how to record mono w/pro audio 9.03?

[alexspetty]

I have a mackie 1402vlz-pro with a darla24 card and cakewalk pro audio 9.03.

For the life of me I can not figure out how to record into pro audio 9.03 as mono channels. The result is I have only 4 stereo channels to work with.

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? There MUST be a way to record 8 mono channels and route the playback channels for multitrack monitoring somehow.

Any light you can shed to help me with this will be wonderful.

(ps. i just upgraded to SONAR2.1xl, but it wont be here for a few weeks. I also just bought a new mackie 24x8 off of ebay but it wont be here for a while either.. ive been stuck with this problem on my "old equipment" for years now never knowing this BBS was here for community support. Anyways.. thanks again.)

- Alex

 

[dachay2tnr]

Does your mixer have Direct Out connections? If so, you need to run 8 cables from the Channel Direct Outs to the inputs of your sound card. If the soundcard has 8 inputs, that should allow you to record 8 mono channels simultaneously. Setup 8 tracks in Cakewalk with the inputs as follows:

Track 1 = SoundCard 1/2 Left
Track 2 = Soundcard 1/2 Right
Track 3 = Soundcard 3/4 Left
Track 4 = Soundcard 3/4 Right

and so on

If your mixer doesn't have direct outs, you should be able to use the Channel Insert connections to do the same thing. On a Mackie, if you want to use a Channel Insert as a send, you should only insert the plug halfway into the connection (until the first click). Check your manual for specific details.

 

[alexspetty]

hmmm.... interesting.
I think that might be very different from what I have been trying.

Its not that I want 8 inputs but rather 8 outputs to mix on the mackie during playback.

I have been sending channels 1 and 2 of the mixer into the 2 input channels of the card.

In CWPA9.03 I have the source as "Darla24 1-2 Left analog in" for the left out of the board and "Darla24 1-2 Right analog in" for the right out of the board"

I have been returning the cards output through
Darla24 1-2 analog out
Darla24 3-4 analog out
Darla24 5-6 analog out
Darla24 7-8 analog out

I have no ability here to specify for example:
Darla24 3-4 analog out (left)
Darla24 3-4 analog out (right)

only

Darla24 3-4 analog out --- for channel 3
and
Darla24 3-4 analog out --- for channel 4

if I try to manage the recorded sides by panning, it doesnt seeem to work.

On the board I have the cards 8 channels fully inserted into the boards LineIn's.

The problem is that if I record say voice on input 1 and guitar on input 2, and try to play back the voice on 1 out and the guitar on 2 out, they are not isolated. That is, Voice and Guitar are both on 1 AND on 2.

Does this make sense? Am I being a bonehead here or am I running up against some limitation of either darla or cakewalk, or both?

Thanks again for your help.

-Alex

 

[alexspetty]

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[dachay2tnr]

Output from Sonar is as a stereo track, and therefore it is done in pairs - e.g., Soundcard 1/2.

However, the left portion of the stereo track should be going to output#1 of your soundcard, and the right stereo track should be going to output #2 (assuming you are using 1/2 as the output).

Therefore, if you take a mono track (e.g., Track #1) and pan it full left, and set the output to Soundcard 1/2, then take another mono track (e.g., Track #2) and pan it full right and the set the output to Soundcard 1/2, you should get Track 1 on Souncard Output 1, and the Track 2 on Soundcard output 2.

Follow the same for 3/4, and so on.

After that, you would cable your soundcard outputs to individual channels on your mixer.

(Now, the final question is why do want to mix using an analog mixer? You can do the same thing staying in Sonar/PA9 without having to go through another digital to analog conversion, or worse D to A and A to D to get it back into the computer.)

 

[alexspetty]

well.. i guess i hadnt realized how stupid my recent purchase of the mackie 24x8 board was.

i thought i would have the ability to use the HD on my PC (with 3 darla24 cards) in the same way that one might use 3 ADAT machines.

I was thinking 2 channels on the mackie would be used for in's to SONAR and 22 outs (using 3 darla cards) to mix on my board and route to my outboard gear etc.

Is this not feasible? Is it better just to keep the tracks in cakewalk and use all plugin effects, and mouse click faders for mixing, etc? (automation being a clear benefit of this approach)

I just really like having the control of physical faders, and I like the subtle warmth in tone that I think I get from analog boards. Not to mention a big old board looks really cool!

Thanks again for any further information, tips, help, advice, feedback, etc.

alex