This is a digital audio and MIDI card for the PC. It is a digital-only audio card, which means that it has no onboard analog-digital/digital-analog converters. To record or play back audio, it must be used with some other component that has AD/DA converters. That component can be a DAT machine, an ADAT, a stand-alone AD/DA converter (perhaps Frontier's new ZULU 20-bit converter), or any SPDIF digital gadget.
January 1, 1998
If you have an ADAT, I advise you to trot right down to the store and buy the Frontier Wavecenter at once. It allows you to take all 8 tracks straight into the computer digitally. Not only can you transfer existing tapes, you can set the ADAT machine on record pause, and record direct to the computer. You can do the same (with 2 tracks) with any DAT machine that has digital I/O (the Tascam or Panasonic for two).
One advantage to separating the AD/DA converters from the computer input is upgradability (is that a word? It is now). The ultimate Tapeless Studio uses top-quality stand-alone AD/DA converters, and wicked digital meters. A digital I/O card can stand by you as you upgrade from DAT to ADAT to dedicated DA.
The socko punch for digital I/O has to do with reverb. Reverb is one of the most commonly used effects in the studio. In the Tapeless Studio, it has always presented a bit of a quandary. Yes, programs like SAWPro and Sound Forge let you do reverb, but it takes a lot of processer time, and some say it just don’t sound the same. The traditional workaround is to record your tracks, then mix down through your analog board, using your outboard reverb, to the computer. Obviously, this involves converting back to analog, then back to digital (in the so-called "digital" reverb unit), back to A, and back to D once again! And, as everyone knows, those rack-mount reverbs (I shouldn’t name names like Yamaha and Digitech and Alesis) add their share of noise. Sadness.
Fear not! Help is at hand! Those of you with an Alesis Quadraverb have probably wondered what that little black plastic thingie on the back was for. It is, in fact, an optical digital output that will plug right in to your Frontier Wavecenter, or an Alesis ADAT, or both! Imagine doing all your reverb on the Alesis rackmount unit, but in the digital domain! Now do you see why digital I/O cards are the wave of the future? You could also interface with one of Yamaha’s digital mixers, or, in fact, any SPDIF device.
When you get into digital I/O, you soon realize that no two DAT machines seem to be calibrated the same. A signal that reads 0 dB on the Tascam clips on the Panasonic, and sounds dreadful. The problem is that the meters aren’t calibrated the same. In the analog days, it was no big deal if you set your levels within a range of 3 dB or so. But the modern world is a less forgiving one, and the digital world has NO HEADROOM. The meter that you’re using to set your final levels has to be right on. Now, the big-timers run all their digital audio through one set of dedicated digital meters, but those of lesser means just have to stay on top of the calibration issue, especially when exchanging tapes or files with other studios.
The Frontier WaveCenter comes with an application called WaveTray. Your System Tray is the little area in the corner of your Win 95 screen where you see the time, modem status, and other info. Wavetray adds several icons that display the status of your audio setup. You can see at a glance the sync source (internal or external) and the sample rate (44.1, 48, or "varispeed"). You can also see the record or playback status of each channel, and a handy little "input status" icon that warns you of any digital errors detected during recording. Clicking on the Wavetray opens a menu that allows you to change the various settings. There’s also a feature called "the Big Pause", that lets you use two or more 2-track applications simultaneously for multi-track work. WaveTray is a great way to keep your audio status info close at hand.
The WaveCenter has 1 electrical in, 1 electrical out, 1 optical in and 1 optical out. There’s also a MIDI port that connects to a little dongle (included). The electrical in and out jacks look like regular RCA jacks, but they actually are for a stereo digital signal. Frontier says that you could use a regular RCA cable in a pinch, but it is not recommended, especially for longer distances. What you really need is a 75-ohm coaxial cable like the ones used by some video gear. The optical cable is an Alesis standard. There is no particular advantage to using one or the other, although in some situations you could use both. Neither of these little cords are easy to find at your local music store (unless you live on West 57th or Sunset Blvd), but you can order the coax from Markertek and other video supply houses. Frontier has 1-meter and 5-meter optical cables in stock.
Installation of the WaveCenter went fine for me. It takes an ISA slot, and there are DIP switches to set the memory address range and IRQ. If your CD-ROM has a digital audio out, you can connect it to the WaveCenter internally with a 2-pin ribbon cable (included).
We tested the WaveCenter both by recording from pre-recorded DAT tapes and by recording tracks directly to the computer. To do this, you set your DAT to analog input and digital output, and leave it on "record pause". It’s just like recording to the DAT, except the signal goes to the computer and not to tape. Some DAT machines require you to have a tape in the machine, so be careful. Also, some DATs may actually bring the head up close to the tape when you hit record pause, causing additional wear on tape and head. The Panasonic SV-3800 is perfect, because you can put it into record pause with no tape inside, and it will stay there all day without complaint. One thing you can’t do is play and record at the same time with a single DAT. On the Panasonic, You must set the machine to analog input to record, then set it to digital input to play back from the computer. If you have 2 DATs, away you go. The ideal setup would be an ADAT and a DAT.
This is a very flexible card. Although you can only record in one format at a time, you can record in one format and play back another. WaveCenter appears to Windows applications as one or more of several devices, each of which may be stereo or multitrack. Instead of using 4 soundcards, you can use the 4 virtual "devices" of the WaveCenter, through an ADAT. Unlike using multiple soundcards, you don’t have to worry about the tracks drifting apart (nor do you worry about more IRQs etc). Since the "devices" are independent, you can even use different applications to control different sets of tracks. WaveCenter’s multichannel devices support 8-channel .WAV files, so it’s ready to go as soon as audio applications start supporting multichannel files.
The MIDI features are pretty straightforward. There’s 1 MIDI input, and 3 MIDI outs. Just tell your MIDI applications to use the WaveCenter ports, and that’s it. The WaveCenter comes with no MIDI-oriented software. Those who need more MIDI horsepower may want to add a dedicated MIDI converter to their setup, perhaps one of the Mark of the Unicorn line.
Well, I’m sold on digital I/O. There are a few little tricks to learn, like making sure everything is in sync, and compensating for the different calibration of different DAT machines, but once you get it figured out, it’s easy and it sounds great! From now on, there’s really no need to mix down on tape at all. I go from my analog mixing board straight to the computer! And no more noisy reverb! More outboard effects units will eventually add digital I/O, and we’ll be doing all our effects in the digital domain. The Frontier WaveCenter works fine and costs little. I recommend it highly to anyone who has, or plans to buy, a DAT. If you have an ADAT, I recommend an immediate purchase.
There are several other digital I/O cards available, from Digital Audio Labs and Turtle Beach, among others. The Frontier, however, is the only one I know of that has the ADAT interface.
If you have an ADAT, I advise you to trot right down to the store and buy the Frontier Wavecenter at once. It allows you to take all 8 tracks straight into the computer digitally. Not only can you transfer existing tapes, you can set the ADAT machine on record pause, and record direct to the computer. You can do the same (with 2 tracks) with any DAT machine that has digital I/O (the Tascam or Panasonic for two).
