When I first started paying attention to digital audio, the popular soundcards were the Turtle Beach Multisound and the DAL CardD+. Stereo analog ins and outs were the order of the day. Then the digital I/O cards arrived, and you could get various combinations of analog and digital (S/PDIF or AES/EBU) ins and outs on a card. Life wasn't too bad on the PC-DAW frontier. Now, not that many years later, we have a bewildering number of soundcard choices. Multi-IO cards featuring eight or more ins and outs of various flavors of analog and/or several digital formats (Lightpipe and TDIF), plus all kinds of new sync options and converter options are available. Most of these multi-IO cards are powered by a DSP of some sort. The soundcard usually comes with a mixer applet gives the user varying levels of control over the signal levels and routing. Many users have wished for the ability to use any leftover DSP power to do audio processing for them, so that they could lessen the load on their host CPU. Which brings us to... Read More »

Apology: When I wrote my review of the DSP Factory (DSPF) hardware, I honestly expected to have this software support article completed by the end of December. Turns out I was very, very wrong. My life has been consumed by the development of my own DSP Factory control program called "LUI (Little User Interface) for the DSP Factory". Then, just as LUI was released, a wicked crunch at the day gig kicked in. I'm finally getting my life back and have some time to devote to ProRec again. Overview This article will focus on software support for the DSP Factory. Software support is a critical issue for DSP Factory owners since the card doesn't come with any software to control it. To re-use my analogy from the review, it's like buying a really powerful mixer that doesn't come with any knobs, faders or switches to control it. Many of the big names in audio software have added support for the DSP Factory to their programs including Cakewalk,... Read More »

There is quite a buzz about the Yamaha DSP Factory these days. The DSP Factory is a PC-based recording system built around the DS2416 soundcard and optional input/output (I/O) components. And with the imminent release of the DSP Factory, the buzz is growing even louder. A listing of the basic features of the card has been available on Yamaha's web site for a while, but detailed information on the capabilities of the card has been scarce. Personally, I'm excited about the card too, so I went to Nashville on a quest to find out some details. I was lucky enough to have Yamaha's Mark Lopez give me a demo of the card at the NAMM show. Mark was then nice enough to spend the better part of an hour with me (on the phone), filling in details I didn't ask about at the show. Disclaimer time… Since the card isn't shipping yet, features and specs are still subject to change… Also note that I have not had the opportunity to use a DSP Factory in my own studio to verify all this works as explained to me… Although I tried to be 100% accurate, I may have accidentally misunderstood something Mark told me over the phone… Your mileage may vary… No salesman will call… Not intended for use on house pets or small children… On with the factory tour!... Read More »

Nearly 600 manufacturers of all things musical crammed the Nashville Convention Center and the Nashville Arena from July 10th through the 12th for the summer NAMM show. There was obviously more to see and write about than space allows, so this report will focus on Soundcards and Software for the PC-based studio, plus Other Cool Stuff. As an aside, I've heard that NAMM stands for Not Available, Maybe May (when referring to the January show). It seems the summer show stands for Not Available, Maybe in a Month. Lots of products were being demo'd that weren't in production yet. I expect most of these products will be on the streets by the time of the AES show in September. PC Soundcards/Audio Interfaces Unless you live under a rock, you're probably aware that the Event Layla is finally shipping. The biggest problem seems to be finding one to buy. Stores can't keep them in stock! Combine a great mix of features at an attractive price point and you've got a winner. I got a pretty thorough demo of the Layla at the Event booth and came away very impressed. Check out the Layla review in the ProRec archives.... Read More »