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 | | | | Feb28Written by:Garry Simmons
Sunday, February 28, 1999 6:00 PM  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, Emagic, Steinberg, Canam, C-Mexx, Minnetonka and more. This roundup includes standalone control applications (Patch, LUI and C-Console), multi-track audio programs (MxTrax and Quartz Studio) and MIDI sequencers with digital audio (Cakewalk, Cubase and Logic).
I see DSP Factory support falling into three broad categories:
Standalone - These are separate programs for controlling the card. You run these programs at the same time as your favorite audio application. Standalone support allows you to run audio applications that have no support for the DSP Factory and still get full access to the power that the card provides. It can be a little funky running two apps at once, but sometimes a specialized tool is just what the doctor ordered.
Add-on - These programs have basically added new windows to an existing application to control the DSP Factory. The new windows are part of the audio application, but the support feels like a few new windows tacked on top of the old application. There is nothing wrong with this approach since it may be the only sane way to add support for the DSPF to an app with a complicated architecture.
Integrated - This category includes programs that have tightly integrated support for the DSP Factory. These apps make you feel like you are using a system. You shouldn't spend much time thinking about routing and setup issues. I think many people, especially newbies, are going to prefer integrated support since it hides a lot of the complexity of getting a multi-track audio program to talk to a mixer. The danger of making things easy is that flexibility/power can be compromised in the quest for ease of use.
So with no further ado, let's take a look at the programs advertising DSP Factory support. My review of these applications is limited to an overview of what the program is/does and a closer look at DSP Factory support in particular. Since the DSP Factory has no MIDI support, my use of these programs will be limited to audio only.
DS2416 Patch
Yamaha has provided the "Patch" utility as a free download from their web site:
(http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/proaudio/homeenglish/technical/download.htm)
Patch is not intended to be a full-blown control application. It's basically a standalone utility for turning channels on and off and controlling signal routing. You run Patch at the same time as your favorite audio application. Patch has the somewhat unique feature that it constantly updates its display to reflect the current state of the DSPF card. This can be VERY handy for trying to figure out what another DSPF app is doing with the audio routing.
Patch provides the common tabbed dialog (AKA Property Sheets) interface. Patch has four tabs labeled "Master & InPatch", "Assign", "OutPatch" and "DIO". Let's examine what the controls on each tab provide. Yamaha added a PDF file to the Patch download that describes how to use the utility. I'll hit the high points here and let you read the manual for the gory details...
The "Master & InPatch" tab provides you with on/off controls for the 24 input channels, the 8 bus send master, the 6 aux send masters and the main stereo output. By default all channels/masters are Off (i.e. the mixer is totally dead on startup). Click on the gray box below each number to turn the channel/master On (the box turns green).
Each of the 24 input channels also has an input source selector and a pan control. As I mentioned in my review, you can select between four input "banks". The input bank button is labeled "PCI" by default for channels 1-16. If you click on it, a list appears that lets you select the input bank for the channel. PCI refers to the playback drivers used by your audio application to send sound to the DSP Factory. The pan control is the small slider control found under the input source button. The pan slider turns red when centered or panned hard left/right. It's yellow when set to other positions. Notice that all the pan controls (even the effect returns on channels 21-24) are panned to the center by default.
The next tab is the "Assign" tab. This tab provides a big array of buttons for turning the various channel sends on and off. Each channel has 8 bus sends, 6 aux sends and the stereo mix send. If you want to hear or record anything, you'll need to turn some of these sends on for each channel. By default, all sends are OFF. You have no control over any of the send levels.
The third tab is the OutPatch tab. This is where you hook up the mixer's outputs to the recording drivers and physical I/O. The mixer outputs are listed along the left side of the patchbay (Bus 1/2, etc.). The drivers and I/O are listed along the top of the patchbay. By default, the stereo mix is sent everywhere. Move the orange dots to the intersection between the mixer output and destination that you want. It's somewhat obvious that a mixer output can be sent to several destinations at once (more than one dot on a row), but that a destination can be fed by only one source (only one dot per column). Ignore the various I/O columns if you don't have any AX44s (or upcoming AX16) installed.
The last tab is the DIO (Digital I/O) tab. This tab controls the master clock settings and the digital I/O settings. Here's where you select the clock source and digital output format (consumer or pro). You also get a lot of feedback on the sync status (actual sample rate, lock and sync status, digital input status). One last item is a pair of buttons that let you turn the LED on the AX44s on and off. I wasn't sure what good this was, but then realized that it's an easy way to tell which AX44 is connected to which IO port on the DS2416 card (if you have 2 AX44s).
Summary: It doesn't do a whole lot, but it's free. If all you need is some signal routing control (for use with stereo wave editors for example), then it will get the job done. You don't get any control of levels, EQ, dynamics, or effects, so I expect that most people will be looking for something more full-featured.
LUI for the DSP Factory
In the course of reviewing the DSP Factory, I realized that the world needed a simple, affordable way to control the DSP Factory. Something that didn't take over your desktop. Something people could use if their program of choice didn't have built-in support.
So I wrote it...
WARNING: Shameless Self-Promotion Ahead!
LUI (Little User Interface) is available as a free download from the Cakewalk web site (http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/AddOns/). Cakewalk purchased the rights to distribute LUI to better support their DSP Factory users. Detailed info about LUI can be found at my web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/garry_simmons/lui.htm
LUI falls into the "standalone" camp. LUI uses a tabbed dialog box interface and is small enough to fit comfortably on an 800x600 display. There are seven tabs: Input/Output, Equalizer, Dynamics, Aux Sends, Bus Sends, Effects and Global. The first five tabs provide controls for the current channel. The Effects and Global pages provide the controls for the onboard effect units and the master settings (clock, output patchbay, etc.). The Global page also features a bank of meters to show you what is leaving the mixer.
The In/Out tab contains the controls for adjusting channel input and output parameters such as the audio source, the channels "name", input gain, phase reversal, solo and mute, the channel output fader, the stereo mix assignment button and a meter. The EQ page contains all the controls for the four (identical) bands of EQ that are available on every channel of the DSPF mixer. The Dynamics page contains the controls for the dynamics section (many types of dynamics processing are available) for the channel.
The Aux Send and Bus Send pages let you control the channel's feed to the six aux sends and eight bus sends. Aux sends 5 and 6 are hardwired to the DSPF effect units. Aux sends 1 thru 4 can be used how ever you wish. The Bus sends are typically used to send a channel to the recording drivers. Unlike many programs that support the DSPF, LUI gives you control over the bus send level and source (pre or post pan).
The Effects page contains the controls for adjusting the effect parameters on the onboard effect units. You select which processor you want to work with and the default effect type (you have 40 to choose from). Some effect types have as many as 14 parameters (hence the 14 slider controls). Some have as few as three. LUI hides the unused faders. You can click on a parameter value to reset it to the default value for that effect type. The Global page lets you control the Output Patchbay and the clock settings. It also includes a meter bank that shows the post fader output of the stereo mix, aux sends and bus sends.
LUI is built around the concept of a current card and current channel. LUI supports all of the optional I/O units (the AX44 and the AX16), the SW1000XG, and also supports using two DS2416s. You simply select the current card and channel using the drop-down lists in the toolbar, select the tab with the controls you want, and start tweaking. There are 24 input channels plus the Master channel. When you select the Master channel, the first five tabs are controlling the EQ and dynamics on the stereo mix plus the master aux and bus sends. Note that you only need to run one instance of LUI, not one per channel. You can control every channel on two DSPF cards from a single instance of LUI.
LUI's interface has been described by users as "simple, clean and elegant". No doubt others find it flat and boring. C-Console already had the graphical mixer angle covered, so I didn't see any point in re-inventing C-Mexx's wheel. LUI doesn't have sexy graphical controls, just plain old Windows sliders, checkboxes and buttons. A side benefit of using standard Windows controls is that you can use the keyboard to move between controls and adjust the controls. If you're visually impaired or just sick of trying to move your mouse pointer a pixel at a time to adjust a virtual knob, you can use the arrow keys to adjust the slider positions.
LUI provides access to ALL the features of the DSP Factory mixer plus adds a few new twists including mixer snapshots, EQ, Dynamics and Effects presets, stereo linking of odd/even channel pairs and channel cloning (copying all or part of a channel to another channel). LUI uses the Windows INI file format for saving mixer snapshots and presets, so it's a self documenting standard that any other application developer can use and extend.
Summary: No other program provides more control over the DSP Factory than LUI. The one big ticket feature that LUI does not have is automation. LUI's very compact user interface might not be your cup of tea, but then again, it might be exactly what you're looking for. You can't beat the price and it's been rock solid for thousands of users around the world.
C-Console for Yamaha DSP Factory
C-Console ($199 list) is made by C-Mexx (http://www.c-mexx.com), a German software firm. I tried (in vain) to get a release copy of C-Console 1.1 for review, but US distribution was switching from SEK'D to Thinkware at about the same time. I exchanged several calls with Thinkware, but it appears that my request got lost in a black hole or something. So I punted and test drove the C-Console 1.0 demo for this review.
C-Console is the most full-featured of the standalone DSP Factory support options. As you can see from the screenshot, C-Console provides a graphical mixer interface to the DSPF mixer. You don't get full control of the DSPF from this one screen though. There are popup windows for the Master fader, the EQ editor, the Dynamics editor, the Effects editor, the Output Patchbay, and the Phase/Delay window. C-Console also provides automation of the DSPF mixer using its own internal scheme.
The top row of knobs controls the channel input gain (AKA attenuator). The group of four orange knobs is the EQ section. These knobs provide quick access to the gain and frequency settings (using a concentric knob approach) for the four bands of EQ. The blue knobs below the EQ section are the four external aux sends. The green knobs below the blue ones are the aux sends for the DSPF's internal effect processors. The last knob on the channel strip is the pan control. Once you click on a knob, you can dial in the setting you want using the mouse or the arrow keys.
The section below all the knobs contains on/off switches for the channel, EQ, dynamics, solo, and L/R assignment. The channel fader and meter are found at the bottom of the strip. The right side of the mixer contains the master faders for the aux sends and the bus sends.
This section also includes transport controls and location points for working with Samplitude to provide automation of the DSP Factory controls. C-Mexx removed the hooks between C-Console and Samplitude in the 1.1 release in order to provide automation that anyone could use. Since I don't have the 1.1 release, I can't comment on how complete the new automation scheme is, how well it works, or if this part of the console looks different.
The channel bus sends are controlled by selecting View | Routing Mode. This hides the six aux send knobs and replaces them with eight buttons. The buttons change color to indicate the state of the bus send. Your choices are Off (gray), Pre-Pan (yellow), and Post-Pan (orange). You do not have control over the individual send levels, but you do have a master volume fader for each bus.
C-Console provides some "value added" features including the ability to save and restore mixer snapshots as well as EQ, dynamics, and effect presets. C-Console comes with a library of their own presets. The Help file is well done. The graphical display in the EQ window is perhaps my favorite feature. The Dynamics window also has a graphical display, but it's not nearly as cool.
There isn't much to complain about. I'm not particularly fond of the stenciled font they used. The main window takes up a lot of space and that doesn't count the various popup windows you need. The biggest downside for most people is that it lists for $199. That isn't pocket change for most musician types. I saw a variety of bugs (no crashes) in the demo that I hope were fixed in the 1.1 release.
Summary: I liked it. You get complete control of the DSP Factory with a nice enough user interface, automation and preset libraries. I really wish I had the 1.1 release to review so that I could have reported on the new automation capabilities and the bug fixes, but life and ProRec march on. Check it out.
Cakewalk Pro Audio 8.04
Unless you're totally new to music on PCs, you'll know that Cakewalk (http://www.cakewalk.com) has its roots as a DOS-based MIDI sequencer (pre-Windows). Digital audio support was added in version 4. We're now up to version 8 of Cakewalk Pro Audio. Cakewalk Pro Audio provides (somewhat limited) integrated support for the DSP Factory. DSP Factory support is installed by running a patch program from the Cakewalk CD (or downloading the patch from their web site). The patch program installs DirectX wrappers for accessing the DSP Factory processing (EQ, Dynamics, and Effects). You will also need to use Yamaha's Patch utility to control the routing on the DSP Factory since the Cakewalk patch doesn't offer any routing control. The fact that you have to run a separate program in the background to control the DSPF mixer's routing makes using Cakewalk with the DSPF feel less integrated than it could be.
When you launch Cakewalk and open Console View (see screenshot), you will see eight stereo outputs for the DSP Factory (the playback drivers) in the Master section of the Console View. These outputs show up whether you have the DSPF patch installed or not. These eight stereo outputs are connected to channels 1 thru 16 of the DSPF mixer. So far, so good. Assign/pan your Cakewalk audio tracks to the desired stereo output and you're feeding the DSPF mixer. The Master section sports 16 faders for controlling the volume of the audio sent to the DSPF playback drivers.
All effects processing in Cakewalk is accessed by DirectX plug-ins. To activate a plug-in, an EQ for example, right click in the insertion area (the gray area above the meters) and select the DSP Factory submenu (as shown in the screenshot). Note that the insertion area services a stereo pair, not individual channels. This means that the processing you select will be applied to BOTH the left and right sides of the stereo pair. You do not have the ability to apply different settings to the left and right sides of a stereo pair. This imposes a significant limitation in the amount of control you have over the DSP Factory.
A side effect of installing the Cakewalk DSPF patch is that the new DSP Factory menu items will show up in other programs as well as everywhere that DirectX plug-ins are allowed in Cakewalk. This would be great if they really worked like plug-ins, but that's not the case. Your audio still has to leave the program via the DSPF playback drivers and is then sent to the DSP Factory mixer for processing before heading to the soundcard outputs. You aren't really "plugging in" or "inserting" the DSP Factory processing in the middle of your audio stream, even though that's the impression you get. Note that the DSP Factory processing options are invalid everywhere except for the Master Outputs in Console View.
Cakewalk recently added support for the 32-bit audio format used by the DSPF drivers. The 8.04 release contains a new option on the Tools | Audio Options…. | Advanced page. You need to select the "Unpack >16 bit audio" and the "Left Justify Unpacked Data" options to get Cakewalk to talk to the DSPF drivers. You have the option of leaving these unchecked if you are using 16 bit projects in Cakewalk.
Cakewalk users that bought the DSPF weren't particularly happy about the level of support in the program. Some of them purchased C-Console (from C-Mexx, see review in this article) and skipped using the built-in DSPF support in Cakewalk. Cakewalk realized that they needed to support their DSPF users better, so they bought the rights to provide "LUI for the DSP Factory" as an optional, short term solution for their customers. LUI is available as a free download from their web site. Cakewalk has stated that improved support for the DSPF will be provided when AudioX hits the streets. This will also allow Cakewalk to support any hardware that provides DSP processing. Keep your fingers (audio) X'd...
Summary: The Cakewalk DSPF patch is limited in scope and requires you to run Yamaha's Patch utility at the same time to control the routing. If you're going to run another program at the same time, you might as well skip Cakewalk's patch and just run LUI and get full control over the DSP Factory.
Cubase VST/24 3.6
Steinberg (http://www.steinberg.com) has done a fine job of supporting the DSP Factory in Cubase VST/24, a MIDI sequencer with digital audio support. DSP Factory support is only available in the VST/24 version of the product. Yamaha sent me a copy of VST/24 3.6 with my DSPF review unit, so I had a couple months to use Cubase with the DSP Factory. The DSPF support falls into the Add On camp. What you basically have is VST/24 with a handful of new windows for controlling the DSP Factory.
VST/24 installed without a hitch and ran fine for me the whole time I used it. Before diving in and using VST/24 with the DSPF, I would suggest that you spend a half hour and read the PDF document provided on the CD called "Using Cubase VST/24 with DSP Factory". It's a well-written document that describes the DSPF support very clearly. Since DSP Factory support was added on to the base product, you need to understand how Cubase interfaces with the DSP Factory drivers. Essentially, you have the Cubase Audio mixer feeding the DSP Factory mixer. Once you get a handle on the "mixer feeding a mixer" idea, it's no big deal to use the system.
The Audio menu now contains a new submenu called "Yamaha DSP Factory". This submenu contains options for displaying the Input Console, the Channel Overview (my favorite, see screenshot), the Bus/Aux Console, the FX Editor and the Output Patchbay. These windows continue in the Cubase tradition of looking pretty sexy, but they take up a lot of space on the screen. I run my monitor at 1600x1200 and couldn't display all the mixer channels at once for example. Let's take a quick look at what these windows do...
The Input Console is the DSPF "mixer" window. This window contains the 24 DSPF mixer channels plus the master fader. The mixer is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part of each channel contains the channel fader, pan, solo and mute controls, the meter, and either the aux assignment or bus assignment controls. The upper portion of the channel contains nothing (by default), but you can display either the EQ controls or the dynamics controls for the channel. My biggest complaint with this window is its size. The thing is huge. There was no chance of displaying the whole thing, even at 1600x1200 resolution.
The Channel Overview window was my favorite, so I included a screenshot of it. It contains every control there is for a single channel. You can also change the "current" channel from the window. In a way, this window is almost like a Steinberg version of LUI. Lots of control. Small footprint. To be honest, I really wished that the Input Console (in Narrow mode) only had the lower portion with a single button on each channel that would launch the Channel Overview window.
The FX Editor window is where you select and tweak the two DSPF effect unit settings. A simple window with 14 slider controls and a couple combo boxes lets you set effect parameters for both effect units from one window. My only complaint is the lack of an effect preset library here. I would like to be able to save and load effect presets from a librarian type function.
The Bus/Aux Console window contains the master faders for the six Aux sends and the eight Bus sends. There's really not much to say about 14 faders with Mute buttons.
Finally, the Output Patchbay window lets you select how connect the mixer outputs to the recording driver and physical I/O on your system. This window also includes the various clock options.
VST/24 features automation of the DSP Factory controls. The Input Console window (the big mixer window) has buttons that (globally) turn automation recording and playback on. If you want to record your mixer moves, click the Write button. If you want to see the mixer moves happen automagically, click on the Read button. It doesn't get a whole lot simpler than this.
Summary: If built-in support for the DSP Factory is important to you, then, in my opinion, Cubase VST/24 does the best job on the market. It provides full control of the DSP Factory in a functional and attractive manner, it supports 24 bit projects, and lets you automate your mixes. I'd like to see some kind of preset librarian feature added. Yes, using VST/24 will require that you understand the plumbing between Cubase and the DSP Factory better, but that is a small price to pay for the control the VST/24 delivers. Nice job Steinberg!
Logic Audio Platinum 3.6
Emagic (http://www.emagic.de) has provided integrated support for the DSP Factory in version 3.6 of Logic Audio Platinum and Logic Audio Gold. I test drove Logic Audio Platinum (LAWP), the last of the "Big Three" MIDI sequencers with digital audio support. Logic offers support for a single DSP Factory card with two AX44 I/O units. The Audio Extensions page of the Preferences dialog box (File | Preferences) is where you can turn DSP Factory support on and off. The "DS" option turns the integrated support on. You have the option of using "PC AV" mode (which treats the DSP Factory as a regular Windows soundcard) and running a third party application (such as C-Console or LUI) in parallel with Logic.
The screenshot I've selected (above) shows the Audio environment display when you are running in "DS" mode. I realize the screenshot isn't too clear (trying to keep the size down), but you can get a feel for how Logic provides DSPF control. This shot was taken at 1024x768 resolution, which lets you see the first 16 audio channels. You need to scroll to the right to see the four input channels (channels 17 thru 20) , the effect return channels (21 thru 24), and the master faders (stereo mix master, plus other output masters).
Let's look at channel 1. There are two blocks of green rectangles shown. The upper block (six rectangles) is where you plug in DSPF processing such as EQ or Dynamics. Simply click on a blue box and insert the processing you want from a list. The box turns green when you insert something in the slot. You can insert up to six things at once. You may insert (up to) four bands of EQ, one dynamics processor, one attenuator , and one channel delay. As it turns out, that's seven options, but Logic allows you to insert a maximum of six.
The second block of green rectangles is where you configure auxiliary sends. Two aux sends (aux sends 5 and 6 on the DSPF mixer) have been pre-configured as Effect 1 and Effect 2. They are used for feeding the two effect processors on the DSPF. The other four sends are aux sends 1 thru 4 of the DSPF mixer. If you only have a DS2416 card, you get access to aux sends 1 and 2 (called Output 3&4 in Logic). When you add an AX44, the four outputs of the AX44 can be used as Sends (Outputs 3 thru 6 in Logic). Adding a second AX44 does not increase the number of outputs.
Logic treats channels 17 thru 20 as "Input Channels". When you want to record to an audio track (1 thru 16), you select from "Input 1" thru "Input 4" which maps to channels 17 thru 20. You can select which audio source feeds channels 17 thru 20 on the DS2416 Routing window. I couldn't figure out any way to record more than four channels at a time though. I can't help but think this is a bug since LAWP lets you record eight tracks at once in "PC AV" mode.
If you want to listen to more than four live inputs you'll need to sacrifice some audio playback channels (in the 9 thru 16 range). Simply go to the DS2416 Routing page and change the audio source to the desired input (instead of Playback N). When you do this, the "Input" button disappears. If you record this track, the track will contain the audio from the channel source, not one of the "Input Channels".
Logic provides the "DS2416 Routing" window for connecting channels to audio sources and for connecting recording drivers and I/O to mixer outputs. Selecting the desired input source for a channel is easy enough. Selecting the source for the outputs isn't so obvious. The output sources include the mysterious "Input N/N" sources (these are the DSPF buses) and the ambiguously named "Output N/N" sources which actually refer to the Stereo Mix (Output 1 / 2), Aux Sends 1 / 2 (Output 3 / 4) and Aux Sends 3 / 4 (Outputs 5 / 6).
Signal routing issues aside, I have a few other beefs with the DSPF support in LAWP including:DirectX and internal plug-in effects are disabled when you use "DS" modeLogic's 16-bit limit doesn't let you take advantage of the 20-bit converters on the DSPF.You can't select the "Serial" port as the clock (for use with the SW1000XG)
You can't record on more than four tracks at once, despite the blurb to that effect on the web site.No gain reduction meter for the dynamics section
Logic is a very deep and powerful program. You can customize how Logic behaves in many useful and unique ways. An entire book could probably be written on using and creating Environments. Logic is known for having an especially powerful and precise MIDI engine. I didn't get the chance to explore much of the MIDI capabilities of the program, but I really liked what I saw. My only real disappointment was no support for 24-bit audio. The upcoming version 4 will address that nicely and offer many more improvements.
Summary: Emagic has done a pretty decent job of supporting the DSPF in version 3.6, but there is certainly room to grow. I'm hoping that the 4.0 release (just announced) expands on the DSPF support in 3.6. In some situations, you may be better off running C-Console or LUI in parallel with Logic in "PC AV" mode than using the built-in support. Overall though, the support that is provided is well-done and should cover the needs of the most of the users out there. More info on the Logic Audio 4.0 can be found on the Emagic web site. It looks to be a major upgrade to an already fine program.
MxTrax for the DSP Factory
MxTrax for the DSP Factory ($499 list) is brought to you by Minnetonka Audio Software (http://www.minnetonkaaudio.com). I did the bulk of this review using version 2.1, but got a chance to preview the upcoming release (due in March). MxTrax is a multi-track audio program that features tight integration with the DSP Factory. Installation was painless (but requires a dongle!!!). The manual is also well done. There are several demo projects and a tutorial to help you get your feet wet with the program.
MxTrax is based around two windows: the Track Window and the Mixer Window. The Track window is your "tape deck" and Mixer window is your DSPF mixer. MxTrax handles all the messy parts of connecting the two together. The screenshot I've included shows the "split" view with the Track window on top and the Mixer window on the bottom.
The Track window is where your audio tracks live. Audio tracks can use either 16 bit or 32 bit samples. You can mix tracks with different sample sizes, and MxTrax will take care of the conversion (in either direction) to the sample size the project is using. Track view lets you create as many tracks as you want, but only 16 of those tracks can be connected to the mixer at one time. The other tracks are good for saving alternate takes or comp'ing several takes into a single track.
Adding audio tracks is easy. Select Track | Add from the menu to create a new/blank audio track. To put audio on a track, either import an existing WAV file (File | Open) or record live audio from a DSPF input. To connect the audio track to a mixer channel, simply click on the track and drag the mouse to the meter on the mixer channel you want to route the track to.
MxTrax features non-destructive editing. When you record a track, MxTrax assumes that you want to use the whole thing and creates a "region" that includes everything you just recorded. A region is nothing more than a pair of named start/end points in a sound file, so you are free to change the size and location of your regions at any time without affecting the audio on disk. Audio editing in MxTrax is basically about manipulating regions. I don't have the space or time to get into details but the general idea is to move the end points of the regions around, split regions into multiple regions and to move regions around i |
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