Software for Dumping Tape Tracks

[soupking]

Hi GS,

I've been using Ableton Live and have recently discovered that it can't export beyond a basic stereo track.

I need an application that can handle an Apogee converter that sounds great. I don't really know how one software could sound better than another for basic dumping, but I need one that can export as something that could be understood by either ProTools, Logic, etc. so I can have flexibility handing it off to a mixing engineer without much file conversion struggle.

What software am I looking for? Any help, as always, is awesome.

[Corsair]

Hi Soup

If you've got the tracks into Live, you've probably already got what you're looking for.

If your default preference for recording file type in Live is WAV (and you've selected your suitable resolution i.e. 24 bit 96 khz, or whatever you prefer) you'll find the actual .wav files in the Audio Folder that Live plays back for you. It's just a case of dragging/dropping those onto a hard drive. As long as all the tracks start at the same point it should be easy to drag into PT/Logic and away you go.

Unless I'm missing something.

[soupking]

Originally Posted by Corsair

Hi Soup

If you've got the tracks into Live, you've probably already got what you're looking for.

If your default preference for recording file type in Live is WAV (and you've selected your suitable resolution i.e. 24 bit 96 khz, or whatever you prefer) you'll find the actual .wav files in the Audio Folder that Live plays back for you. It's just a case of dragging/dropping those onto a hard drive. As long as all the tracks start at the same point it should be easy to drag into PT/Logic and away you go.

Unless I'm missing something.

Hi Corsair,

Yeah, I guess I could. I'm just not very familiar with ITB...anything really. I've never done any real serious production with audio digitally. I really dig Ableton because it's really flexible.

I just want to be able to hand something to a professional. If I hand him/her a bunch of AIF/WAV files and say, "Here, just sync them up". I would think that would cost me more time and money everytime I hand files to and engineer to mix, no?

To avoid further cost, I'd still have to do it myself and then dump to another software, and THEN transport the files so it loads up in the mixer's software appropriately for mixing.

I understand plugins can't be transferred unless installed, but I'd like to get my work to a basic transporting level that's accepted.

I guess I just nee to get ProTools?

[travisgarrison]

I'm confused.

It sounds like you are tracking to tape and then transferring the individual tracks into Live. Are you doing any editing or processing within Live? Or are you simply digitizing what's on the tape and handing the raw tracks to someone else?

When you mention that someone else would have to sync them up, that makes me think that maybe you aren't able to record all of the tape tracks into the computer at the same time. If so, then yes - you should take care of aligning the digital tracks.

However, if you're simply recording multiple tracks from tape into Live at the same time (without any editing or processing), you will already have a set of time-aligned WAV/AIF files in your project folder. If you give these to a mixing engineer, they will be able to load them up into their DAW of choice easily.

If you're talking about handing off a project with edits and plug-in processing, that becomes more complicated. I don't know Live well enough to answer that...

[mixedupsteve]

your .wav or bwav files should be fine and anyone who does mixing for others will be used to receiving files this way. They will also want to use their own plug ins etc so I wouldn't worry about giving them a ready to unpack project.

[soupking]

Cool, so handing a professional mixing engineer a bunch of WAV/AIF stems labeled by instrument/effect isn't uncommon? Like that's not "a hassle" that would cost an extra fee.

To clarify, yes on just dumping and sending. I'm tracking to tape, digitizing, then sending to a mixing engineer, or at least that's the plan down the road. My studio and expertise just aren't par with what a pro can do in a real studio.

It's also more flexible down the road if I have the work files. Granted, I'd need the plugins too, but y'all know what I'm saying. Better than editing tape.