Machinedrum into Live

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:27 am

Ok. So I am ready to buy my first piece of hardware (well, besides an Oxygen8) -- only I have no idea how I am going to feed the audio from Machinedrum into Live. I gather that most of you prefer a Motu 828, but I am hoping to spend as little as possible, especially after paying a hefty amount for Machinedrum.

I will soon be running Live 3 on Panther with a tiBook, 768/867.

Would M-Audio's Audiophile be a good option?

http://www.midiman.net/products/m-audio ... ileusb.php

Thanks,

Jonathan

emef · Post by **emef** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:35 am

doesnt machine drum have a bunch of audio outs?

be a bit of a pisser to spend a £1000 on a drum machine then plug only 2 channels into your laptop

audiophile is 2 channel in i think.

you will have to spend to make use of all your machinedrum channels

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:57 am

Eeeck, you are right. Machinedrum has 6X audio out. I guess this is the part where I am a confused idiot -- a sales rep at Elektron uses a M-Audio Duo, with only 2 channels....soooo, ur, um, I'm weak in my maths. Using 2 channels is like...hearing only 30 percent of Machinedrum?

chunc · Post by **chunc** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 1:14 am

having multiple outs doesnt allow you to "hear" more. its just a little bit more convenient.

for example, lets go through both situations:

you only have 2 ins on your sound card.

then, you have 2 options: sending a drum mix in stereo of your drum pattern from the machinedrum.

or

recording each drum track separately, so you can further mix inside ableton.

if you had lets say 6 ins, you could program 6 different sounds to each output, and then do multitrack recording instantly, thus having 6 simultaneous tracks inside ableton.

personally, i always had 8/8 sound cards, but rarely used the additional ins.

i never minded recording each sound separately, and it saved on the confusion of additional cables.

nonetheless, realize that with the higher i/o cards, you also get higher quality because they go for a more pro market.

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 1:46 am

thanks chunc (and emef)

I guess I can see the point of a MOTU 828. Of course I was always under the impression that a 'soundcard' was installed internally in a laptop...Any suggestions for an inexpensive 6X or 8X audio imput something would be welcome...

Cheers.

Mbazzy · Post by **Mbazzy** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 7:55 am

<sigh> anyone wants an arm or a leg for his machine drum ...lol ... damned I love that thing ... if only I could afford it ... People who have ànd Machinedrum ànd Live should be banned from any/this forum <major envy>...j/k

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 2:25 pm

Hey there.
I found that the MD and Live really make a powerfull combination. Forget the multiple ins stuff. I guess that a 8 ins card is very useful but not necessary. (unless you are recording a drum set or so). You can record one track at the time. Besides, what you get from the extra outputs in the MD are dry signals, which are pretty useless if you don´t have outboard fx. The only drawback of working with 2 ins only is that if you want to process the sounds independently later on you have to rec one track at the time. But it´s dead easy with live. And it increases the creative potential cause this way you can tweak your sounds while you record which results in a more expressive beat.

About soundcards, I guess any will do the job. Of course that high end cards (eg. motu) will give you better performance and preamps, but if all you need is a simple audio interface, any will do. I went with an echo indigo io. It serves my purposes well and it performs flawlessly. The major advantage of a multi in card is that you can bypass a mixer and plug your hardware directly there reducing noise and clipping.

just my 2 eurocents

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 5:02 pm

I was all smiles from that last post...until I read the last line. Does that imply you use a mixer along with the Echo Indigo?....Sorry for being extremely newbie-an.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 7:43 pm

basically I mix the signals before going into the computer and monitor through the soundcard. When I decide to record I mute all the other tracks and record only the signal I want. Many will say that by mixing on the computer you will lose sound quality but I´m done with DATs and really can´t afford a 5000$ analog desk.
If you have a 2 bus mixer you can plug you card there as well and listen to the PC along with hte other gear. One bus will be your main out or monitor out and the other will be connected to you card input. This way you can direct the sound (of the MD in this case) to the main output or to the soundcard input. As I said the advantage of a multi input card is that you won´t need a mixer for this (unless you need more than 8 inputs) and you´ll reduce the artifacts introduced by the mixer (you can go around this by plugging the gear directly to the soundcard when you record). But you will loose portability this way. I´m not sure if macs have PCMCIA slots, but I found the indigo cards the best in terms of portability.
good luck on your choice!

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:03 pm

thanks a bunch guest.

I will probably run out and buy the Indigo, as my TiBook does have a PCMCIA slot. I'm sure a search on this forum will retrieve 200 contrary opinions on which soundcard to buy, but saving the cash to buy MD is difficult enough and I cannot afford much more than that.

Cheers.

ocp · Post by **ocp** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:08 pm

Check out the new HERCULES 16/12 FW at www.hercules.com. It should sufice and it is cheaper than the competition. You could also consider an Emagic A 6|2. It has 6 ins/2 outs and a MIDI facilitie.

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 9:26 pm

thanks ocp.

if anyone else is wondering, the hercules lists at USD $599 and the emagic is $299 (sam ash). seems like the emagic A 6/2 is a perfect match for MD...(yes I am aware that someone will contradict this opinion in about 10 seconds)

cheers.

Jonathan Binns · Post by **Jonathan Binns** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 9:34 pm

or maybe i will contradict myself -- i know emagic is owned by apple, but i don't see any evidence that they have updated the A 6/2 driver to panther. could they be notoriously slow at getting around to that?

emef · Post by **emef** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 12:33 am

check that echo indigo card before you buy it, it has 1/8 inch audio connectors on it, if ya gonna pay that sort of money you might be better going for something similarly priced that has 1/4 inch jacks or rca phonos.

i`m not a fullon audio maniac but its gotta be better to use a card with 1/4 inch jacks.

skiptracer · Post by **skiptracer** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 2:24 am

i hear bad things about the 2/6. i also hear bad things about USB soundcards in general. you can get a discount on the Firewire 410 from ableton. that's not a bad option. otherwise the Indigo I/0 or DJ should be fine if you're planning on only recording one channel at a time. the 410 would give you 4 inputs, but it depends what you're doing.

if you're playing live with only the machine drum, multi inputs is a great idea. but if you're just gonna be in the studio and on the go etc., just get an indigo.