Transferring From Digital Multitrack To PC...

WetDaddy

Ok, I'll try to make this as brief as possible

I've got a Fostex VF08. It's a digital 8 track, with and additional 16 virtual tracks (I think that's the term: tracks you can put stuff onto temporarily but can't edit. You can pull them back over to tracks 1 to 8 at a later date though and still have full control over them.)

The story is that I want to back-up these tracks onto PC without mastering them. I know a fair bit about this kinda thing, but only what I've learned myself, so there's big gaps in that knowledge!

My main question is this: What's the best way to copy stuff across using SPDIF? Can you do it in such a way that it copies all 8 tracks (forget about the other 16 for the moment) into a tracking program like Cubase or CoolEdit or something?

I know I could do the old "Press Record in CoolEdit and Play track 1 through line-in" for all eight tracks, but that's a pain, is prone to quality-loss (a little at least) and means sync-ing up the tracks later which I REALLY want to avoid at all costs.

The Fostex has SPDIF out and I've an Extigy which has SPDIF in. Can I only use that for a single stereo track?

There is an optional SCSI card for the Fostex and I gather from the manual that you can copy tracks across as WAVs numbered 1.wav to 8.wav and so forth fairly easily. But I don't have that card, and I don't have a SCSI card for my PC...

I also have a Edirol FA101 (which is a sweet piece of kit), but the only digital I/O THAT has are TOS-links. (or "lightpipes" as some people call them, although I can't decide if I hate that term or not...)

Little help? Thanks in advance guys!

P.S. By the by, I should have a few tracks recorded soon enough so I'll bombard you fellas with libel fodder!

Giblet

Does it have a CD burner? Some Digital recorders allow the raw data to be saved as WAV files.

WetDaddy

Hey Giblet.

Nope, no CD burner. Would have definitely used that if it did!

You don't have any experience with using SPDIF to transfer audio by any chance, do you? Is it just a digital version of using a normal line-out transfer?

Giblet

deathfunk wrote:

Hey Giblet.

Nope, no CD burner. Would have definitely used that if it did!

You don't have any experience with using SPDIF to transfer audio by any chance, do you? Is it just a digital version of using a normal line-out transfer?

I've never had to use it, although the option was there. Should try it anyway. There are programs that will start recording the second any type of input is detected through the line in or whatever. Like Total Recorder. No harm to try. Might not work if you have total silence at the start of a track though. Try zero the tracks and make some deliberate noise and press record so the 0.00 point gets recorded. Might be a bit finicky though.

Another way would be to record the tracks while using the spdif out, into whatever program you have on the PC.