Cycling 74 » Topic: mbox playback and audio

mbox playback and audio

artmusicsouth — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:54:05 +0000

I browsed through the archives but couldn’t find this topic. Pardon me if I missed it though.

I ma currently using an mbox as my interface. The work i am doing has both audio signal transformation (reverb, delay, etc.) as well as playback of auio files. I have just realized that the input/playback knob affects both the sudio and soundfile signals. I am not sure if there is another way around this as it would be optimal to have those outputs on 2 different channels. Does anyone have any thoughts regarding this?

Re: mbox playback and audio

btovsky — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:42:16 +0000

On Feb 22, 2006, at 2:54 PM, Mark Chambers wrote:

> I have just realized that the input/playback knob affects both the
> sudio and soundfile signals.

are you talking about an mbox 1 or 2? on the original mbox there was a
knob that let you mix between your input and the computer output, as a
way of combating latency delay. if you’re using the computer to play
back
audio files with fx and combining those with say a live guitar, and
you don’t
need to process the guitar signal within the computer, this knob can
be very
handy in mixing between the direct live signal and soundfile playback
without
the sometimes annoying latency delay incurred within the computer.
hope this helps
cheers
bruce

bruce tovsky
http://www.skeletonhome.com

“Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it..”
Philip K. Dick

Re: mbox playback and audio

artmusicsouth — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:56:07 +0000

Its the old mbox. The FX are for transoforming the live instruments while the soundfile playback is not to be transformed at all. They are to be presented as they are. The flute and piano will be monkeyed around with during the work though.

Re: mbox playback and audio

btovsky — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:32:06 +0000

there are several ways you could configure this. one is to route the
instruments to a mixer before hitting the computer, so that you can
more easily control the balance between the live and processed sound.
this is strictly for flexibility purposes, as you can cludge this
with the
mbox if you want. this is assuming that you want the unprocessed
sound mixed with the effect. if all you need is the processing then do
your mixing in the computer and take the latency hit. depending on
the structure of the music this might or might not be problematic -
if for instance you have a lot of quick rhythmic passages things could
get messy. if it’s a lot of legato stuff you’ll not have as much
noticable
lag. a lot of us using computers have learned to work with the issues
of latency. i work with granular effects that depend on buffers, and
they
have latencies that can go up to a second or so. you learn to
anticipate…
cheers
bruce

bruce tovsky
http://www.skeletonhome.com

“Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Douglas Adams

Re: mbox playback and audio

artmusicsouth — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:48:04 +0000

The issue is really the mix between the tape and the live processed sounds. Having the playback and processing on the same channel is not the way to go for me on this work. I was just wondering if I need to get something that will output the two signals independantly of the input/playback nob.

Re: mbox playback and audio

btovsky — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 16:17:32 +0000

sounds like the hardware mixer option would be best for you.
you might try using the mixer sends to feed the live sounds to
your computer, do your fx processing, and then bring the
processing and soundfile playback back through the mixer.
unfortunately, the mbox only has stereo outputs, so you won’t
be able to have the soundfiles and fx independently available
unless you go mono on those returns.
cheers
bruce

bruce tovsky
http://www.skeletonhome.com

“Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it..”
Philip K. Dick

Re: mbox playback and audio

artmusicsouth — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 16:33:44 +0000

Should I get something like the m0audio audiophile or something else?

Re: mbox playback and audio

Stefan Tiedje — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 20:46:38 +0000

Mark Chambers wrote:
> The issue is really the mix between the tape and the live processed
> sounds. Having the playback and processing on the same channel is
> not the way to go for me on this work. I was just wondering if I
> need to get something that will output the two signals independantly
> of the input/playback nob.

What about using Max? As the Mbox has only two outputs, it can’t
differentiate between FX and tape (sound is sound). Put a gain~ between
the FX and dac~ and another between Tape and dac~. Then you can set it
to your needs. The deluxe version would control these gains with a Midi
fader box.

Stefan

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Re: mbox playback and audio

artmusicsouth — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:07:27 +0000

You are right Stefan. I actually had been doing that but as this is my first Max work I am not working at performance audio levels at this point (I should) and I have got to figure out reasonable audio levels. Thanks guys for your help.