Digital or Analog?

When I first started recording music, my first purchase was a trusty and reliable TEAC 3340 4-track reel to reel recorder. That deck worked great for many years. I later upgraded to a Fostex 8-track, then a 16- track, then 3 ADATs and eventually an MCI 2" 24-track, that I run mainly with a 16-track headstack now. I love my tape decks. I love the massiveness and solidity of both the decks and the media that they record onto. Conversely, I hate computers. I think that's because I make my living with them doing graphic design and sit in front of them all day long. Nonetheless, if I was thinking about building a studio today, I would seriously consider going the tapeless route. Why? Well, for one, it's really cheap and storage mediums (hard drives, etc.) are getting cheaper daily. Secondly, a lot of the newer 24-bit 96k systems sound pretty damn good. Thirdly, as much as I like my analog decks, I hate maintaining and repairing them. Anybody who has an analog deck knows what I mean. Parts are hard to find and so are people who know how to fix them when you get in over your head. Computers overall, are pretty damn reliable and when they break, it's comparatively pretty cheap to fix or replace. And lastly, the combination of hardware and software that's available now is pretty versatile, but you already knew that from reading all the "Tape is dead" articles in all the other mags. I doubt tape will die anymore than books or movies died with the advent of television. But just as television changed the way people absorb information, computer recording will change how we record music in the future in ways that we can't yet entirely predict.

In this article, we will look at some of the different multi-channel hard drive interfaces in the $1000 and under price range and discuss the pros and cons of them. We've tested as many as we could get our hands on, but there will doubtless be ones we've missed or came out after we went to press, so consider this article a starting point and then do your own research if you want to dive into multi-channel hard drive recording on your PC. -John Botch

The minimum requirements...

...for a computer based hard drive recording system are a computer that is fast enough for what you want to do, a hard drive that is fast enough to keep up and has enough storage capacity, recording software and an interface that does Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog conversion (ADA). For this article, we are focusing primarily on interfaces that have at least four analog inputs and outputs that can be connected to an analog mixing console if desired. While you might get by with older, slower computers for stereo audio, for multi-channel use you need something a bit faster and newer. Luckily, computers are pretty cheap now. The first thing you'll need to decide is which platform to use, PC or Macintosh. If you already have a computer, this may be a moot point. Both have advantages. The PC is good because it's fast and cheap and there's a lot of good software and hardware available for PCs. The downside is that they're much more difficult to configure. Macs on the other hand are pricier and have less support and a smaller installed user base. At the top of the line, Macs are very fast and are easier to set up and use. Of the half a dozen people I spoke too while researching this article, the Mac vs. PC camp was split almost down the middle although there was a bias towards the Mac on the high end. Minimum suggested Mac Requirements are usually a G3 or better with 96- 128 MB of RAM, while on the PC side, you'll want a 250-300 mHz Pentium with 128 megs of RAM. The hard drive you record onto is especially crucial. I spoke with Bob Cacciatore at Xistor, <www.xistor.com> a company that specializes in digital audio storage mediums, and he strongly recommends using a SCSI drive, because they're 'smarter' due to RAM caching. Ultra-wide is the best, if you can afford it and you'll want at least a 10 gig drive, preferably an external drive, with all of your applications and system on the internal drive. Crucial factors to address when buying a drive are seek times, density, rotational speed and data throughput.

Should you buy a Pro Tools system?

Pro Tools is the de facto standard for hard drive recording in most professional studios, much like two inch tape is for analog studios. Unlike most of the newer systems that use a PC for much of the processing and DSP, Pro Tools is an integrated and proprietary hardware and software system. With very few exceptions (See the MOTU section), you'll need Digidesign software and hardware to run Pro Tools. As this is a product with years of research and user feedback behind it, it works very well and has lots of support from third party manufacturers. So, if you want to be able to transport your tracks to other studios to work on them, for overdubs or mixing for example, Pro Tools compatibility is essential. On the other hand if you plan to be working primarily in your own studio and starting and finishing all your projects there, then Pro Tools is not essential. In fact, there are quite a few systems available for much less money and with even better specs that might work just as well or even better for you.

Do you need an expandable system?

Most, but not all, of the audio cards today are expandable. But, most of them will also require additional PCI slots, which can be a problem. (The work around is to get a PCI expansion board) Some systems like the MOTU will support up to three interfaces from one PCI Card. In many cases, it's a software issue. The Gadget Labs boards, for instance, support multiple units on PCs, but not Macs. This may change in the future and is mainly just an issue of driver development. This may also be the case with other units. This is something to look at on a case by case instance, as it's constantly evolving.

Will you need to sync to tape?

This is beyond the scope of this article, but be aware that if this is something you want to do then you need to make sure the system you assemble can reliably pull this off. Some of the options for sync are MIDI Time Code (MTC), SMPTE Time Code and word clock. Very few interfaces will read SMPTE directly which is how most analog recorders will need to sync up, so you'll need some kind of SMPTE reader/generator/sync box. According to several people I talked to, MTC isn't really reliable for digital audio; you should use word clock instead. If you're using MDMs like ADATs or DA88s, this is less of an issue since the ADAT BRC for example generates several types of sync tracks. Check the MOTU section below for more on this subject.

What Software And Computer Will You Be Using?

This will affect the audio card you'll need. Not all boards support all of the available recording software packages. Both PCs and Macs use the PCI slot, so in theory all boards should work on both platforms. But, you need driver software for your computer and your software. As new software is written and updated, this will constantly change. Make sure that the hardware and software in the system you assemble works well together.

Many of the newer interfaces are 24-bit and record at a 96k sampling rate. Without getting into digital recording theory, suffice it to say that, in theory, the more bits and the higher the sampling rate, the better a digital recording system will sound. In comparison, CDs and DATs are 16 bit 44.1k, while early ADATs were 16 bit 48k. But, when I asked people in the industry what they thought about 48k vs 96k, I got two different answers. "96k is all marketing hype," was the answer I got from several different manufacturers. Ryan Kallas of Sea Sound says that the A to D chips, which are pretty much the same in all of the units at this point in time, actually spec out better at 48k.

Several other people I talked with said that 96k just uses too much hard drive space and that it demands more of the host computer's resources. But, when pressed most of them agreed that yes, 96k does sound better if you've got the hard drive space and a fast enough CPU, not to mention a high quality signal path (mics, pres, etc.) into the computer. David Blackmer, who is the brains behind Earthworks Microphones and also founded DBX, argues in a recent Studio Sound article that for accurate sound reproduction, a system must be able to reproduce at least 40kHz. Starting with the perspective that human hearing is a survival tool, he says, "Human hearing is generally, I believe, misunderstood to be primarily a frequency analysis system. The human hearing system uses waveform as well as frequency to analyze signals. It is important to maintain accurate waveform up to the highest frequency region with accurate reproduction of details down to 5μs to 10μs. To fully meet the requirements of human auditory perception I believe that a sound system must cover the frequency range of about 15Hz to at least 40kHz (some say 80kHz or more) with over 120dB dynamic range to properly handle transient peaks and with a transient time accuracy of a few microseconds at high frequencies and 1 ?-2 ? phase accuracy down to 30Hz." (Check the Earthworks site at <www.earthwks.com> for more from DB, or go directly to <www.prostudio.com/studiosound/jan99/tech.html> for the full text of the Studio Sound article he wrote.)

For what it's worth, as Rich and I tested these units we felt that we could hear definite improvement of audio quality and feel at 96k. It seems clear that this is where the future systems will be going as computers get faster and hard drives get bigger and cheaper. If you're looking for the absolute best audio quality I'd recommend getting a 96k interface so that as your studio and system grows, it can keep up. Of course if what you're doing is recording punk rock or digital hardcore music and you're on a budget, this is pretty much a non-issue. Most of the people I spoke with thought the 24 bit 48k interfaces sounded really excellent for just about any application.

Another issue to think about is whether you want to assemble your system yourself or pay someone else to do it. Tape Op is all about DIY, but if you hate dicking around with computers or aren't very familiar with them, you may want to consider the pre-assembled route. At least then, you'll be starting with something that works and can ease your way into the land of computer geekdom. (I'm pretty good with computers, but if I decided to buy a PC, I'd do my best to avoid having to hook it all up. PCs are a bitch to configure and troubleshoot. That's why I think Macintoshes are better.) Wave Digital <www.wavedigital.com> for instance will sell you a PC that has the interface and recording software of your choice all installed and ready to rock. All of the device managers are optimized for recording music, they burn the computer in and you also get a back up CDR that can restore your entire system in the event of a crash. A 500mHz Pentium machine with 64 megs of RAM and a 10 gig hard drive along with Cubase and an M-Audio 4 in/4 out interface is $1899 ready to go. Sweetwater Sound <www.sweetwater.com> is also an Apple VAR (Value Added Retailer) and they will put together a complete system, including the computer, configured to your needs, with the cost of assembling and testing the whole setup kept very minimal. They can also configure and install software and hardware into your PC as well. If you do decide to do it yourself, and most of you will, be sure to buy stuff from a dealer who really knows what they're doing. Computers and Music has been specializing in exclusively, well, computers and music since 1982. Their website <www.computersandmusic.com> is the most extensive I came across on this subject while researching this article. They're extremely knowledgeable and can help you configure the system you need. (I know this sounds like a promo plug, but I've been a customer of this place for over 15 years.) I also spoke with Mark Pierucinni <www.musiccomputers.com> who has configured systems for people like Peter Gabriel and some of the vendors above. Freelance consultants like Pierucinni will help you put together and even tutor you on a system without any bias towards a manufacturer who pays them or gives them commissions. He is even enough of a geek to have tested several different video cards to see which ones refresh the screen fastest while simultaneously playing back music. Wherever you end up buying from, just make sure they have good, solid technical support because at some point, you'll need it. You should of course call at least two or three different dealers and/or manufacturers to not only research price, but to get a feel for how much support you can expect after you've bought something.

We tested as many interfaces as we were able to get our hands on and then talked with some of our friends about some of the interfaces they were using. Rich Hardesty did most of the testing, using a Pentium II, 400mHz, with 128MB RAM a Maxtor 7200RPM UDMA-33 hard drive running Win 98 on the PC side. After he tested the cards on his PC, I hooked them up to my Power Mac G3 (The old beige kind) running at 233mHz with system 8.6 with an old 2 MEG SCSI hard drive. Unless there were problems on the Mac, most of the comments are Rich's. Here's the results.

The Seasound Solo ex is a carefully designed and constructed piece of equipment that is clearly aimed at solo musicians who need an all-in-one solution. Many of these users (as I can personally attest) have no practical use for an 8x8 multichannel setup; unless of course one plans on micing a complete band with drums The Solo ex addresses the core facets of being a PC-based musician working alone: high-quality, flexible input/output choices, wide selection of sample rates to work in and excellent signal monitoring options. The compromise is that the number of inputs is small compared to offerings from competitors, although you can add the 8 by 8 channel expansion box. The Solo was a breeze to install and it breaks from the pack right from the start by eliminating the external power supply (no wall- wart!), as it draws it's power from the host PC. The two channels of on-board pre-amplification makes direct input from all sources simple to configure. The variable gain is from +6 — +60. There is no discernible coloration from the pre-amp stage and Seasound wisely incorporated a send/return circuit to accommodate outboard signal processing gear — which was a real nice touch. Cubase had no problems recognizing the new driver and recording a couple tracks was a cinch. The results at 24-bit sounded wonderful to my ears. Above all, it was a marvelous pleasure to be able to just plug in and monitor through the headphones with zero latency while recording. Of all the problems I read about from users in the PC multitrack audio forums, real-time, hassle free signal monitoring is almost at the top of the list. Seasound wins big points for that alone. If you don't need up to 8 or 10 simultaneous inputs, the Solo ex is hard to beat. In addressing the needs of digital one-man-bands, it looks like Seasound hit the mark the first time out.

The M-Audio Delta 1010 & 66

installation manual wins awards for clarity and precision. The installation routine was straightforward and mostly without any trouble. The only minor glitch was that the New Hardware Wizard couldn't locate the .inf file on the CD ROM so I had to manually search the install directories until I found it. After that, I sailed through and much to my amazement, the M1010 drivers and control panel utility produced nary a conflict — even peacefully coexisting with my Sound Blaster-Live card, which took hours to install and configure! (On the Macintosh side, the Delta 66 installed very smoothly as well. The only glitch was that this being the first interface I Installed, I needed to upgrade my system to 8.6, which of course is always a hassle.) Within 35 minutes from starting, I was ready to record. One really nice feature is the ability to switch the inputs and outputs for -10 or +4 dBu operation — no need to open the case or flip any switches; and individual channels can be controlled this way. The M1010 control panel applet gives you fine control over signal routing and was designed with simplicity in mind. I recorded several tracks, and the ASIO driver let me monitor the signal directly through the 1010's hardware. Result: almost zero latency. This unit is eerily quiet to boot. I'd grown accustomed to the ambient hiss that emanated from my SB Live card, but when I had the monitor volume turned way up I thought the output was disconnected -until I hit a chord on the guitar. What a difference! I recorded two passes — one at 44.1 and then at 96kHz. While both sounded excellent, I detected a really nice enhancement in the upper-mids at 96kHz This card is a terrific performer and places a very light load on system resources. After about 25 minutes of use, I happened to touch the case of the external patch bay — it seemed a bit too warm given it's modest 9V power requirements. Don't know if that's a sign of future problems or not. Another minor quibble: since this was a test unit that had to be returned (sigh) to the manufacturer, I discovered that it has no common Windows uninstall utility. It didn't even show up on the "Remove Software" applet in the Windows Control panel, necessitating a manual search-and- delete process. I guess with a unit that performs this well and is so nicely designed, no one ever thought it would ever be removed. I can understand that.

Frontier Designs Wavecenter PCI and Tango 24 are two products designed to work in tandem; the Wavecenter digital I/O card and the Tango 8x8 ADA converters. From a design perspective they are so well integrated it would be a shame to own just one. This install went fairly quickly, though the Wavecenter PCI booklet was not the most organized piece of technical writing I've seen. Thanks to the ADAT lightpipe connections, the plugging-in of cords and cabling was blessedly short. This use of lightpipe I/O is a smart choice, as other manufacturers often provide a proprietary, extra-bulky and cumbersome variation on a SCSI or parallel connector. Even if you don't use ADATs you'll appreciate the simplicity. The Tango-24 rack-mount interface had one annoyance, which is the requirement that you remove the case cover in order to change the input/output channel impedance from +4 to -10. DIP switches on the rear panel might be a more user friendly accommodation. The Wavecenter control panel applet gives you control over signal routing and uses a nifty visual metaphor for patch-bay wiring. Latency was 10ms — really negligible. The tracks I laid down were ultra-quiet and richly detailed. This is one quiet combo — having the ADA converters off the card is a most desirable choice — no worry about noise from the PC. True to its nature as a 'pro' piece of gear, there are no provisions for real-time input signal monitoring within the card through the control panel. You need a decent outboard mixer with this card. I give extra points to the Frontier folks for including a very helpful little adjunct to the Windows System Monitor utility. Using this standard Windows system app, Frontier lets you add three digital-audio critical performance indices, including IRQ timing. All other digital I/O cards should incorporate this utility as it greatly helps in diagnosing system problems.

The Gadgetlabs Wave 8/24 is a simple and cleanly designed piece of equipment that (for me) installed in record time: about 15 minutes. This is a fairly no-frills set up that is modular in design. The basic components are the 3/4 length digital I/O card and the single rack space 8 in /8 out patch bay. The unit provides both balanced/unbalanced 1/4" ins/outs and XLR inputs. Additional, extra cost components available are the SPDIF in/out daughtercard and ADAT lightpipe interface. The control panel applet was also a simple and easy to understand affair. The 8/24 performed flawlessly in Cubase. The ASIO compliant driver allowed me to monitor the input while recording in real-time. System latency registered at 23ms. That's marginal delay, but even that was of no consequence because the 8/24 has a "Sync-Start" feature in the control panel that when checked, auto-compensates for this. Bottom-line: zero latency from the user's perspective. I recorded several tracks at 44.1kHz and 24-bit resolution. The results were clean and quiet. Then I ran the system through a medium load test comprised of 16 pre-recorded audio tracks loaded down with lots of plug-in efx and EQ. Clearly, Gadgetlabs has figured out the ideal settings for Cubase, as the resultant CPU load registered at the far lower end of the scale than some other digital I/Os I've tested with the same setup. The Gadgetlabs 8/24 is a nicely done piece of gear by just about any measurement you choose. One measurement that is worth highlighting though, is the price: $499. This certainly rates way up there on the price/performance/features scale.

The Lexicon Core 2 and m100 effect daughter card initially took about 35 minutes to install. The install documentation is comprehensive and contained a few key caveats. One is that at present, it will not function with an Athlon CPU and two, it absolutely cannot share an IRQ with any other system device. The first exception may disappoint a few (I have an Intel cpu) but the second needs to be considered prior to install. It took at least another hour and a half of device disabling, PCI slot changing and overall system tinkering to find a comfortable place for the Core 2 card to function. This is the first audio card I've tested that had this requirement, so if you have a system loaded with devices and few open slots, take heed. Driver installation was easy and uneventful. The Core 2 ships with ASIO compliant drivers and there are quite a few application-specific instructions for running within Cubase — mostly having to do with the multiple ways one can apply the DSP effects. The instructions covering these issues were clearly written and in short order I was able to audition the famed Lexicon reverbs applied over the tracks I laid down. These are a major selling point for the Core 2 and the lush, artifact-free reverbs did not disappoint. Hardware DSP is still superior — you obviously get none of the often echo-y 'trailing bits' found in most software plug-in 'verbs, and you also get to lighten the load on your CPU. Another surprise was the 'DBX' logo on the LexPanel control applet. At first I was thinking noise reduction ("but why???") but then found out it is actually four levels of soft-knee compression (or soft-saturation/tape emulation). In practice it actually imbued an audible character to the sound — something I can't say I've experienced with any digital I/O cards to date. It did seem to warm up the upper midrange on my recordings. If you don't care for it, it can be either lessened or bypassed all together, but you must remove the card and set some jumpers to do this. Clearly the Core 2 is drawing upon its reputation as a distinguished DSP hardware company in designing this card. If you want the sonic quality and convenience of onboard, hardware-based DSP, this unit is an excellent choice. It has only 4 inputs, but the whole package costs around $500. Minor gripe: while I'm grateful they included a well-made break-out box, the multi-pin adapter cable that attaches it to the PCI card is way too short — only 4 feet. The stiffness and weight of the cable also exerted a bit of 'tail-waggin-the-dog' behavior while connected to the comparatively lightweight box. You'll need to anchor it securely.

The Sek'D Siena install took less than 20 minutes including driver installation. This is a straight- ahead, no-frills package. The RCA-type in/out fantail is fairly short and I'm assuming many users will elect to build their own patch bay. The software control panel applet is as straight-forward as the hardware — the emphasis seems to be on plain simplicity with not much time given to aesthetic gloss. Setting up the controls for Cubase was quick and extremely easy. There's a handy latency control for users of DirectSOUnd drivers that you can set on 'automatic' or manually to test different buffer settings. Thanks to new ASIO drivers I was able to monitor a recorded track directly through hardware and record another with no annoying delay. Cubase system manager indicated that latency was down to a very usable 18ms. Playback was glitch free and it seemed that the card itself produced no discernible noise — which was encouraging since all the A/D-D/A conversion takes place on the board and the input/output cables are just standard, unbalanced, consumer grade wire. It passed the basic tests without a single problem. This package is the essence of simplicity and economy of design, while retaining top notch specs and trouble free setup and performance. In fact, the Siena carves out a very clear position in the increasingly crowded digital audio market space: where else can you get 8X8 connectivity and 24-bit 96kHz specs for $500?

The Yamaha Sound Factory DS24416 (w/ AX44 Patchbay) installed rather quickly and included a succinct testing application that verifies that all was installed correctly. I would recommend right off the bat that one pay the extra amount for the AX-44 powered patchbay. The card itself has a 4 analog stereo ins and digital in/out and there's no sense in continually having to get at the rear of your PC to change connections. The AX44 splits the stereo ins/outs into 8 mono in/out -a more practical arrangement to be sure and has a headphone output. Both components looked extremely well-made and sturdy. One note on the AX44 that raised an eyebrow: it draws its power from a spare 4-pin Molex connector from your PC's power supply (good idea); however, it's connector pin orientation is exactly opposite of the industry standard for drive bay devices -made me wonder for a second if something was amiss. Thankfully it worked fine. The basic printed documentation that accompanies the device is curiously brief. It only takes you to the point past successful driver installation. No information whatsoever is provided as to its usage or application beyond just technical specs and a signal path diagram. The troubleshooting section contained only four uselessly broad FAQ's. Included is a CD-Rom based presentation that serves as an overview of features and functionality, but really seemed more like marketing boilerplate to whet the appetites of prospective buyers. Total time to complete the install: 35 minutes. Essentially, the DS2416 is a dedicated hardware-based recording and mixing environment wrapped with a GUI- based realization of a Yamaha 02-R mixer. In fact, this product stands apart in that it really shouldn't be viewed as just a multi-channel digital I/O card -it's much more. As a Cubase VST user, I was heartened by the fact that there was close cooperation between Steinberg and Yamaha in tightly integrating the DS2416 within the VST application environment. When you are within Cubase, the expected documentation that was missing from the Yamaha user guide is nicely embedded within the contextual help files (hit F1). This was quite comprehensive, but in my opinion, still needs some rewriting for clarity. I would go further to say that users somewhat unfamiliar with the basic functions and signal flow of real-world multi-channel mixers could have a real tough time of it navigating through even the simplest of tasks. The description of the output routing section alone is somewhat confusing. Admittedly, I spent almost two hours before I could successfully record and playback multiple tracks. That said, once you have familiarized yourself with the signal flow, the going is pretty simple. The striking difference in the DS2416 is that while it does mesh with the host audio application (in this case Cubase), the 02-R metaphor completely takes over the recording process. Once the set up parameters (system settings, input activation) are done, Cubase slips into the background and you won't really need to access its controls except for creating new tracks or editing existing ones. In sum, the key attributes of this package are, 1) the five onboard DSP hardware sections (multiple effects, EQ, dynamics) bring you a nice array of infinitely configurable high quality signal processing capabilities; freeing up your CPU from having to crunch host-based application software plug-ins and, 2) you can keep an entire project within the digital domain; and 3) extremely low-latency input monitoring. If you're satisfied with 16- bit output, this is a very strong, well-integrated package.

The EMU APS (Audio Production Studio) package contained the PCI card, the E- drive control panel, a midi cable connector and rear mounting bracket; additional MIDI adapter cables and a digital audio input cable for connecting a CD-ROM, In short -everything one would need to create a full- featured, audio production suite within a desktop PC environment. Printed documentation was excellent and covered not only all installation steps but basic system functionality. Total install time was 20 minutes; which is fairly fast. The E-control software panel lets you create and customize up to twelve channel "strips" where all signal routing takes place and effects can be run in either aux send or insert mode. The hardware- based DSP effects includes the basic reverbs, delays, chorus, flange, distortion, etc; plus dynamics and EQ. The dedicated hardware approach frees up system CPU resources that might otherwise be used to run host application-based plug-ins. Running APS within Cubase VST was very straight-forward. The Cubase monitor mixer lets you assign channels to the APS E-control channel strips -including any midi channels — singly or in subgroups. Plugging into the E-Drive bay input panel and laying down an audio track was quite easy. It should be noted that the APS' internal clock is set at 48kHz. While within applications like Cubase, users will need to record and playback in that mode. When trying to record at 44.1, you'll run into multi track midi-audio synchronization problems as the audio engine has to do sample rate conversion on the fly. Your best approach will be to render everything at 48kHz and then run sample rate conversions on your mixed stereo tracks. The two analog front panel inputs are switchable from mic to line level, but one caution — the built-in phantom power is limited to a 12 volt lightly regulated supply, so it won't suffice for high-quality condenser microphones. This is no big deal because one should be using a mic preamp/compressor on the front end anyway. The hardware DSP was decent, though the reverb — while possessing a more realistic 'room sense' than most software plug-ins, did not have that ultra-clear shimmer of higher end units like a Lexicon. Then again, this entire package costs under $500. EMU has clearly aimed this unit at the broad mid-section of the digital audio production market — from home users to relatively simple multimedia commercial production. It doesn't have many inputs; it's ADA conversion is 20-bit and dithered down for 16-bit output and the mixing environment is limited to 12 mono (or six stereo) channels. [Note: apparently Emu is going to release an expansion daughtercard that will give the unit another six channels of hardware-based mixing]. On the other hand, it's easy set up and use, essentially has two onboard synths that use Soundfonts (so you can create and edit your own samples to your heart's content) and has decent onboard effects. To top it off, this unit is completely comfortable to use as a day-to-day, general purpose Windows system audio card.

Digital Glamour

by Hillary Johnson

While spending 6+ hours copying, formatting, recopying, restarting, plugging, unplugging, screaming, crying, etc., I had time to think about how the wonders of the digital age affect the above average recording engineer in the year 2000. I wanted to write a little something about how much time we now have to spend formattin', defraggin', trouble shootin', and otherwise getting eye cancer with the latest computer technology available to us because we don't trust anyone else to maintain our "master tapes" (hard drives). Granted, with 24/96 we have finally arrived, but, sonics aside, I personally have spent a few too many hours doing the aforementioned tasks to assure a certain degree of compatibility between different systems. This is due, in part to the increased level of knowledge and skill required of a strapping young engineer who works on different systems that have as many users as there are virtual tracks. The home setup can become bug- free if there's only one or two users but when you have to deal with draggin' yr projects around from studio to studio via an external hard drive, you should expect to spend at least as much time getting situated as you would getting an analog deck calibrated. Also, sticking around to make sure your projects are backed up properly isn't quite as glamorous as sticking around to just stick around while the assistant or intern labels the tape reels or splices leader tape in-between songs... those were the days! I can't forget to mention how important file maintenance is — especially at 3am. It's equally as important as labeling a track sheet respectfully. Something I did forget to ask — am I getting paid for those six hours?

Mark Of The Unicorn (MOTU) Hardware and software was recommended by several of the people I talked to while researching this article. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any units for review as it's incredibly difficult to get through to anyone at this company. (See accompanying chart for specs and pricing) I did go and speak to Kirt Shearer and Craig Long, who're recording a new album for Cake at their Paradise Studios, and it's being recorded entirely into a MOTU system. I mentioned my difficulties in getting through to anyone at MOTU, and Kirt mentioned that tech support is also difficult. "You need to send an e-mail that makes you sound like the Una-Bomber and then you'll get a response," he said. Nonetheless, he's very stoked on using his MOTU system which he's running on a Mac G4. "The installation was relatively smooth, except that the G4 doesn't have a floppy and all the extensions come on floppies or need to be downloaded, and the G4 doesn't have a modem either because that can interfere with the music software so that was a hassle. We're also just using internal drives instead of getting a PCI SCSI card since the G4 only has USB. We just open up the computer and swap out the internal drive. We got a Big Claw adapter that allows us to put in up to six internal drives. We're using the Maxtor 7200 RPM drives and they're working great and they're pretty cheap and then backing up to 5.2 Gig DVD RAM cartridges. Once we finally got the whole system set up, it's been utterly rock solid." At Paradise they have one 2408 and one 1224 as well as four 20 bit ADAT MKIIs that they use as additional front end into the MOTUs. One of the really nice things about the MOTU interfaces is that MOTU uses a firewire link from the PCI card that can handle up to three rack mount I/O boxes. They're also using a MOTU MTP AV for synchronization. "We added a Stealth serial port to the Mac. USB does not work well for timing, despite what MOTU says. It's essential to be able to sync to word clock or your lock won't be accurate. Using the added-on serial port it works flawlessly. I should also mention that we had the earlier 2408 and when it went to 24 bit, the difference in sound quality was very noticeable" Paradise also has a Pentium PC that they use for more audio based work when doing commercial work, and it also has a MOTU PCI card in it. "The beauty of this set-up is that you can hot-swap the fire wire connections between the two computers for the MOTU interfaces. I like to use Vegas and Sound Forge (Sonic Foundry) for editing audio. (The PC will not accurately sync to SMPTE with the exact same hardware and MOTU and Sonic Foundry just say it's the other party's problem. ) The Sound Forge plug-ins are fantastic for mastering. But for doing any music that relates to bars and beats, Digital Performer is the best. It's very intuitive, logical and easy to use. Whatever I want to do, I can do quickly. There's something about the plug-ins as well where latency doesn't seem to be a problem. I don't really like the reverb plug in, but the Master Works dynamics plug-in is fantastic. We're tracking the Cake album with Digital Performer. We laid down a few songs to the two inch, but then we transferred them to the MOTU and after that, we didn't even bother with going to tape. We're just tracking straight into the MOTU. John (McCrea, Cake vocalist and songwriter) loves it. The band will lay something down then go home and John will spend days editing it. There is really extensive editing on this album." Kirt also likes the fact that as they're tracking with DP, they're also automating tracks and making the mixdown easier. "But, we're still only using it as a glorified tape deck. I don't like really mixing in software. We run all the outputs back into our console (A Trident 80B) and then we can use all our traditional outboard gear as well as using some plug-ins and software automation. It's the best of both worlds."

Another real plus with the MOTU set-up is the ability to export audio to the OMF file format so that Pro Tools can read the files. A nice plus with the MOTU hardware is that it comes with Audiodesk, essentially Digital Performer without any MIDI capabilities. This is great if you don't care about MIDI, as it also supports OMF and export to Pro Tools. We quickly and easily verified this by exporting a few tracks as OMF files and then using Pro Tools OMF utility to convert them to Pro Tools files. The MOTU systems are quickly becoming another standard. David Stewart at Sweetwater Sound says they've sold more 2408s than any other single piece of equipment they sell. That's a lot of hard drive systems out there somewhere...

Digidesign Hardware (and Software).

Pro Tools is the grandaddy of audio recording software and hardware. If you can find a copy of Pro Tools 3. 4 that Digidesign was giving away for free for awhile you're stoked. It was a stripped down version and wouldn't run any plug-ins, but it was free and you could run it without any hardware at all if you wanted. The downside was that it would only run with Digidesign hardware, besides the Mac's internal A to D converters which were 16 bit crap. Depending on your Mac you could playback up to 16 tracks simultaneously. The next step up is the Digidesign Tool Box. It's only got two analog hardware channels, but I mention it as it's the cheapest way to get into a Pro Tools setup. It consists of the Pro Tools software and the Audiomedia III card. The Digi 001 however is the system most users will consider. Right out of the box, 001 as piece of industrial design and execution sure does impress. The 1-rack space height control module has a handsome, structural integrity that bespeaks care and precision in thought and execution. The control module is connected to the PCI card through a proprietary cable. This cable also feeds power to the control unit from the PC; so no more clunky A/C adapters. The accompanying printed documentation was all written for the Mac, but I finally found Win98 installation notes hidden in one of the install sub-directories on the CD-ROM. The 001 installed in about 30 minutes and then required another 30 minutes in Windows system tweaks before it was ready to test. Digidesign's design and business philosophy is based upon tight integration of hardware and software -all theirs. The 001 was designed to run optimally with Pro Tools software. But, in a nod to open systems compatibility, the 001 ships with Windows MME drivers that allows one to use a number of third party recording software packages as front-ends to the 001. In this case, I used Steinberg's Cubase VST V3.72 to run some test recordings. After following the application notes for Cubase settings I recorded several tracks. The 001 is a completely silent unit and the channel 1&2 mic pre amp circuits are nicely mannered with a smooth input gain structure via the trims. The first big compromise in using software other than Pro Tools is the system latency factor. The Windows MME drivers don't communicate directly with the 001 hardware and naturally there's a very noticeable lag between the time a note is played and when it's heard through the outputs. Using default system settings, latency began at 750ms and after multiple buffer and sample adjustments I managed to get it down to 220ms. This still presents an uncomfortable record/playback situation. In the case of Cubase, an ASIO driver would alleviate this condition, but at this time, only a Mac version exists. (After installing Digidesign's DirectIO ASIO driver on the Mac, I was able to get latency down to 23-32ms while running Cubase on the Mac. -JB) For the second test, I ran the 001 with the "house" brand: Pro Tools LE. As expected, the performance difference was striking. Real-time monitoring was flawless. I selected the low latency option (smaller buffer settings, I assume) and even with eight tracks at 24-bits, my cpu and disk subsystem handled the load just fine -no drop outs or ticks; no loss of sync at all. This is one of the benefits of designing hardware and software that work together seamlessly. Pro Tools LE was an absolute cinch to understand without even barely examining the user manuals. The program has been around almost ten years and as such, shows the result of careful, incremental improvement in design and ease of use. As first generation conversion to Windows, this version works well. I also found that the headphone amp circuit sounds noticeably better than most I've listened to and has plenty of gain. The Digi001 is a pretty compelling package. Just be aware that it is a technical 'cul-de-sac' in terms of expandability — it has none. On the Macintosh side, I had some problems with the OMS extension from the Pro Tools install CD. It was required to run Pro Tools, but it repeatedly locked up my Mac. Finally, I threw out all the installed device/instrument files except the Digi 001 file and it worked fine. Digidesign should also be commended for their excellent documentation, at least for the Mac anyway. Trying to deal with complex and lengthy manuals in PDF form really sucks. The 001 package is the most complete of any I saw while testing these cards; everything you need from lightpipe cables to extensive, easy to read printed manuals covering everything from a quick start tutorial to a one inch thick Pro Tools manual. The beauty of this software however, is that after checking the manual to figure out how to get an input, I didn't need to look at again. Despite having never used Pro Tools in my life, I was able to install the software and record a short 30 second song (for a punk comp of 30 second songs) in about 45 minutes, including setting up some compression, EQ, reverb and automation on the mix.

ADAT Edit is not an audio card in the sense that you can feed it analog audio signals. But, I felt that it should be included here because if you already have an ADAT based studio, this is a great way to get into hard drive recording. The PCI card has ADAT lightpipe and sync connections and nothing more. Also included is software written exclusively for this card by E-Magic for editing your ADAT tracks. One nice extra is the inclusion of two really long lightpipe cables. If all you need is an ADAT to hard drive interface, this is a good solution. Look for a review in a future issue.