[ArnoldNL]

So I've got a couple of soundcards:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 i/o (firewire)
Tascam US-2000 (usb 2.0)
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (usb 2.0)
EMU 1212 (PCIe)

I'm setting up a mobile recording unit with a friend of mine to try and record local bands. I've got a pc running Windows 7 x64 with maxed 32gb ram and core i7... I was wondering if there's any way to run all the soundcards simultaneous (or at least the Saffire and the US-2000) so I can record all the inputs at the same time...

I know a Mac can aggregate multiple cards, but is there something sortlike in Windows? :huh:

 

[ArnoldNL]

Any chance Asio4all would make it work?!

http://www.asio4all.com/

 

[AudiocRaver]

I'd say there is a fair-to-good chance you can get them working together. I have run 2 USB interfaces on the same PC before, Win 7-64. They will have to all be running the same kind of drivers, i.e. all asio - the DAW will generally only work with one driver system at a time - but that should not be an issue with those interfaces.

Here is how I would approach it:

• Install 1 at a time, get that combination working before installing the next.
• ASIO4ALL should be a help
• carefully work from outside to inside: driver settings, DAW sample rate, then asio settings from your DAW's asio panel, then the DAW I/O settings
• sometimes you have to go back and forth several times between the asio panel and the port selection for the DAW; example:
  • -DAW - delete existing ports
  • -quit the DAW & re-open
  • -asio panel: select device and ports
  • -close, quit the DAW and re-open
  • -DAW - select ports, close and re-open
  • -asio panel - reselect something that didn't lock in before, close & re-open DAW
  • -reselect the DAW i/o ports, close & re-open
  • -etc
  • You will think you have done it just right but the I/O you want doesn't show up; so you do it over and close and re-open and do it again in the asio panel and after about 4 more times of doing the same thing again and again and quitting and re-opening.... suddenly it is all there and works just fine (and once there it will stay there). Frustrating, but that is what it takes sometimes.
• Your overhead with multiple devices will be higher, but it sounds like you have a hot machine, too. Don't expect the lowest latency. But for tracking live, you just want clean tracks, low latency is not really an issue unless you want to overdub or add tracks later on.
• you probably know this, but... when installing the driver for each interface, do the installation without the device plugged into the usb port, then plug in the device last

Sounds like fun. Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out.

 

[ArnoldNL]

Thank you AudiocRaver, now that's some good instructions!

I'm gonna try it out and let you know if it worked out!

 

[ArnoldNL]

YAY, It's working Thank you so much, now it's time to try and make a living with it

real easy if you ask me:

Set Asio4all as the audiodevice in your DAW, a trayicon pops up where you (in advanced mode) can activate all the soundcards you want to use. Then in you DAW make sure all inputs/outputs are assigned to their destination and go with the flow

 

[AudiocRaver]

I am glad it went smoothly. It seems that the USB 2.0 interfaces & drivers are getting better at cooperating with each other. And ASIO4ALL definitely helps tie it all together.

Best of luck going forward.

 

[AudiocRaver]

How is that live recording rig working out? Are you able to capture clean tracks, no dropouts or glitches?

 

[ArnoldNL]

Did test it live yet. Had some glitches along the stress-testingroad, but it was all Microsoft's fault for releasing too much useless stuff in their OS.... completely stripped down the OS, it's running like a dream again

Recordings are on it's way (5th of october first live-gig recordings for a good friend of mine, fingers crossed!)

I'll keep you guys posted!

 

[AudiocRaver]

Did test it live yet. Had some glitches along the stress-testingroad, but it was all Microsoft's fault for releasing too much useless stuff in their OS.... completely stripped down the OS, it's running like a dream again

Recordings are on it's way (5th of october first live-gig recordings for a good friend of mine, fingers crossed!)

I'll keep you guys posted!

Hey, that is great info. I assume you mean the "turn windows features on or off" panel.

If you have the time, could you give us a list of what you left active, or maybe a screenshot of that panel with all the subcategories expanded out? I have struggled with that over the years, wanting to turn off unneeded features for a music production focus, but not wanting to totally cripple the machine. Any main capabilities you had to sacrifice? Networking, etc?

Anyone else have experience in this area they can share?

 

[ArnoldNL]

Well, the main thing is to use as less programs as possible, really stick with your DAW, it should be the only program that is in use after all....

- Things like chipsetmonitoring or powermanagement aren't really necessary for a pc to operate. So I deleted those, a high preforming processor should do just fine on it's own, shouldn't it?

- Keep your registery as clean as possible (by using freeware like RegCleaner).

- TURN OFF WINDOWS AERO! It'll look like you turn back to looks of your OS to the early 90's, but it saves a lot on your processor and RAM!

I've looked up a lot on the Tweakers website, there are just a few simple steps that can save you a lot of power for your DAW that involve turning off windows-functions that involve printers, scanners, autorun-features and so on.... The windows service-manager gives detailed information on why this program is inplemented in your OS.

My PC contains a virusscanner and a DAW with certain VST's.... NO INTERNET, i'll use my laptop for that...

Just keep in mind: Windows needs certain services to keep itself running, but there are a lot of features which you don't use when creating a recordings-based computer. Always start your stripping-session with making a backup of your system, so you can always go back when something fails or won't work out...

 

[AudiocRaver]

One key for getting best performance for glitch-free tracking seems to be:

• All networking turned off - control panel > device manager > network adapter > disable.
• All antivirus turned off.

Turn on antivirus before turning the network adapter back on. Disabling/enabling the network adapter is quick, clean, effective. Working through the Network Connection Center is not nearly as clear cut.

 

[Gusss]

Asio for all works reasonably well. Then theres JACK for windows as well.