Digi001

[jaygro]

I am thinking of buying the Digi001 but I have a major question. I need to record 10-14 analog tracks at one time, how is this possible it only has 8 analog ins? Do I have to buy 2 or is there some kind of expansion? If I buy 2 how hard is it to get them to work together? Thanks for any input on this matter.

Jason

[bcwdwks]

Why all the inputs.....drums? Can you sub mix first. Do you have an Adat? I think that would give you 16 tracks at one time, using the adat converters. Are you running a mac? If you're using a pc do some research before you go with the Digi 001.
Good luck,
Bruce

[Flex]

Digi001 for PC yeilds the best results and tracks. Read the Digidesign forum. Mac is dead as far as being the leading performer. You should be warry of anyone who says mac is the way to go with anything, as they are stuck in a time capsule with that saying. You can get more outputs by getting the Alesis output expander known as the AI3. If you want to be able to record 16 or even 18 tracks in real-time while monitoring with effects(Yes that is correct) you will need a Athlon Thunderbird 1ghz or higher. I have a Athlon Thunderbird 1.3 and a PIII 1ghz. The PIII will do it but not as easily. I haven't heard of many people getting the full 24 tracks with the Mac. You have to realize the top Mac is a dual processor which the Digi001 does not take advantage of. So instead you need the fastest single processor and Mac doesn't have it. Athlon does. The PIII will do. If you go PIII try to get the 1Ghz. Take care.

[bcwdwks]

I wasn't saying "get a mac". I agree, run PC! I use a PC, Seasound Solo and Samplitude 24/96 and it's a killer set up. At first I was sold on the Digi 001 untill I started to do some research about ten months ago. The responce I got ( particularly on the Digidesign forum )was that it was buggy on PC and that the customer support for the 001 from digidesigns was very poor. It sounds like maybe things have improved since then. Also you're stuck using RTAS and audio suite plug-ins and while I hear they sound good they'er very expencive and not as much to choose from as in the direct x and VST world. I'm not saying "buy / don't buy the digi". I am saying do a lot of research and talk to lots of people first.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
BC

[Flex]

bcwdwks,

Thanks for clearing things up with your last post. Yes.... With the Digi001 and the PC things have changed quite alot. Now Waves even has the waveshell so that you can use the Waves Plug-ins with Digi001 on the PC. The best thing about the Digi001 that nothing else offers the ability to record and monitor with effects (every effect, as long as you have a fast computer). The converters are also very nice because what you record in is what you get. You don't have to spend hours trying to fatten up a sound like alot of people have to do who record on the computer.
I heard Samplitude was very nice for audio. Actually I've never heard a complaint about it ever. I realize that not many people are familiar with it though. How is it working for you?

Flex http://www.audioforums.com/forums/biggrin.gif

[bcwdwks]

Hey Flex:
It's working out great. I like being able to track, edit, loop, stretch, mix, mangle, master and burn a cd without ever leaving Samplitude. It has a great sounding multi band compressor in the mastering section and the room simulator is the best software reverb I've heard so far. It's very intuitive and seems very stable. Not one crash......so far. The only thing that Samplitude suffers from IMHO is poor marketing. I've heard it refered to as "the best kept secret". A new company called Magix just took over distribution. Magix's own software leaves much to be desired (from what I've read) but they only distribute Samplitude. Hopefully they'll do a better job of getting the word out. Anyway, with help from the great sounding mic pre's and converters in the Seasound, I'm real happy with the recordings I've been doing. Also, I just bought a Rode NTV tube mic. What a difference that made!
Keep on trackin' http://www.audioforums.com/forums/cool.gif
BC

[Flex]

How many tracks are you able to record with Samplitude? Also can you monitor with effects in real-time? What cpu do you have?

Flex http://www.audioforums.com/forums/biggrin.gif

[mholloway]

To answer the original quesiton first:

I called Digidesign and they said you CANNOT have more than one 001 in either a Mac or PC. Keep in mind that ALL inputs can be running on the 001 at the same time. This means you can buy an ADAT -> ANALOG converter and as the previous post stated, the Alesis will convert 8 ADAT ins and 8 ADAT outs to 8 analog INS and 8 analog OUTS. This will give you 16 analog I/O total on the 001. Street price on the Alesis is $399.

When the 001 first shipped it had crappy PC stability. Since then it has been entirely cleaned up and it is rock solid. There is a huge variety of RTAS plugins available for the PC and in my opinion, many of the most important ones are on both Mac and PC. One thing to remember: Don't go plugins CRAZY! I've seen many people buy more plugins than they need and end up using 10% of the plugins 90% of the time. With the availability of Waves and Bomb Factory plugins, you can truly do everything from multi-track editing to mastering all within Pro Tools LE. A friend of mine has a TDM system and just bought a second G4 with a 001, and the 001 smoked the TDM version because now we are talking CPU vs. DSP. The CPU is much more powerful.

I was at the NAB convention in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and Avid/Digi was there. One of the employees told me that most of the Opcode Vision programmer left Opcode and were hired by Digidesign. The result is that they now have a dedicated team for Midi development and that Midi will continue to be an expanding and feature rich part of Pro Tools and Pro Tools LE. Just give it some time.

For now, another benefit of the Digi001 running on Windows 98 or ME is that Emagic Logic has direct support for the Digi001 hardware. When Logic is launched, Logic automatically sees the 001 internally with no the need for "EASI" or "ASIO" setup. Supposedly when Logic 5.0 comes out it will run on Windows 2000 which will then support direct integration with ProTools TDM, just like on the Mac.

I hope this gives you some additional info that is useful. Keep in mind that Digi doesn't officially support AMD or VIA chipset motherboards. They encourage Intel based chipsets. But it sounds like it will work on VIA..your call though.

Regards,
Mark