I have a Roland VS-1680 mixer/workstation that can record tracks and keep them stored on a hard drive inside of it. The problem is that I don't know how to get my mixes on to my computer for editing. I just started recording so I don't know a lot.
Considering you've just started, getting the VS-1680 was a gamble. It's a complex recorder, you've done well to get some tracks recorded.
Are you wanting to use the computer to 'finalize' the mixes from the VS?
If so there are various ways it can be done:
1) Using the master audio outputs of the VS.
2) Using the digital outputs to a digital input of an audio interface.
3) Recording the tracks to a CD recorder connected to the VS via SCSI.
Recording via the audio outs may be possible simply by using a lead with RCA phono to a 1/8" stereo mini jack. This would plug into the line input connection of your computer's soundcard.
Personally, I would invest in dedicated audio interface. Those mini jacks are not the greatest connectors in the world.
If you are thinking of going the audio interface route, look for one with a digital interface. If the transfer is digital it saves it going from digital-to-analogue, and the back to analogue-to-digital.
It should result in no loss of audio quality.
The CD recorder route from the VS only works if you have such a recorder at your disposal.
Software:
There are plenty of audio editors available.
I've used Wavelab, but Audacity is very usable, and it's free.
You may find if you buy an audio interface, that it may come with software too.
What audio interface would you suggest? I purchased an M-audio audiophile internal card, but I sent it back because it was faulty, and also the driver would never work right on my computer and I downloaded the one for my OS (Windows 7 32 bit). Thanks in advance.
Not the best person to ask really, I've never had much luck buying cards myself:
I have a 16 trk hard-disk recorder (Fostex VF16) which I attempt to record live bands with, attempt being the words as usually some thing goes wrong, but I keep trying.
This unit has an ADAT 'lightpipe' output.
My ol' PC had a Korg 1212 audio card (a full PCI slot), it works, most of the time. Sadly Korg never kept up with it's development, and it only has win 95/98 drivers.
The newer PC..
I tried a ECHO card, only to find it wouldn't work with any motherboard I had.
I managed to source a RME ADAT interface, and ran with the M-audio delta 44 card the PC came with, but it was a pain as I had to choose which card was active for the task I required. I wasn't able to monitor with the M-audio card while the RME card was running ADAT.
I have just got hold of a Digidesign 001, so I now have ADAT, but with analogue connections too.
It's running on XP. I doubt there will be Win 7 drivers. Same is true about the 8 X 8 emagic MIDI interface.
It's working - if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Audio interfaces come in many shapes, forms, and perhaps most importantly, price.
Surprised to hear you had an issue with the M-audio card, in what way was it faulty?
Didn't M-audio have any suggestions to a fix?
Does sound like a hardware conflict of some description.
I would do a system restore back to a time before the M-audio drivers where installed, just in case when get a new device it's drivers have an issue with the previously installed audio drivers.
Many interfaces use USB for data transfer, but 'Firewire' is also used. Roland / Cakewalk offer interfaces with USB, or Firewire.
Drivers are they key, without a necessary driver (Win 7 32 bit in your case) you new interface could be an expensive paperweight.
I suggest purchasing a few recording magazines, Sound-on-Sound, Future Music, or perhaps Computer music. It might give you a heads up on prices, and features. Once you found the one you think suits your needs, check the drivers are available. If the manufacturer has a forum, or FAQ section, take a look to see if anyone has had issues with similar set-ups to yours, perhaps ask questions.
It's not quite as straight forward as it should be, getting PC's to work as DAW / sequencers.
Especially if there are being used for 'other tasks' (Gaming, Internet, etc).
My desktop PC is purely set to run the music side of things. General everyday use is done on my laptop.
If just recording the finished mixes is all you want to do, you should be fine, I've done a few projects just on my laptop.
Have a budget, decide on what you think you need, make sure it has the right drivers, go for it.
Well, I did have the driver installed correctly at one point, but it wouldn't recognize my recorder when I plugged it in using digital connections so then I tried hooking it straight to my monitors to see if it would play music from my pc. After that didn't work I tried re-installing the driver, and the driver software wouldn't work anymore. But I've recently thought about getting an external model, one that uses USB to transfer, and it seems really promising, and simple. And thanks a lot, this has been the best help I've gotten because the guy who sold it to me cant even tell me hoe to use it right haha.
When you say "it wouldn't recognize my recorder when I plugged it in using digital connections" are you saying there was no audio being sent from the VS to the card?
Or did you expect when connected using the digital connection for the computer to appear as a device on the PC?
Then when to go on to say "I tried hooking it straight to my monitors to see if it would play music from my pc" are you using the analogue connections, or do the monitors have a digital connection too, and you used that?
Was the original PC soundcard (on board motherboard soundcard) disabled? It should have been done automatically when you added the m-audio card, but it might have run along side the m-audio card.
The PC sound (Windows / and general stuff) made have defaulted to the on board card.
The PC music playback software may not have know what 'device' it need to route it's output to.
It also sounds as if re-installing the driver on top of the previous driver for the card upset the system slightly, that's why I think it might be worth using the 'system restore' to go back to a version of Windows before any a-audio drivers where installed.
Another point..
Sometimes, when transferring audio digitally, the device needs to know it's "clock source".
The m-audio card may not have been able to sync with the VS as you might have needed to set the m-audio's card to clock from its digital input. The VS would have been to clock source (44.1Khz).
If you have a look a P74 of the VS manual it explains such issues if you want to record a digital source on the VS. I am think this is what you might have had to do for the m-audio card to recognise the VS.
Let us know how it all pans out, and hopefully tell us all it's all working well..
