Shoot! Now I've really done it...

[arkjack]

Well after commenting on Dave's laments of having to tackle the ins and outs of new gear, I wound up in a heap of trouble of my own . For those that don't know or have CRS, my studio has been pretty much powered by Boss equipment, that I call the digital boxes with the analog feel. Br864 and Br1600, and the Fantom.Well its that time of year to clean up hard drives and check that stuff is backed up. So the BR1600 has some files that are too big to burn down to a CD for transfer and in order to back up the files I have to connect it to a PC via USB. I have my old laptop, which isn't that old and only a tad underpowered. Anyway, I cleared a spot in my continually cluttered studio space where I set the laptop on top of the cassette recorder monitor, and the screen is right next to the BR, and handily connected via USB. I just made a little P-Touch label for the laptop... "Pandora's Box" . So aptly named because what I did was connect the PC into the recording chain opening the door to all the possibilities of integrating software with the BOSS system and creating, mixing and editing in the box with the soft switches. YIKES!So having opened the box, I am now asking for some advice. I have SONAR LE already loaded in the laptop. I am looking at Pro Tools LE or Mpower as an alternative. I lean a little towards ProTools, since it is a widely used standard, and it appears I can have a PC version at the studio, and a MAC version at the office for compatibility and portability.I am scared to death to jump into this cold murky deep pond, but I see the benefits of mastering the software for future collabs. Meanwhile as I take this plunge, I see a big drop coming in the creative side.... Any advice, comments, suggestions would be appreciated. ArkJack

[mazz]

I don't see why you can't use the computer to transfer files and continue to use the Bosses, even for collaborations. It takes a bit of time to transfer the files but then you're working in a familiar, comfortable environment.The benefit of going to Pro Tools is that you can open Pro Tools sessions directly, otherwise your collaborators would have to bounce their tracks before sending them to you (IMO not a bad idea anway).On the other hand, a hybrid approach is kind of cool. You can record on the Bosses and enjoy that familiar, quick workflow and then transfer to the computer for performing tweakage that would be impossible on the Boss units. Then you could transfer those tracks back for mixing or mix in the computer.Change is inevitable but it can be gradual if managed properly. Hope this helps and doesn't muddy the waters too much!Mazz

[arkjack]

On the other hand, a hybrid approach is kind of cool. You can record on the Bosses and enjoy that familiar, quick workflow and then transfer to the computer for performing tweakage that would be impossible on the Boss units. Then you could transfer those tracks back for mixing or mix in the computer.That is the approach I intend to be using, plus I think I can figure out a way to have the BR864 which is now the master clock be master over the clock in the PRoTools session, allowing a super session where the tracks in protools are synced with the Boss units and the Fantom plus the drum modules that are resident in the Boss units. I guess the dauting part of it is that it is such an exponential expansion of choices for tracking and mixing it back together. And like you say, I can import a single or multiple tracks from the boss to analyze and manipulate in the visual mode which I can't necessarily do in the Boss units.Thanks for the feedback.ArkJack

[mazz]

Actually you could achieve what you want with a simple MIDI interface connected to the computer. You run a MIDI cable from the master unit to each of your slave units, including the computer (might need a THRU box, again not a big deal). The slaves get set to "slave to MIDI clock" or whatever the command is in each unit, and off you go. The master unit will control the stop/start, etc. and the slave units will locate using MIDI bar/beat data and everyone will sing together!Where it gets a bit more complicated is if you are trying to do digital audio amongst several units. If you can keep the audio in the analog domain, for instance, the output of your Pro Tools interface in to a mixer of some sort along with the Fantom and any other outboard gear, you'll be better off, at least until you get some more technical chops under your belt. You can submix in Pro Tools and mix back to the Boss through the mixer or directly depending on how you set it up. As I said, it's a bit more complicated but doable if you have any kind of a mixer. When you get that far I can draw you a picture.Have fun with it!Mazz

[arkjack]

Hi MazzThanks for the great ideas. Let me pick your brain a little more. I understand what you are saying completely, by syncing up the BR864 as the master clock (8 tracks dig), slave the BR1600, (basically 16 tracks dig), salve the Fantom (16 tracks MIDI), and slave Pandora's Box with Pro-tools LE (32 tracks dig and 16 tracks midi). I laread sub mix the Fantom into the 864, and then the 864 output submixes to the 1600. Seems like I can easily submix the protools output from Pandora into the 1600 and mix the whole batch in the 1600 (if I choose).Your thoughts bring up the question which you may not know off the top of your head, but I was thinking of getting the Mbox2 mini as the I/O interface for Pandora, since that comes with Protools LE. Do you know OTTOYH whether that has the capability I need to have a midi cable in that will sync the protools clock to the other units? Or, should I be thinking more along the lines of a Mackie digital mixer?ArkJack

[arkjack]

Well..... the saga continues. After determining that my laptop doesn't have the right guts to run protools, I looked at my options. I already have Sonar on the laptop loaded and I spent the evening tweekeing the setup. After fighting with it a while, I went on the web and found the Sonar LE owners manual,......... which is only 670 pages..... Though it has evrything I need to know, it is the scenario I dreaded in the first place..... 600 pages of a manual to read before I can really start a new recording..... ArkJack

[nickbatzdorf]

Not enough information to answer the poll! What's the story that led up to the question?

[ginstl]

arkjack, In regard to Sonar manuals: I hate tech manuals and only resort to them when I'm really stumped on how to do something. Sonar manuals have alot of repetitive stuff in them.I found that the best way for me to get up and running was to use the manual from the help section in Sonar itself and just "read as you need".That way you learn the software step by step as you need to use the different features.Hope that helps.Greg.