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I need a proffesional alternative on my on-the-road-recording-rigg.
I need a PRO result from a BUDGET buy.

I've been looking at a lot of open source stuff, Cubase, and so forth but cant make up my mind.

There will be NO edition, just pure recording.

This are the criterias.

MUST HAVE:
Compatible with my MOTU ASIO devices.
16channels at once.
110% Stabile with recordings that can exceed 5 hours in one take.
Be able to export to separate tracks or a format that is compatible with Nuendo.

Should have:
Possibility to record MIDI.

Must be:
FREE/LOW COST...

-

Does this excist?

Comments

JoeH Tue, 02/19/2008 - 06:44

Not sure about the ASIO drivers, but the latest version of Cakewalk seems insanely cheap at $49. I was just looking at it, coincidently . (They just merged with Roland, FWIW).

It seems to do MIDI as well as Digital Audio multitrack, and I can't imagine that it would NOT support ASIO. Worth a look-see, at that price, for sure....

jonyoung Tue, 02/19/2008 - 07:36

Something you need to consider is that there are file size limitations imposed by certain operation sytems and drive formats. I know with Windows and a FAT32 drive, you're limited to 4 Gig file. How big is a 5 hour long file???? NTSF may have limits as well. I'm not a Mac guy, so don't know what or if the limitations might be.

hueseph Tue, 02/19/2008 - 07:57

No more Cage PLEASE!

I have to admit I love this quote:

"The performance follows a legal case in which composer Mike Batt was forced to pay a six-figure sum to Cage's publishers, who accused him of plagiarising a silent piece of music. "

Anyone who has ever recorded 5 minutes of silence is guilty of plagiarising 4:33?

Kapt.Krunch Tue, 02/19/2008 - 14:08

HansAm wrote: 1minute of 44.1x16bit mono = aplrox 5mb.
60 minutes equals: 302MB
5 hours equals: 1.514MB

32bit system can handle 2048MB big files. So im safe :D

Got'yer math a bit wrong, there, I'm afeared.

5MBx60min=~300MB
300MBx5 hours=~1500MB=~1.5GB, per track

1.5GBx16tracks=~24GB total size.

Just to clear that up :wink:

Kapt.Krunch

HansAm Wed, 02/20/2008 - 01:25

Kapt.Krunch wrote: [quote=HansAm]1minute of 44.1x16bit mono = aplrox 5mb.
60 minutes equals: 302MB
5 hours equals: 1.514MB

32bit system can handle 2048MB big files. So im safe :D

Got'yer math a bit wrong, there, I'm afeared.

5MBx60min=~300MB
300MBx5 hours=~1500MB=~1.5GB, per track

1.5GBx16tracks=~24GB total size.

Just to clear that up :wink:

Kapt.Krunch

Thats exactly what i said.... ???
Nothin to clear up.

IIRs Wed, 02/20/2008 - 05:02

hueseph wrote: Tracktion 3

+1

I regularly use Tracktion to record long files (eg: 6 or 7 hour club nights) with no problems so far. I have been recording mono 24/44.1 files so I stay comfortably below the size limit for wav files... but if I needed to go longer Tracktion supports the Sonic Foundry Wav64 format (W64) which is basically a wav file with 64 bit headers instead of 32 bit, so vastly expanding the length of recording available.

hueseph wrote: Only one issue: it doesn't export to OMF.

No. But it records BWAV files by default, so if you don't edit in Tracktion you can simply import the files into another app. And if you do edit in Tracktion you can export the edit as separate audio files for each track; no need to trawl through and render each track manually.

Kapt.Krunch Wed, 02/20/2008 - 06:27

HansAm wrote: [quote=Kapt.Krunch][quote=HansAm]1minute of 44.1x16bit mono = aplrox 5mb.
60 minutes equals: 302MB
5 hours equals: 1.514MB

32bit system can handle 2048MB big files. So im safe :D(2048MB=2GB)

Got'yer math a bit wrong, there, I'm afeared.

5MBx60min=~300MB
300MBx5 hours=~1500MB=~1.5GB, per track

1.5GBx16tracks=~24GB total size.

Just to clear that up :wink:

Kapt.Krunch

Thats exactly what i said.... ???
Nothin to clear up.

Mmmm...not exactly...but not worth an argument. Check the red and green. Differences between MB and GB. May be you MEANT to write it? :wink: 16 tracks of continuous 16/44.1 at 5 hours should be about a 24GB file. If, as you say, the 32-bit system can handle only 2048 MB (~2GB) files, then you may want to check into that. You'd be about 22GB short.

I'm not quite sure it's that way, though. Consider 5MB x 16 tracks=80MB/minute. 2048(2GB)/80=25.6 total minutes of recording 16/44.1 @ 16 mono tracks. And, keep in mind that people record more tracks...32, 48. And, at higher resolutions. They get more than 5 or 10 minutes of time, I presume. But, correct me if I'm wrong.

You will need a fairly robust system to handle a continuous large recording like that. Also, there must be some breaks in there where you can save, say 20 minutes, and start a new file. Should be quick enough if you build a template off the first settings. I mean, I wouldn't want to be the guy who sifts through 5 hours of one recording trying to break them all down into separate files.

I've never tried to record 16 continuous tracks for a very long period, so I can't honestly say I know how it will react. I'm guessing you can do it, but it's probably going to be risky on a bunch of fronts.

Just throwing stuff out for debate. :shock:

Kapt.Krunch

JoeH Wed, 02/20/2008 - 07:04

I've found that there's ALWAYS time for a little break here or there in a live performance or show or conference, at least every hour or so; usually enough time to hit "Stop" and "SAVE AS", and then start on a new wav file/track.

I use Sequoia and have punished it with some of the craziest track sizes & lengths, but even Wagnerian Opera's have intermissions. (Run a CDr with a raw stereo mix going down, if you're afraid of missing something during the track resetting process....)

You'll give your HD a little breathing room as well, if you break it up after an hour or so of tracking. Running 16 tracks - even over a couple of hours - will yield much to sort out afterwards, but it's a lot less potential for trouble if you have approx 16 x 1 track per hour (or thereabouts) going on, instead of 16 tracks that last several hours apiece. Unless I've read your requirements incorrectly, I think you're just asking for trouble at that point, and I don't see the need for it, based on what you say you're looking to record.