Protools Transfer - Sound Degradation. Technical Questions

Hey guys, a bit of a multifaceted question here, could start off an interesting discussion with any luck.

I'm working with an MBox 2 and a MPC4000 LE (with no 8 outs or SPDIF) I've been running through an analogue mixer into protools and if I leave all EQs flat and make a good recording into protools It seems to me as if I've already lost a little of the crispness of the MPC4000. There are many things that could be behind this as I'm sure your aware but I'm looking for the best possible way of transfering sound across as I still like to do all my sampling and basic beat making in the MPC. If I upgrade and get a SDIF output card for the MPC will this bypass the D/A converters in the Mbox? How valuable is the SDIF card soundwise.

Does the 4K make better audio recording than the MBOX2 analogue imputs? I could keep using the 4K to record and then bounce long samples across on the SPDIF and into the MBOX...

Keen to know other users opinion on the DA converters in the MBOX 2? I don't have a heap of money and can't really afford a digi002 and the 8 out expansion card at the moment so that option is out for me.

The other option I have considered is a Joe Meek Mono DA converter with a built in Valve stage, compressor and EQ + mic Pre Amp - Sounds like a alot of good s**t in one box - Or a waste of money - You tell Me? I could bus into protools through this and tweek my drum sequence drum by drum on the way in. plus warm it up with a bit of valve -oh baby.

Hope you get the gist - I don't have any specific question just wondering generally about work flow and what gear is cheap and gets the job of bouncing to computer done for you guys - Any advice appreciatied.

Cheers

Why not get the original WAV files from your MPC4000,
and the WAV files after you've loaded them into ProTools,
and put them in an audio editor programme and see what the actual difference is -
flip the phase of one, add them together and see if they cancel (i.e. are identical) or not.
Look at them in a spectrograph plugin and see if things are altered or missing.
Your ears may well be right.... but it does no harm to try and be quantitative
about your suspicions before spending money on something...

i know what you mean, me and my roomie, who had protools and now is onto logic with that apogee interface did a couple test. seems like it depends on the interface cause mbox is doo doo, but with the digi 002 i have, its not as bad but still some loss.

Another option.

You should be able to track out each sequence of the MPC 4000 into a .wave file via the "Record" mode

The MPC 4000 can record as a WAV file what is coming out of the MAIN outs'. Why not just record what you are
tracking out on the MPC 4000 itself, and then transfer those WAV files over to the ProTools. That way you can
going out of the 4000 and into the computer all together. Less Digital to Analog and Analog to Digital translations.

If you are worried about everything being synced. The MPC 4000 has a feature that it will start recording
when it receives a Midi Note on a designated channel. You could set it up so that the Midi Notes is on the
first Step of the Sequence, and then all the .wav files will be started at the exact same time. You should
the be able to use Ak.Sys to transfer them to the PC and load them all up in Pro Tools and do your Pro Tools
magic....

Cheers,
Dave

renegadebliss wrote:Another option.

You should be able to track out each sequence of the MPC 4000 into a .wave file via the "Record" mode

The MPC 4000 can record as a WAV file what is coming out of the MAIN outs'. Why not just record what you are
tracking out on the MPC 4000 itself, and then transfer those WAV files over to the ProTools. That way you can
going out of the 4000 and into the computer all together. Less Digital to Analog and Analog to Digital translations.

Damn, thank you for sharing that Dave! I hadn't even thought about doing that. Although I'm not really noticing any loss of quality in what I'm transferring over, this will certainly serve as a solid plan B in the event that I do.

renegadebliss wrote:If you are worried about everything being synced. The MPC 4000 has a feature that it will start recording
when it receives a Midi Note on a designated channel. You could set it up so that the Midi Notes is on the
first Step of the Sequence, and then all the .wav files will be started at the exact same time.

I've used this method to sync things before, and it seemed to be fine

Thanks For the input guys. Appreciated.

I have to confess that the board has inspired my to try and get ak.sys running without much success. I'm running a new Imac.

Has anyone seen a link about installing and running aksys with mac?

Cheers Guys

If you have a cd burner in your mpc, you could burn a cd and then load the cd in your iMac and find the bounced down tracks and then import them to your desktop.

I use aksys on the mac in classic, panther, and tiger. Not sure about Leopard.

If you can't install aksys on your computer and you have an intel iMac, why not try installing windows on your iMac and running aksys in parallel?

Thanks For all your input much appreciated...

get an SPDIF card


it changed my world

My Imac runs pro tools and AK.sys just fine - it's not as organized as the ak.sys for PC but it's ok. You can certianly drop files from your mpc onto your mac and then import them into pro tools easily. you may also want to download "audacity" for your mac - it's a free sample editor that has some features missing in your Pro tools, including free MP3 encoding and the ability to read and convert 32bit files.
Peace
Fader

thanks again for taking time to respond - Have bought and installed a SPDIF card now - Makes life a whole lot easier!!! Funny thing is tracking in through the desk and adding effects on the way into protools also had it's advantages..c'est la vie. .One of the best things actually about the SPDIF is that to take drum samples off ITUNES and wav's from the computer is so damm easy now it's not funny. All I can say is go the SPDIF card option if your considering it!

Okay - found out the real problem - the MBOX 2 is shit!!! Gone up to the 003 but still not really feeling the DA converters on the new Digi design stuff. The original mbox witht the focus rite pres go for nothing now and still sound good...