analog to digital conversion

[danmyers1]

I am looking for an inexpensive solution to transfer a bunch of 1/2" analog 8-track individual tracks to digital for re-mix. It seems like i need some sort of USB line mixer that takes 8 inputs from reel-to-reel tape machine outputs and transfers them to my computer to 8 tracks (not just a simple stereo input) via USB. I want to bring all of my older analog 8-tracks back to life as digital 8-tracks in order to re-mix.

Any suggestions anybody? PLEASE?????

[ott0bot]

You'll need a computer with a decent amount of ram, usaully 2gb or more, with a firewire 400 port, an audio interface. You'll also need a program to record into. Plus cables of coarse.

Tons of options for an interface and programs.

Two I'd recomend:
Echo Audiofire 12 comes with Tracktion (or download Reaper on a PC)

Firestudio Project comes with Cubase LE

Then.....
Create 8 new tracks, record enable the tracks, press play on 8 track, adjust levels to keep your peaks around -6dBvu on the channels, rewind tape, then press record on DAW, hit play on tape machine, and bob's your uncle.

hope that helps.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

There are about 900 units available. Take your pick. Almost anything that says "MOTU" on it, RME, Apogee, M-Audio, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.

You'll find a lot more FireWire than USB that will handle the task...

(EDIT) - D'oh! I've been beat... Slow on the draw...

[Sean Sullivan]

It might be worth while to have someone do the transfer for you, using really nice converters. Gear for Days in Nashville offers this service, but I don't think they have a 1/2" 8 track, they have a Fostex E-16 16 track that might work?

Here is a link:http://gearfordays.com/transfers.htm

[LazarusLong]

Avoid USB - it does NOT have the bandwidth to handle 8 tracks simultaneously.

[chris harris]

Avoid USB - it does NOT have the bandwidth to handle 8 tracks simultaneously.

This is not accurate at all. Firewire may be a preferred option. But, USB 2.0 most certainly DOES have the bandwidth to handle 8 (or more) tracks simultaneously, and with ease.

[calaverasgrandes]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data. That is it is not setup to move audio or video from one end to the other and have it arrive on time. USB also has alot more protocol overhead than firewire. So while USB is 480Mbps and 1394 only 400Mbps, the firewire is much more robust in this area.
Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?). Firewire will easily go up to 24-48 tracks or more no problem. And what else do you have that is firewire? Your camcorder?

[Snarl 12/8]

I love it how people blow by the limitations of the question that was actually asked and go straight to designing the killer 48 track system.

USB 2.0 should be fine for sending 8 tracks simultaneously into the computer. Make sure whatever you buy says "USB 2.0" (or firewire, sure, if you've got that) and that it'll do at least 8 tracks at once. And you don't need 2 gigs of ram, or a fast disk or the latest anything to do this. I was recording 12-16 tracks at once on a 867MHz G4. And playing back 32 occasionally with a couple plugins.

If you seriously only want to dump and mix 8 tracks at a time, go for it with whatever. If you want future expandability, listen to these other guys.

[chris harris]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data. That is it is not setup to move audio or video from one end to the other and have it arrive on time. USB also has alot more protocol overhead than firewire. So while USB is 480Mbps and 1394 only 400Mbps, the firewire is much more robust in this area.

I agree that FW is better. I just don't think that USB is as bad as people make it out. I will cop to never having used a USB interface... but, I've used USB 2.0 harddrives for years. I've played back sessions with 20+ tracks while simultaneously recording 14+ tracks with none of the problems you mention.

Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?).

No printer on my studio machine... and, keyboard and mouse are bluetooth... maybe that's why I haven't ever had a hiccup working off of a USB 2.0 drive???

Firewire will easily go up to 24-48 tracks or more no problem. And what else do you have that is firewire? Your camcorder?

Hard drives and a Focusrite LiquidMix 16 on my firewire bus.

[chris harris]

I love it how people blow by the limitations of the question that was actually asked and go straight to designing the killer 48 track system.

USB 2.0 should be fine for sending 8 tracks simultaneously into the computer. Make sure whatever you buy says "USB 2.0" (or firewire, sure, if you've got that) and that it'll do at least 8 tracks at once. And you don't need 2 gigs of ram, or a fast disk or the latest anything to do this. I was recording 12-16 tracks at once on a 867MHz G4. And playing back 32 occasionally with a couple plugins.

If you seriously only want to dump and mix 8 tracks at a time, go for it with whatever. If you want future expandability, listen to these other guys.

bingo.

[Andy Peters]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data.

Complete bullshit -- read the spec. There are four types of USB transfers, one of which is isochronous.

Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?).

Full-speed USB simply will not support 8 tracks -- there's not enough bandwidth.

High-speed USB will support more than 16 tracks if your drivers don't suck.

And your mouse and keyboard send data to the host regardless of whether you actually move it or not -- the bandwidth for those devices is reserved at enumeration time.

Having said that, FireWire is the better option.

-a

[Andy Peters]

USB 2.0 should be fine for sending 8 tracks simultaneously into the computer. Make sure whatever you buy says "USB 2.0"

USB 2.0 does NOT indicate that the device runs at 480 MBps -- it has to advertise as a "High Speed USB 2.0" device. There are plenty of USB 2.0 devices that are designed to work at Full Speed (12 MBps).

A further caveat: there's a non-obvious reason why you don't see many High-Speed USB audio devices -- it's because the original version of the Audio Class spec was written before there was ever such as thing as High Speed USB. Significantly, USB Audio Class v1.0 simply does not work with high-speed isochronous transfers. To address this, several years ago the USB Implementer's Forum released Version 2 of the Audio Class spec. However, Microsoft has never written a class driver for Audio Class 2.0. OS X Leopard has supported AC 2.0 since it was released.

So any manufacturer who makes a High Speed USB Audio device needs to write his own Windows driver, and that hasn't happened. Also, there are no integrated USB device chipsets that are dedicated to High Speed USB Audio.

-a

[calaverasgrandes]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data.

Complete bullshit -- read the spec. There are four types of USB transfers, one of which is isochronous.

Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?).

Full-speed USB simply will not support 8 tracks -- there's not enough bandwidth.

High-speed USB will support more than 16 tracks if your drivers don't suck.

And your mouse and keyboard send data to the host regardless of whether you actually move it or not -- the bandwidth for those devices is reserved at enumeration time.

Having said that, FireWire is the better option.

-a

well USB has an isochronous mode apparently, albeit with no error handling mechanisms. I still stand by my statement (and you seem to agree) that USB is inferior to 1394 for audio uses.

But it would serve you well not to use the term BULLSHIT when refering to other peoples posts. I may have been wrong, but I wasn't trying to bs anyone. Am I selling anything? Am I promoting a political agenda?
This isn't GS or yahoo groups. Just because its the internet doesnt mean you should be an asshole.


Ps have great weekend.

[Andy Peters]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data.

Complete bullshit -- read the spec. There are four types of USB transfers, one of which is isochronous.

Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?).

Full-speed USB simply will not support 8 tracks -- there's not enough bandwidth.

High-speed USB will support more than 16 tracks if your drivers don't suck.

And your mouse and keyboard send data to the host regardless of whether you actually move it or not -- the bandwidth for those devices is reserved at enumeration time.

Having said that, FireWire is the better option.

-a

well USB has an isochronous mode apparently, albeit with no error handling mechanisms. I still stand by my statement (and you seem to agree) that USB is inferior to 1394 for audio uses.

FireWire's isochronous mode doesnt have any error handling/correction, either -- the whole point is that the data are time-sensitive and there is no chance of retransmission. (If you demand data integrity, choose the USB bulk transfer.)

But it would serve you well not to use the term BULLSHIT when refering to other peoples posts. I may have been wrong, but I wasn't trying to bs anyone. Am I selling anything? Am I promoting a political agenda?
This isn't GS or yahoo groups. Just because its the internet doesnt mean you should be an asshole. .

You presented something as fact. Before you make such statements, it might help if you knew what you were talking about.

-a

[calaverasgrandes]

ahem, USB doesn't like to do isochronous transfers of data.

Complete bullshit -- read the spec. There are four types of USB transfers, one of which is isochronous.

Of course you can do 8 tracks on USB. But it will hiccup occasionally, or require a high latency setting. And if you go up to 16 tracks it will start effing up on you when you move your mouse (seriously do you want your audio sharing bandwidth with your printer, keyboard and mouse?).

Full-speed USB simply will not support 8 tracks -- there's not enough bandwidth.

High-speed USB will support more than 16 tracks if your drivers don't suck.

And your mouse and keyboard send data to the host regardless of whether you actually move it or not -- the bandwidth for those devices is reserved at enumeration time.

Having said that, FireWire is the better option.

-a

well USB has an isochronous mode apparently, albeit with no error handling mechanisms. I still stand by my statement (and you seem to agree) that USB is inferior to 1394 for audio uses.

FireWire's isochronous mode doesnt have any error handling/correction, either -- the whole point is that the data are time-sensitive and there is no chance of retransmission. (If you demand data integrity, choose the USB bulk transfer.)

But it would serve you well not to use the term BULLSHIT when refering to other peoples posts. I may have been wrong, but I wasn't trying to bs anyone. Am I selling anything? Am I promoting a political agenda?
This isn't GS or yahoo groups. Just because its the internet doesnt mean you should be an asshole. .

You presented something as fact. Before you make such statements, it might help if you knew what you were talking about.

-a

You are right, I have no idea what I am talking about. I am deliberately trying to delude people into not buying USB devices because I own stock in apple who licenses firewire. I am so busted for being the evildoer that I am. You have registered with the guild of calamitous intent as my arch right? Thats what this is, you are arching me right?
Wait let me get my cape and goggles so we can do this properly.