Question regarding Cubase/Logic routing and KX

dawkorn · May 13, 2003, 08:30 AM

To anyone who can offer a suggestion, please do.

What im trying to do is,
Utilize the cleanest "what you hear" path to real-time record my vsti synths to an audio track, as im creating them.

The reason for this logic is based on info ive read from a musician named BT, who suggests that midi has too much latency, and he prints all his real-time performances using his softsynths directly to audio.

Well, this is possible using the sblive, but there is a problem that I have only one solution for, and I think there may be better.

The problem is that, since all audio coming thru the card, i have routed into the asio 0 and 1 or 14\15 channels, my metronome clicks (using the sblive onboard synth) and all the other additional audio tracks get printed to the audio file im creating.

What would be optimum, would be to be able to hear the metronome and all audio tracks in my project, but only be recording the selected soft synth onto the record-activated track.

IS there a routing that can offer this?

The only other solutions Ive got are to:

1. Use my external keyboard as a metronome triggered by midi (which doesnt seem sample-accurate)

2. Use the motherboard audio codec on my Asus P4PE and its soft synth to generate the metronome click and route the completed audio tracks of my project thru the motherboard audio, thereby only using the live card for the soft synths.

Any Ideas?

Thanks!

Gonzo · May 13, 2003, 01:22 PM

Take a look at:

http://www.internet.com.uy/rere/main/index.htm

I've developed some setups for various recording situations.
I think that for your specific needs, you could benefit from using the "general purpose", "vocal" or "guitar" setups, because they all allow you to monitor certain signals (metronome in your case) without recording them.
The only thing that you'd have to change is that I didn't include the SB Synth but you could take its output from FxBus pins 13/14 and route them to my mixer.
Take for example my Mixer 4X2SA, take your SB Synth metronome out (FXBus 13/14?) and insert them in R1 in the mixer.

Then set:
FX1-FX2 to 0%
RCL-RFX to 0%
RMON-FMON to 100%
MonLevel to 80%

You should be able to record your signal while at the same time hear the metronome without recording it.
Better still, if you position the FX1-FX2 fader somewhere around 50% you should be able to hear the metronome and at the same time put some reverb to the input signal, while recording just clean!
It's just an idea, maybe you find different ways to do it.
Good Luck

Gonzo

tdmusic · May 13, 2003, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dawkorn
The reason for this logic is based on info ive read from a musician named BT, who suggests that midi has too much latency, and he prints all his real-time performances using his softsynths directly to audio.
[/b]

What BT is talking about is recording from actual external MIDI instruments.. e.g. a hardware synth.. as the MIDI signal takes time to get to the synth.. and this time varies randomly, so you have a mess of timing rather than just latency. So he'll create a MIDI part, then as soon as it's right, record that down to audio and from then on work with it as audio.

There's really no need to do this with VSTinstruments, as the *only latency is that of your soundcard.. there are no cables to travel down. Of course, if you want the flexibility to cut up your synth parts in audio, then record them down.. or bounce the tracks down to save CPU.. but it isn't neccessary. The best way to do this, I reckon, would be export the track to audio, rather than record in realtime - it's quicker, won't stutter and there's no external noise whatsoever.

But if you can't actually hear any problem.. don't just do it cause BT says to do it. Just concentrate on getting your sound tight

(Btw, I duno about the answer to the actual question of how to just record the softsynths hehe.. unless you output the softsynth to a different ASIO out and then record that to Wavein.)

~Tom

Gonzo · May 13, 2003, 10:23 PM

Well...
Again...using the Mixer 4X2SA and looking at the picture from the recording setup, you can send the output of your VST synth to FxBus ASIO 6/7 (assigning it in Cubase to this pair of outputs) and use R1 in the mixer to feed the metronome signal from the SBLive Synth (FxBus 13/14.)
Then, setting the faders as I've outlined above you can record the clean output of your vsti while at the same time hearing the metronome and (why not?) use the other free return bus to hear any realtime FX chain (reverb, filters, distortion) that you wish to add to your signal.

Gonzo