ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
| Week 3 - Computers 2 |
 |
|
Right, could we have a look at these questions this week?
The letter in brackets denotes who should answer each question.
 Define the following Sound Card driver types and their advantages/disadvantages;
MME
(N)
Direct X
(M)
ASIO
(D)
WDM
(A)
Name the primary differences between 'consumer' and 'professional' soundcards.
(N)
What Hard Drive requirements are desirable in a DAW and why?
(M)
Why have many people tended not to use AMD processors in DAWs? Is this down to the processor or the relevant motherboard chipsets?
(D)
How may an external 'breakout' box be connected to the host PC? Name 3 different ways and describe the benefits and drawbacks of each protocol.
(A)
What is the importance of cluster size for PC based recordings?
(N)
Define the term latency in a PC audio environment.
(M)
How may latency be reduced with ASIO drivers?
(D)
Define the Von Neumann model of PC architecture.
(A)
In a system with a PCI soundcard, is it more desirable to have the graphics card on the AGP or PCI bus?
(N)
Name 2 examples of an optical storage format, and their respective capacities.
(M)
Explain the importance of each of the following factors in a DAW, and what each factor contributes to a DAW;
Amount of RAM
(D)
Hard Drive Space
(A)
Processor Speed
(N)
Explain the following file systems, their associated OSs' and the capabilities of each File System;
FAT
(M)
FAT32
(D)
NTFS
(A)
By the way, if you cut and paste any text from internet sites or books etc, could you please reference it in your message.
It is more beneficial if you attempt to write down your own understandings of the topics rather than verbatim quotes as this will help you get your mind 'around' some of the concepts.
Good Luck, and any questions ask! |
Sun Mar 16, 2003 6:47 pm |
|
|
MIKE_NOSTRADAMUS
Joined: 08 Jan 2003
Posts: 163
Location: Northfork Recording Studios |
| direct x reply |
|
|
Define the following Sound Card driver types and their advantages/disadvantages;
Direct X (M)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/productinfo/overview/default.asp
Product Information
Technology Overview
Microsoft DirectX
Posted: March 18, 2002
Microsoft DirectX® is an advanced suite of multimedia application programming interfaces (APIs) built into Microsoft Windows® operating systems. DirectX provides a standard development platform for Windows-based PCs by enabling software developers to access specialized hardware features without having to write hardware-specific code. This technology was first introduced in 1995 and is a recognized standard for multimedia application development on the Windows platform.
What DirectX Does and How
Simply put, DirectX is a Windows technology that enables higher performance in graphics and sound when you’re playing games or watching video on your PC.
At the core of DirectX are its application programming interfaces, or APIs. The APIs act as a kind of bridge for the hardware and the software to "talk" to each other. The DirectX APIs give multimedia applications access to the advanced features of high-performance hardware such as three-dimensional (3-D) graphics acceleration chips and sound cards. They control low-level functions, including two-dimensional (2-D) graphics acceleration; support for input devices such as joysticks, keyboards, and mice; and control of sound mixing and sound output. Because of DirectX, what you experience with your computer is better 3-D graphics and immersive music and audio effects.
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Windows 2000, and Windows XP support DirectX 9.0; the latest version that Windows 95 can support is DirectX 8.
All my computers use it It asks me to load up direct x everytime I load A new program.
Mike |
|
Mon Mar 17, 2003 12:56 pm |
|
|
|
|
ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
Hi Mike,
what you have there is a definition of the Direct X protocol.
However, there are certain implications for the recordist when using DX drivers in audio programs.
Try to further your findings looking at the following areas:
Latency
Duplex capabilities
Thanks.
_________________
ben@audiocourses.com |
|
Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:10 pm |
|
|
MIKE_NOSTRADAMUS
Joined: 08 Jan 2003
Posts: 163
Location: Northfork Recording Studios |
| direct x resronse |
|
|
One thing I learned on this one is that directX You can't record with it!!
ref= http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
Q: What does it mean when a driver says it is ASIO? MME? WDM? Direct Sound? Which is best...OOOPS, I mean what are the relative advantages of each?
A: Technically, the term "driver" refers to an API, or Application Programming Interface. The API sits between the hardware soundcard and the audio software. When I say driver, I mean API. But don't worry about that, OK?
MME stands for MultiMedia Extension that is a part of Windows that sets the rules for recording and playing back audio. It is typically used since the 1st Windows 3.0 systems as a default. It's slower because it is controlled by the operating system. Each soundcard maker had to write a .DLL file for the card to use the MME. These varied quite a bit in performance. Today, rule of thumb is not to us MME drivers in audio applications, unless the soundcard maker took the pains to develop and excellent driver.
Direct Sound came about around the time of Windows 95. It has the advantage of being able to playback softsynths with faster latency. However, Direct sound cannot record audio, it can only play it back, So if you plan to to audio recording, it is not a good choice. So, you dudes that write me and say "Can't (explicative) (explicative) RECORD!" Check to see if DS is ticked.
ASIO is short for Audio Streaming Input/Output This is an "open standard" developed by Steinberg for minimizing latency with virtual studio applications. where multiple streams of audio are processed. It has been adopted by Emagic and other software makers. There are 2 versions. ASIO 1.0 and 2.0. 2.0 adds the ability to monitor several audio inputs at once.
Time out:
Q) I don't want to mess with all this driver stuff, what can I do?
A) You could go with a stand alone digital multi-track and sync it to MIDI time code so you could use all the great MIDI features of today's computers. With excellent MIDI synths and modules, a good midi sequencer, a hardware sampler and effects boxes you won't be missing much.
Q) What is the thing with Latency everyone makes such a big deal about?
A) Latency refers to the amount it of time it takes from when you press a key to when you hear the sound, when playing a softsynth. A few years ago there were big problems with soundcards that did not support ASIO. The windows MME drivers had terrible latency. Now with WDM and EASI drivers latency is greatly reduced. The improvements over the last year in soundcard drivers actually make playing the faster soft synths a better experience than playing older slower MIDI synths.
WDM K/S stands for Windows Driver Model with Kernal Streaming This is a newer, lower latency driver that allows the application direct access to the "kernal" without going through the Windows OS. This results in latency figure that is fast like ASIO. It was introduced in Cakewalk's Sonar. So if you want to run Sonar, a card with a good WDM driver helps.
EASI This is a driver model developed by emagic which offers speed improvements similar to ASIO. It is also an "open standard" though not as many companies have joined the EASI bandwagon as have joined ASIO's. Works great in Logic.
GSIF This is Gigasampler's driver model, optimized to work with their products, which require extremely tight latency with huge streams. If you plan to run Gigasampler, make sure your card has a GSIF driver. GSIF can only playback audio it cannot record. It is usually used in addition to another audio driver, such as ASIO
Which is the right one to use? 3 main choices here: ASIO, WDM K/S or EASI. Try them all if they are on your system. Use the one that seems the fastest. They should all be close. Typically, if you run Logic, use EASI. Cubase, use ASIO. Sonar use WDM.
Mike |
|
Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:16 pm |
|
|
|
|
MIKE_NOSTRADAMUS
Joined: 08 Jan 2003
Posts: 163
Location: Northfork Recording Studios |
| Duplex capabilities |
|
|
The directX Feature can only play but cannot record from what I've read so far.
ref=http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/may02/articles/q+a0502.asp
PC Music specialist Martin Walker replies: Full-duplex simply means that a soundcard can record and play back signals simultaneously. Nearly all modern soundcards are capable of doing this, although some elderly consumer models may have limitations on the sample rates or bit depths available. Similar restrictions may affect certain USB sound devices, since USB bandwidth isn't sufficient to run many 24-bit/96kHz audio channels simultaneously, for example.
I would take it that direct X doesn't apply here.
Mike |
|
Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:30 pm |
|
|
ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
Mike, you're on the right kind of lines here - the real issue with the duplex is the 'simultaneous' part - is Direct X fully or half duplex?
Also, what are the latency implications of using DX drivers?
Keep up the research!
cheers,
ben m
_________________
ben@audiocourses.com |
|
Tue Mar 18, 2003 2:07 pm |
|
|
|
|
resol69
Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 69
|
| Nancy's answers (some guesses!) |
|
|
Define the following Sound Card driver types and their advantages/disadvantages; MME (N)
MME (multimedia extension) drivers are standard for Windows. The advantage is that they are cheaper than other cards and you may already have one in your PC. The disadvantage is that this is older technology, so these drivers tend to have terrible latencies, up to 750 milliseconds, or three-quarters of a second.
Name the primary differences between 'consumer' and 'professional' soundcards.
1. The I/Os are different. Consumer modes include RCA, S/PDIF and sometimes MIDI inputs. Professional models include ¼”, MIDI and sometimes XLR inputs. This is to match the recording equipment you will most likely be using.
2. The sampling rate varies. You record by sampling many times per second. The more you sample the better quality you get. The standard rate (used when recording a CD) 44,100 times per second. This is called a 44.1 kHz sampling. There is another part of the sample, the bit size. This is the amount of file space used for each sample. 16-bit is better quality than 8-bit. In a nutshell, professional sound cares will offer higher sampling rates than consumer models, giving you a better quality recording.
What is the importance of cluster size for PC based recordings? (N)
Cluster is the increment of space a file will take up on your hard drive. This is determined by your operating system. Say your computer has a cluster size of 10 bytes. An 8-byte file would use one cluster or 10 bytes, so 2 bytes are wasted. In recording the smaller the cluster size, the better. Recording files are large and you don’t want to waste space.
Also the number of clusters determines the FAT (File Allocation Table). If there are 4087 or more clusters, a 16-bit FAT is used. Most new computers now default to 32-FAT to store files. Higher FAT is more efficient because you are using smaller clusters. The more efficient you computer, the happier it is and the better it will record and store your sessions.
In a system with a PCI soundcard, is it more desirable to have the graphics card on the AGP or PCI bus? (N)
The “bus” is the network that allows different parts (memory, external devices, etc.) of the computer to talk to each other. You telephone is an example of a bus, you tap into the network through your jack and talk to other telephones on the network. AGP buses are new technology compared to PCI buses. Based on what I’ve read, here is my conclusion:
Better to have the video on AGP for a few reasons: It's faster and more efficient processing for video, and it leaves all the processing power of the PCI bus to handle audio. By separating the two, you are making the audio (the important part) be more efficient and more powerful.
I'm pretty sure the PCI bus also does a lot of the computer's processing, so the less you bog down the PCI bus (like with video), the better. I’m guessing this will make your DAW’s software run more efficiently.
Explain the importance of each of the following factors in a DAW, and what each factor
Processor Speed (N).
In a Digital Audio Workstation, the processor speed would affect the latency, or lag time in recording. If you computer is slow, the computer will have to catch up between recording the information and playing it through your computer’s output. Also, new recording software needs faster processing times to run. |
|
Tue Mar 18, 2003 5:42 pm |
|
|
Dani
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 35
|
|
|
|
Define the following Sound Card driver types and their advantages/disadvantages; ASIO
ASIO is an audio driver that is compatible with most high end audio solutions. It offers stability and low latency times. It is recomended to buy an ASIO compatible card as it offers the better performance over the other types.
Why have many people tended not to use AMD processors in DAWs? Is this down to the processor or the relevant motherboard chipsets?
Because of a problem with the VIA motherboard chipset, many DAW user chose the Intel Pentium over AMD. The problem came from the VIA chipset having PCI latency issues. It could cause stuttering and crashes. (I know, I've got one!)
How may latency be reduced with ASIO drivers?
Often, raising the frequncy of the recording/card will lower latency. At 44.1k a card may have a latency of say 150ms but at 96k it may reduce to 10ms.
Explain the importance of each of the following factors in a DAW, and what each factor contributes to a DAW; Amount of RAM
The more RAM you have in the system, the larger buffer you can have for buffering data to and from the hard drive. It also increases the amount of VSI's (Virtual Studio Instruments) you can use.
Explain the following file systems, their associated OSs' and the capabilities of each File System; FAT32
FAT32 or File Allocation Table 32 is an improved version of FAT16, it stores data more efficiently and can support larger hard drives (fat16 can only support up to 2 Gigabytes). It stores data in clusters of 4k therefore it wastes less space, (small files would waste most of the space in a 32k cluster). The file system has the ability to relocate the root directory and use the backup copy of the FAT instead of the default copy, which makes it more reliable. This file systems first appeared with WIN95 OSR2. It also ships with Windows98/SE/ME as standard. Windows XP also supports FAT32 but Windows NT requires NTFS. |
|
Thu Mar 20, 2003 8:09 pm |
|
|
|
|
ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
| DAW Question |
|
|
Ok,
good answers so far - lets turn up the heat!
 I'd like each of you to design a DAW and post your chosen specifications here.
The budget is £1500 (or the equivalent in your local currency) but does not need to include a monitor, speakers, modem, keyboard or mouse.
The system should be capable of recording upto 8 tracks of audio
simultaneously
as well as offering MIDI connectivity.
Stability and compatability are paramount.
Justify your decisions, making reference to the concepts that have been covered in the last fortnight.
Good Luck.
_________________
ben@audiocourses.com
Last edited by ben m on Thu Mar 20, 2003 11:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Thu Mar 20, 2003 11:00 pm |
|
|
|
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next
All times are GMT. The time now is Sat May 17, 2008 3:16 am
|
|
|
|
| |
