's just that my local PC supplies store only has lots of 400 cards / connectors etc (both for desktop and laptop machines)…and I'm not sure what speeds most of today's interfaces are running at from the minimal advertised specs.
I do wonder about data speeds though and on doing a little maths, perhaps USB should be able to handle a fair bit…
16 bits x 44.1 kHz = 705.6 kbps 24 bits x 44.1 kHz = 1.0584 Mbps
If Firewire is generally 400 Mbps (sometimes 800), and USB 2.0 roughly 240 Mbps for sustained data transfer (data bursts at up to 480 Mbps), then by the above reckoning, both Firewire and USB 2.0 should be able to handle a lot of audio inputs and outputs… or have I got my figures wrong?
Jeremy, I think it means the audio interface allows you to directly monitor your new instrument/vocal part as you’re playing it and before the data is sent to the computer (in other words it’s an analog connection, audio in…then straight to the headphone socket). At the same time, the interface should be playing back the already recorded parts so you can hear them also (though I do wonder about latency here).
The above is assuming you have set your interface as the main audio playback device. (You could instead monitor the already recorded tracks via another soundcard, which might be more useful if you have an analog mixer available, though synch problems may arise).
J.W. nailed it pretty good as far as monitoring goes. According to the Audiophile manual, you can assign the “Headphone source” button on the front panel to direct monitor mode. It’s programmable in the M-Audio control application that gets installed along with the drivers. For just monitoring your vocals or guitars or whatever, you could use the Audiophile or use the Soundcraft. There are probably three or four ways to set it up. For recording and monitoring with virtual instruments, either MIDI triggered or something like an amp sim plugin, you’ll want to set the Audiophile to the lowest latency possible. Otherwise, you WILL hear a delay that can drive you nuts trying to play/sing in time.
Experiment and find what works best for your needs. By the way… “Brand R” I mentioned earlier? It sounds like “Keeper” and it is…
Uuuuuuh… which chipsets did you guys say were problematic for firewire?
The M-audio device said it was Windows 98SE compatible…but the support site no longer offers the 98 driver…
Looks like an upgrade is in order…just didn’t know if I should try and upgrade this old beast to 2000, or XP? or get a new system altogether that has Vista or something…
Would help to know which chipsets are the duds in case I’m waisting my time on this old clunker, and so then I can make sure to avoid them as well with the new one…
Sorry Jeremy - I was busy recording today and off the net - everyone seemed to answer your question well.
You might want to learn your equipment by plugging in more as you said - sounds like you have some nice gear - try plugging your FX (stands for effects) out to a reverb or other ‘toy’, then out of the toy back to FX in. Each channel will have an FX send so you can record effects ‘wet’ into ntrack if you have an effect you want to apply while recording. I sometimes record vocals slightly wet for singers who are not apt to give a decent dry performance which I prefer to work with for control purposes when mixing down.
I got I hunch I know who it is...since I got a proggy with that as a first letter a few years back with an Audiophile soundcard delta? it is tabbo though me tinks to say it allowed here....I got no reason to do so...tee hee.
