Audiowerks News Issue 3
Welcome to the Audiowerks Newsletter pages. These articles address the operation and functionalily of the tripleDAT audio recording system. Advise for computer optimization and support as it appies to the PC and the Windows Operating systemThis issue deals with some Windows issues, connections more tips and tricks.
Windows ahhhhh !!!!
Getting Connected with TDAT16
Tips of the Month
Windows ahhhh!!!
Windows "Ninety Something" has been a thorn in the side to many users. Many of the calls that we field here at the US tech department are Windows 95 issues. A majority of complaints regarding "disk is full" messages are the direct result of poor Windows file management. Windows operating system will only allow 512 "entries" into the root directory. (This includes files and folders.) Any more than this will result in an error reported by Windows that "the disk is full", even though you may have 6 gig free on that drive. You will notice that if you open "My Computer" and then "Drive C", the status bar at the bottom of the dialog will indicate the "number of objects". Keep this in mind when writing anything to the "root" of any drive. Follow these simple steps to create a folder prior to starting every recording project:
Using either Windows Explorer or My Computer to log onto the drive you will use for Audio files.
Make a new folder on that drive (File/New/Folder) The default name will list as "New Folder". Change the name of the folder to reflect your project name keeping the name to 8 alphanumeric characters with no spaces will make it easily identifiable. Make a new folder for "each" and every new project or variation of that project.
*If you use longer file names, the Joliet name will display the "tilde" (~) character in the tripleDAT file dialog. EX. "The love of my life.arg" would appear as "Thelov~1.arg".
When you start a new arrangement, change to the desired folder before you say OK. The folder you choose to create the arrangement in, will be the default folder for all recorded and merged material.
Please see the "Your Computer and Audio" workshop on our WEB site for optimization details.
Getting Connected with CreamWare TDAT16
How do you connect the TDAT16, 2 ADATs with BRC to the rest of your studio? You should know how to route your signal from your "source" to the "gain stage" (your mixer), and out to the ADATs and A-16. Because there are so many different mixers, patch bays etc. you will have to experiment with your gear to find the "optimum" configuration. Described here is one logical solution using the TDAT16 and 2 ADATs.
Studio hardware:
tripleDAT/TDAT16 2x ADAT XT
Alesis BRC
Multi-channel mixer 32 I/O
Amp and speaker monitors
Connections:
*It is assumed that you have your multi-channel mixer connected to the Analog connections on the ADATs and A-16 correctly.
9 pin sync
Connect one 9 pin sync cable from the BRC out to the 1st ADAT (A deck) 9 pin sync in. Connect one 9 pin sync cable from the 1st ADAT (A deck) 9 pin sync out to the 2nd ADAT (B deck) 9 pin sync in.
Connect one 9 pin sync cable from the 2nd ADAT (B deck) 9 pin sync out to the TDAT16 Sync back-plate 9 pin.
Optical cables
Connect the "A" deck to optical out to the TDAT16 "A" optical in.
Connect the "A" deck to optical in to the TDAT16 "A" optical out.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the "B" ADAT
Connect a balanced (tip/ring/sleeve) cable from the TDAT16 analog out to you mixer. You're ready to rock!
Operation:
tripleDAT Settings
Under the Options, Audio Settings, set the TDAT Word Clock to "Lock to A". The "A" deck will provide the "Word Clock" to the tripleDAT software.
Under the Options, Synchronization, enable "Slave Sync" and "Follow ADAT". When the transport is engaged on the BRC, the ADATs will lock and roll and so will tripleDAT! Way Kewl!!
Recording from ADATs
*I always re-initialize all devices. When powering up your ADATs, hold the record and play buttons while powering up. I usually repeat this procedure if any of the ADATs starts acting up.
Let's assume that you have 2 tapes of eight tracks each. You want to transfer this to the Computer and record another 16 tracks on the ADATs.
Locate to 10 or 15 (or more) seconds before your audio material begins.
In tripleDAT:
Sync settings: Enable Slave Sync and Follow ADAT: tripleDAT's transport will now follow the ADATs accurately.
Record dialog: Engage the tracks you want to record to (in this case all 16 channels should be RED).
Using the first ADAT, engage the transport (PLAY). The second ADAT will start rolling and the tripleDAT will also roll. When tripleDAT's transport is engaged and recording is enabled, all selected channels will produce a "mono" file for each track.
You have just transferred 16 tracks of audio to your computer from the ADATs. You now can record more tracks onto the ADATs or use the ADATs as your Analog to Digital converters and record more tracks to your tripleDAT.
If you add an A-16 or A-8 into this picture, you can record up to 32 tracks at one time; 16 to the ADATs and 16 to tripleDAT via the A-16.
In this scenario, the A-16 is set to "Master Word Clock", the BRC to "External Word clock" and the tripleDAT software set to "Lock to A" with Enable Slave Sync and Follow ADAT. The optical cable should be connected from the A-16's "A" and "B" I/O to the TDAT16's "A" and "B" I/O. The 9 pin Sync out from the BRC IN to the 1st ADAT and out to the 2nd ADAT IN and out to the TDAT16. You can then send 16 analog channels to your A-16 and 16 channels to your ADATs; all in perfect sync. The BRC word clock is not 100% reliable in this setup, that's why the more stable and proper wordclock of the A16 should be used as the 'studio clock'.
This example shows that the word clock master does not necessarily have to be the time-code master as well.
CreamWare Tips for the Month of June
You need to run one Stereo Track with Room, Chorus, Delay, and Osiris Sub-Bass but your "System is not fast enough". You have tried the usual "increase buffer size", "Hard Disk Priority", "solo the track" stuff. What's left to do? You can "enable RAM playback" mode in the cutter (include loop mode: no region need be defined). This will at least lift the load of the Processor as it helps the Hard disk audio transfer, and as such, the processor will have more power for DSP functions.
'Undo recording' is very useful when you have recorded some tracks with TDAT16, dropped them and decide for whatever reason, to delete them. This function is much faster than deleting every single sample with confirmation after you drop them.
tripleDAT v2.53 now includes a new feature to help you manage your audio files more efficiently. Under the "Save Arrangement As" dialog, there is a new parameter; Copy all audio. When you have decided to keep all the audio that is in your arrangement in a single folder, you can use this feature. Save the final arrangement as a new file name in a different folder or on a different drive and enable the "copy all audio" function. This will create new cutter files that reference the audio copied to the new destination regardless of which drive it originally came from.
*OSIRIS de-clicking tip: it is easier getting started with de-clicking and de-crackling than with broadband noise reduction. Of these two processes, the de-clicker is the simpler (there is only one parameter), and it may be all you need to eliminate clicks on relatively well-preserved recordings, such as an LP with a scratch that produces an obvious click with each revolution.
To use the de-clicker alone, make sure the two de-crackler checkboxes (‘gain dependent' and ‘recursive') are unchecked, and that the ‘sensitivity' check box is checked. Play your material, and adjust the ‘sensitivity' control until the results are satisfactory. You can do this while listening to the source material, or you can use the ‘out-in' feature to listen only to the portion of the source signal that is being removed. If ‘out-in' is checked, and you begin to hear signal content other than the noise you want to remove, you should reduce the sensitivity level.
For more serious clicks and crackles, engage the de-crackler section. Here you have two choices – ‘gain-dependent' and ‘recursive'. Start with ‘gain-dependent' alone, which is appropriate for most material. If the audio you are treating does not have a lot of dynamic content (sudden transients) you may achieve better results by enabling the ‘recursive' section of the de-crackler as well. As above, use the ‘out-in' feature to listen to the components of the signal that are actually being removed as you adjust the controls.
If you are still left with some subtle clicks or crackles, try increasing the value for ‘recurrences' in the ‘Options' dialog. With this option enabled, the software makes several passes over the material – first removing the most obvious clicks, and then the more subtle ones. (For information on the other Options, refer to the manual. The defaults work best in most cases).
HINT: Rather than using ‘recurrences' to make several passes over difficult material, some users find that processing several passes manually (i.e. processing the material two or three times, merging each time with the de-clicking effect active) can produce good results. This way you can make adjustments in real time with each pass. Of course, this method takes somewhat longer, and uses up disk space, but it lets you precisely control processing for each pass.
HINT: As stated in May's Newsletter tips, Before de-clicking, first merge the sample 'reversed' and de-click after that. The last step is to reverse it back again. The result is really good (better than without 'reverse') because the de-clicking algorithm recognizes the clicks a little better when it's reversed.
*Keep an eye on our Workshop section for a more detailed Workshop on using the Osiris module coming very soon.
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Written By Anton Bernhardt June 10, 1998 © Anton Bernhardt Audiowerks All rights reserved. 1998
