My Portable Daw - set to replace Dat tape?

[peter_g]

You may remember some weeks back I said the following:

Originally posted by Peter_G:

I intend to create a system of recording time code native audio wherein the sound recordist operates what is essentially a laptop and portable mixing desk working in synergy, held together by a custom made trolley. I?ve asked a friend of mine to make me this trolley. It should be finished in a week or two. I know it will work, but the real test will be one of practicality.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, here it is:

http://public.fotki.com/eXposure/peter_g/trolley.html

The mixing desk you see here is the highly portable, robust eurorack MXB 1002 by Behringer. I believe I?ve overcome the main obstacle of portable DAWs (Digital audio workstation) ? lack of practicality.

It?s made from strong, light steel. I hope to do field testing soon. I?m anxious to hear all of your opinions about this.

Thanks

[X o Zelig o X]

Holeee Crap, that is one thick laptop... Looks like my frigen powerbook 180, which is like a skillion years old. What is that beast? Im not Mr. Sound mixer dude, and i dont think this is the technical term. But why are the button-knobby thing-a-majiggers so low down? wouldnt it hurt your back bending over to adjust those? Anywho, It looks pretty spiffy. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] Cya.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ January 26, 2005 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Zelig ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 26, 2005 09:42 PM: Message edited by: Zelig ]</font>

[Nigel]

Peter you are way behind the ball...Why go through the trouble of lugging all that around when all you need is this:

http://www.aaton.com/products/sound/cantar/index.php

Good Luck

[peter_g]

This laptop has an original Pentium chip operating at 120 MHz with 16mb of ram. Yes, it is old. This is just to demonstrate the principle.

Nigel, I am well aware of the Cantor. I think it is more then a little cynical and arrogant to dismiss what I have here (Which will cost about a grand with a reasonable laptop) because it is inferior to a cutting edge tool, the Cantor, which costs US $18,000.

Also, bear in mind that under ideal circumstances this will produce near identical results to the Cantor. It too can record audio at 24bit/96KHz. If you wanted to be completely pedantic you could argue this is not so, and that the semi-pro connectors that this system uses might cause mild distortion of the analogue signal, a problem you would not encounter with the Cantor. You would be right, but you could only tell if you were an audio geek with a most discerning ear. It is completely negligible.

As for the remark about lugging it around, it is not that heavy (I would say about 5 or 6kg versus the Cantor?s 3.2kg) and it not intended to be hauled around in the same way as a DAT deck or a ? inch deck. Rather, it is pushed around over short distances or when the operator is stationary, he or she sits on the ground. How well this works during a more difficult location shoot remains to be seen, but I?m betting the pros out way the cons.

[sn-films]

Peter_G:
What kind of sound card is in the laptop? I didn't think consumer cards were capable of capturing 24bit/96KHz audio.

[miker]

Probably need a more modern laptop with USB:

Example from Edirol


I would also ask Peter_G why the laptop couldn't do any mixing required (assuming a more modern laptop was employed)? I looked at the picture of your trolley, and sorry, but it looks like a parody with that mixing desk sitting there!

[jb_617]

What are the limitations of D.A.T. that you are trying to avoid by employing this system?


-------------------------

Just curious.

[peter_g]

Yes, I will need a more modern laptop with USB or possibly firewire. I don't doubt it.

I would also ask Peter_G why the laptop couldn't do any mixing required (assuming a more modern laptop was employed)?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imagine how cumbersome playing around with a laptop mouse would be on location! Faders are a lot easier to use. Plus, if my XLR mics were plugged into some kind of intermediary thing like this Edirol unit, would it have phantom power?

I don't care if you think it looks silly. It is functional.

The I-would-have-thought-obvious limitations of DAT that I hope to overcome are:
1. DAT is a digital format, but it is also a linear one. DAT tapes have a beginning, middle and end just like regular tapes and unlike hard disk based solutions. That means you must rewind and fast forward to find a particular take on location. With hard disk based audio one can jump to any given take instantly.
2. DAT tape can only record at 16-bit (Okay, there are exceptions to this, but not with portable DAT decks.)
3. It is expensive.
4. In any post production environment DAT gets transferred to hard disk in real time (I.E a 60 minute tape takes 60 minutes to transfer). Is it not better to simply hand the post production people a DVD with your audio rushes?

[sn-films]

Originally posted by sn-films:
Peter_G:
What kind of sound card is in the laptop? I didn't think consumer cards were capable of capturing 24bit/96KHz audio.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Please ignore this post. I just looked up the specs on my soundcards and all three support 24bit/96KHz in AND out. So... thanks, I guess. I learned something new.