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  • MIR SE sound interface spec

    I notice that the spec for MIR SE mentions an  "audio device with ASIO 2.9 compatible drivers for 64-bit systems (needs multi-client capability if sequencer runs on the same computer)" - not quite sure what this means.  I have a focurite saffire (the old white one).  I have emailed focusrite tech support, but they don't seem to know what I am talking about.  Has anyone got any ideas about if my present saffire is suitable, and if not, what sound interfaces are?

    thanks


    1. You have to run MIR in either Vista 64bit or Windows 7 64bit. This means that your soundcard (as well as all hardware) needs 64bit ASIO drivers. Focusrite tech support should know the answer to this.
    2. Multi-client means that the driver for your soundcard must be able to be used simultaneously with more than one audio application, such as MIR and a sequencer, Again tech support should know about this.
    3. if you need to get a another soundcard, then RAM have very good multi-client low latency drivers.

    DG


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    @DG said:

    1. You have to run MIR in either Vista 64bit or Windows 7 64bit. This means that your soundcard (as well as all hardware) needs 64bit ASIO drivers. Focusrite tech support should know the answer to this.
    2. Multi-client means that the driver for your soundcard must be able to be used simultaneously with more than one audio application, such as MIR and a sequencer, Again tech support should know about this.
    3. if you need to get a another soundcard, then RAM have very good multi-client low latency drivers.

    DG

    ad 1. DG is completely right about that.

     ad 2. You need a multi-client capable audio device if you plan to use MIR on the same machine as you DAW / sequencer.

    ad 3. I think DG meant to say "RME" soundcards, not "RAM" ;-D

     Kind regards,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • Yes, a bit of a typo there. Sorry. [:$]

    DG


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    Hi all,

    I would like to chime in. I spend a whole evening trying to setup MIR SE [trail].

    First of all here are my specs:
    W7 Pro (64bit)
    Intel 6 Core i7 920@3,6GHz
    Corsair 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz
    M-Audio Fast Track Pro
    Cubase 5.5
    Sibelius 6.2
    VI Pro
    VI Suite
    SE +
    Some download instruments

    I had no problem installing MIR Se and adding the first VI Pro instruments.

    After that I wanted to see if I can run MIR Se side by side with Cubase or Sibelius. I bought LoopBe30 and it seems to be working fine. But my first problem here was I really don't know if my soundcard is multi-client. I searched the M-Audio homepage for some hours, finding coments like "ASIO drivers are never multi-client", others saying "now ASIO can be multi-client". I searched the manual: The word multi-client does not exits. I tried to reach tech support, but I coulnd't register on their site - so I can't write them a message.
    From what I could read I suppose that it's not multi-client.

    Okay, then I could read in the MIR manual that there is another possibility. I could use the onboard soundcard. I found out that the Asus P6X58D-E mainboards has a built in Realtek ALC 889 soundchip. I couldn't find out if it is possible to run it as a slave device to a digital clock. But I also don't know if I can run the M-Audio in slave mode. I know the Realtek is capable of 44.1khz. I found a datasheet for the Realtek onboard sound chip here: Realtek Datasheets

    Could somebody please help me here! Is it possible to use those two soundcards with MIR Se? I don't won't to buy a new soundcard for maybe 500 Euros just to have a multi-client. When I should someday upgrade to MIR Pro I won't need multi-client anymore, right?

    Thanks for any help!!!

    Cheers,

    Sabine

  • Hello Sabine,

    You might want to try the free generic ASIO driver called "ASIO4all" to see if you can get away with the built-in audio sound card. You could then try to sync the M-Audio hardware to the digital signal coming from the RealTek.

    But like mentioned in the manual. p. 79:

    ===========

    [...] The main issue in this setup is the incapability of those built-in soundcards to run as a slave device to a digital clock, so that they have to be the clock-master in a setup like that. Remember: there always has to be one – and only one! – clock master in any digital setup. You have to make sure that the built-in audio device is either the master for all other digital audio components down the line, or that it is set to slave to the incoming clocking information. Few on-board soundcards are able to do that. It is very likely that the built-in soundcard’s clock is worse (jitter-wise) than anything used for professional (or even semi-pro) audio systems.

    A second problem may arise from the fact that many built-in soundcards use a fixed sample rate of 48 kHz. They will play 44.1 kHz audio streams, but only by way of real-time sample rate conversion, which may not be the best possible way to listen to a delicate MIR mix.  [...]

    ===========

    HTH,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • Hi Dietz,

    thanks for your help so far. I think I'm making some progress here. But I'm not there yet. This is what I did:

    - I bought MIR SE! (I like the concept very much. I have no clue when it comes to mixing, but I can place a instrument on stage!)

    - I bought Loop30

    - Installed Asio4all driver for the onboard soundcard

    - connected the onboard soundcard with my M-Audio Fast Track Pro via optical coaxial cable.

    - selected the the Asio4all driver in the audio settings in MIR and selected the SPDIF output from the onboard soundcard.

    - In Cubase I selected the SPDIF input from the onboard soundcard and the M-Audio Analog 1&2 outputs.

    I didn't recieve any action on the output meter in MIR, so MIR is not sending anything to the DAW of cause. I thought the problem is the onboard soundcard so I build a setup only with MIR Se. This time I selected the M-Audio Analog 1&2 for stereo output. Unfortunately I got the same results. I can see action on the input meter and I hear the sound on my headphones, but nothing on the output channels.

    I loaded a venue and started the engine (which is already done when I load a venue).

    What is the problem here? Could the problem be that Windows is already using the two analog outputs for the system sounds? Never had a problem with this setup (Windows and Cubase using Analog outputs) before.

    I just want to be sure that the problem is the onboard soundcard before I invest in a new soundcard. I thought about buying the RME Babyface when it will be finally released in November. Then I could give back the M-Audio card to my brother (it's his card anyway).

    Thanks for any help.

    Cheers,

    Sabine


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    Hello Sabine,

    I'm sure we can sort that out. In principle it seems as you do everything right. The only part that makes me wonder:

    @Another User said:

    I can see action on the input meter and I hear the sound on my headphones, but nothing on the output channels. 

    _What_ do you hear on your headphones? Remember - MIR is a VSTi-host, there's no audio going into it, just MIDI data. Everything you see on MIR's output meters should be available on the chosen port of the selected audio device.

    The most simple way to check the basic functions is to load an VI into MIR and to use the on-screen keyboard of the GUI to trigger some sounds. You should see the resulting signals on the MIR Icon's "Magic Eye" as well as on the output meters.

    Now connect the physical outputs of your sound card with you headphones or your amplifier (just for testing purposes). Can you hear the notes you play on the internal keyboard? If this doesn't work, then we know that you have some very basic problems with your setup.

    If you can generate sound like that, try to trigger the same instrument by MIDI. Does this work?

    By now you should have ruled out all possible traps. Now you can try to route MIR's output back into Cubase.

    HTH,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • Hi all,

    I just wanted to come back to this thread and tell everybody that my setup is finally working. I received my new soundcard (RME babyface) yesterday - after waiting one and a half month for it. :(

    It took me some time to find the right loopback button in the new Total Mix software from RME but now I send midi data from Cubase to MIR and MIR sends audio back to cubase, which I record and mix with all intruments that I don't send to MIR.

    But most important: It sounds just great!

    Happy new year everybody!

    Cheers,

    Sabine


  • Yipieee! [D]

    Thanks for the update, Sabine! Great to hear that you're up and running. Sounds like the perfect start into a new year ;-)

    Kind regards & all the best,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library