iRelevant

Thanks for the link, I've already came across it doing my research though I sense some kind of dissing of the AW range here ? As a DAW it's of course totally obsolete, however it is fully usable as a project recorder. My line of investigation here is more one of having a bullet proof recording device for the creative phase, and secondary to what degree this device can be integrated with CbB workflow.

Thanks for the tip, yeah, I think this is the most convenient way moving forward.

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Thanks, I also got an AW16G, it's more the little brother of the AW4416 monster. It functions pretty much as the AW1600, although the latter has superior transport control buttons as well as USB connectivity. It's a quality machine, I got mine as a wreck ... but after cleaning it up it looks pretty good. Will at some point do a cleaning of the faders which are a bit dirty/corroded and don't slide as smooth as they should.

I have the same setup as @msmcleod and are very satisfied with it. It takes a bit of space though. In a smaller project studio, I'm using a PreSonus Faderport (Classic) which I also find very convenient. I prefer the simplicity of the latter setup when I'm doing simple track by track recording, and the former when I'm doing mixing/mastering or more complex recording. I'm a bit skeptical to Presonus hardware in general after my AudioBox 1818 VSL experience, also the Faderport (Classic) was a mess with frequent firmware updates. Mackie on the other hand has been a rock of reliability and stability. It is built like a tank.

I recently got hold of an AW1600 which I'm trying to use in conjunction with CbB. I have a few questions, which I hope someone familiar with the device can help me with. 1. Is it possible to use it as a control surface with CbB in W7 v W10 ? I see that back in the day it was usable with Sonar Producer v4.0, and also have a Sonar preset in it's menus. 2. Is there any way to deal with the *.AWS format ? Some kind of conversion utility ? I'm able to access the AW1600 via USB as is, but the resulting files from takes on the machine seems a bit confusing and fragmented. 3. I miss the original CD that came with the machine. Does anybody know how to get hold of the disc or an ISO image ? And whether there are any useful tools on it ? Thank you. PS. Interested in hearing if anybody else is using these type of "old skool" machine in conjunction with CbB, and if so in what way. My plan is to dump the outline of the song to the machine, and work "out of the box" for multiple takes of gitar, keys & vocal ... before reimporting the outcome of this doodling back into the DAW. I'm trying to avoid risking ending up being distracted with DAW / Computer related issues during the critical recording phase. [Edit] Judging from the old forum, use of the AW1600 doesn't seems widespread. Also most discussions, refer to external dedicated web sites and forums which are abandoned. I found the support on Yamaha's website for vintage equipment rater limited. Manuals and Firmware upgrades. However I found that there seems to be some newer generic USB driver for W7 and upwards. Looks like this is needed for Sonar/CbB to recognize the device. Haven't gotten around to trying it yet though.

On cables. I found that the quality of what is available for purchase have sunk to new lows in recent years. I bought some cheep patching cables from a fairly reputable online dealer, lowest price, but was shocked with the quality ... or lack of it. I couldn't believe the would tarnish their brand by selling such crap. Cables have gone from being smooth and flexible rubber, to harder and harder plastic types. The last batch I messed with, I spent an eternity trying to figure out problems with a patch bay setup ... just to realize that the cable was broken out of the box ... cheap deteriorating plastic that you can see crack marks on as you start bending them more than 90 degrees. Stiff rigid shit. The best way is to get the cables from a shop where you can inspect them IMO, alternatively make them yourself. There still is quality cables available by the meter, and quality DIY solder type of plugs. I go for Neutrik type of plugs, they seem more robust for soldering. It's very time consuming though, and sometimes ends up with questionable quality due to out of practice soldering skills. I also have had good experience with the HOSA brand of cables, mostly snake type of varying lengths. Sometimes I just buy a 1 m snake, and split it up for the individual color coded cables. Median type of flexibility on them, thin, but have a feel of acceptable quality to them.

Thank you for the reference, I wasn't aware of the Casio Priva PX5. Been exploring it a bit, and it seems very likable. Nice that it functions as a stand alone unit, could even throw it in the back of the van and go play in the woods with it I will need to get my fingers on it to see how the hammer action feels, from the demo videos I've seen I get the impression that it is maybe a touch to light played. The light weight of it (~10 KG) seems advantageous, but I'm worried that might make it a bit bouncy with hammer hard play on the keys.

I think International Man day is small think. Would be pro something like Global Man Year, lasting 364/365 days ... involving plenty of good beer and quality music. No bitching or complaining allowed.

Absolutely. No solution yet, other than taking breaks / multitasking projects / stepping back when you reach the wall.

All good here, both on new and old forum. System : Win7 / Opera.

Could you recommend something better ? I'm particularly focused on the "hammer action" feel.

In my experience, it is a bit problematic to combine 32-bit versions of sonar with the x64 bit version of SPLAT/CbB. I think the easiest solution is to just install the x64 bit versions. Scook helped me sorting out some mess some time back, so that I could have both the 32-bit & x64-bit version of SPLAT installed at the same time. As far as I remember it involved some kind of register / *.ini file voodo.

I'm using an Roland A500 Pro. Has a descent synth type of key bed and nice amount of faders, pots, buttons and pads. A nice all round type of keyboard, controller ... but I'm on the lookout for a Studiologic 76/88 keys something to add to my setup for piano style playing.

Thank you very much for your help and expertise. All works fine now, I'm in mixing heaven

With a new system you probably want to go for the x64 bit CbB version, which is maintained. I don't think there is much problems with porting projects from 8.5 over to CbB, what can cause some headache is if your using 32-bit VST or DX plugs, or the 32-bit version of 8.5. I had some problem porting 32-bit projects over from Sonar VS to the 64-bit version of both SPlat and CbB. The Bitbridge would often crash the project, I think one remedy for that may be to acquire Jbridge for the 32-64 VST conversion. It's more robust. There is also an option for making older DX plugs run as VST's, something called DX-shell which does a good job of converting DX plugs to VST's. I'm had and are still having some problems having 32-bit Sonar versions and the 64-bit version of CbB installed concurrently on one system. Scook kindly helped me sort things out back then, but that system died recently and I will probably need help to figure it out again unless I'm able to retrieve the info from older posts. Regardless, it will be good to install the x64 bit version of 8.5 on the same system, to give you access to older plugs that are no longer included in CbB. Best way of doing it is to install it before CbB.

Hi. I'm trying to set up a system using the last 32-bit SPlat version and 3 Mackie controllers. MCU + XT + C4 on a W7x64 system. So far seems to work fairly well, only problem I have is that the XT just clones the channels shown on the MCU. Wonder why that is ? I see that the Mackie config file in shared surfaces is dated around 2014, and wonder if there is a point in updating it to the latest version in the Git repository ? Regard, Sven

I agree with CJ Jacobson. Your specs are really in the lower range. I noticed with the latter CbB versions (around v24.7 or something after that audio stretch improvement thingy) system load got heavier ... I was on a i5/8GB/SSD system at the time. Now dead from fan failure, and I'm working on setting up a new laptop system. I will go for 16 GB of MEM to use with CbB. I would recommend considering a SSD drive upgrade. I really brings new life to older systems. It's an easy switch, you just clone your existing drive and swap them ... then things work as before. Lots of benefits : Speed, Thermal issues, Elimination of risk of mechanical failure due to impact. Also I seem to remember that for Win7/8 the optimal MEM size was around 8 GB, for Win10 I guess it could be 16 GB for things to flow smoothly.

My condolences.