advice needed - stereo master player (.wav files)...

maxoftheflesh · 7th April 2008

Hi everyone at Gearslutz! After some lurking in these years I finally decided it was the right time to step in and bug you guys with a question. I would like to really thank you all for your time and attention...

My band works with digital rhythm sections that I program on Cubase. I usually end up doing a stereo mixdown in .wav format for these files. We play the rest of the stuff live (guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals).

We thought about gigging live with a PC for a while but it proved to be a bad a idea - the pc slows down at times at rehearsals.
So we are looking for a very reliable machine that will let us go around clubs with all the songs in it (14 songs, around 50mb each) and simply play stereo .wav files.

The plan is to just hook up the unit to my PC and transfer each song to it, and then going live by simply pressing play on the machine. Solutions:

I thought about getting the FOSTEX MR16-HD because of it's very cool 1-2 aux outputs (I was thinking to play back the stereo files on tracks 15/16 and maybe putting some click onto tracks 1/2). But I read consistent turmoil around the net for fears of a hard drive failure, so I am not excluding to either get the TASCAM DP02CF or the FOSTEX MR-8MKII with some 2gb cards (I think the TASCAM is more likely to be the one to go with as I've always relied on TASCAM gear and always found myself in love with it's ease of use).

I ended up thinking of getting a multitrack recorder because so far they seem like a rather reliable way to play back .wav files in a live environment where everything is risky. Only thing I'd have to work around is splitting the stereo file in 2 mono files and putting them onto the machine, then panning hard L and R then playing them out...

Question is:

Do you know anything like a SIMPLE, CLEAN, EASY TO OPERATE stereo .wav player that is handy to use BUT has viewable buttons and nothing too tiny to work with onstage?

The only thing I found out in my research was this:

TASCAM SS R-1 (a solid state recorder / wav player that works with CF memory cards)

...but the price tag is rather biggie and I can't believe there's nothing like this around...

Super sorry for the long post, I hope you can help me out with this stuff... as I think the only other solution for this mess would be just getting a CDJ player and simply going around with that... eh.

Take care alll and thanx again for your precious time!

MAX

PS: I searched around for similar posts and a right place where to post this question, hope I made it right...)

Kiwiburger · 7th April 2008

Many MP3 players can play WAVs, and have ample memory and good screens and navigation systems. A short cable to a good Radial DI box (they have one designed for connecting unbalanced consumer devices to a balanced lo-z line).

Have a spare for backup. They are cheap enough.

If I needed to play tracks live, I wouldn't hesitate to use my Sony Walkman. I'm done with DATS or CD Players.

maxoftheflesh · 7th April 2008

hey there Kiwiburger! Thanx for the input!
What I was looking for is something reliable as far as power supply goes, i.e. external power supply to connect to the unit, and a screen large enough with usable and safe buttons to operate onstage... do you know anything like that? What's your walkman's model?

DarrenSanzkrit · 19th April 2011

I am having the same trouble (ish)! We currently play some backing tracks live from my mac through a m-box which splits the signal for me (left:click to drummer and right to DI box).

My problem at the minute is I can't find good enough wav player software that automatically stops the tracks at the end of each song. I was using Quicktime Player but it's unstable and crashes a lot.

Any help at all would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Darren

DarrenSanzkrit · 20th April 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrenSanzkrit

I am having the same trouble (ish)! We currently play some backing tracks live from my mac through a m-box which splits the signal for me (left:click to drummer and right to DI box).

My problem at the minute is I can't find good enough wav player software that automatically stops the tracks at the end of each song. I was using Quicktime Player but it's unstable and crashes a lot.

Any help at all would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Darren

Any help??

7th April 2008	#1
maxoftheflesh Gear interested Joined: Apr 2008 Location: sardinia / italy Posts: 2 Thread Starter	advice needed - stereo master player (.wav files)... Hi everyone at Gearslutz! After some lurking in these years I finally decided it was the right time to step in and bug you guys with a question. I would like to really thank you all for your time and attention... My band works with digital rhythm sections that I program on Cubase. I usually end up doing a stereo mixdown in .wav format for these files. We play the rest of the stuff live (guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals). We thought about gigging live with a PC for a while but it proved to be a bad a idea - the pc slows down at times at rehearsals. So we are looking for a very reliable machine that will let us go around clubs with all the songs in it (14 songs, around 50mb each) and simply play stereo .wav files. The plan is to just hook up the unit to my PC and transfer each song to it, and then going live by simply pressing play on the machine. Solutions: I thought about getting the FOSTEX MR16-HD because of it's very cool 1-2 aux outputs (I was thinking to play back the stereo files on tracks 15/16 and maybe putting some click onto tracks 1/2). But I read consistent turmoil around the net for fears of a hard drive failure, so I am not excluding to either get the TASCAM DP02CF or the FOSTEX MR-8MKII with some 2gb cards (I think the TASCAM is more likely to be the one to go with as I've always relied on TASCAM gear and always found myself in love with it's ease of use). I ended up thinking of getting a multitrack recorder because so far they seem like a rather reliable way to play back .wav files in a live environment where everything is risky. Only thing I'd have to work around is splitting the stereo file in 2 mono files and putting them onto the machine, then panning hard L and R then playing them out... Question is: Do you know anything like a SIMPLE, CLEAN, EASY TO OPERATE stereo .wav player that is handy to use BUT has viewable buttons and nothing too tiny to work with onstage? The only thing I found out in my research was this: TASCAM SS R-1 (a solid state recorder / wav player that works with CF memory cards) ...but the price tag is rather biggie and I can't believe there's nothing like this around... Super sorry for the long post, I hope you can help me out with this stuff... as I think the only other solution for this mess would be just getting a CDJ player and simply going around with that... eh. Take care alll and thanx again for your precious time! MAX PS: I searched around for similar posts and a right place where to post this question, hope I made it right...) __________________

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7th April 2008	#2
Kiwiburger Lives for gear Joined: Feb 2006 Posts: 4,075	Many MP3 players can play WAVs, and have ample memory and good screens and navigation systems. A short cable to a good Radial DI box (they have one designed for connecting unbalanced consumer devices to a balanced lo-z line). Have a spare for backup. They are cheap enough. If I needed to play tracks live, I wouldn't hesitate to use my Sony Walkman. I'm done with DATS or CD Players.

19th April 2011	#4
DarrenSanzkrit Gear interested Joined: Oct 2009 Location: Ireland Posts: 16	I am having the same trouble (ish)! We currently play some backing tracks live from my mac through a m-box which splits the signal for me (left:click to drummer and right to DI box). My problem at the minute is I can't find good enough wav player software that automatically stops the tracks at the end of each song. I was using Quicktime Player but it's unstable and crashes a lot. Any help at all would be great. Thanks in advance, Darren