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Author Topic: Soundcraft MADI / USB card  (Read 43521 times)

Bob Leonard

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Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« on: November 19, 2014, 06:54:15 PM »

I see that Soundcraft has released a combo MADI / USB card for their digital mixers which includes the Expression. The option card supports 64 channels of MADI, OR 32 channels MADI and 32 channels of USB supporting your favorite DAW (mine is Cubase).
 
I can see this as a viable option to the dedicated recording option card, which when used eliminates the possibility of using a stage box of any type. Yes, the features of the dedicated recording board may be of benefit to some, but to me 32 channels of stage box and 32 channels of recording is enough, and in my mind actually better than a dedicated board just for recording.
 
The spec sheet can be found here, however it does not spec the latency for recording. That said anything below 5ms will yield excellent results using a good workstation and the AISO driver provided by Soundcraft.
 
The spec sheet can be found at the link below. I could NOT find a cost for the board other than from distributors in England. So, if anyone has bought and used this board please spill the beans.
http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product.aspx?pid=197
 
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2014, 03:07:25 PM »

Quick update. I've ordered the card from Sweetwater. The card is backordered and the cost is $299. The card provides support for recording and a 16 channel stage box, or without recording it will provide support for a 32 channel stage box.
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Jeff Hague

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2014, 05:41:58 PM »

Quick update. I've ordered the card from Sweetwater. The card is backordered and the cost is $299. The card provides support for recording and a 16 channel stage box, or without recording it will provide support for a 32 channel stage box.

$299? Not bad. Ill have to consider it. But Im starting to get a "collection" of cards for my Performers. I have a Performer1, a Performer3, a Stagebox16 and a Stagebox32 and I got a 2nd dual port MADI card hoping it would make it easier to connect both consoles to the SB32 - the jury is still out on that setup... I have been thinking about a card for recording too. I wonder how this combo card will fit in to the puzzle.
Thanks for the heads-up!
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Charlie Tappa

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2014, 10:18:02 PM »

Quick update. I've ordered the card from Sweetwater. The card is backordered and the cost is $299. The card provides support for recording and a 16 channel stage box, or without recording it will provide support for a 32 channel stage box.
\

The cards have not started to ship as of Yet.  I ordered as soon as they were announced and I'm told I'll have them "early Dec".  I expect this card to be very popular for a multitude of customers.
Charlie Tappa
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Nathan Grater

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2014, 05:37:32 PM »

Quick update. I've ordered the card from Sweetwater. The card is backordered and the cost is $299. The card provides support for recording and a 16 channel stage box, or without recording it will provide support for a 32 channel stage box.

Are you sure you can't record with the 32 channel stage box? I might be reading this wrong from the manual but it seems to say that you can use 64 channels of IO and still record 32? The first quote says 32 channels of stage box and 32X32 of recording. The second quote seems to imply that you can do 64 madi in along with recording 32 but not having any recording outputs. Am I reading this wrong?

If I can record 32 and have 32 stage box inputs this card will be perfect for the occasional show that wants to record at my venue.

Quote
Dip switches on the card provide extra flexibility depending on the application. The card is
sent out of the factory in a standard configuration that allows for 32 channels of Stagebox
connectivity and 32 channels of USB recording located on channels 1-32 and 33-64
respectively

Quote
Alternative setups: (MADI 64x32, USB 0x32)
By using the graph, it is also possible to achieve 64 channels of Stagebox input connectivity
via MADI at the expense of the USB Input channels. It is possible to receive 64 channels
of MADI while also sending 32 channels of USB outputs, allowing for 32 channel USB
recording while simultaneously using a Soundcraft Stagebox up to a 64x32 configuration.
To achieve this, switches 3 and 4 should be set to OFF and switch 2 should be set to ON
or OFF depending on where the USB channels should be occupied (1-32 or 33-64).
As standard USB outputs should be set to inputs 33-64 (Switch 2 set to ON)
The standard configuration is a setup that allows for the most common of use cases and,
for the most part, the card is a plug-and-play type operation.
If more than 32 channels are required for Stagebox connectivity, then all 64 channels can
be connected to a Stagebox at the expense of the USB channels. For this setup switches 3
and 4 must be turned OFF
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Nathan Grater

Michael Grimaila

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2014, 09:32:53 PM »

Are you sure you can't record with the 32 channel stage box? I might be reading this wrong from the manual but it seems to say that you can use 64 channels of IO and still record 32? The first quote says 32 channels of stage box and 32X32 of recording. The second quote seems to imply that you can do 64 madi in along with recording 32 but not having any recording outputs. Am I reading this wrong?

If I can record 32 and have 32 stage box inputs this card will be perfect for the occasional show that wants to record at my venue.
Yes, you can use it that way.  I have an ministagebox 32 and an Si Expression 3 and can record 32 channels via USB.  I think Bob was just commenting about his mini stage box 16.
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2014, 09:49:17 PM »

No, I was replying with what had first been published by Soundcraft, i.e. 16 of each or 32 of one. So if that's changed then it's a bonus for us all. At $299 to extend the capabilities of this already great mixer is a bargain. All I need now is for Sweetwater to ship one to me.
\

The cards have not started to ship as of Yet.  I ordered as soon as they were announced and I'm told I'll have them "early Dec".  I expect this card to be very popular for a multitude of customers.
Charlie Tappa

Charlie,
I'll cancel my order w/ Sweetwater if you want. (And the other thing is packaged ready to go with no excuse as to why I haven't shipped it other than I'm an asshole.)
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BOSTON STRONG........
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2014, 05:14:04 PM »

Too late. The card shipped last night.
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BOSTON STRONG........
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I did a gig for Otis Elevator once. Like every job, it had it's ups and downs.

Rob Bernstein

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2014, 05:57:00 PM »

I see that Soundcraft has released a combo MADI / USB card for their digital mixers which includes the Expression. The option card supports 64 channels of MADI, OR 32 channels MADI and 32 channels of USB supporting your favorite DAW (mine is Cubase).

Bob, I'm curious about using Cubase in this scenario.
I have the Expression 2, MiniStagebox 32, and just ordered the MADI/USB card. I'm planning on using my MacBook Air for live recording if any of the bands I work for want it.
Once you get the recording into Cubase, what do you do with it then?
Provide the raw tracks to your clients? My guess is most folks would be using ProTools. Can the Cubase files be imported into PT?
Sorry for the basic questions....
Thanks
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2014, 09:06:25 PM »

Most of my recordings are demo's for the band with some recordings provided for local TV and bands I may support. I try very hard to keep recordings to a minimum. By that I mean that if a band I support needs a recording I won't go out of my way to pull my system out on the road, and 99% of my work is done in the home studio. PT can read a format of Cubase files and Steinberg has gone out of the way to make that an easy chore.

I started with the Steinberg product many years ago when PT was not available as a stand alone product. It's treated me very well through the years, has worked in all cases, and supports almost any type of hardware. I'm currently using firewire interfaces, so I'll compare the latency between those and the USB interface and let you know what I find.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Soundcraft MADI / USB card
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2014, 09:06:25 PM »


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