Couple more things pt2-How does it work on mixdown & externa

[Charvelguy]

Ok.

So, it seems to me that when your work is ready to riffcast, you hit the link, RW does its read of the riffs and converts the files down to one ogg.

The only problem for me is this. Why does it sound so much different on the server than in my player?
I liken the mixdown to the no so long ago tape days of recording with a 4 track reel to reel and then mixing those 4 tracks down to a 2 track playback mixdown reel.

Should I be using an external mixing program to get the most out of RW..and if so, what are you guys using and how are you doing it? (if I may ask)

[Charvelguy]

Oh, and thank you to those who reply in advance!

Bottom line is I am investing in some software choices and anything is open, bass modeler, sequencers, guitar recording software/hardware, etc.

[Wedgebill]

I don't doubt you're now gonna get a long lesson on the use of Audacity etc.

I have never mixed anything outside of RW prior to posting. The only time I get a major sound difference between RW and server is if I have allowed the limiter on RW to kick in too much or if I post with the level too low. Keeping a weather eye on the levels of your layers and tweaking the master volume makes a lot of difference, I reckon.

Hope this helps,

Uncle Bill

[Charvelguy]

It does, a simple search brought up a few options. It looks as though if I want to import anything, it has to be converted to Rex through a program such as Reason.

[dyonisos]

What about "IntelliRiffer"? Much cheaper than Reason! Makes importing a snap. You can even export an entire riff (with all of its separate layers) into another app, such as Sonar, tweak the individual tracks (layers), then use IntelliRiffer to beam them back into RW. The "batch" feature of IntelliRiffer is what makes this kind of operation so easy to do.

I've noticed what you're talking about, though. I agree that the uploaded oggs do sound different than what you hear when you're working in RiffWorks. To my ears, my tracks seem a little muddier, less definition, even after having paid close attention to RW levels (Riff gain, master volume, etc).

But, why then do some of the uploaded Riffcaster tunes from others sound so darn good? I've heard a wide range of quality at Riffcaster. Personally, I feel my own contributions do not Riffcast as well as I'd like them to.

It does, a simple search brought up a few options. It looks as though if I want to import anything, it has to be converted to Rex through a program such as Reason.


http://www.sonomawireworks.com/forums/search.php?search_id=1218447314

[gatorjj]

The ogg's on RiffCaster are going to be slightly less clear due to the compression vs. the uncompressed mix engine in RiffWorks. The player may play a part as well. The tape mixdown is a good analogy, as a mix from 15ips 1/4" tape sounded better than a mixdown to a cassette. There's more to work with for storing and recreating the audio.

As you've heard, great results can be had with RiffCaster, but I bet the native file in RiffWorks still sounds better!

J.J.

[epauley]

All of the guys above know what they’re taking about. However, don’t discount the possibility that what you hear on your computer’s sound system, can sound very different from device to device (even an ogg file online). What are you using to monitor your sound during recording and play-back?

[Charvelguy]

Great points and well discussed by all, thank you! This is the kind of info I'm looking for even I'm sure this topic has been discussed quite a bit in past.

I downloaded InteliRiffer and Audacity today. Having not used these before, InteliRiffer really sounds like a great mate to RW and will do things I would want in a 'perfect RW' world.

At present, I'm just using headphones to mix plugged directly into toneport. I've been meaning to get my external playback system hooked up again.

The playback meters are somewhat hard to gauge at times but I have in the past ran the levels on the 'hot' side to get more volume on the server playbacks. When being conservative, they still are seem low when compared to some other posters volume levels who put their music into riffcast.

Hopfully I'll be able to master these programs a little better. If you have any other ideas for software and compatable programs or software you really like to use for whatever reason that is not indigenous to Line 6, but is RW friendly, toss it out there! Thanks!

[Charvelguy]

Well... I just bought a couple Steinburg software creations, virtual bassist and groove agent 2 as well as some other software that I hope to create on and import into RW either thru inteliriffer or other means-crowbar if necessary.

[GuitarSlinger]

You might want to check out Reaper if you plan on using VST's. You can download version 0.99 free or demo the latest for 30 days fully functional. Audacity does not handle VST's well and has no ASIO drivers. Reaper also has rewire in the latter version and works great with Riffworks.

[mickeymix]

Did they change the Reaper drivers? It (ReaRoute) used to hang on "cowbell" for me so I un-installed it and never looked back.....that was right around the time RW ver 2 came out.

[camaro24gold]

An example of how bad compression online can get:
When I imported Rick Andrews song up on Rifflink; the song itself (while on my computer as a whole in RW) is 160 MB. Then the Riffs were broke down (exported) for importing to RiffLink....the folder that holds those individual Riff Exports is 956 MB!!!!

Just for the heck of it; after it was posted on RiffLink I saved it to disk from the RiffLink post (with rename as to not over write original). That file was less than 1 MB!!!

[GuitarSlinger]

ReaRoute was experimental at that time and crashed my pc too.

[mickeymix]

ReaRoute was experimental at that time and crashed my pc too.

Thanks Jason..........