PG Music Home Forums PG Music Wishlists RealBand Wishlist Better metering on multitrack setups

It would be nice if the Input meters at the bottom of the screen showed input from whatever the selected input is.
It seems locked to inputs 1 & 2 only.
Many users have USB interfaces with multiple inputs and this would be a nice base feature improvement.
I have my keyboards going into 3 & 4 so when I record my keyboards I get no signal in the meters.
Same with the other channels (5 & 6 are setup for my guitar processor; again no signal shown)

+1.

Another vote of support. Good idea.
+1

How is it that you're able to record on 3+4 without also recording on 1+2 unless you deselected 1+2 in the Audio Drivers dialog? What I'm getting at here, is that if you had multiple groups of inputs selected in the Audio Drivers dialog such 1+2, 3+4, 4+5, etc. and then you record on a stereo track it will record 1+2 on that track and 3+4 on the next track, and so on. So how is it that you're able to select 3+4 and not also recording on 1+2 and 2+5 in this example, if you have all 3 pairs selected in the Audio Drivers dialog? The only way that I'm aware to do that is to only select 3+4 and not the other pairs in the Audio Drivers Dialog. If you only have 3+4 selected in the Audio Drivers dialog, then the program will treat that as if it's the 1st pair, not the 2nd pair, and the VU meters will show what's on 3+4 (with the numbers 3 and 4 being relative to the interface not Realband's port numbers).

Are you saying that even if you select ONLY the 3+4 pair in the drivers dialog and don't have 1+2 selected, then the VU meters will still show 1+2? I don't think that's really the case, since the program would not even be receiving input from 1+2 in that situation?

Looking at the VU meter code, it looks like, if say, you were to change to a different current track AFTER you start recording, AND that current track is set to the same output port number as whatever input port is associated with that track, then the input VU meter will show the levels for that input port number. So if you're recording multiple tracks, you could start recording with Track 1 being the current track, and then change the current track to track 2 once recording starts, and if track two as the output port set to 2, then it should show the levels for the 2nd pair of audio input ports rather than the 1st pair. I haven't tested this yet, and realize it could be inconvenient changing the current track after recording starts.

What I'd like to do is see if I can get the input levels that show up on the tracks themselves during recording in the audio overview section of the Tracks Window to show the levels for the extra ports rather than duplicating the levels of the first port(s).

I only select 3&4 inputs in Drivers and the VU meters at bottom show nothing, it does not change to using 3&4 in place of 1&2 here. If I rearrange cables to make the desired inputs work on 1&2 it would but that is inconvenient and sometimes downright complicated, so that's why I asked.

Yes, that is really inconvenient, not intuitive, and not even I would think to operate that way .. and I look for workarounds
I like your final solution better; showing the recording on the track VUs themselves, but I thought that would be asking too much.
If you could pull that off, even better!

The plan for RB 2024 is to have the VU levels for the higher ports show up on the tracks that are receiving input from the higher ports during recording, rather than duplicating what's input to the first input port. That will be an improvement for when multiple input ports are in use.

The plan for RB 2024 is to also have the floating VU Meters window (Window - Show VU Meters) display all of the input and output ports rather than just 1 input and 1 output port.

Still haven't been able to duplicate selecting one input port in the Drivers dialog and not have the input VU meters indicate the levels for that port. If you're only selecting one port for input in the drivers dialog, then it shouldn't matter which port it is as long as it actually receives an input signal.

Jeff.

this is fab news that multi input sound interfaces (mi's) are being addressed further in rb for 2024.
cos for ages looking at rb tracks view ive thought very deeply the best way to handle mi's particularly for a totally new rb user….and given over the years new users to rb (and ptw) have posted on the forums their frustration/asking for help with sound interface setup….and god bless him…rharv to the rescue.
this is not limited just to pg forums…but…go on any daw/recording forum and one will see 'i'm having trouble setting up interface X.'

thus the question becomes the best way to handle mi's, eg let's take a 16 input mi.
Here's the best ideas I could come up with and feel free to boot me up the 'A' lol.

1..on boot up of rb , rb detects mi device.
2..thus a little light goes on (maybe on the main vu meter at the bottom of rb) that says 'Multi input mode enabled'. …then…
3..rb waits for user input as to being directed which mi inputs will go to which tracks ?

In the above scenario let's consider an extreme example of 4 tracks of a 16 input mi being recorded ... .as follows…(note the fact the user might not want consecutive tracks to be recorded ... .cos might only have certain tracks free.)

rb track 44 input 3 of mi.
rb track 52 input 5 of mi.
rb track 62 input 12 of mi.
rb track 98 input 14 of mi.

how to handle above ?? best way i felt was when the user arms a track for recording a likkle mini mi input channel display pops up. and the user directs the mi input to the track.

so in the case of rb track 44 input 3 of mi….the user would arm track 44
and choose input 3 of the mi from the likkle display.
and the track 44's level meter would reflect the input from input 3 of the mi.

Am I 'out to lunch' ? or does this make sense ?

happiness.

om

Thanks for the feedback. Currently the plan for 2024 is just to have the VU meters (floating VU meters window and the levels on the tracks during recording) be able to handle the multiple inputs, and the floating VU meters window to handle both multiple inputs and multiple outputs. There's no plan to change the way it works now in which the current track (say, track 1 for example) automatically is assigned to the first input port when Record is pressed, and the tracks afterward (2, 3, etc.) receive the additional inputs during recording, with the RB being able to insert tracks if needed.

EDIT: There also wasn't any plan to change the way setting up an interface works, but I'll have to see if there could be some message offering to go into the ASIO drivers dialog if multiple ports are detected.

Jeff.

please could you provide clarification re multi input sound cards and rb in a windows environment.

1..I assume that at the code level that rb is talking to the win os via an api layer ?...If so…
2..does win impose a limit on the numbers of i/o on an interface..?
What is the max ? 16 ins and outs in the usb audio interface ? more ?
3..how is adat expansion in a multi i/o interface handled ? Does rb care ? ie win just tells the rb app how many ins/outs are available ?
4..for arguments sake let's say a usb audio interface has a huge number of ins/outs…eg 32/32…

https://klarkteknik.com/product.html?modelCode=P0BIF

(ie the outs are going out into line ins on a pro level
audio mixing console which does the mixing etc etc…goodness i'm glad i dont own a big console anymore with all the maintenance worries and keeping spare parts/op amps etc.) as a bigger studio might have.
if such a beast of a interface is married to an old clunker pc with clunker old hard drives/slow usb…does rb have 'fail safes' for this ?
ie saving the user from a potential crash condition if things go 'pear shaped' ?
as in warning the user 'your old aunties hand me down pc cant handle things'...lol. In summary in a more serious vein, how does rb save the user from a potential 'crash condition'...due to the chosen pc being sub par for handling lots of usb audio i/o ?
5..I'm trying to understand the 'consecutive aspect of inputs' in rb re a multi in interface. Please bear with me. Let's take the case of a usb audio mixer that is capable of sending 16 audio streams at the same time over usb to win/rb.
For example, maybe the usb mixer is sending 8 streams from 8 microphones and 8 streams from mixer line ins. eg keyboards whatever.
THUS are we saying that in the above scenario a rb user would enable for recording consecutive groups of 16 tracks ?

eg…tracks 01 thru 16 or tracks 25 thru 41 ie consecutive track assignment ?
which begs the question what if a user has already recorded on a track..eg the first 01 thru 16 track group track 09 for example.
Will track 09 be overwritten ? OR will rb say 'oops there's data already on 09.' and direct the incoming audio stream to a spare track rather than overwriting track 09.

Jeff..the reason i'm asking the above is i'm using a 2/2 audient interface currently with rb, and have been sooo impressed with it i'm thinking going multi input next go around.
Also if i can get rid of the pain from a pulled muscle i might go to my fav gear store and do a 'rent before buy' deal to test with the next beta round.

respect mate.
ps if 2024 all works great for this crazy rocker maybe i'll send a 'tim hortons card' to cadillac ave…lol.

happiness.

om

RB supports up to 16 inputs and 16 outputs. If 16 inputs are selected in the drivers dialog and you record on track 1 then track 1 would receive the first input and tracks 2 through 16 would receive the input from port 2 through 16, with RB offering to insert tracks if there were already, say, MIDI tracks somewhere in 2 through 16.

Jeff.

cheers for info.

correct me if im wrong but i assume even if the user has a higher count eg 32x32 device one can still use it but will be limited to 16x16 ??
or am i wrong ??

in addition after lots of research and looking at public msoft docs on the web i am unable to determine if win imposes limits on the upper number of interface inputs and outputs. are there any limits ?? eg 64x64 ?


Jeff i do realise there are lots of aspects out of your control viz
audio interfaces...eg win os and drivers etc etc all i would suggest given particularly for people new to building a project studio that might get befuddled ...that anything that helps the new user diagnose problems would be nice.
i have no magic ideas..and its obvious from different daw user forums that setting up a sound interface can be frustrating for some folks.
one reason i like my interface is ease of install and use with any music apps.

thanks/happiness.

om

I remember years back just after I left school posting a pic for all this showing being able to select any input on any track stereo/mono:

mcity.

yep i was hoping for something like that...look at my post upthread. eg click on track no and select interface input.

eg i want audio interface input 9 of a 16x16 device to be recorded on rb track 11.
so user clicks on rb track 11 and from the pop up selects 09.

happiness.

om

I remember now the issues it was too hard to get what you need where, and it needed arm to record.

mcity.

you said 'its too hard'.
i'm befuddled...why ? other apps let one do that.
or am i being dumb ?

please go into more detail.
is it a win os prob ? accessing sound interface features ?
a technical issue somehow ?

it would seem to me that ...ok even have a button on each track
added for accessing certain audio interface params..lets call it the
'interface routing button' 'herb' lol.
user simply clicks on a tracks herb button . and selects input ?

maybe jeff can jump in please as to why its difficult.?
cos if it was a win os issue or api how do other apps do it ?
maybe a delphi code issue ?

its early here..maybe i'm dumb or missing some big pproblem for a deve!oper re routing.
question ...are we saying when recording in rb useing a 16x16 fancy
interface one cant record one track at a time ? or say 5 ? instead of the whole 16 ?

the analogy is yonks ago with a commercial studio with ssl's and neves and studers out the ying yangs if one wanted to record mic input 19 from a mixer to track 23 on the studer one could do that.

maybe i'm missing something big ??

oh well back to my nice tea i brewed up.lol

happiness.

om

It was too hard for me to get what I want recorded on the track I want as you can see in the pic, I was sending the tracks via Rearoute but it's the same deal if I use a multi input audio device.
You need to be able to tell RB: I want to arm this track for record from this audio input source stereo or mono.
You can do that at the moment how it is, it's too hard.
PG should be able to do this but as stated I posted all this years ago. Maybe they think it's not worth putting this work into it and just keep it as a basic usable extra ? but then it was mentioned they have big plans for it, but then they may have run out of time ????

2015:

2014: Live Multitrck Recording