Virtual Tracks on Computer DAW

A

AlinMV

New member
I have been doing some research for a computer DAW set up for a Mac, and in my price range I am currently between the MOTU 2408 and Digi 001.

I read someplace that computer DAW's such as the Digi 001 do not offer virtual tracks. Is that true? Is there a way around that?

Thanks

Al
 
Hi AlinMV,

the digi001 software definitely can record virtual tracks and very efficiently. I would like to say that most any capable recording software is capable of multiple virtual tracks.
 
What's all this about virtual tracks? All that means is that you have plenty of storage space but limited ability to play back tracks. So this means some extra tracks could be recorded (you've got the disk space) that you can't play back (you can only play 8 or 16 or whatever). The VS guys designed their stuff to let you store "extra" tracks and call them back up in a nicely-organized way, and they called it virtual tracks.

In a PC DAW, you can do the same thing, and maybe the multitrack SW vendor calls them virtual tracks and maybe not. In Cakewalk, for example, you can select a track and archive it (right next to the Mute button). This is essentially the same as a virtual track in a VS-8whatever. The important thing here is that it's a function of the recording software, not the digital audio interface itself. In Cakewalk I can theoretically have 256 tracks recorded. In reality I can't possibly play that many back on my current PC. Say I can get away with 48. I can record 256 tracks in a project (assuming, of course, I've got a big-enough hard drive) and have 208 of them archived, and 48 being heard, at any given time, and toggle the state of individual tracks between being archived or not.

I'm sure that ProTools LE and Logic and Cubase and all the others can do something like this, too. They might even call it virtual tracks.

-AlChuck
 
when we're talking about virtual tracks , is this like alchuck said , the ability to recall (well i there not really tracks) audio files??? I hope i havent got this all arse about , if i have can someone explain please?
If its what i think , then isnt this the audio window in logic and cubase ... or have i way missed something here and u can actually recall complete tracks , fader values, audio file and all?? wow , tell me more if it is , i must have been in my box when this was announced.........
 
I suppose I could start a new project (same song, different file) and record a second take of whatever track I need. The question I had was "is there something less cumbersome than having to do such a thing with computer based DAW"?

BTW, thanks AlChuck for the clarifications. On the 001 obviously we're dealing with PTLE and with MOTU I'd be running Digital Performer 2.7.

Thanks

AlinMV
 
For whomever cares, here is a post by the Digi Tech Support people on the Digidesign User Conference:

jnilson
posted February 16, 2000 08:36 AM


does the digi001 have virtual tracks or some form of virtual tracks for multiple takes on a track?
____________________________________________________________
DigiTechSupt
posted February 16, 2000 09:27 AM

Virtual tracks no, multiple takes, yes in the form of playlists and or loop record.
I'm not sure what the limit is, or if there is one, on the number of playlists you can have on any audio or midi track.

You can also loop record on a section of a track and get a pop up list of all the takes. This applies to both audio and midi tracks

Jon Connolly
Digidesign Product Speciailist


http://www.digidesign.com/ubb/Forum24/HTML/000680.html

AlinMV
 
Spider,

when we're talking about virtual tracks , is this like alchuck said, the ability to recall (well i there not really tracks) audio files??? I hope i havent got this all arse about, if i have can someone explain please?
Click to expand...

Whew, not quite sure what you're asking there, Spider... but all the audio you record on a DAW is saved to hard disk unless you have a staggering anount of RAM. The application manages this for you so you don't necessarily think of there being files there, but believe me, there are. In Cakewalk, the settings for the track are saved in the project file, and the actual audio is saved in wav files. When you archive one, it essentially keeps a little pointer in the project file to where the audio data is stashed away. This is different than muting a track where the audio data is still being handled by the CPU but its volume has been reduced to zero, so this doesn't really save you CPU cycles.

I'd be willing to bet my old Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space record -- if I still had it -- that both Logic and Cubase allow you to do something similar.

AlinMV,

I suppose I could start a new project (same song, different file) and record a second take of whatever track I need. The question I had was "is there something less cumbersome than having to do such a thing with computer based DAW"?
Click to expand...

Why start a new file? That would indeed be a cumbersome thing to do. Let me describe it by example. Again, I'm talking about Cakewalk, but I'm sure Pro Tools LE, Logic, and Cubase all have something similar.

Say you're trying to record a singer, and you want to capture multiple takes; you'll listen back later and decide which are the best, whether you want to double any or comp two or more of them together into a best-of-all-takes track.

So you pick a series of tracks out of your 256 that you have available, like say Tracks 10-20. Record take one on Track 10. Rewind and record Take 2 on Track 11, etc, until you've got your ten (or eleven) takes. Now you pick the best one, or even make some more tracks that are combinations of the best parts of the others. But you don't want to erase tracks until maybe later when you're all done and you know for sure that Track 12, for example, bites the big one and you want to remove it from existence.

While you're working on the mix, and you want all the choices available, you can either mute the tracks that you're not currently listening to, or, if your track load is getting way up there and your computer is starting to get a headache, you can archive them. As far as a way of working in Cakewalk, archiving is as simple as muting -- just click the little A button rather than the M button.

Hope that helps clarify...

-AlChuck
 
Thanks AlChuck for the info.

The issue for me is that with Digi 001 for instance I am limited to 24 playback tracks. So, if I used actual tracks for multiple takes, I'd run out of tracks in no time. So, virtual tracks, play lists, (or whatever they're called) is a must if Digi's 001 is even an option for me.

Same situtation with the motu 2408 running Digital Performer, I am limited in this case by the computer's power. I am told by the MOTU people that I can get about 40 play back tracks using my set up.

I can't believe there is no literature from MOTU or DIGI on that issue.

AlinMV
 
? But didn't you already quote the Digidesign guy about playlists in Pro Tools LE? Sounds like essentially the same deal to me. And on the MOTU, like I said, it's the software you're using to drive the MOTU that will have this capacity, not the MOTU box itself.

-AlChuck
 
Frankly, AlChuck, there are so many words being bandied about with different meanings that I don't feel quite sure what I am getting from any of the software products I am looking at other than what they specifically tell you.

Even the Digidesign guy could not state what the limitations on play lists are (assuming a play list is the functional equivalent of a virtual track) or if there are limitations!

Seem too loosey goosey to me to plunk down $800 plus the computer costs, etc...

Just trying to avoid a huge mistake upfront. Know what I mean?

Thanks again for your reply.

AlinMV
 
I would have thought that virtual tracks and retakes are one and the same thing.

For example, in Vegas, ALl I need to do is select a time region and click on loop. It records in that time space over and over, creating a new file each take, which I can later go back and assign anyone I choose as the main file for that track.

I know that the implementation on protools LE is even more powerful, allowing you to mix different time periods of your" virtual tracks to create the main track.

By the way, Is anybody else eagerly awaiting the release of pro tools FREE eight days from now? I just can't wait to work with the power(albeit limited) of protools with my delta 1010
 
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