Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre -Sound Forge - PC

Subject:Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre Posted by: Will_3 Date:12/3/2010 1:56:01 PM - We have SF 7 & use it to record voice over work. - We also have two (never used) Motu 8-Pre multi-channel sound units. - We are considering upgrading from 7 to 10 My Questions: 1 - Will SF7 (or 10) work as multi-track recorder with Motu 8-Pre units? 2 - Can we just connect 'em both up and recorde 16 channels at once? 3 - If we buy another can we do 24 channels at once? 4 - How much of a PC does it take to keep up with this? Will a 1.7Ghz XP Pro PC with 1GB of memory do the trick? 5 - I see upgrading from 7 to 10 is gonna cost us over $150... is it worth it or will 7 do most everything? Have there been any major improvements worth the extra money? Thanks for any help.
Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre Reply by: Chienworks Date:12/3/2010 2:19:42 PM At some point Sound Forge evolved from being a 1 & 2 channel editor to a multichannel editor. I don't remember at which version, but i'm pretty sure it was after 7, so you'll probably have to upgrade. Simple to test ... create a new file and see if you can assign it more than 2 channels. Assuming you can get more channels ... i haven't tried multichannel recording, but if each of the Motu inputs is addressable in the sound mapper you should be able to set each channel to one of the inputs and then record away. Most folks would probably use Vegas for this rather than Sound Forge.
Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre Reply by: jackn2mpu Date:12/3/2010 2:26:31 PM Soundforge is NOT a multi-track recording program; never has been. At best all it does is two tracks at a time. For what you want you're going to need a daw program. Seeing as how you're strapped both money and computer power wise, I'd suggest Reaper. It's essentially free as the $40 license fee is essentially optional; all it does is get rid of the once-a-day nag screen that comes up. And if you're going to be using more than 1 audio interface at a time you're going to need the Asio4all drivers, particularly if you want low latency operation. To tell the truth, with a computer as low-end as you have I doubt the firewire bus will be able to keep up with 24 tracks of audio at once; even 8 tracks from 1 Motu unit will probably strain it. Jack
Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre Reply by: Geoff_Wood Date:12/3/2010 5:15:17 PM Yes, you can record lots of channels with SF10. But you should not think of them as tracks, as you cannot easily subsequently mix them within SF. Sound Forge is an editor , not a DAW. If you want to do that, you need a DAW such as Acid or Vegas , though SCS won't admit Vegas can be a DAW ;-) . Or another companies application. geoff
Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre Reply by: Geoff_Wood Date:12/4/2010 11:33:42 PM ... or........ Yes, just like you can write a book in Excel ! geoff Message last edited on12/4/2010 11:34:08 PM byGeoff_Wood.

Subject:Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre

Posted by: Will_3

Date:12/3/2010 1:56:01 PM

- We have SF 7 & use it to record voice over work.
- We also have two (never used) Motu 8-Pre multi-channel sound units.
- We are considering upgrading from 7 to 10

My Questions:
1 - Will SF7 (or 10) work as multi-track recorder with Motu 8-Pre units?
2 - Can we just connect 'em both up and recorde 16 channels at once?
3 - If we buy another can we do 24 channels at once?
4 - How much of a PC does it take to keep up with this? Will a 1.7Ghz XP Pro PC with 1GB of memory do the trick?
5 - I see upgrading from 7 to 10 is gonna cost us over $150... is it worth it or will 7 do most everything? Have there been any major improvements worth the extra money?

Thanks for any help.

Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:12/3/2010 2:19:42 PM

At some point Sound Forge evolved from being a 1 & 2 channel editor to a multichannel editor. I don't remember at which version, but i'm pretty sure it was after 7, so you'll probably have to upgrade. Simple to test ... create a new file and see if you can assign it more than 2 channels.

Assuming you can get more channels ... i haven't tried multichannel recording, but if each of the Motu inputs is addressable in the sound mapper you should be able to set each channel to one of the inputs and then record away.

Most folks would probably use Vegas for this rather than Sound Forge.

Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre

Reply by: jackn2mpu

Date:12/3/2010 2:26:31 PM

Soundforge is NOT a multi-track recording program; never has been. At best all it does is two tracks at a time. For what you want you're going to need a daw program. Seeing as how you're strapped both money and computer power wise, I'd suggest Reaper. It's essentially free as the $40 license fee is essentially optional; all it does is get rid of the once-a-day nag screen that comes up.

And if you're going to be using more than 1 audio interface at a time you're going to need the Asio4all drivers, particularly if you want low latency operation. To tell the truth, with a computer as low-end as you have I doubt the firewire bus will be able to keep up with 24 tracks of audio at once; even 8 tracks from 1 Motu unit will probably strain it.

Jack

Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:12/3/2010 5:15:17 PM

Yes, you can record lots of channels with SF10. But you should not think of them as tracks, as you cannot easily subsequently mix them within SF. Sound Forge is an editor , not a DAW.

If you want to do that, you need a DAW such as Acid or Vegas , though SCS won't admit Vegas can be a DAW ;-) . Or another companies application.

geoff

Subject:RE: Can u multi-track record with SF7or10 & MOTU 8 Pre

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:12/4/2010 11:33:42 PM

... or........

Yes, just like you can write a book in Excel !

geoff

Message last edited on12/4/2010 11:34:08 PM byGeoff_Wood.