Connecting a Mackie SDR 24/96 to a PC ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter mark73
  • Start date Start date
M

mark73

New member
Has anyone here connected an SDR 24/96 to their Pc before. I tryed connecting it with a USB lead but my computer didnt recognise it. Do you need a particular driver or program for it so you can transfer the files from the unit to the computer. My Pc is running Vista too.
Anynone know ???
Cheers
 
I'm just guessing here... without any research... but I'd bet dollars to donuts that there's no vista driver for the sdr. I had no problem what-so-ever transfering tracks over USB from the SDR in XP...

Mackie's discontinued the series and I doubt there's a vista driver available... Mackie has some (H/M/S)DR user forums... google them, you might find a solution over there.
 
Mackie seems to have stopped supporting the SDR and their other 24 track hard disc recorders some time ago so I am betting that like mentioned above their may be no Vista driver, but i could be wrong. That being said, if it were me, I would not want to conenct it through USB anyhow since the USB on the SDR24/96 is USB 1.1. It transfers files VERY slowly throught he USB port. One nice thing about the Mackie however is that it records files as standard .wav so technically you can take the drive right out of it and mount it in an external casing and transfer projects that way which is much faster. You are just trying to transfer files right and not use it as an interface?
 
Yes all i want to do is take the files off of the SDR so i can them bring them home and mix them on my PC as the unit isnt mine and didnt want the hassle of having to remove the hard drive. Transfer time wouldnt really be a problem but like you say it probably isnt compatible with Vista anyway.
I had a look on the Mackie forums and couldnt find much apart from one thing that someone said about using Tracktion software to recognise it. I dont know if its correct.
I think it might be easier to just leave the files where they are !
 
Use analog outs?

Another option which I have used with my MDR is to mute all channels on the board (Analog outs) except for two and record them left and right to two tracks in the computer. It is faster, though still pretty slow, than trying to interface and I don't have to worry about compatibility issues. It works for me and then I can run them in cubase or wavelab or whatever. Good luck.
 
Yeh thats what im thinking.
I can borrow a laptop with XP on so it might be worth trying that ?
 
Getting a laptop with xp on it should do the trick. You could also snag a ahrd drive, put it in the Mackie's removable bay, transfer the files to that, and then pop it in another external bay and transfer it there as well. That would probably still equate to MUCH less time then using the Mackie's built in USB, but that is assuming you have a hard drive and an external casing kicking around somewhere.
 
I've use both methods... I use the SDR for remote recording, and for recording acoustic tracks in the control room... If I'm moving just a couple of tracks... I'll pull them over on USB... for anything bigger, I bought the compatible mounting bay for the PC and just pull the whole drive out... oh and BTW... the SDR firmware supports IDE drives close to a terabit... so there's no real concerns on drive compatability... Those Mackie user groups I mentions have tons of information on venders for compatible bays... at one time someone was building and selling firewire drive enclosures... I built one myself with the vendor info on the site... Don't get sucked into buying the Mackie Media, Everything you need is out there at about a tenth the price
 
I just realized that I had the Firewire enclosure with a drive bay right on my desk here at work... (don't ask why it's here:rolleyes:)

The Enclosure listed below is deep enough to accommodate the drive bay with just a bit of modification with a dremel tool (most are too shallow)... the lian rack is the same as shipped with the SDR... perfect match

Google these part numbers and you should find them...

  1. GENERIC TT-345U2F
  2. LIAN-LI MOBILE RACK RH58
 
Didn't they make digital expansion cards for that? You could hook it up to a RME 9652 via Lightpipe and do all 24 channels that way.
 
I think im goning to try it with XP and if it really does take to long will record it off the desk one track at a time or just not bother.
Thanks for all the help guys.
 
They do make digital expansion cards for the other two mackie recorders, but the SDR comes with everything already on it. The SDR comes with 24 analog i/o (on d-sub), and 24 channels of ADAT i/o without having to buy any expansions. I used to use my Mackie with the RME 9652 all the time, but now I have SSL converters and don't need the Mackie. I was assuming that the original poster did not have a 24 channel lightpipe interface, otherwise everything would already be dumped.
 
Jeeze... everyone seems to be implying that the USB is slower then real time streaming... It's not that slow... Yeah there's a bit of a wait... but not anywhere the length of the entire performance... (if your track counts aren't that high)

The SDR was at the bottom of the Mackie Hard Disc Recorder line... but actually proved to be the most reliable, a real work horse
 
My experience was that anything more than maybe 5 or 6 tracks and realtime was faster. I seem to remember a couple of projects that were maybe an hour long and 24 tracks in 24 bit that took like 4 hours or more to transfer.
 
I guess I stand corrected... I used it primarily to record acoustic performances in the control room... (shock mounted the internal drive and installed a switch to turn the case fan off))... just for noise considerations... any remotes with a high track count I just pulled the drive...

Learn something new every day....

Thank X
 
Its all good guys, managed to get the USB to work with XP and did it that way. It was quite slow but manageable.
Thanks for all the help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top