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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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I've been out of music and BIAB since 2017 version of BIAB. At that time I had a EWS 88d sound card(still have the card). Top of the line for me back then but the drivers are win xt 64 bit. My system is 16gig athlon win10 64 bit or I3 HP 16 gig laptop. I'm going to upgrade to BB2021 and use my roland xv88 as a midi source. My idea is to get back into writing songs and using inexpensive (relatively) sound libraries like Spitefire or what ever I can run across. All this to ask about internal or external sound card or device(focusrite4i) Most likely try cakewalk new version by bandlab. I know this rambles a bit but hope it gives an idea of where I'm looking to go. Compose in BIAB to midi drive good sounds and a few words and make music Thanks It's been about 98 deg here in central NC, it's indoors or die 
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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I have a midi to usb m-audio midi to usb cable but wondered if the focusrite 4I which has midi in/out would give a better /cleaner signal and more control.
I have a nice condenser mic but my main thought is to compose several 10+ tracks where BIAB supplies the chords and style in midi, broken into individual instruments and good VST's provide the instruments then add other midi tracks for my own KB phrasing.
Since at the best I can add a chord interpretation as I want from the KB...maybe:)
Thanks
Last edited by Wyndham; 08/02/21 03:50 AM.
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"I have a midi to usb m-audio midi to usb cable but wondered if the focusrite 4I which has midi in/out would give a better /cleaner signal and more control."
Yes. I think it will do all of that.
Regards,
Bob
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I have a midi to usb m-audio midi to usb cable but wondered if the focusrite 4I which has midi in/out would give a better /cleaner signal and more control. It probably will make zero difference to your recorded MIDI quality (since MIDI is just low-bitrate digital data, so there is no such thing as better/cleaner signal in that case), but the upside is that you'd have one USB cable for both audio and MIDI instead of two, which can be a huge deal with today's computers. The Scarlett 4i4 is generally considered a good unit, so long as it meets your needs - it can record 4 audio channels at a time, though only two can connect directly to microphones (the other two can connect to line-level devices like guitar effect processors or outboard mic preamps). Sound quality for recorded audio is probably much better than the EWS88D.
I work here
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I'm in central NC so I share your misery. East of Raleigh a few miles. (edit: I might have asked before but where are you located in central NC? I'm in Middlesex)
So regarding the midi thing... Technically, either way should give you the exact same performance specs. One would hope. Personally, I don't think it matters much how you get the midi in as long as it works. I have a few devices that are straight in to the USB port with a cord and some that use the Focusrite interface 5 pin DIN connection. They all work flawlessly and at the same time.
Depending on the version of BB you use.... Just my preference.... I like to use the Real Tracks over the midi tracks. To me, the RTs just sound better. I use midi on drums and piano and occasionally on the bass. And those last two are when I am playing the parts myself. I then use a really nice sampled synth sound library for the instrument sound I want.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 08/03/21 03:48 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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If considering that, get the current Gen 3. The DAC/Mic Pre/Headphone amp chip is a vast improvement over the earlier versions. All of the new "Fast USB 2" interfaces are using the same chip family and for that reason are all very good. So compare the features and buy the one that does what you need. You'll see terms like Fast USB 2, 192/24 and Near Zero Latency with RTL (round trip latency) below 280ms without drivers (Mac only) and even lower numbers for Windows where drivers are required. BTW, the marketing departments make a big deal about RTL without telling you that the difference between say 280 and 216 is the same as moving your ears a little closer to or further away from your speakers. If an interface is advertising 96/24, avoid. It is using older chipsets with much greater RTL. One feature I like that most is a knob that balances Out/In for monitoring, normally called a Mix or Blend control. True Near Zero in the hardware makes this possible and means you don't have to set up an app to handle this chore. This is really convenient and is missing from the Scarletts—none of them have it. Plenty of others do such as M-Audio, Behringer, NI, SSL, PreSonus, Mackie (no MIDI, though) and others.
BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
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If considering that, get the current Gen 3. The DAC/Mic Pre/Headphone amp chip is a vast improvement over the earlier versions. As well, all the new Gen 3 stuff has multi-client ASIO - I'm not sure about Gen 2, but the old Gen 1 Scarlett I used to have didn't do multi-client at the time.
I work here
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Simon is exactly right on the multi-client driver of the Gen 3 equipment. With it, I run BIAB, RB and Cakewalk all at the same time and can switch from one to another from a song in one to a song in the other. No blips, no scratches, no distortion. Really good stuff that Focusrite Gen 3 !
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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