Up until now my workflow has been to work in whatever sample rate the mixes are delivered in, and the use AudioFile Engineering's Sample Manager to move everything down to 44.1 before assembly. It's an extra step but the the application is easy to use and the Izotope SRC is one of the best.
A recent spate of mixed sample rate sessions has me sold on setting up a pitch/catch system though. I was thinking pitch with RX or Logic and catch with WL.
Another option would be to up-sample all of the tracks to the highest sample rate in the session. So if you have a a few mixes at 44.1, 48 and then a few at 88.2 up-sample the 44.1 and 48 tracks to 88.2 before you starting working and run the the session at 88.2.
WaveLab 7 also does a great job of catching.
I had considered that, but I avoid upsampling because in this case it's not really a necessary process, just something that improves workflow. There's sometimes an audible difference in upsampling (even with iZotope) and I don't want to monkey with the signal just because it's more convenient.
Hey Jerry, have you experienced any of the dropout problems with WL7 when recording into the audio workspace and then moving things over to montage for assembly? I know lots of folks have problems with the ASIO loop, but the record function skips all that.
Just ordered a Lynx AES16e to go with soundBlade which I just purchased used as well (used to only have PMCD). So I'll be checking out pitching from ProTools HD at 96kHz & catching into sB at 44.1kHz all on the one machine. Hoping it all works
Yeah should be an interesting experiment. JT which is the most stable version of sB to use as of this moment? I have access to all the beta builds but I'd rather not be a guinea pig at this stage. Is 1.3.5 still the best version?Also tell me this, can sB record through plug-ins destructively or at least allow you to audition through them in real time as you record? I want to be able to listen to the master through a limiter as I'm recording into sB. I'm also assuming you can have it in input mode & audition through the limiter when not recording too right?
Do you use a 192 to get AES out of PTHD?
sB can record through plugs, so you should be OK there.I've been using sB 2.0 to pitch from on a mac pro but haven't used it for capture yet.It's been around two years since I've used sB (1.3 something) for capture, but it was OK, just not as smooth to work with as WL6.
Hey Matt,For the last year or so, I've been using sB 1.3.5 for actual attended sessions on OSX 10.5.8 w/8GB, been very stable.
About once a week I'll blow out the preferences, and every 2-3 months reinstall the app to keep things running smoothly.
You can switch the PSP off, on the plug itself, or right click "bypass" on the master section. A little experimentation will help with creative ways to audition, like switching the input/output mode with keyboard strokes while making adjustments and comparing to other versions.
As to the Lynx AES16e card it's been great, the firmware & drivers may need to be updated, see their support page.I like to uncheck the SynchroClock feature and clock to AES Digital 1. Not sure if Lynx needs to be in a certain type of PCIe slot, but iirc you're running a special CPU situation there.
I too am eagerly anticipating moving to sB 2.0 with Snow Leopard and PT 9, but I like to take small stable steps, especially with all the attended sessions done here. As a beta tester, can't comment much on sB 2.0 yet :-)
I like one PC that runs different instances of Sequoia. The different instances can deal with different sample rates and being on the same box allows me to share iLok and UAD licences legally and with ease.
That said, the only thing that I've found to be true for me is despite using a PC for pitch and catch, I still require an OSX machine in the studio to deal with SDII and other Mac-created files.
As for the SRC up / down debate. That gets complicated. Some of us feel that plug ins sound better at higher rates, BUT: some plug ins upsample internally anyway, and some of us rarely ever use plugs, so it can be processing and work for no good reason.
u can't run two copies of slingBlade... its an OSX thing, not an sB thing.
I don't think that sB will let you run two instances simultaneously, but ymmv.
You know what, I just remembered doing something in OS8 & OS9 days where you could run 2 instances of an application by duplicating it (cmd+d) to create another (copy). So I tried it on sB 2.0 build 3286 under OSX 10.6.5 & Viola! it worked Now for the even better news... both instances were able to utilise independent sound cards at different sample rates. Check out the attached screenshot... I think it works because of the way Core Audio allows multi-tasking. fwiw... this trick doesn't work with ProTools though unfortunately.
Matt,When I run two instances of Sequoia, each has its own AES card (one is RME AES-32 other Lynx AES-16). Usually, the Lynx pitches at 96k into the Crane Song HEDD 192, the HEDD does the D/A. At this point, the Lynx is the master clock for itself. The HEDD 192 then captures the analog chain at 44.1k and hands that to the other instance of Sequoia via AES through the RME card. For that part of the system, the HEDD is the master clock and everyone digital (save the Lynx) is Word Clocked to it. This method avoids any SRC after capture because the HEDD is doing the A/D at 44.1kI hope this makes sense.
Brilliant move Matthew!I use Cmd-D often with documents and files.But forgot you could use it on Applications.Seems too obvious somehow :-)Let us know how it works out.Does it create 2 sets of preferences etc?JT
Did you duplicate the entire app in the applications folder and then open each of them?
One instance using Digi AES hardware and the other using the Lynx?I'm intrigued!
I remember Dave McNare telling me that he does both pitch (WL) and catch (Sequoia) on one puter with two Lynx AES16's.
Any experienced WL users know how to mimic that workflow when WL is catching? I've been through the ASK tutorial and spent loads of time poking around the menus...couldn't find anything.
Lynx AES16e card arrived today, set it up, Core Audio & soundBlade 2.0 3286 picked up the card instantly. Set it up for External sync on W/C BNC from my Forssell A/D at 44.1kHz, everything locked beautifully. Created a new session in sB, fired up PT's 9.0.2 at 96kHz for playback, set sB to catch at 44.1kHz. Played back PT's & enjoyed a glitch free experience. Mastering through this signal flow was everything I was hoping it would be. With the exception of working/listening to the 16bit 44.1kHz all day (not as rewarding sonically as hearing hi-res 24bit 96kHz all day). After some testing it was quite apparent that the finished product using this work-flow, sounded more natural than an offline SRC'd version of a 96kHz capture. The most noticeable thing I discovered was that the image felt more stable (stronger center), less smearing of transients (drums retained more snap/punch), more body in the LF's, less hype in the HF's. Negatives... distortion from limiting or A/D clipping was a touch more obvious than the 96kHz pass. Good news is that sB 2.0 build 3286 is extremely solid on Intel/Snow Leopard. Looks like I jumped in at just the right time.
Mastering through this signal flow was everything I was hoping it would be. With the exception of working/listening to the 16bit 44.1kHz all day (not as rewarding sonically as hearing hi-res 24bit 96kHz all day).
Dirty, low down, rotten, shameless nerds. Good way to be. So Matt, are you catching at 16-bit as well? I am still going 24 until the last possible moment so any final processing can benefit from the extra depth.When I get 24bit files that is.....
...it's best to capture at 24bit so you can do all fades at the higher bit rate before dithering/exporting the final product to 16bit.
You can do that with WL6 by opening the ASIO plug in the top slot and setting it to external input and selecting the sample rate if you're wanting anything other than 44.1.You then press play to monitor the audio with any plugs you want in slots 2 to 8.Just select render to record and press stop once you've put it down.I couldn't seem to get WL7 (mac) to do this when I tried it this morning.Actually managed to crash it too!
That's actually a pretty big issue with WL7 on a mac!Many ME's will wanna audition their capture via a plug.soundBlade can do that with no problems.
It's times like this I wish I could run two instances of PT's on the same machine.
We capture the file at 16 bit res, since we are doing fades in Source EDL to mix file before processing.
I agree! The workarounds needed to mimic this (basic) function are ridiculous. For real. For me logic is perfect except it can't do assembly, and waveburner (while it's easy on the eyes and easy to use) makes me paranoid with all those well documented problems. Plus it can't catch (no record/input dialog). I dunno...anyone ever tried wave editor?
Seems no one can make a decent/reliable/functional mastering app for Mac these days. They're either buggy, lacking essential features or the GUI is dated or all three. Hopefully Magix will do a good job of porting Sequoia to OSX if they get around to it some day. .
We're still not out of the woods with sB though, you can't render destructively through a plug-in in real-time during a capture (well not intentionally lol) & the bussing which is virtually non-existent in sB doesn't work when capturing from a physical input source through sB.
I used to occasionally record through a plug on sB 1.3 (something).You just set meters containing the plug slots to input.I did a few records with a plug doing an extra dB on the way back in.
