Recording software for 896?

brogoff · Post by **brogoff** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:13 am

I'm only a hobbyist so please take it easy on me.

I have the original 896 with a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck connected to the inputs through a pro-quality RDL line level converter. The 896 is connected to a Dell Poweredge 400SC server with a dual 300Mhz cpu motherboard and 3GB of RAM running XP Pro SP2. It has a Texas Instruments Fireware PCI card with the right chipset.

I want to transfer my cassette recordings to digital at 96Khz, 24-bit resolution. Up until now, I've been recording at CD-quality audio (44.1Khz/16-bit) using Cool Edit Pro. Unfortunately, Cool Edit Pro doesn't support 24-bit recording.

I've tried Goldwave but I can't get it to record from the 896. It can monitor the input signal, but pressing the record button results in an empty wave buffer. The Control Properties dialog box has a tab that allows you to select the Volume device but none are listed for the 896.

I've also tried Sony Sound Forge 8 but can't get it to even monitor the input.

Does anyone have a recommendation for recording software that works but won't break the piggy bank? Thanks much,

Barry Rogoff
Nashua, New Hampshire

lmoe · Post by **lmoe** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:11 am

I have gotten GoldWave to record my 896HD at that rate. Did you load the driver. Try reinstalling it. If you don't have it you can get it at MOTU's web site.

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:15 am

I'm not understanding why you need 24/96 if you're coming from cassette? There will be no sonic advantage to this at all. Are you wanting multi-track, or just stereo editing?

brogoff · Post by **brogoff** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:16 am

lmoe wrote:I have gotten GoldWave to record my 896HD at that rate. Did you load the driver. Try reinstalling it. If you don't have it you can get it at MOTU's web site.

The problem seems to be that the "Cue/Mix" console app in the latest set of MOTU drivers doesn't work with the original 896. I wish I had an 896HD instead.

Barry

brogoff · Post by **brogoff** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:23 am

BradLyons wrote:I'm not understanding why you need 24/96 if you're coming from cassette? There will be no sonic advantage to this at all. Are you wanting multi-track, or just stereo editing?

There's a global large community of people who transfer rare recordings from cassette to digital and it's generally accepted that one's raw wave files should be recorded at the highest possible sampling rate and resolution.

I've compared a cassette track recorded at 44.1/16 to the same track recorded at 96/32, then downsampled and converted to 44.1/16. Even with my degraded hearing (too many concerts), I can detect a distinct difference. Unfortunately, I don't have a 32-bit device yet, so I'm stuck with 24-bits.

Barry

lmoe · Post by **lmoe** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:22 am

I meant the FW console. It should show up on the 896 (I had one, too!) In the control panel you need to set up the MOTU as your main sound card. After I did so all programs will see the MOTU as it's device.

brogoff · Post by **brogoff** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:34 am

lmoe wrote:I meant the FW console. It should show up on the 896 (I had one, too!) In the control panel you need to set up the MOTU as your main sound card. After I did so all programs will see the MOTU as it's device.

Thanks for following up on that. I've managed to get both Goldwave and Sound Forge to record from the 896 at 48KHz/24-bits. The problem turned out to be the "Samples Per Buffer" parameter in the MOTU Audio Setup application. The correct number is 512. I found that solution in another part of this forum.

Barry