Updating the computer interface

[Null]

Nope, it's not dead yet.

The XW-P1 and Cakewalk have a bug where exiting cakewalk turns local control off on exit from the program.

Hit the settings button, then go to general settings, then scroll down three to LocalCNTRL and switch it to on.

Voila. Your headphones will work again.

[lookin4]

no i have my headphones in the xw-p1 and i cant hear anything at all anyplace sh!t im pissed now i should have just left it the way it was

[Null]

Double check before you run to the service center. Hit the settings button. On the top setting, "General Settings" hit "Enter".

Scroll down a couple of settings to "Local Control"

Is it on or off?

[lookin4]

WOO HOO U da man Gary that worked my xw-p1 is ALIVE :)

[Travst]

That's good news. Recognize that you're going to be frustrated at times. Hooking all this gear up and making it work with software can be complicated. That is why people with stable systems are so reluctant to change things around and check out software updates carefully. It all takes time to learn.

Now.... can you hear the XW through your computer/Creator?

[Null]

That's good news man. Now my best advice to you is to find the proper cable and have a good friend or acquaintance who understands hooking up pro music gear come over to your house and show you how to hook up properly and give you a few tips.

You strike me as the kind of guy who needs a little more hand holding than most and to get started, hire a local music or computer tech/geek if necessary to give you a few lessons.

This is for your own good, to avoid future unpleasantness the next time the sh*t hits the fan

[lookin4]

dont let the tinfoil hat fool you i use to build computers and sell them then vista came out and i said no more CRAZY for me lol

[lookin4]

so ok im thinkin a mixer with a audio interface so i have something in between the xw-p1 and the pc and the right cable ends

[Null]

Well, like I said earlier, you require an adapter cable that connects to two 1/4" MONO male phone plugs at one end and a 3.5 mm STEREO male phone plug at the other. The Line IN on a standard computer sound card is the BLUE jack. I dunno how you missed that when you were building systems.

An alternative, and better way to hook up is from two 1/4" MONO instrument patch cables to a mixer, THEN output to keyboard amps or powered studio monitors AND computer with the appropriate cables so you have minimal wire swapping going on whenever you want to record.

Also, if yer on a budget, in a pinch a pair of powered computer 2.1 speakers can serve as a budget set of studio monitors. The line levels are ok and the frequency range and dynamic range of a good set of computer speakers can rival a low end set of monitors.

In that case you'd need an adapter like this one:

http://www.amazon.ca/Cables-To-Go-Stereo-Female/dp/B001B8QUS6

and a couple of these

http://www.amazon.com/American-Recorder-Technologies-Female-Adapter/dp/B0018SW3WQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1354658768&sr=8-5&keywords=rca+to+1%2F4+mono+male

to make that setup work.

[Travst]

I think a small mixer would be a good idea to get started. It will get you what you need without a lot of extra hassles. Plus, mixers are handy things to have for a number of reasons.

[Null]

I agree, a good, cheap mixer and some kind of keyboard amp or powered studio monitors would get you set up properly to play AND record music.

[lookin4]

ok i do have a Groove factory GF10G 10 watt i think will that do anything its got a input jack and phone on it and a sony mic too

[Null]

I can't find any specs on the GF-10G but I gather it's a guitar amp. Chances are it will sound a bit muddy but it will do in a pinch. Bear in mind you only plug the Left/Mono channel of the XW-P1 into that and it will operate in mono mode.

For that matter, if you have a good quality home stereo you can use that as a keyboard amp as well. Again you just need the right cable. This time Twin Mono 1/4" Male plugs to Twin RCA Mono Outs. One of these would hook up to any home stereo amp.

http://www.amazon.co...no cable 6 foot

[lookin4]

ok i have a GENEXXA STA-2170 Digital Synthesized AM/FM Stereo Receiver and speakers

[Null]

I can't find any specs on that antique either, but as long as it has AUX IN connectors in back it should work better than a 10 watt guitar amp.

Just use a cable like I linked in my previous message. If you want to pick one up locally print out the amazon ad and take it to a local musical instrument or audio equipment shop and they can probably sell you one locally. Just in case you're impatient to get going and don't want to wait while amazon ships.

P.S. Just in case that Genexxa has a phono input, do NOT connect to the phono input. Any other input is fine. Tape Input, CD Input, Aux Input, any of those is an OK connection.

[lookin4]

hey I got that when I was in my 20s lol im an antique too ............. oh and also last time i shopped amazon i bot 2 of the same usb to midi cables so i got that one covered lol

[Null]

You don't need a USB to MIDI adapter if that's what you are talking about. Just a plain old USB 2.0 Type A to B printer cable is all you need. 10 feet or better works best.

The USB transfers digital MIDI data back and forth to the computer sequencing software.

The audio cables strictly transfer audio data to the computer, not back again.

[lookin4]

ok would make me a shopping list of parts and cables please in your spear time is ok cuz i really dont play keyboard but i can make some very cool sounds with it

[Null]

I'm not certain what you plan to do for a setup. Do you want a mixer in this studio? Or will you be happy swapping cables everytime you record?

I honestly can't tell you what length cables to buy and which configuration you've decided on without coming over to your place and looking over what you've got.

Like I said earlier, if you're STILL confused after all this, hire an audio consultant to come in to your home and give you the shopping list you need.

I don't work for Casio and nobody's paying me to help anyone here on this board. I'm just another hobbyist trying to help a brutha out, but there's a limit to what I am willing and able to do.

Just read back thru the last 30 odd messages here and try and figure it out yourself. If you can't, go to an audio shop and hire someone to do it for you...

Best of luck

Gary

[lookin4]

Hey thanks for all your help I know i have to do this myself im going to order a small mixer and the cables and its a good thing your on here too Gary. Oh and thats not really me in the pic but I know that feeling lol..........

Thanks Andrew

[Null]

Here's a flowchart of how I'd imagine your setup to look with a $100 mixer. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

Since you're a fellow Canadian, here's a shopping list from a Canadian Vendor, Axe Music out in AB. They generally have the best Canadian prices. I've dealt with them a few times and have even had to RMA to them once. Good service and they ate the return shipping charges.

Behringer 1002FX 10 channel mixer

http://www.axemusic....igital-Effects/

2 X 10 Ft. 1/4" Instrument Cables Connecting from XW-P1 to Behringer Mixer

http://www.axemusic....,-1-4"-to-1-4"/

And the audio cables and USB cable are cheaper from Amazon.ca

2 X 12 ft 3.5mm stereo male to RCA cable for connecting computer to mixer and computer to stereo.

http://www.amazon.ca...54675866&sr=1-4

1 X 10 Ft. USB A-B Printer Cable For your MIDI Connection from XW-P1 to Computer

http://www.amazon.ca...54676115&sr=1-2

And that's pretty much all you'll need for now. You'll be able to use your Genexxa as speakers for your Computer and your keyboard and even be able to play MP3's on your Computer while you play along on the keyboard. Great for practicing.

One disadvantage of this layout is that your computer has to be running in order to hear the XW thru the speakers.

Later on if you want to add an extra set of keyboard amps or powered studio monitors to the rig, you'll be able to do so without any great hassle. Just plug them to the Line Outs of the mixer and that's that. At that point you'll be able to hear your XW with or without the computer turned on.

Likewise, if you want to add Microphones or any other instruments for a jam session, just plug them into the mixer.

Feel free to shop around on Google, but I doubt you'll find any better prices in Canada... Happy jammin'

[Null]

BTW, my apologies to the original posters of this thread which we have thoroughly derailed...

Perhaps the mods could see fit to move the off topic posts to another thread of its own so that it would be properly categorized on the forums?

[jimmiew]

Actually, while this is still derailed, I'm looking into some recording type things myself and wanted to make sure I'm understanding things right.

I'm looking at buying an audio interface myself and wanted to make sure that a firewire interface (say, something like this: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/mackie-onyx-1620i-firewire-mixer) allows you to record multiple tracks at once via firewire

[Null]

From what I can read of the specs on that page, that's a pretty heavy duty piece of gear, and it claims it can send individual channels, aux inputs, and/or a master L/R stereo mix to the computer via firewire. Not sure if it can do all of the above simultaneously though.

I took a quick peek at the manual as well. http://mackie.com/su...ds/manuals.html

It pretty much seems to be able to route up to all 16 channels simultaneously via firewire to the DAW on your computer in a live situation and remix them later at your convenience in post production. It pretty much seems to be designed for pro or semi pro recording in small venues.

If that's your intention and you can afford to lay down that sort of coin on a mixer then Mackie is one of the best names out there.

Then again I don't claim to be a recording engineer. This type of gear is not usually the sort of stuff I deal with. There may be better, more economical solutions out there depending on your budget and what you are trying to accomplish.

From a strictly technical standpoint, 44 KHz Stereo is the industry standard in digital recording these days and my own personal view is that a lot of the claims of top end equipment is somewhat exaggerated. I'm not saying such products aren't good, but that some of the criteria on which they base their claims is only audible by species of wildlife with much better hearing than your average human and in the final playback, in some home stereo or surround system or through a set of earbuds, it all pretty much sounds just as good in the final mix.

I guess the point that I'm trying to make, while editorializing a bit, is that manufacturers these days are selling reference laboratory specs to average Joes who are just trying to mix a demo CD or sell it on iTunes. In the end, it's a lot of smoke and mirrors designed to separate people from their hard earned cash

PS. Bear in mind that the bulk of distortion introduced into any recording is largely the fault of the input transducers (microphones, guitar and bass pickups, any acoustic instrument pickup) and the output transducers (the speakers, the headphones) that convert the sound into electrical impulses and then convert it back into sound again. The distortion numbers created by these devices is orders of magnitude above anything else introduced anywhere else in the recording loop, but some purists will still insist that vinyl and tubes sound "warmer" than CDs and transistors so ultimately it boils down to the subjective "feelings" of the listener and what sounds "right" to his ears. This kind of discussion can rapidly boil down to a religious argument so I'll just leave it there for you to consider when you make your decision on how to spend your own money

[jimmiew]

Thanks for the help, just what I happened to have up because I'm also in need of a mixer right now.

Back to the topic: While browsing around synthtopia today I happened upon this http://www.synthtopi...ers/#more-40333

This is basically what I think would push this synthesizer into mind blowing territory (although I would prefer if it had a computer app that looked the same) but I also understand that the Jupiter is a much pricier item. However, there is that amazing little ledge there specifically for an iPad...

Edit: Look at how elegant and easy that top picture looks by comparison of what the current XW software looks like