Masterlink Rendering

[cspsound]

Our Masterlink has started doing something unwanted.

We have 5 Playlists currently operating on the Masterlink, one of these is a major project that is recorded on the Masterlink at 24bit 48K (all our playlists are set to this rate)

After mixing a couple of songs we want to do a Redbook CD so that we can listen to our mixes in other environments to check that all is OK with the song's mix.

The problem is that although we have used NO DSP functions every time we do the Redbook CD burn the Masterlink renders the playlist thus making it impossible to use for anything else.

After the first experience of this problem we now do a 24bit data CD backup, then burn the redbook CD, then we have to delete the rendered songs in the playlist and copy the 24bit CD back to the hard drive so that we can mix extra songs to the playlist.

The manual does not say anywhere that this is what happerns normally, in fact it says that when a Redbook CD is being burnt from a playlist that is recorded at anything other than 16 bit 44.1k, it copies the playlist into a special 17th playlist, does the data conversion there and burns the Redbook CD --- I presume from this 17th playlist, thus leaving the main playlist unaffected so that more mixers can be added.

Has anyone else experienced this situation or have we started to do something wrong, or has something gone wrong in our Masterlink unit.

The way it currently is behaving is a real pain and leads to a possible data transfer problem if something goes wrong in the 24bit CD burn process or the latter data upload back to the hard drive.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated, as our local Alesis dealer can give no assistance in this matter.

David

 

[jmorris]

once you have rendered you cant apply DSP I dont believe.

 

[robin watson]

Even after rendering a playlist (for Red Book creation), you can still access the original unrendered playlist (the '17th playlist' you mentioned), which allows you to further add songs. Furthermore, if you name the songs in a playlist, it's fairly easy to go into the files and pull them out again (nothing gets lost per se), and create a new playlist with those files + new songs added externally.

 

[cspsound]

Masterlink rendering

Jmorris,

It is definitely the case that once a Playlist is rendered all that you can do is play the individual songs held in that playlist. If you press the "Playlist Edit" button you receive a message to the effect that a rendered playlist can not be edited and it is from within this editable playlist that any DSP is applied.

Robin,

I was of the opinion (from reading the manual) that what took place was the exact reverse of what you have suggested --- ie that when converting a 24 bit playlist to a 16 bit redbook, that it was the actual Playlist list that was effectively copied to the 17th Playlist and that it was in this 17th playlist that all the rendering took place, thus effectively leaving the actual playlist that the songs were initially recorded into untouched so that further material could be added. However I am not sure as I am not in the studio, but will have a good investigation latter today.

I realise that you can drag stuff from the "audio" files into a playlist, but this is a real pain in the neck, especially if you have a few playlists that you are working on and you have (for whatever reason) the same song with the same title in other playlists. To explain as an example, we connected the Masterlink to an analogue 2-track recorder and transferred the analogue tape to a new playlist, giving each song its real name, we then digitally transferred these songs to another digital recorder and then through the desk put the songs through our pre-mastering software and then back on to the Masterlink and into a new plasylist, but giving the songs the same name as they were called when we initially dumped them onto the Masterlink from the analogue recorder. Now in the "Audio" files we have two songs with basically the same name and if you do this process a few times, it can become quite confusing when trying to find the correct "audio" file. It would be much simpler if the playlist did not become unusable because it has been rendered.

Assuming we have done nothing wrong and our machine is not playing up in some fashion, then I am sure that we are not the only professional studio that wants to hear (check) mixes at the end of each day's mixing session, without having to undertake backups and then having to re-install these backups and that if this is the situation then I am even more suprised that complaints have not been made to Alesis to have the OS changed to fix this situation.

David

 

[Lt. Bob]

When the Masterlink renders something .... the original playlist is supposed to be unchanged.
I have had a couple of playlists mysteriously get rendered but that only affected burning a CD of those playlists ..... I was still able to go to the original and listen or add to it or edit it ..... just couldn't burn it.
I've always thought that I might have accidently made some DSP setting on a song without realizing it.
A possible solution (I have a different problem with one of my Masterlinks) is to get the latest update from Alesis. They have a section where you can burn a CD with the latest and simply put that in your Masterlink and it will update the OS.
I've been meaning to do this for a while ..... but one machine works fine and I'm lazy.

 

[cspsound]

Bob,

I actually have the latest OS installed and I am sure that this is something that has just started to happen.

In our case we can only listen once a playlist has been rendered, we can not add or edit anything, because pressing the Playlist Edit button shows a message stating that nothing can be done to a rendered playlist.

One thing you stated made me think that I should possibly re-install the OS just in case something has got screwed up somehow.

I know for certain that we have definitely not done anything to install any DSP on any song or into any playlist --- unless it has gone in somehow in the background without our knowledge.

David

 

[Lt. Bob]

In our case we can only listen once a playlist has been rendered, we can not add or edit anything, because pressing the Playlist Edit button shows a message stating that nothing can be done to a rendered playlist.

yeah, that's different than my issues.

I know for certain that we have definitely not done anything to install any DSP on any song or into any playlist --- unless it has gone in somehow in the background without our knowledge.

David

And that's how I feel too ...... but I think there might be some of those DSP's .... like the limiter .... that can get put on a song in realtime when you are recording something to the Masterlink in the first place. So it might be possible to have something like that going on without realizing I've set the DSP to be on.
I actually mean to call a Masterlink guru I know but I have so many gigs it'll be next week before I can find time.
If you want, I'll add this to the list of things to ask. You can just let me know if you figure it out before then.
I do know that if you record in anything other than 16bit.44.1k ..... it'll have to render it before you can burn a CD. That still should affect the original playlist though.

 

[cspsound]

Lt.bob,

If you could ask your friend that would be great.

Last night I re-installed the OS and then very rough mixed a few songs into a new playlist (24bit 48K) then burnt a redbook CD from the playlist (I did not try to go to the 17th playlist). After the CD was created I went back to the test playlist and it shows that it has been rendered and can only be played. Excatly as I have been experiencing before the re-install.

I also discovered last night that if I put a CD (a commercially purchased CD) into the CD tray and play the CD, it plays back at almost double speed, unless I stop the CD and manually change the settings from 24bit @48K to the standard redbook settings of 16bit @44.1K. I am sure that I have NEVER had to do this before.

I am now thinking that something VERY strange has happened to my unit or that there has been a major corruption within the OS somehow.

Maybe it's time to take the unit to the "hospital", only problem being that I am not sure if the people at the Australian Distributors for Alesis would have the technical repair knowledge to find the problem.

David