Help getting an ACID Pro 6 session into Pro Tools!
 

I am trying to figure out how to get an ACID Pro 6 session into PT. I am running PT LE 7.4 on a Mac (G4 with OS X) and my hardware is a Digi002 Rack. I have recently installed ACID Pro 6 onto a PC that runs Windows Vista Ultimate. What I have done is connect the SPDIF output on the Vista machine into the SPDIF input on my 002 Rack. I am recording a track at a time and then lining everything up on the grid. I am able to get the ACID tracks into PT without a problem but the sound quality is not up to par. I thought I was hearing some "artifacts" for lack of a better word so I loaded a loop into ACID and set my tempo and recorded that loop into PT over the SPDIF input. Then I loaded the same loop directly into the PT session from my media drive. When I get the two tracks lined up, looped and playback, I can toggle between each track and can clearly hear that the track that was recorded off of ACID has serious sound issues. It is difficult to describe, but I hear a ringing and the tone has a hard digital quality.

I was planning to add an M-Audio Midisport 1X1 and slave ACID to Pro Tools. I am going to use Pro Tools for all my recording, editing and mixing and am wanting to use ACID just for incorporating loops into my music. I like using ACIDized loops for the tempo and key changing ability. I know Elastic Audio will handle tempo and I can figure out what key the loops need to be in and play with the pitch adjustment, but it is not the same nor is it as painfully simple as using ACID for the same task.

Is this problem VISTA related? The Vista machine has firewire out. I just don't know what my options are and I really want to make this work. I know there has to be someone on the forum who is doing something similar! Thanks all and have a great weekend.



Chris White

Re: Help getting an ACID Pro 6 session into Pro Tools!
 

I you are going to record from spdif to spdif you need to make sure your clocks are synced, and you are using the same bitrate/sample frequency at both ends. If the clocks arent synced you'll probably hear some pops and maybe even hissing in the recorded track in PT.

My recommendation would be to "consolidate" your tracks in Acid so you have contiguous files in Vista, then transfer and import the whole files into PT sessions. The import process takes care of any conversion that needs to happen.

best of luck.

Re: Help getting an ACID Pro 6 session into Pro Tools!
 

Yes - the fastest is to mute track by track and select "Render As" and export each track one by one.

If PT was on your PC you could do the record directly via re-wire in to PT.

Re: Help getting an ACID Pro 6 session into Pro Tools!
 

Thanks to you both for the replies. I did not consider the clocks. DOH! I need to check my preferences. Also, I am at the moment kind of stuck with the dual-platform setup. I have my Mac optimized for PT and it is working flawlessly for me. The only thing is that I am kind of limited to where I am and can't add anything to the Mac. I really don't have the nerve to try and switch over to the PC completely. I have considered purchasing a Creation Station PC system from Sweetwater but I need to wait for the funds to become available :-)

I will do some fiddling with the systems and re-try my session transferring. Can either of you, or anyone else reading this, recommend a good book that would help me understand Midi better? Once I get this sound issue sorted out, I would like to be able to have PT control the ACID sessions somehow.

Thanks again.

Chris White