3 Des--your review of the Yama aw16g?

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3 Des, sorry to single you out, but since you're the only one who appears to actually have touched the 16g (despite our many posts about it), would you mind giving me/us your initial reaction
to it? Knowledge is a terrible thing to waste, especially since I'm on the verge of fropping $1K on my own 16g.

BTW, the recent review in SOS (sound-on-sound.com) is excellent, seeming to give it leader-of-the-pack status... although
I've been waiting to see a similar review of the new Korg 1200.

Care to share your thoughts?

If so, a big thanks~~

J.
 
It's sitting on my desk at work (along with me at 8:00 at night) because I work TOO DAMN MUCH!!

Actually, I hope to do some recording with a bass player co-worker, and although I'm far from an expert in these affairs (DAW/portable digitals), the 16G is just what the doctor ordered: pop it into my laptop bag (sticks out the top a wee bit), plop it down on the desk, plug into the POD or direct, and off we go (assuming we ever get away from the grind stone!)

Anyhow, I'd be happy to answer any specific questions, though I've done little more than drop a few tracks from my Triton, so I'm in no way an expert.

~3des
 
Yeah, 3 Des, I know what oyu mean about the too-much-work thing, but I would be happy to hear how your initial attempts on the 16g go... ease of use, sound quality, clarity of manual, and so forth... especially by someone not too accustomed to digital recording (I'm like you, coming from a Tascam porta background).

By the way, I've read two reviews of the 16g this week--one in
SOS and one in Future Music, and both have basically raved about the unit as now leading the pack of DAWs at the $1K price point. Not bad. I'm days or weeks away from ordering my own, so any knowledge would be helpful... if you ever stop working!

Thanks, and good luck.

J.
 
Yeah, there's a lot of reviews out there and I just finished reading the Sound On Sound review tonight, and for those people out there who have a little history with the previous Yamaha gear and particularly those who've asked in other threads, e.g. "Yam AW16 VS Yam 2816 - the 1k differences "

You may find some of the answers you were looking for in this review, it's definitely the most in depth and thorough that I've read so far.

...well, it's Friday night, the 16G is sitting next to me (rescued from sitting next to me at work!), so perhaps this weekend will see some in depth exploration. I also received a Quick Guide DVD with the purchase, so we'll see if that get's me deep into it a little easier.

p.s. One of the things that the SOS article commented on that speaks to one of the key reasons I purchased the 16G was the ability to load templates for controlling external soft sequencers like Logic Audio, Cubase, & Sonar.


Here are the specs as listed in the article:


144 storage tracks (16 playback tracks plus stereo master track, all with eight virtual tracks).

Simultaneous eight-track recording and 16-track playback at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz.

32-bit internal processing.

24-bit linear A-D/D-A conversion.

Around 60 track hours of recording time with supplied 20GB hard drive.

1000 Songs per drive.

36-input mixer: 16 playback channels, eight input channels, four stereo sample tracks and two stereo effects returns).

45mm non-motorised faders.

Dynamics and four-band parametric EQ on almost every channel.

Two internal multi-effects processors.

240 x 64-pixel LCD with contrast.

Eight quarter-inch balanced TRS inputs, two with additional 48V phantom-powered XLR inputs, and one with an additional high-impedance instrument input jack.

Monitor and Stereo/Aux outputs: unbalanced quarter-inch jacks at -10dBV nominal level.

Optical S/PDIF input and output.

MIDI In and Out/Thru sockets.

Master or slave synchronisation via MTC with MMC support. Transmits MIDI Clock.

Onboard mix automation using 96 Scenes per Song. Dynamic mix automation via MIDI.

Four tracks of stereo sample playback, maximum 44 seconds sample time.

Tempo map, including Scene and Sample Pad switching functions.

Dimensions: 99 x 425 x 322mm (hwd).

Weight 4.4kg.
 
Ah, what the heck, I have a subscription to S.O.S. online, so I'll post one other part of the review for those that might not get a chance to read the article:


[and as a thanks to S.O.S. for unofficially allowing me to repost this part of the article, here's how you too can become a happy subscriber to their quality mag: http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/regular_htm/home.asp]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From S.O.S. Oct 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"MIDI FACILITIES

The AW16G features a very respectable MIDI specification. This makes it possible to synchronise the AW16G with the playback of an external device such as a MIDI sequencer via MIDI Time Code or MIDI Clock. With the former, the AW16G can act as either master or slave, but can only act as master with the latter. MIDI Machine Control (MMC) can either be transmitted by the AW16G, allowing it to start or stop the synchronised external sequencer, or can be received if control is required from the sequencer end of things. All of these settings can be configured from within a single set of screen options accessed via the Utility button.
This same screen also allows the AW16G to be configured to transmit MIDI Program Change and Continuous Controller messages for recording on an external sequencer. Program Change messages get the AW16G to recall mixer Scenes and this provides an alternative way of controlling the Scene-based mix automation for those users who prefer this method to manipulating the AW16G's internal Tempo Map.

It's also possible to transmit Continuous Controller messages from the AW16G for recording to an external sequencer, and these can then be replayed to provide real-time mix automation of some mixer parameters. The AW16G actually offers three modes here, each with a somewhat different mapping of physical controls to MIDI messages. Probably of most general use is mode one, where the AW16G transmits and receives on all 16 MIDI channels. The AW16G's faders transmit level changes for the 16 recorder tracks, while the selected channel controls can be used to send pan and effect send levels. Modes two and three transmit and receive on a single MIDI channel, the number of which can be specified by the user. These modes offer alternative MIDI controller mapping, providing access to things such as level, pan or effects sends for the Input and Pad channels, plus channel mutes.

Computer users will be happy to know that they can also use the AW16G as a hardware control surface for the virtual mixer in their software sequencer. Yamaha provide templates for this on the supplied CD, and these support Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar and Emagic Logic, automatically performing the MIDI controller mapping required. This is something I regularly do with Logic via my own 01V mixer and the AW16G did just as good a job.

Another useful function available via the Utility button are options for MIDI bulk dump. Effects library data and mixer Scene memories can be transmitted. This could be useful for recording such data on an external sequencer (for example, as a backup of all the effects library settings used stored with all the MIDI sequencer data for the same project) or for copying a library of Scene data between two AW16G units. The user has the option of sending all the Scene or library data, or just a selection. System data (essentially all the settings in each page of the Utility options) can also be bulk dumped."

Cheers,

~3des
 
Aha! Thanks for posting the detailed Midi section

I've been having no success using my AW16G in midi slave mode,
actually both Midi Clock and Midi Time Code settings.
Now I can see why the midi clock slave mode doesn't work - according to the
article it's not a supported feature.
My freind and I were trying to build a 31 track with my AW16G and his 16
track reel-to-reel and a Midi FSK widget to no avail.
I also have been fighting with Cakewalk pro trying to get the AW16G to slave
to it so I can do drum programming..
(Yep I can get cakewalk to slave to the AW16, but my olde dog of a PC
is so slow that it doesn't stick to the rythm very well at all..)
Now I sort of wish the AW16G had a built in drum machine like the
Boss and the Zoom do. (That sampler section of the AW16G is - so far - not easy
to use for any drum programming. Very difficult to delete a single snare
hit if your timing is off).
Perhaps I'll try using one of those wav file based sequencers (like Sonic "Acid")
and upload the wav to the AW16G?
As a straight ahead recording machine - I love this thing. Very easy to use.
What's on that user guide DVD? anything not in the manual?
I didn't get any DVD here in Canada with my purchase.
Cheers,
Gord Wait
 
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