Fostex FD-4 to computer
David Figge
people, so I thought I'd ask a question myself.
I recently got a Fostex FD-4 with a 250M Zip drive (which, BTW, I'm enjoying
a bunch). Although the Zip cartridges aren't real cheap, they provide a
system that's infinitely expandable, which I like.
I'd like to take advantage of the 'digital signal on a removable cartridge'
concept, and take the cartridge to my computer, plug them into the Zip
drive, and manipulate the tracks there.
Is there anything out there that can read in Fostex's formatting and
translate it to something editable on my PC? Obviously, converting it back
ultimately would be a nice feature too :-).
If anyone has a solution, I'd be interested.
Thanks in advance,
David
Professor Pickle
> Is there anything out there that can read in Fostex's formatting and
> translate it to something editable on my PC? Obviously, converting it back
> ultimately would be a nice feature too :-).
I think all us Fostex FD-4 (and FD-8) owners
would like to see this, but it's probably all up
to Fostex, since the data is saved in a
proprietary format. I'm getting ready to do
the "next best thing," albeit in a bouncy way:
I just got a Turtle Beach Montego II Home
Studio card for the PC, and it has optical S/PDIF
ins and outs. So, I can at least bounce-mix,
and bounce back, and stay almost within the
digital domain (the FD-4 mixer should be the
weak link, I suppose).
--
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Professor Pickle
> >I think all us Fostex FD-4 (and FD-8) owners
> >would like to see this, but it's probably all up
> >to Fostex, since the data is saved in a
> >proprietary format. I'm getting ready to do
> >the "next best thing," albeit in a bouncy way:
> >I just got a Turtle Beach Montego II Home
> >Studio card for the PC, and it has
>
> please tell me more about this sound card. Like costs?.............. ease
of
> use?
I got this setup for ~$165.00 USD from
buy.com (I paid a bit extra to have it sent
overnight air... $18). Easy enough to install,
but I am having issues with playing WAVs
and MP3s right now (just got it installed
about an hour ago, though... will explore
support options later in the week).
I was a little miffed that it didn't come with
the "toslink" optical cables for the S/PDIF
connections, as the Turtle Beach site
(conveniently located at www.tbeach.com)
mentions S/PDIF cables being included; to
be fair, they did included the *coaxial*
S/PDIF cables, but they look suspiciously
like regular RCA-type audio cables. These
are not supposed to be robust enough for
the high-frequency data screaming through
them, but I have not tried them. I ordered
a couple of toslink cables instead, and will
wait for them to arrive before connecting
the FD-4 to the card.
I'll update everyone here on my support
issues... their website made reference to
known issues with AMD K6-2 systems and
the VIA chipset, so I'm a bit concerned
there. Hopefully I won't have to send it
back, as it seems really promising. The
analog audio coming out of the (powered)
speaker out was dead quiet. I was cranking
the Altecs, expecting to hear the old
familiar AWE64 hiss... damn near jumped
out of my skin when the CD track started! :)
More to come...
Fuzknight1
>would like to see this, but it's probably all up
>to Fostex, since the data is saved in a
>proprietary format. I'm getting ready to do
>the "next best thing," albeit in a bouncy way:
>I just got a Turtle Beach Montego II Home
>Studio card for the PC, and it has
please tell me more about this sound card. Like costs?.............. ease of
use?
thanks............
Caruso
it to your Computer through your soundcard I use a SB PCI64 gold with
digital stereo I/O.I use Cool Edit 2000 it is only $69.Cool Edit 2000 has
all kinds of effects,reverb,echo,de-esser,flanger,compressor ect.After you
get it right send it to a cassette deck from the stereo out on your
soundcard or burn a CD right from Cool Edit 2000. If you want to use
mastering mode 1 you will have to get a better and faster SCSI drive like
the Syjet or Ezflyer or large SCSI Ultra fix disc.The 250 zip is to slow for
mastering mode 1,mastering mode 2 does not have the L&R tracks for easier
mastering you only have half a FD4 without the correct SCSI Drive. Caruso!
"David Figge" <dav...@uswestnet.com> wrote in message
news:kR%n4.266$pK3....@sea-read.news.verio.net...
> Been lurking here for a while, and you folks seem to be a lot of help to
> people, so I thought I'd ask a question myself.
>
> I recently got a Fostex FD-4 with a 250M Zip drive (which, BTW, I'm
enjoying
> a bunch). Although the Zip cartridges aren't real cheap, they provide a
> system that's infinitely expandable, which I like.
>
> I'd like to take advantage of the 'digital signal on a removable
cartridge'
> concept, and take the cartridge to my computer, plug them into the Zip
> drive, and manipulate the tracks there.
>
> translate it to something editable on my PC? Obviously, converting it back
> ultimately would be a nice feature too :-).
>
Chris G.
Professor Pickle <pickle...@mindsprung.com> wrote in message
news:87qu94$uh2$1...@nntp9.atl.mindspring.net...
Yeah coaxial cables are just another term for RCA cables. You can get
thicker gauge heavy duty RCA cables though. But on a post a long time ago
on the subject over on rec.audio.pro, it was determined that signal loss is
not much of a concern when using coaxial cable unless you're running ungodly
lengths of cable.
Cool, you're using Altec Lansing PC speakers too? I have one of them with
the center subwoofer and it kicks total ass! I love them. Their not real
accurate, but their good as a secondary reference speaker set and they're
might fine for just listening to music with.
Chris G.
David Figge
is to mix down to stereo analog input to the sound card). I guess a
digital-based sound card is a good option (the FD4 does have the requisite
S/PDIF outputs). I dunno, seemed like a zip disk carried back and forth is a
logical extension of using Zip, and has less data transfer and all. That way
I could edit the originals (clean 'em up, etc) before bouncing (or
whatever). A digital sound card would work, but isn't as easy.
Actually, I haven't done extensive tests, but the 250M Zip seems to work in
Mastering Mode 1 without problems (it is a SCSI Zip drive). Other than
cost/MB (and 4-6 songs/cartridge), I haven't seen a downside to the Zip.
And, for the level of serious that I am (not too), it seems to work great.
Thanks for the suggestion
David
Caruso <Caru...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:38a18708$0$46...@news.freeway.net...
sticky gerbil
Prof.... let me know if you can use the fd4 as a straight digital mixer...
some instruments mixed into the computer digitally.
I'm looking for something cheap for PC recordings.
Professor Pickle
> Prof.... let me know if you can use the fd4 as a straight digital mixer...
> some instruments mixed into the computer digitally.
> I'm looking for something cheap for PC recordings.
I haven't tried that, but I'm guessing you
might only be able to route two inputs to the
L/R bus at a time... just a guess. Also, to be
clear, the mixer in the FD-4 is not digital --
it's analog all the way, but supposedly a very
quiet board (I've noticed no problems, but my
ears are not those of a seasoned pro).
Professor Pickle
> Yeah coaxial cables are just another term for RCA cables. You can get
> thicker gauge heavy duty RCA cables though. But on a post a long time
ago
> on the subject over on rec.audio.pro, it was determined that signal loss
is
> not much of a concern when using coaxial cable unless you're running
ungodly
> lengths of cable.
Yep, I'd surmised as much. Of course, if
I wanted to tear down my stereo, I have a
set of $150 75-ohm RCA connecters that
connects my preamp to my amp, but... :-p
I think I'll wait for the optical cables, anyway.
I waited this long... what's a few days?
> Cool, you're using Altec Lansing PC speakers too? I have one of them
with
> the center subwoofer and it kicks total ass! I love them. Their not
real
> accurate, but their good as a secondary reference speaker set and they're
> might fine for just listening to music with.
They sound better than the high end boom
boxes I've heard, *especially* with this TB
Montego II card. Man, what a difference from
the AWE64! I have the ACS45 system, with
subwoofer. They sound great with this new
card... I thought the powered speaker system
was the source of the hiss and distortion. Not
so.
Oh, and btw... my issues with not being
able to play WAVs and MP3s? That was the
VIA drivers for my Tyan Trinity S1590S mobo
being out-of-date. Gosh, I feel stupid, but I'm
not a hardware tweaker. :) I'm still relieved
that the problems were so easy to resolve
(fixed a host of other freaky Win98 issues I
was having, too).
Chris G.
Nope...transfering with a ZIP drive back and forth between the computer and
the FD-4 more then likely won't work either. I believe I remember reading
that the FD-4 has its own format that PC's can't read. Also I think it was
Simply Steve or one of the other computer experts here that noted that PC's
will write data on the ZIP disk that will totally screw your FD-4 ZIP disk
every time you read it on the computer. Something to do with the windows
operating system.
At any rate, if you try this, don't do it with any songs that you value.
Chris G.
David Figge <david...@centurasoft.com> wrote in message
news:quio4.324$pK3....@sea-read.news.verio.net...
Professor Pickle
> Nope...transfering with a ZIP drive back and forth between the computer
and
> the FD-4 more then likely won't work either. I believe I remember reading
> that the FD-4 has its own format that PC's can't read.
That's correct. Even if you buy pre-formatted
Zips (PC or Mac), the FD-4 will have to format
the disk to make it usable.
> Also I think it was
> Simply Steve or one of the other computer experts here that noted that
PC's
> will write data on the ZIP disk that will totally screw your FD-4 ZIP disk
> every time you read it on the computer. Something to do with the windows
> operating system.
Oooh, that's ugly. I don't recall seeing
*that* in the documentation (and that'd be
a nice thing to put in big honking letters on
the first page, wouldn't it?)...
sticky gerbil
>
> I haven't tried that, but I'm guessing you
> might only be able to route two inputs to the
> L/R bus at a time... just a guess. Also, to be
> clear, the mixer in the FD-4 is not digital --
> it's analog all the way, but supposedly a very
> quiet board (I've noticed no problems, but my
> ears are not those of a seasoned pro).
>
2 inputs to the out put would be ok, as long as
it can be done with a live input. Not really looking
for a serious PC setup, just a nice external converter
box. How much time do you get on a zip disk with this
machine?
David Figge
What's needed (and what I was hoping existed -- doesn't look like it) is a
driver or program that would recognize and interact with the Fostex format
disk, and allow you to copy it from a Fostex format track to (say) a wav
file and back again. One could (in theory) write a driver -- similar to the
standard Zip disk driver -- that would recognize a Fostex format disk as
well and convert. However, if the Fostex format isn't published this would
be pretty hard.
David
Chris G. <chri...@txdirect.net> wrote in message
news:sa575l...@corp.supernews.com...
>
> Nope...transfering with a ZIP drive back and forth between the computer
and
> the FD-4 more then likely won't work either. I believe I remember reading
> that the FD-4 has its own format that PC's can't read. Also I think it
was
> Simply Steve or one of the other computer experts here that noted that
PC's
> will write data on the ZIP disk that will totally screw your FD-4 ZIP disk
> every time you read it on the computer. Something to do with the windows
> operating system.
Professor Pickle
> 2 inputs to the out put would be ok, as long as
> it can be done with a live input. Not really looking
> for a serious PC setup, just a nice external converter
> box. How much time do you get on a zip disk with this
> machine?
Well, if you're just concerned with using
the FD-4 as a mixer, I'm not sure the Zip
capacity makes that much difference. But
a Zip will hold about 17 track-minutes --
that's about 4.3 minutes if you use all four
tracks -- in Master Mode One (44.1 kHz
sample rate @ 16-bit).
David Figge
Mastering Mode 1, and about 80 minutes in Normal Mode (33 kHz sample rate).
Because it's good enough for me, I use Normal, giving me about 20
song-minutes (4-6 songs/cartridge). I wouldn't have considered Zip 100 as an
option, myself.
David
Professor Pickle <pickle...@mindsprung.com> wrote in message
news:88059u$dfq$1...@nntp4.atl.mindspring.net...
Caruso
disc FD4 formatted, and trying to put the disc in your windows formatted zip
drive of your computer.I tried this as a experiment it only locked up the
computer and I had to manually shut down.It did nothing as far as to hurt
the music on the FD4 formatted disc.Fostex is suppose to have come out with
some sort of new format or software for the FD4 to record all four tracks at
once, two digital and two analogue,but you can only send a L&R mix to your
computer,because that's all the FD4 has L&R RCA outs and monitor L&R RCA
outs.Caruso!news:cvEo4.376$pK3....@sea-read.news.verio.net...