It looks like M-Audio has been bought by a company called "InMusic", and has just abandoned support for this device (which I find a pretty feature-rich box for my BIAB use.) I had to search all over to restore my Windows 7 Control Panel / Drivers. Looks like Windows 8 i out of the question.
Can any one suggest a new USB alternative that combines MIDI In/OUT, XLR and phono as well as digital out. Hopefully one that Windows 8 will support, and had a front-facing panel?
I thought FastTrack went to Avid in the deal (?)
M-Audio still hosts drivers, they just don't tell you about it.
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers&f=1156
Its my understanding that devices advertised as "class compliant" don't need drivers, so you should be pretty safe buying them
There is quite a bit that needs to be added to run an M-Audio FastTrack. There is a significant Control Panel applet to fiddle with the channels. It is pretty useless as a "Class-Compliant audio device"
Avid does not list this among their "Fast Track" line ..
http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/fast-trackThanks,
On the Avid page the Fast Track Ultra is definately there. USB devices mentioned as falling under Avid are:
Eleven Rack Drivers
Mbox (3rd gen) Drivers
Mbox Mini (3rd gen) Drivers
Mbox 2 Drivers
Mbox 2 Mini Drivers
Mbox 2 Micro Drivers
Fast Track C400 Drivers
Fast Track C600 Drivers
Fast Track Pro Drivers
Fast Track Ultra Drivers
Fast Track Ultra 8R Drivers
Fast Track USB Drivers
Fast Track (2nd gen) Drivers
MobilePre USB Drivers
MobilePre (2nd gen) Drivers
It's all there!
Kevin
Yes, did find them. Windows 8 flagged them as incompatible. I'm in no rush to switch, but it is a drag since I bought the unit last year.
Sheesh. This news is depressing. I bought a Fast Track Ultra last year too, and like it very much. I agree: without that applet to control the channels, the Fast Track Ultra can't do much. Hey Kevin, where did you find that list? I searched all over the avid pages and could not find anything related to the Fast Track Ultra (they have the "Ultra R" listed, but that's a different beast). So now I have to start offering sacrifices to the electronic gods, hoping that my Fast Track Ultra continues to function.
Anyway, thanks for the heads up.
Bob
Bob
I followed the link given on the M-Audio website for Fast Track drivers and I ended up on Avid's pages.
I have bookmarked the link but not on this machine so I cannot share it now. If you don't come right I will check at home and post the link.
Kevin
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers&f=1156This is where I found the driver and Control Panel install file. I backed it up just in case.. I am having a hard time finding a similar device with the same flexibility of I/O (number of analog IN ports and coaxial out..) ESPECIALLY anything that has Win 8 drivers, but I can;t say I'm especially enamored of Win 8 anyway.
Thanks Kevin and PhillyJazz. I dl'ed the files for safe keeping. I agree, it is tough to find a similar interface with the number of I/Os. This was the main reason I bought the FTU in the first place. Re: Win8; not for me at the moment. I tend to favor the 'odd' number Windows versions for some reason.
Question, why is there a need for Win8? From what I see it has nothing over 7 except eye-candy...or am I missing something significant?
Win 8 is an attempt by Microsoft to acknowledge the end of the "PC Era" and accept that Smartphones and Tablets will herald the "Consumerization of IT." Dealing with this is essentially what I do for a living, and it IS a fact, although much less so than the media would have you believe. Corporations still have hundreds of thousands of drone workers using XP and Office 2003, and would probably see ZERO benefit to moving to even Win7 (many were burned by Vista, and thus shy.)
The User Interface (previously know n as METRO is much more suited to phones and tablets (touch) than traditional desktop / laptop. MSFT screwed up on their user focus groups and testing with this one.
I just picked up a C-600 interface and have been able to use it fine with the Pro Tools SE that came with it, but I'm missing some setting trying to use it with RealBand. I'm using a Lenovo T410 laptop, Win 7 (32 bit) BB/ RealBand 2012. When I call up the VU meter window in RB there is signal being read, but getting it onto a track has me stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks .......
Sigh, here we go again, bash Microsoft. Have you not read the very comprehensive testing done by Cakewalk with Sonar? There's a thread around here with the link and in fact there's two links I think the other one is Pro Tools. Both report Win 8 is faster running these DAWs. Nnot just a little bit faster, much faster. This is using the Desktop version, not Metro. There's several people on this forum running Biab under Win 8 and they love it.
How can somebody say they don't see any reason to change if they don't know about these things? True, maybe for what you do, you don't need the extra speed but man, every new OS has lots of hidden features that usually make our computer lives much easier and as a general rule, newer is better even if you don't know the details about them. I'm in the process now of checking out my setup to make sure everything I have will run ok under Win 8 and if it looks good, I'll upgrade.
Bob
As I have posted a few times before, IMHO, the Yamaha Audiogram is a much better USB connection device than the M-Audio Fast-Track:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/search/search.jsp?sB=r&question=yamaha+audiogram
Quote:
I just picked up a C-600 interface and have been able to use it fine with the Pro Tools SE that came with it, but I'm missing some setting trying to use it with RealBand. I'm using a Lenovo T410 laptop, Win 7 (32 bit) BB/ RealBand 2012. When I call up the VU meter window in RB there is signal being read, but getting it onto a track has me stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks .......
Change the track type to Audio ?(right click menu)
If you see signal on input meter in RB, the signal made it to RB and the Driver selection should be good .. so likely it's a simple setting somewhere.
If changing the track type works, go to Preferences and enable the 'Always Record Audio Too ...' checkbox, so if you accidently do it again it will keep the take on another track (you don't lose a performance).
There is hope! Avid are providing an updated driver for windows 8 at
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US...ast+track+ultra - posted only 20 june. I havent completed the installation fully to validate it, but fingers crossed. Hopefully this sorts it all.
Perhaps some of us who have worked extensively (for a living) with MSFT software for over 30 years have some insights that someone who has not doesn't.
When you consider the HORRENDOUS adoption rate of Windows 8, it just MIGHT indicate that newer is NOT always better, and that the collective experiences of an entire global community just MAY be right. A little extra speed is always nice, but not when the trade-off is so substantial. Just my opinion, but having worked in End-User computing since DOS 1.0, I have seen more than a few upgrades from Microsoft. Take Vista.. Please!!
I have 8 and 7. Had to apply fix to 8 to get it to work for me. Hate the iterface totally/ I think its interesting that the update has brought back the classic start button. 8 is the Vista for 2013-2014
Well, at least its not the Millennium edition...
Count yer blessings.
--Mac
Well, at least its not the Millennium edition...
Count yer blessings.
--Mac
Exactly !! I thought it rude to be slammed for "bashing" Microsoft when pointing out that not every upgrade they deliver hits it out of the park. Sure, there have to be some incremental improvements, or they wouldn't be releasing it, but anyone withe a historical perspective (going back to Windows 3.0 or earlier) realizes skipping certain versions is wider that installing every new thing that comes down the pike assuming the larger integer in the name is somehow "better."
Jan(?) aka PhillyJazz,
Was just reading your system specs. I like your taste in amps. Haven't heard much about Onkyo since the
Dokorder 9060H open-reel two-track deck I owned back in the early to mid 1970s. (The name Dokorder was derived from
Denki
Onkyo Re
korder.) Great gear. Apart from the unusual form factor, it had the unique feature of a 50/60 Hz "switch" on the deck surface which turned out to be a ball-detent clicky thingie which had no electrical connection whatsoever. My EEE stepfather and I were amazed at this little touch. Otherwise a very fine piece of equipment. I still have many reels I recorded on it through an outboard TEAC AN-60 Dolby noise reduction unit.
Richard
That "thingy" also appeared on many record turntables as well.
Simple mechanical change of pulley, drivewheel or gear diameter to allow for speed change, this because the marvelous invention of Nikola Tesla, the rotating field brushless AC motor, is locked to the frequency of the AC line. Changing the speed of the motor itself would have required quite a lot in the way of circuitry and parts, while simply changing the ratio of the drive, much like as done with a two speed bicycle or automobile transmission, resulted in a solid design that does not break the bank in costs.
During the heyday of analog electronics, he Mech E. could often step in and teach the EE a trick or two, and it was also often the case where either crossed fields with virtual impunity as well.
--Mac
I hear ya, Mac, but this doohickey wasn't connected to anything, electrical or mechanical. My stepfather and I opened the deck up and looked. All it did was go "click" when you turned it from one position to another with a screwdriver through a hole in the panel. Note that I did run it via stepdown transformer in Germany, so tapes I made there play just fine in the U S and A.
All my American equipment that I had when stationed in Germany ran fine at 50 or 60 Hz, because it was all converted to DC internally to run the motor.
I suspect the switch was probably there so that they could charge more for a dual 50/60 Hz, run anywhere, system.
I hear ya, Mac, but this doohickey wasn't connected to anything, electrical or mechanical. My stepfather and I opened the deck up and looked. All it did was go "click" when you turned it from one position to another with a screwdriver through a hole in the panel. Note that I did run it via stepdown transformer in Germany, so tapes I made there play just fine in the U S and A.
A yoke that functions by guiding the capstan belt such that the belt pops onto the larger or smaller pulley.
Belt only contacts the yoke once when speed is changed and belt must be rotating to make the transition.
I'm not conjecturing, having repaired many a Dokorder, Roberts or Akai deck over the years.
Hey, Rob - Haven't seen you on the BIAB forum in awhile. Welcome back.
Edit: I do see you've been over on the User Showcase forum. Welcome back, anyway.
Thanks for the links. I went to both out of curiosity, but couldn't find any support for M-Audio fast track ultra or other older stuff. What did I do wrong?