How many simultaneous tracks can I record?

ra · Post by ra » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:05 pm

Hi all, I am new to Live 5, it will be here at the end of the week (with an Onyx 400F), and I have been checking this forum and am amazed at the helpfulness of the users.

I am certain the tutorials will give me an answer, but my imagination is running and I want to know ahead of time what is possible so as not to be disappointed.

So, will it be possible to record two or more tracks of audio along with midi evnts (through firewire) and also use the usb port for other midi events, all at the same time?

Also, can anyone rcommend a good midi tutorial on the web? Digital audio is not new to me, midi is. I am looking forward to exploring live's capabilities, this product really looks to be the best (for spontanaeity!). Cheers,

Michael

err_fatale · Post by **err_fatale** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:16 pm

depends on your processor speed (CPU), Front Side Bus (FSB) speed, hard drive speed and cache, and the speed and amount of RAM.......all of it....

basically the more powerful your computer, the more it can handle

what are your machine's specs????

ra · Post by ra » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:27 pm

I've got a powerbook Mac G4, 1,33GHz, 768MB ram, 60GB hard drive. Probably a little wimpy?

Meef Chaloin · Post by **Meef Chaloin** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 11:42 pm

i havent tried it but i can't see why you wouldnt be able to do what you are asking. live 5 is a bit power though, bare that in mind. I think you should be able to do what you are saying on your spec though, and probably a whole lot more (ive never tried live on a mac though, i have to say).

Give the demo a good thrashing, i think you should be able to do all you want to with that, test it out.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:13 am

Multitrack recording on multipurpose computers is not recommended for harddrives that run at 5400 RPM (depending on the samplerate, 44100 will yield more, 96000 way less). You probably won't want to record more than a couple of instruments at a time (depending on the processing consumption of your plugins also), unless you have a 7200 rpm. After that, it'll depend more on Processing power, Ram, & Samplerate. I'd venture to guess that on your system, you'd not be able to track more than 4-5 at a time using 48000kHz, 24-bit, if you're system was optimized, and you were recording plugs that aren't hardcore monsters like Reaktor.

As an example, the Mackie HDR24/96 was originally delivered with a 5400 RPM drive and can record 24 tracks, but it's only designed for one thing. It's not running background processes that utilize valuable power and memory that aren't needed, like your computer is.

ra · Post by ra » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:07 am

Ah-ha. All very helpful. Would having a separate Firewire hard drive (at 7200) for only audio files be helpful? I would imagine having the app. on the internal drive is best, using the second (I would imagine faster) drive for recorded files. I wonder if this would cause any probs with the Mackie interface.

Obviously, I will just have to experiment, but I certainly don't want to run out and spend a lotta money on drives or other things if I am not sure it will work. Anybody out there using the Mackie Onyx 400F with a daisy-chained hard drive? Are the Glyph drives over-priced, unneccessary?

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:27 am

Actually, it's better to distribute as much as you can. For instance. Put your System on one hd, Swap on another, Samples on another, and Record on another. That's actually how i have mine, and it smokes. I realize that with a laptop, it's not actually possible, but for recording, it's definitely going to help you out.