KVR Audio

EdnLana · Post by **EdnLana** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:01 am

Hi gang, I am currently recording with an old and very trusty Yamaha AW16G but I find I need more than the eight inputs available. I bought a lap-top and have Traction 2 installed with a FireWire interface from my Mackie mixer but it seems to crash when I try to record more than 8 tracks at once. So I would like any suggestions about an "in-the-box" solution that will permit at least 12 tracks of simultaineous recording.
Thanks,
Ed

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:02 am

You say it seems to crash. Can you describe exactly what happens? Maybe it's the harddisk that can't keep up... Does it also happen when you record tracks at 44.1kHz/16bits?

Can you give more details about the laptop (type of CPU, harddisk, RAM etc)? I think the problem is not in Tracktion2 actually but with stressing the hardware too far.

EdnLana · Post by **EdnLana** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:18 am

Cookie, I have installed additional ram (2GB) but really prefer the convenience of the DAW box. Tha laptop is a Toshiba with 100 G hard drive and I'm not sure about the operating speed. The all-in-one box seems more reliable, at least I have had no problems with the Yamaha.

EdnLana · Post by **EdnLana** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:21 am

By "crash" I mean it will start to record all 14 tracks and then at about 15 or 20 seconds it will stop and freeze.

EdnLana · Post by **EdnLana** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:24 am

I am recording at 44.1 and 24hz.

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:46 am

I'll stand by my opinion it's the harddisk that can't keep up. Probably it's a 4200 rpm model, very common in laptops. Maybe you can lend an external HD specced at 7200 rpm from a friend, and test weather that helps.

Also try recording at 16bits instead of 24. That might increase your track count considerably. Some programs store 24bits audio as 32bits for convenience. You might think that recording in 16bits is inferior (in theory: it is indeed; in practice you get maybe 2 extra significant bits), but chances are you won't notice much difference in the final mixed product.

EdnLana · Post by **EdnLana** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:42 pm

Cookie, thanks for all the advice. I think the hard drive is a 54oo or whatever the next step up from 3200 was as I was aware of this limitation when I purchased. I do have an external 7200 drive which I will try but then I am carting four or five pieces of gear to my live recording sessions and I would much prefer a single box with a higher track count than my present Yamaha AW16G. I read about the Korg D3400 (or something) and it advertises UP TO 12 track. But I wonder what the limitations are.
Ed

Daw with more than 8