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Subject:Best way to use external processor/effect?
Posted by: JTelles
Date:9/18/2004 9:49:34 AM

Suppose I have a stereo file I'm mastering and I want to use my external Aphex 204 Aural Exciter. I have a Mia (echo) sound card in the PC.The question is how to do I do it?
- do I need another or an additional sound card or PC for that? another software (e.g.. Vegas in addition to SF)?
Thanks
JTelles

Subject:RE: Best way to use external processor/effect?
Reply by: musicvid10
Date:9/18/2004 12:18:03 PM

To do this effectively, you need a soundcard with Insert or separate Effects Send/Return jacks. I don't belieive the Mia has these.

Subject:RE: Best way to use external processor/effect?
Reply by: rraud
Date:9/19/2004 9:28:45 AM

I think Aphex makes an exiter plug-in, as does BBE for their Sonic Maximizer. I like the BBE 862 rack unit, but I'm not impressed with the plug-in. I havn't used the Aphex exiter plug.

Aside from that, to go though your rack unit, you would have to go though a D/A -A/D conversion in any configuration unless you can re-digize from the source daisy-chaining the exiter if it was analog to start with.... saving the D/A process.

Subject:RE: Best way to use external processor/effect?
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:9/19/2004 1:11:00 PM

You can do this in Vegas, but not in Sound Forge because Sound Forge does not have simultaneous Play and Record as an option, nor input monitor. You could do this with You can do this in Vegas if the aural exciter has a digital in or out or if you can connect the digital output to another device so you can do an D/A conversion, so you can monitor. Here's the basic setup in Vegas to do it.

1. Playback a track routed to outputs 3/4 (do not monitor these outputs, you are using them as a send to the aural exciter inputs.)
2. Route the Aural exciter outputs back into Vegas inputs 1/2 .
3. Have input monitor enabled and have inputs 1/2 routed to outputs 1/2.
4. You are monitoring outputs 1/2 of the mia, which is the processed signal from the aural exciter.

So to make this happen you basically need 4 outputs and 2 inputs on your sound card. The mia has 2 analog I/O and 2 spdif I/O, so that's where you will have to figure out in your setup of how to use the spdif, either as the send to the aural exciter, or as the monitor output, where you'll need some type of D/A converter to monitor it. I do this with my Gina's all the time using Vegas, but the Gina has a few more outputs than the Mia.

Subject:RE: Best way to use external processor/effect?
Reply by: JTelles
Date:9/19/2004 4:24:25 PM

Thank you all for the suggestions...
Red: I am happy to know you have been doing it with a Gina, I was not sure you could do it in Vegas with one sound card only. In any case, I think it is duable with two Mias in the same PC.
rraud: I didn't know there was an Aphex plugin (seems to be for ProTools only though) and I agree the BBE plugin is not the same as the much preferred hardware...
JT

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