• Registered: 2020-02-15
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Topic: Question about signal path on UFX

When I play music into an input and listen through an output, is that live sound undergoing any conversion?

Or is conversion only when the signal is recorded (sent to the computer) or played back from the computer?

thanks

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
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Re: Question about signal path on UFX

Yes, there is an A/D conversion, then routing the digital signal thru Totalmix to an output, then a D/A conversion.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

3 Reply by superbaka (edited by superbaka 2022-03-02 22:11:52)

  • Registered: 2020-02-15
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Re: Question about signal path on UFX

Thanks
So the live sound should reflect the recorded sound, presuming the recording software or MacOS is behaving correctly? Has anyone noticed discrepancies between live sound and recording playback in terms of fidelity?

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
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Re: Question about signal path on UFX

What you hear is what is passed to the DAW. The recording format in the DAW and its audio mixing engine can have an effect on sound quality, if you feel this sounds worse than monitoring thru TotalMix.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

5 Reply by superbaka (edited by superbaka 2022-03-25 22:43:44)

  • Registered: 2020-02-15
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Re: Question about signal path on UFX

When you say the DAW audio engine, can you explain more?

Example on MacOS (Coreaudio) :

I load a 96K WAV into 3 different DAW. I playback the result from each DAW live. (Software Playback Ch1 -> Main Output)

Each result sounds slightly different.

Logic is brighter and thinner
BitWig is neutral
Maschine is darker and lower fidelity, like 44K with 96K data stripped.
(Of course, all software settings are equal)

However, if I am routing that live software playback through total mix (Software Playback Ch1 -> Hardware Output w/Loopback), and record it into a 4th DAW (Audition), and play back the results in Audition, or just Quicktime in MacOS, the resulting recording all sound equal, high fidelity of the original file.

This tells me the software engine running for Logic, Bitwig, and Maschine, are all translating the result differently for live sound, but this does not affect the data passed to Totalmix.

I hear it with my ears clearly. Any thoughts? Do each of these apps have their own live playback engines, irrespective of data passed digital into TotalMix?