ironbut

Sound great! I look forward to hearing what you come up with. One thing that might not be immediately obvious regarding these pro audio boxes, the needs and priorities for them are different and as a result, the devices used are almost never the audiophile approved ones. One of the main concerns that studios have is the number of times a signal is sent through the digital and analog section. Say, if you record a session with 8 microphones, each signal is routed to an ADC but you need to apply an analog limiter after a digital eq to the 3 drum feeds and an analog compressor after a digital delay to the vocals. That means that 4 of the signals need to be converted back to analog, sent through the outboard processors and back into the box through analog returns. They in turn need to be sent through the ADC again to be mixed and recorded in the digital realm. That mix must be monitored in the analog world where we all live. The resulting digital, multi track file will be tweaked and adjusted in post production where more of the channels could be sent and returned to other outboard analog processors. So again, another trip in and out of the box. This is about the point where the mixing engineer will finish his work and send the digital files off to be mastered. Once in the hands of the mastering engineer, this whole process will need to be repeated again and even more trips through a different box. The results need to be predictable and consistent no matter how many times the signal is sent through a these devices. Slight colorations in op amps that make them pleasing to the ears may not be so nice if you had to go through that same device 10 or 20 times. As a result, it seems like designers for studio gear tend to be conservative and use devices that aren't the latest and greatest but rather ones who've been proven to work when layered endlessly and are compatible with a large variety of studio gear. This probably has nothing to do with your current project, but I thought I'd throw that out as a point of interest.

Hey Mark, The unit I have is an different from jp and Al. Mine is an earlier version called the ULN-2+dsp. I know that a pal of mine has been inside of the ULN-8 and I'll be visiting him in a couple of days up in Wa state (DocB). If I can remember, I'll ask him which converters it uses. In the meantime, here's some pic's of the guts of mine a while back (bear in mind, mine was designed back in 2001 and is 24/96). http://img842.imageshack.us/i/img0172it.jpg/ http://img571.imageshack.us/i/img0171l.jpg/ http://img822.imageshack.us/i/img0173l.jpg/ http://img571.imageshack.us/i/img0177e.jpg/

Hey jp, Of course it depends a lot on how much metadata you want to enter (it's easier to enter track numbers, genre etc in the iTunes "get info" window IMHO). But if you just want a simple file name, you can do that in the Finder window just like any other file. So, if you keep it simple, I'd say you could do a normal album in 15 minutes or less. Just keep everything in the same folder so you don't have to move from folder to folder till you're done. Sound wise, it's at least as transparent as WE. There's really very little processing involved since it doesn't really change the original file if you just drag and drop the selection back into the Finder window. You could just cut out(select) a track, drag and drop it into the finder (making a new file), click on that new file (which opens it), double check that your fades and cuts are accurate, then drag that back into the Finder window, rename the file and you're done. If you wanta change the format to BWF, Apple lossless, Mp4, flac or Mp3, you set the desired file type in Preferences and use the "export" button instead of dragging and dropping. Give it a try though,.. you won't believe how fast you can do this kind of stuff in Snapper.

BTW, with many of these programs that you use with big ass files (24/96-192) your Mac's memory can quickly get clogged up. I always keep the Activity Monitor icon in my Dock set to system memory so I can monitor when it does. If your Ram gets full your computer will default to virtual memory (HD) and processing will slow down and you can even end up getting crashes. Here's a little shareware program that I use to clean out memory between projects; http://www.activata.co.uk/ifreemem/ After installing/openning it, an icon will appear in your toolbar and you just click on it to drop down the interface. It seems to take about a minute to do it's thing.

I know that some of my pals here are transferring their vinyl collections to digital. Most are using some kind of DAW to split, trim and perhaps add fades to the resulting files which are usually the size of an album side. I'm a big believer in "less it more" in audio and that goes double for editing digital. Light weight programs tend to sound better, are much faster and above all, are a breeze to learn. To that end, I have 5 different programs that I use for audio editing/processing depending on what needs to be done. I could have one DAW that does all that (maybe lacking one or two of the functions) but they tend to be what folks call "bloatware" and have 100's of uses that I don't need (Logic, Sound Designer etc). So, back to the needle drop thing. A program that I use to split and trim live recordings has just come out with an updated version and I think it would be perfect for needle drop fans. It's called Snapper 2 and it's made by Audio Ease. It works with OSX's Finder and the latest version enables you to adjust fades and easily trim your selections either before or after you export or drag and drop to a new file in your finder. The interface/waveform is much nicer now and it's easy to customize to your tastes (I like a slightly transparent window just 'cause it's cool!). Snapper 2 is $79 USD but you can try a 100 day unrestricted demo for free. Here's a link to the video tutorials and video manuals (btw, the "what's new" is the only place to find the info on trimming and adjusting fades) http://www.audioease.com/video.php?play=2

Hey Tyll, don't forget about the Bottlehead forum. Tons of great info there too! http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php

I attended the NorCal meet yesterday and had a great time. It was kind of a bummer not to see my Headcase pals but as far as the meet goes, I have to hand it to CeeTee for doing a fabulous job of organizing. It ran without a hitch and considering all the "first timers", and the total number of attendees, that was no small feat!

I went to CA Audio show last year and it was pretty fun. Plenty of cool gear but not so much that it was overwhelming. Sometimes at the really big shows like RMAF, CES or the old Stereophile shows (all of which I been to several times), you get pounded with sound, good and bad, till you have a hard time listening to anything but first impressions. That one was small enough that you don't feel rushed and you can do some real "deep listening".

Funny that you should mention Seattle area meets bhjazz. I'm going to be attending one next month. I've been meaning to go up and visit Doc B and check out his new digs (which is where the meet is taking place) so this is a good excuse/time for me to do that. There's actually a small distillery with a tasting room in the same complex!(whiskey, gin and vodka)Talk about convenient! I'm hoping that some of the folks I met when I ran the Headfi room at VSAC will be there too.

Regarding any excess funds, I really liked the way it was done at CanJam LA. I think it was donated to a "rockers with hearing damage" type charity or something. jp could chime in on that but hearing impairment has always been 'the poor stepchild' of many other areas of research in medicine and it's results could very well benefit some of us down the road. In other words, it relevant in several ways. I also think that blowing it all the evening of the meet will eliminate the "cushion" that you'd have for those unforeseen expenses that might rear it's head after everything is said and done.

I think that maybe Voltron/jp11801 and ASR have spoiled us Bay Area meet fans. There's a huge number of meets under their collective belts. Perhaps the lack of an adult beverage list is bumming some of us out!

I looked at that first post a couple of days ago and couldn't believe it! A photo of the parking lot check out and the parking pay machine! There is such a thing as information overload. With all that crap it's hard to find the vital info that it's there for.

Try switching tubes, cables, channels on your source to isolate the problem. Also, take your set up into a distant room and try it there. It could be airborne digital or something that's leaking into your grounds on that household circuit( a different house would be definitive).

Yeah, I was pretty torn between participating to support the guy and being lazy. I guess having my pal Doc B there kinda tipped the scales so I signed up for table space just the other day. I think this'll be the first meet I've attended that I haven't kept up with the postings so this is the first I'd heard of the $10 at the door thing or the donation+raffle. And since I've never organized a meet, I don't feel like I'm in the position to criticize stuff like that. We'll see how it goes.

Ha,.. somehow I knew that Santa would enjoy a little Xmas cheer! I guess I missed this when it made the rounds originally. I gotta say that I enjoyed the shit out of it!

I can't say when the last time was that a commercial made my jaw hit the floor, but this German Sprite commercial did just that! Warning,.. this is a little racy! [url=http://www.1video.nl/video.aspx?sr=1&vid=qV2lSkY_lEGKuvMaDRfS_A]1Video - De nummer

Chocolate bacon? Shit,.. my two favorite vegetables! Amazing photos you guys. Looks like a fantastic weekend!

Great pic's you guys! I sure wish I was there,.. I loves me some Cuban pork!

It seems like Zu has been on a big push lately (I'm guessing they got some new financial backing or something). You might tell 'em that you're doing an evaluation and see if you can get a raincheck. Heck, all they can say is no!

I got an email from Zu Audio and while I'm not in the market for speakers at the moment, I know that some of you guys liked 'um at RMAF. Some of their speakers are close to 40% off! Home - Zu Audio

Yup. I think that the independent CanJams are very important to our headphone addiction too. I've been part of the speaker/audiophile world for a long time but I really think that there's an energy and enthusiasm in the headphone world that's faded there. I also think that a larger percentage of headphone folks are hearing deeper into the mix and believing their ears more than what reviewers say. There's a lot of so called audiophiles out there that are reluctant to say that they love or hate something until such and such reviewer says it's gold or shit. The powers that be in the audio world are well aware of this. Coverage of events like RMAF is a balancing act between maintaining credibility with their target audience and keeping their advertisers happy. I really can't see criticizing them for trying to keep their careers and the audio industry healthy. That usually leads to a conservative approach to big events and if they choose to champion something (read, stick their neck out) it's usually a particular product or technology. Remember that this isn't a hobby for these folks,.. it's their jobs. Overall, I'd like to think that there's enough room to have both types of events. RMAF is all about gear, gear, gear. Where the independent CanJams are a gathering of the community. I'd like to think that CanJams will always happen as long as there are folks willing to organize them. I can't see that there has to be some kind of "Official" involvement.

Hot off the presses from HD Tracks: Paul McCartney and Wings,.. Band on the Run in 24/96 uncompressed (not like the master that the original lp was). Sounds absolutely fantastic![ATTACH=CONFIG]3853[/ATTACH]

Ha-ha,.. now I see. I met Steve in Chicago and thought he was Dan! Duh,.. my bad!

Yeah, I'd have to say "not ready for prime time" on this one for now. I thought it sounded pretty good but very buggy. Not too surprising given it's not much more than a beta release at this point. I'll give it another try on down the line. I still find the sound of Pure Music better and for the most part, Amara is better still but much more money. It would be nice if PM locked in hog mode like the Ayrewave does on launch.

Nice pic's Steve. The lamb shanks look yummy! BTW, isn't that Dan Lavry on the right in the first pic (the fellow you think is named Steve)?