Effects Processor / Sample Rate Quandry

[mark4man]

Fellow Audiophiles,

For the life of me...I should be able to figure this out...but I think I'm having a major brain warp tonite.

For two years, I never had to worry about interfacing my Lexicon (MPX-500) Effects Processor with my AI (LAYLA 24/96) & SONAR XL, presumably because I was working in 16/44.1; & the MPX-500 supports sample rates of 44.1k & 48k.

I recently began working in 24/96; & tonight attempted to loop a nice reverb onto a vocal track (Hookup: LAYLA 3/4 analog Out > MPX-500 3/4 analog In > FX > MPX-500 1/2 analog Out > LAYLA 1/2 analog In. SONAR track/device assignments: Same - LAYLA 3/4 Driver Out for source track & LAYLA 1/2 Driver In for recording track.

Needless to say...it didn't work...wouldn't record at all...needle rolled real slow, w/ no audible anything.

I kicked the track in question over to WaveLab, performed SRC down to 48k, opened the track in a new SONAR project set to 48k, recorded the track with FX, kicked it back to WaveLab, performed SRC back up to 96k; & imported it back into the 24/96 project. Everything’s fine.

But then I thought...wait a minute !

It's frickin' ANALOG ! It's an analog signal path (it's dual conversion...but still analog...from the moment it leaves the LAYLA's DAC & analog Outs, all the way thru the Lexicon, back into the LAYLA's analog Ins; & is then converted back to digital to be recorded in a new track in SONAR.

Where does sample rate come into play. I'm not synching anything...I'm using the MPX-500 as an analog hardware effects device to loop.

Where am I going wrong?

[Man...I'm really super fried tonite...long, hard day...I'll probably wake up in the morning; & think: "man, what a dumbass question", eh?]

mark4man

 

[tmix]

Using your analogue ins and outs defeats any problem of sample rate mismatches.
The problem may simply be trying to handle the cpu load of 24 / 96.

I have never tried recording in Sonar at that rate.
Maybe some one who has will chime in and state their experiance.

Tom

 

[mark4man]

tmix,

Wow...that was weird.

For the heck of it, I tried copying just one track of 24/96 audio (from the project that wouldn't loop); & pasting it into a new 24/96 project all by itself...

...& it worked !!!

(i.e., I successfully recorded 24/96 via my typical FX loop.)

(So...you were right, in part.)

The thing is...in the Settings Panel in LAYLA 24/96, the sample rate kept trying to jump back to 44.1k (even when I locked it at 96k.) And sometimes (when the setting succeeded in jumping to 44.1) the track would record at normal pace; & sometimes it would record at a slow pace (meaning that...even with the sample rate self reset to 44.1, everything played & recorded normally at 96!!!)

I'm not getting this.

Thanks,

mark4man

 

[mark4man]

tmix,

I apologize for taking up your time...but I found the source of the problem.

For recording tracks with Lexicon effects in SONAR, I had created a customized LAYLA (sound card) preset Console 3 session (*.c3s), which configured & optimized the Inputs & Outputs used in signal routing. I had created the .c3s back when I was recording in 16/44.1; & of course the LAYLA's sample rate was set to 44.1k when I created the session.

I had been loading that session recently in attempting to record effects in a 24/96 project; & of course the 44.1k sample rate setting was loading with the preset. I would change it to 96k...record...stop & check the settings...& there they would be; reset to 44.1k.

I simply changed the sample rate over to 96k & resaved the preset; & now all is working well.

Sorry I panicked prematurely...but I'm glad it turned out to be a minor mishap; & that I can be assured that nothing is wrong with the sound card.

Thanks again for your help,

mark4man