1st Post - Questions about PA9

  • Thread starter Thread starter Skull
  • Start date Start date
S

Skull

New member
I just found this forum, looks really cool so far!

I downloaded the VST wrapper program that lets you use VST plug-ins, and it's worked great so far, all except for "Amplitube". any one figure out how to get Amplitube to work?

Also, is there any way to get the plug-ins to work without recording the track first? e.g. plug in your guitar, pick the plug-in you want while listening to the results, then record?

and last question; every time I record a song, and then mix down to Wav file, the level is a lot lower then other recordings (from CDs and stuff). eventhough I can't boost the levels in the console any further without clipping, any ideas?

Thanks
 
Skull said:
I just found this forum, looks really cool so far!

I downloaded the VST wrapper program that lets you use VST plug-ins, and it's worked great so far, all except for "Amplitube". any one figure out how to get Amplitube to work?

Also, is there any way to get the plug-ins to work without recording the track first? e.g. plug in your guitar, pick the plug-in you want while listening to the results, then record?

and last question; every time I record a song, and then mix down to Wav file, the level is a lot lower then other recordings (from CDs and stuff). eventhough I can't boost the levels in the console any further without clipping, any ideas?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I don't know about Amplitube, but it could be it's a VSTi. That is you need either Sonar or Cubase to make it work... I might be wrong though.

And you want Input Monitoring and low latency. That means: Upgrade to Sonar. And you might a soundcard that can give you low latency using WDM-drivers...

Hope this helps!
 
Moskus is right. PA9 only supported DirectX plugins which are not the same thing as DXi software synthesizers.

No so sure you would need to upgrade to Sonar for input monitoring though. PA9 was the first Cakewalk product to make use of the additional performace/functionality of WDM drivers.

If you want realtime effects, you should really assign FX to an auxiliary buss and not to the track you are recording. Is that what you are presently doing?
 
No so sure you would need to upgrade to Sonar for input monitoring though. PA9 was the first Cakewalk product to make use of the additional performace/functionality of WDM drivers.
Click to expand...
Yes, but PA9 doesn't have Input Monitoring. Or does it? I didn't think so. Input Monitoring is the only way to know how a effect turns out before you record anything...

Or am I just confused, and don't remember PA9 well? ;)
 
You are correct moskus. NO input monitoring in PA9. This was introduced with Sonar.

Also, brzilian, I don't believe PA9 could make use of WDM drivers either. This was another feature introduced with Sonar 1.0.

Skull, I am not familiar with Amplitude either. However, as has been suggested, some VST wrappers will not convert VSTi's. Usually the free ones can do VST but not VSTi. If Amplitude is a VSTi, that could be the problem. You might need to upgrade to a better wrapper.

As for your final levels. This is normal. Most (all?) commercial CD's are mastered, and one part of the mastering process usually involves having the volume level boosted through compression and brick wall limiting. If you want comparable levels, you need to do the same thing to your exported wave files - or pay to have it done.
 
Skull said:
...every time I record a song, and then mix down to Wav file, the level is a lot lower then other recordings (from CDs and stuff). eventhough I can't boost the levels in the console any further without clipping, any ideas?
Click to expand...

Well, it's a general frequently asked question here... Dachay has mentioned the cause. However, if you know how to do with "Normalizer" or "Level Maximizer" it can be done in your desktop to minimize the gap. Here you need some wave editor (like CoolEditPro, Sound Forge, etc...) to do the "Mastering" of your own. Indeed, if you want sonic quality, you better bring 'em to mastering house, but for homerecorder quality, these tools could help you much. How to do that ? well, we can talk all day long brother, just hint, it takes an experiment over and over until you get the idea...
 
Sonic Foundrys WaveHammer makes the mixdown louder, but it doesen't improve the mix in any other way... I use that and Ozones Izotope and BBE Sonic Maximizer (if I feel like it).



Remember the old saying: " If you can't make it sound good, make it loud!" ;)
 
Yes, Wavehammer is a good tool for this. Waves L1 or L2 are even better. :D
 
dachay2tnr said:


Also, brzilian, I don't believe PA9 could make use of WDM drivers either. This was another feature introduced with Sonar 1.0.
Click to expand...

Actually it did because that was when I went out of my way to look for a card with WDM drivers and would start getting the "Your hardware is unsupported/your soundcard will run in mono" errors.

I never used Sonar and went directly to HS2002 from PA9.
 
I didn't even know WDM-drivers exsisted when PA9 was released. I thought it was a part of the Windows 2000 release, and updates brought it to Me and 98...

Oh well...
 
brzilian said:

If you want realtime effects, you should really assign FX to an auxiliary buss and not to the track you are recording. Is that what you are presently doing?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm assigning the effect to the track, not the aux. buss. Thanks, I'll try it and see if it works.
Skull, I am not familiar with Amplitude either. However, as has been suggested, some VST wrappers will not convert VSTi's. Usually the free ones can do VST but not VSTi. If Amplitude is a VSTi, that could be the problem. You might need to upgrade to a better wrapper.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll look for a VSTi wrapper, and mess around with it.
Yes, Wavehammer is a good tool for this. Waves L1 or L2 are even better.
Click to expand...
I'll check these out! thanks.

Thanks a lot for the tips guys! I got some work to do.
 
As long as you use PA9 you wouldn't need a VSTi Wrapper or be able to use Input Monitoring.

Sorry, but that's just the way it is... ;)
 
yeah, I just figured that out. I couldn't get input monitoring to work no matter what. maybe I'll breakdown and get Sonar.

I downloaded Waves Gold, and Spectrial Design Loudness Maximizer. I'll try 'em out, see if they boost the levels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top