Audio and MIDI playback

[WagTheDog]

I have an Aardvark DirectPro 24/96 for audio and a Soundblaster Audigy2. I use Cakewalk 3 for recording.....

I open an "Audio and MIDI" sample file in Cakewalk, plug my headphones into my Aardvark, then play the song, I hear audio but no MIDI. There is no standard MIDI plug on the back of the Audigy2. How do I route MIDI (with sound) back into the Aardvark for monitoring/mixing purposes.

Sorry that this is such a newbie question....

 

[studiomaster]

MIDI is not audio...do some research first.

 

[WagTheDog]

Yes, I am aware that MIDI is not audio, that it doesn't carry sound per se, just events. I didn't say MIDI was audio. I asked how you hear the MIDI tracks which is not the same thing.

Same question worded slightly different....if I open a MIDI-only sample file in Cakewalk, how do I hear the end result? Do I plug my headphones into the Audigy2 card, or is the end resulting "sound" carried back into the Aardvark?

 

[travelin travis]

Yes, I am aware that MIDI is not audio, that it doesn't carry sound per se, just events. I didn't say MIDI was audio. I asked how you hear the MIDI tracks which is not the same thing.

Same question worded slightly different....if I open a MIDI-only sample file in Cakewalk, how do I hear the end result? Do I plug my headphones into the Audigy2 card, or is the end resulting "sound" carried back into the Aardvark?

The midi track has to be set to control something.........a sampler, synth, etc.

 

[AlChuck]

There's no internal way to route the SoundBlaster's audio stream to the DirectPro's... so if you want to hear the SB and the Aardvark's sounds together you have to either route the SB output into the DirectPro -- which has the problem of tying up two of the card's inputs -- or use a mixer to combine the outputs of both cards before sending the signal off to the speakers.

 

[AlChuck]

By the way you must mean SONAR 3 or Cakewalk HomeStudio 3... Cakewalk Pro 3 (circa 1993 or so) couldn't do anything with audio except possibly trigger a sample as an event at some given moment...

 

[WagTheDog]

Thanks AlChuck, and yes, it's Sonar 3, my bad. Do any audio interfaces allow what I'm talking about?

I have been debating about buying either the Presonus Firepod or MOTU 828mkII, any thoughts on either of those?

So, how do YOU listen to MIDI tracks and record audio, run it thru an external mixer like you mentioned?



Thanks for the reply

 

[AlChuck]

No interface I know of allows you to route audio from different hardware through it internally on the PC.

Both those interfaces are probably great. But if you want to keep using the Audigy for its Sound Font synth, you'll need to route a pair of its outs to the other card, or monitor the outputs of each device using a mixer.

Yes, that's the way I do it. I have a Delta 66 and a SB Live. When I want to record the MIDI synth to audio finally, I just use the SB Live to record itself via its own internal audio recording inputs -- it doesn't have to go through DA conversion at all so the quality of its converters isn't an issue here -- and then I have audio tracks, so I mute the MIDI tracks and mix down the audio using my Delta 66.