Euphonic Studio Digital Recording Services

Sonar 5, revolutionary PC-based recording

With digital recording offering unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, virtual synthesizer plugins, built-in signal processors, zero self-noise, zero maintenance, precision editing, automated mixing, and scores of other features, tape studios are now a quaint curiosity teetering on the brink of total obsolescence.

Euphonic Studio is presently using Cakewalk's Sonar 5 digital recording system. Sonar 5 is rich with features that put software emulations of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of signal processor and digital recording equipment in your hands. This page is included to show just a tiny fraction of what Sonar 5 can do and describe some of the outboard equipment that works with it.

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To the right above you see the basic project view that shows existing tracks collapsed down to their smallest size. This project is one I created for testing microphones. A frequent question I hear is "How many tracks can you record?" I have not as yet seen a definitive answer to that question. It depends on the available hardware resources of your computer, the type of analog/digital interface you have, and the type of tracks you record. Audio tracks take more processor power and storage than MIDI tracks that play external synthesizers. I have never run out of audio or MIDI tracks for any of my projects at Euphonic Studio.

To the left you see the expanded view of tracks 3 and 4. You can record a track in stereo or mono, and we have examples of both here. Further, you can record in sound-on-sound mode or overwrite mode. This means that you can record multiple takes of a difficult spot and then select the best take and splice it into the track. That's a great time saver! The items on the left side of the tracks are for setting up the track's source, routing, effects, and so on.

Software Signal Processors

Sonar 5 includes a rich collection of signal processor applications that you load as plugins. There are plenty more available on the internet as freeware, shareware, or commercial software. These expand the possibilities without having to expand your processor rack while depleting your budget. To the right you are viewing the basic reverb application. I have the pulldown menu visible to show the presets. Another great time saver!

Along with the Sonar 5 signal processing software, Euphonic Studio has a number of hardware processors available. We have several digital multi-effect processors as well as a pair of ART Tube-PAC compressor/limiters. The Tube-PAC units warm up a microphone by allowing you to drive a 12AX7 vacuum tube into distortion to the desired level. We also have hardware by Alesis, Behringer, and other ART processors besides the Tube-PACs.

Software Synthesizers

Along with audio tracks that most people are familiar with, you can also record sequencer tracks to play a variety of synthesizers. These can be real keyboards or sound modules that connect through MIDI or virtual synthesizers such as the DimensionPro pictured to the left. These virtual synthesizers can be played in real time with very low latency or can be plugged in as an output for an existing MIDI track for virtually zero latency. For example, I can record a drum track on my Ensoniq SD1 using the Roland drum map and then choose from dozens of drum kits in DimensionPro to find the drum sound I need for that kit. DimensionPro is one of the most popular plugins on the market and it is here for your use at Euphonic Studio!

You may have seen my A&H mixer console on the "Other Gear" page. Sonar 5 provides its software studio with a software mixer. All the tracks you create can be reordered, bussed, grouped, and routed to any software or hardware device. The flexibility of this is truly astounding to those of us who kept piles of patch cords handy and spent hundreds of thosands of dollars on automated mixers.

This console is designed for compatability with the Peavey StudioMix control surface described at the bottom of this page. Each control can be mapped through a MIDI interface to a hardware button or slider on the StudioMix.

Sonar 5 also includes Project 5, additional tools for the software studio. Pictured at left is the Project 5 Stereo Chorus.

Here's a more conventional-looking "analog" synthesizer emulation called DreamStation. There are a dozen or so more synthesizers to add to a project, and some of them are designed to emulate a specific keyboard synthesizer. Combine those with the dozen or so hardware synthesizers here at Euphonic and there are nearly endless possibilities!

DirectPro Aardvark 24/96

In order to record audio to a computer disk, the audio signal has to be processed and converted to digital data. This is accomplished by sampling the audio and recording the value as a data stream on the computer hard disk. Playback is reverse; the digital data stream is converted back to audio.

Euphonic Studio uses equipment manufactured by DirectPro and M-Audio. The quality and functionality of their equipment is outstanding. I have three DirectPro Aardvark 24/96 A/D-D/A converters, which is the model name and signifies the word size (24 bit) and the maximum sample rate (96 KHz). Almost all the work I'm doing is 16 bit with a sample rate of 44.1 KHz. This provides CD quality sound. The topic of sample rates is somewhat arcane; Sonar 5 uses different sample rates for intermediate files.

The DirectPro 24/96 has 4 audio inputs on the front panel, which means that presently I can record 8 tracks (or 4 stereo tracks) at the same time. You can stack up to 4 DirectPro 24/96 units on the same system. The front connectors are Neutrik dual jacks that accept either a XLR or 1/4" connector. The inputs are padded and processed through a mixer applet (described below). The front panel also has a stereo headphone jack for monitoring.

DirectPro preamps are known for their nearly silent operation.  These babies are QUIET.  This is probably why there is a solid cadre of diehard users who jump through hoops trying to bridge the growing gap between PC motherboards, Windows versions and applications, and DirectPro drivers.      

The rear panel has 4 line outs on 1/4" jacks, 2 line outs on RCA connectors, SPDIF input and output ports, MIDI input and output ports, and the 25 pin sub-D connector to interface with the PCI card installed in the computer.

The software interface for the DirectPro in/out box is another mixer. This mixer controls the gain, as you'd expect. But it also includes a compressor, metering, and real-time reverb that can be recorded and monitored with zero latency. This allows you to use outboard processing since the electronics for these signal processors are external to your PC.

The input pads have 3 general settings for low, medium, and high gain plus a knob for fine tuning.

Another cool feature of the DirectPro mixer is the software patch bay. You can route signals through the various ports by just dragging a line from point to point on a graphical screen. There is a way to save patches for easy recall later. Again, this is an appreciated and useful technological advance for those of us who have worked with tape machines and hardware mixers over the years.

Peavey StudioMix

This piece was designed as a cooperative effort between Peavey and Cakewalk. It is a combination audio and software mixer. All the controls except the jog and shuttle dials are programmable to emulate and interface Sonar 5 functions. Each channel has two programmable rotary pots and a programmable motorized slider pot. There is a group of buttons that are designated as song position transport controls.

A typical setup for the StudioMix might be to have 3 or 4 sliders controlling submix buses and the rest doing solo instruments or vocals. Sonar 5 supports automation, so you can run through a song and capture the changes you make on this mixer as data. Then the StudioMix mixer will automatically adjust itself during playback. Automated mixing makes your life a lot easier in a mixdown session.

I'm currently using an M-Audio USB MIDI interface, the 2 channel version, and have this piece directly wired through it. I have enough cable to get this control surface to wherever I need to use it while recording. Another option I'm considering is wireless MIDI transceivers but it's not a high priority.

Over the years, I'll admit to not being that great of a Peavey fan, although they've been very popular due to price, features, and reliability. However, the Peavey StudioMix is an extremely handy piece of gear for anyone who uses a digital recording system. It allows me to control my software mixers and Sonar 5 transport from up to 50 feet away from the PC, the MIDI standard, which I find very useful at Euphonic Studio.  Should you need to go further away, or even into a separate room, you can buy wireless MIDI transceivers to give you extra range and no cabling.

Since the StudioMix came out, there have been many advances in control surfaces, ranging from extremely handy small gadgets that give you just the basic stuff you need to punch yourself in while overdubbing a track to whole studio control boards that give you a hardware interface to many of the commonly used recording functions.

Call Bill at (319) 895-8002 to arrange a tour and demonstration

Euphonic Studio Digital Recording Services

Mount Vernon, Iowa

Serving the Cedar Rapids - Iowa City Corridor

For information about music lessons and digital recording services at Euphonic Studio, call Bill at 319.895.8002