MIA ™ Owner’s Manual Version 1.0 for PC Mia is designed and manufactured in the U.S.
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 5 WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED IN THE MIA BOX SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS* MIA INSTALLATION 5 6 6 SYSTEM CHECK SYSTEM SOUNDS INSTALLING THE MIA HARDWARE CONNECTING TO MIA’S CONNECTORS Analog Inputs and Outputs S/PDIF Digital Inputs and Outputs 6 7 8 10 10 10 INSTALLING THE MIA SOFTWARE DRIVERS MIA AUDIO INPUT & OUTPUT DEVICES MIA’S VIRTUAL OUTPUTS THE ECHO CONSOLE 11 15 16 17 INPUT CONTROLS MONITOR CONTROLS VIRTUAL OUTPUT CONTROLS OUTPUT CONTROLS ADJUSTING RECORD AND PLAYBACK
Table of Contents COOL EDIT PRO: ASSIGNING MIA’S INPUTS & OUTPUTS COOL EDIT PRO: OPTIMIZING MULTITRACK PERFORMANCE 33 34 CONTACTING CUSTOMER SERVICE 36 APPENDIX A: GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE 37 APPENDIX B: RESOLVING INTERRUPT CONFLICTS 41 APPENDIX C: DIRECTSOUND FAQ 47 APPENDIX D: MULTI-CLIENT AUDIO FAQ 49 APPENDIX E: AUDIO SOFTWARE FAQ 52 APPENDIX F: AN INTRODUCTION TO 56 DIGITAL RECORDING 56 APPENDIX G: SPECIFICATIONS 64 INDEX 66 4
Introduction Thank you for choosing Mia. We think you’ll find Mia to be an extremely flexible, high-performance tool for your computer-based hard disk recording system.
System Requirements* • Genuine Intel Pentium II/III or AMD Athlon/Duron system running Windows 98/Me/NT/2000 • Genuine Intel chipset of VIA KX-133, VIA KT-133, or AMD 760 chipset (Athlon/Duron) • 64Mb RAM (more highly recommended) • A fast, high-capacity IDE or SCSI hard disk drive • Peripheral audio equipment, such as microphones, studio monitors, musical instruments, mixer, etc. * Win NT/2000 drivers are expected to be ready in early 2001. Check www.echoaudio.com for availability.
“Font Size.” If this is set to Large Font and your screen resolution is less than 1024x768 you will either need to change it to Small Font or increase your screen resolution. System Sounds There is one final step to perform before installing the Mia hardware. We suggest that you turn off your Windows system sounds prior to installing Mia.
Installing the Mia Hardware Once you have verified that there are no problems with your system, it is time to install Mia into your computer. IMPORTANT - Unplug your computer and detach all peripherals before proceeding with the following steps. 1. Remove your computer’s cover. This operation differs from computer to computer. Refer to your computer’s manual for a further explanation of this step if necessary. 2. Select the PCI slot into which you will install the Mia card.
8. Replace the computer cover and secure it. Reattach its power supply cord and reconnect any peripherals that you may have removed prior to beginning the Mia installation. 10. You can now attach external audio devices to Mia’s connectors. Mia can accommodate two analog input signals and can generate two analog output signals. In addition, Mia provides stereo S/PDIF digital input and output via coaxial RCA connectors. The analog and digital inputs and outputs on Mia are simultaneously active.
Connecting to Mia’s Connectors Analog Inputs and Outputs Mia has two analog outputs (OUT1 and OUT2) and two analog inputs (IN1 and IN2) on the back. The input and output connections can accept balanced or unbalanced jacks via ¼” connectors. Both the inputs and outputs are set to receive or send a +4dBu (balanced) signal. For optimum performance it is recommended that you use balanced signals when connecting to Mia’s analog connectors.
Installing the Mia Software Drivers Now that you have completed the hardware installation, you need to install the software drivers that allow Mia to interact properly with Windows 95/98/Me and your audio recording application. Turn on the power to your computer’s CPU. After Windows 95/98/Me starts up, it will automatically sense the newly installed Mia card and indicate, via a pop-up Install Wizard window, that new hardware has been found. At this point, you should insert the Mia CD-ROM disc.
If you are using Windows 98: After you have inserted the Mia CD-ROM disc and clicked next, you’ll see the message, “What do you want Windows to do?” Below that are two radio buttons. If it isn’t already selected, select the one labeled “Search for the best driver for your device (Recommended)”. Click on the Next button and a dialog will appear with several check boxes indicating places where Windows will look. Since you are installing from your CD-ROM drive, click on the appropriate box.
Proper installation of the Mia drivers will result in the message, “This device is working properly.” If the message does not appear, check Appendices A, B and C for help in isolating the cause of your difficulties.
You can now exit back to the Control Panel window to check the Mia audio input and output devices that are available. In the Control Panel window, locate the Multimedia icon and double-click on it. This will bring the multimedia Properties window into view. Select the Audio tab to see a list of available playback and recording devices in the Preferred Device fields. You can view the Mia input and output devices in the Multimedia Properties/Audio window.
Mia Audio Input & Output Devices The Mia driver installs into your computer as a series of stereo .WAV devices. Pulling down the Preferred Device menu in the Control Panels/Multimedia/Audio Playback section will reveal the available Mia devices.
Mia’s Virtual Outputs Most cards with a pair of analog inputs and outputs will appear to software as having just that, a single pair of inputs and outputs. When one application appropriates the card for its use, all other software is “lockedout” from using the card at the same time. While there is seldom, if ever, any need to record to multiple applications simultaneously, there are numerous instances where this is desirable for outputs.
The Echo Console Included with your Mia is a “virtual control surface” application called the Echo Console. Every time you start Windows you will see it flicker across the screen as it loads. Then it will minimize itself to the taskbar. The Console allows you to control the audio I/O and clocking functions of Mia, and it brings these controls to a single easy-to-use location. From the console you can mix the virtual outputs, control the output levels, select clocks, and adjust input monitoring.
The console functions are grouped into three areas: inputs and monitors (on the left), virtual output mixing controls (in the middle), and outputs (on the right hand side). The controls for a particular function/stereo pair are then further grouped into a box that contains selection buttons, faders, and other controls and displays as determined by the function. Input Controls Let’s take a look at the control surface. The input control area is located in the upper left portion of the console surface.
the signal from input 1(left) will be monitored by output 1(left), and the signal from input 2(right) will be monitored by output 2(right). Moving a pan control will determine how much of the input signal is sent to each output channel in the selected output pair. Both pan controls and faders can be reset to default by pressing the Ctrl button and left clicking on the control. Notice that the monitor controls are labeled at bottom indicating which input is being monitored and which output they are going to.
Remember that all of the monitor controls remain in effect even when they’re not displayed. The degree of attenuation (or muting) of each level is set by the monitor controls. The console program constantly maintains a level setting for each of the monitor paths it controls. Clicking on either the “Analog” or “Digital” output control button simply selects the settings that are displayed.
Output Controls The right hand side of the console is dedicated to the controls for the “physical” analog and digital outputs. An output meter pair is included for the two S/PDIF output channels, but these levels are not adjustable.
Setting Clock Sources and Output Controls At the very bottom of the Console there are buttons that allow you to select the clock that is used by Mia. You may choose between Mia’s own internal or “on-board” clock or you may synchronize to an external digital input. The console program will detect whether a digital input clock is available, and automatically disable the “Digital” Clock Source button if a digital clock is unavailable.
Mia can slave to or generate synchronization signals with its digital (S/PDIF) interface. The S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital Interchange Format) is a serial bit stream that has a clock signal embedded in the data stream. When recording from an S/PDIF source Mia will utilize the synchronization clock that is embedded in the S/PDIF while it decodes the bit stream. Note: When recording from a S/PDIF port, you must select Digital as the input clock. For greater flexibility, this is not done automatically.
The File Menu At the top left of the Console window you will find the File menu. By selecting the File menu, several configuration options become available to you. The first menu option is “Preferences.” The Preferences option brings up the Console “Preferences Page” window. We’ll get to that window shortly, but first let’s go on to the rest of the File menu options. The second option under the File menu is “Hide” which closes the Console window.
The Preferences Page The Preferences Page is accessible through the Echo Console File menu. Digital I/O - Selecting the S/PDIF Output Format Mia can transmit digital information in either of two formats, “professional” or “consumer.” The primary difference between the two is in the implementation of the SCMS copy protection bit, which, in the Consumer format, prevents the user from making digital copies of a digital copy. Mia’s S/PDIF output defaults to the Professional format.
for your DAT (if you don’t know which one to use and are having difficulties, simply try the one that is not currently checked). Mia never transmits the SCMS bit, regardless of which format is selected. Digital I/O - Dither Input In the top right is a checkbox labeled Dither Input. This checkbox allows you to enable or disable dithering on the digital inputs. It is off by default. Most of the time you will want to leave this setting disabled.
Additional Configuration Settings In addition to those settings that can be made using the Echo Console program, there are a number of other configuration options available only to users of Windows 95/98/Me. These are found in the Windows Control Panel. To access these controls, begin by pressing the Windows Start button. Select Settings, then Control Panel. In the Control Panel window, locate the icon for System, and double-click on it. Click on the tab titled Device Manager.
Show console on taskbar The first selection in the General section of the Settings screen allows you to determine whether the Echo Console program will occupy a space on the Windows taskbar (the blue “M” in the bottom right-hand corner of the Windows desktop). Checking this option enables this feature, while unchecking will disable it. Monitor during playback In the default mode, Mia allows you to monitor your input signal whether you are recording, playing back, or simply idle.
Multi-client audio Multi-client audio lets you use different inputs and outputs on Mia with different audio programs at the same time. Otherwise, you would have to use a different soundcard with each audio application. For example, suppose you own both Cubase VST (multitrack audio) and Reality (software synthesizer). You can now set Cubase VST to play out through outputs 1 through 6, and set Reality to play out through outputs 7 and 8. The default setting for Multi-client audio is disabled.
DirectSound/GSIF Settings Click on the DirectSound/GSIF tab. The window will change to look like this: The two radio buttons on the top toggle between the DirectSound and GSIF modes, which are mutually exclusive. While DirectSound is enabled, you will not be able to use Mia with the Gigasampler or Gigastudio software samplers. Conversely, when GSIF is enabled, you will not be able to use the Mia DirectSound driver. For more information about DirectSound please refer to the appendix titled: DirectSound FAQ.
The second checkbox is called “Enable DirectSound for digital outputs.” This allows you to enable or disable the DirectSound driver for Mia’s digital outputs only. DirectSound can only support a limited number of outputs, so if you have several soundcards with a large number of outputs you may not be able to find the output you are looking for.
Installing Cool Edit Pro Special Edition Included with your Mia system is a special version of Syntrillium Software’s Cool Edit Pro, a powerful multitrack audio recording and editing application. To install the software: 1. Insert the Mia CD-ROM. 2. Press the Start button, and select Run… from the menu. Now select Browse… At the top of the window that appears, you will see a box labeled “Look In:”. Clicking on this box will result in a list of your disk drives to appear. Select your CD-ROM drive.
Cool Edit Pro: Assigning Mia’s Inputs & Outputs Mia’s inputs and outputs are assigned to tracks in two different ways, depending on the viewstereo waveform or multitrackin which you are working. In the stereo waveform view, select Options/Settings/Devices; in the window that appears you can define the Waveform Playback and Waveform Record devices. Simply highlight the Mia inputs and outputs you wish to use in the appropriate fields.
Cool Edit Pro: Optimizing Multitrack Performance Background mixingthe process Cool Edit Pro uses to allow a large number of tracks to play simultaneouslyrequires significant processing power from your computer. With larger sessions, your computer may become so occupied with mixing that you experience audio dropouts in multitrack playback. This will usually happen because the background mixing is not sufficiently complete (watch the Mix Gauge) before playback is initiated.
output devices vary, so may the settings you’ll need to use to maximize performance. Use the Multitrack Settings shown above as a starting place when adjusting your system to optimize the performance of Cool Edit Pro. Cool Edit Pro will take more time performing background mixing when you have your tracks assigned to multiple sets of Mia’s outputs. In this scenario, Cool Edit Pro creates a separate mix for each output device (each Mia channel-pair).
Contacting Customer Service If you experience any trouble with your Mia system please go to the support area of our website at www.echoaudio.com and check out the troubleshooting FAQ’s we have there. If you can’t find a solution to your problem there, please fill out the provided technical support email form. This form will be sent to our technical support staff and they will respond to you quickly. Please fill out the form completely.
Appendix A: General Troubleshooting Guide Problem: After installing Mia, one or more of your peripheral devices no longer functions properly. Solution: During the installation of your Mia, it is possible that an interrupt conflict was created. Please see Appendix B: Resolving Interrupt Conflicts for more information on this topic. Problem: You installed Mia and restarted Windows. Now Windows indicates that it has found new hardware and wants you to install a driver for it.
environments, whereas the consumer mode is commonly implemented on equipment designed for home use in the consumer market. The primary difference between the two modes is in the implementation of the SCMS copy-protection bit, which, in the consumer format, prevents the user from making digital copies of a digital copy. In most professional equipment, this copy-protection bit can be turned off or on according to the user’s needs. In consumer products, the SCMS bit is always enabled.
Solution: Although it may seem obvious, the first thing to check is that there is a physical connection between the device generating the clock and Mia’s digital connector. Just because multiple devices are connected to the same computer doesn’t mean they are synchronized. Next, be sure that you have selected the Digital input clock source in the Mia Echo Console. Problem: Recordings made using the S/PDIF port contain occasional pops or skips.
Solution: You may have a bad audio cable. Try using a different cable in the problem channel. Problem: There is no sound unless I pull the audio plug out a little. Solution: Not all ¼” plugs are made to the exact same dimensions. Try a plug/cable from a different manufacturer.
Appendix B: Resolving Interrupt Conflicts While Plug-and-Play is often called “Plug-and-Pray,” it actually works quite well most of the time. We estimate that 95% of Mia installations will go without a hitchthat Plug-and-Play will properly assign resources to your card without any conflicts. The other 5% of you may experience interrupt problems (mostly caused by non-Plug-and-Play ISA cards or PCI cards that don’t like to share).
wired to them. Some ISA cards (also called “legacy” cards) have you select which interrupt is used by configuring jumpers on the card. Newer Plugand-Play ISA cards have their interrupts selected by either the computer’s BIOS (the built-in program that starts the computer) or by Windows 95/98/Me. The newer PCI (Peripheral Connect Interface) bus transfers data faster than ISA and was designed to support Plug-and-Play from the start. PCI connectors have only four interrupts wired to them (A, B, C, and D).
try and use your MIDI card or play back audio via Mia, neither device will function properly. Or, maybe you have a SCSI card that had previously been assigned to IRQ 10. The BIOS may now decide to assign IRQ 10 to Mia, and move the SCSI card to IRQ 9. An interrupt conflict now exists between the SCSI card and the older MIDI card. PCI Cards and Interrupt Conflicts Some plug & play PCI cards can also cause interrupt conflicts when they try to share an IRQ with another PCI card.
Write down the interrupts that are listed and the devices that are assigned to them. Pay particular notice to the interrupt that Mia is assigned to. Once you know which interrupt Mia is trying to use, you need to locate which card is potentially causing the conflict. To do this you may need to dig out the manuals for whatever ISA cards are installed and examine the jumper settings to determine which interrupts, if any, are used.
Reserving an IRQ within the BIOS – Legacy ISA Other than removing the offending legacy card, the next most effective method is to reserve the IRQ for legacy use within your BIOS. To do this you will need to enter the BIOS configuration screen when your computer first starts up. This is usually done by pressing the Delete key or F1 key right after the memory test during the boot-up routine.
7. When Windows asks, reboot your machine. When Windows restarts your Plug-and-Play cards will not be assigned to the reserved IRQ. Hopefully, your system will now be functioning properly. If not, please refer to the “Contacting Customer Service” section of this manual. We’ll do our best to help you solve your problem. Reconfiguring an IRQ within Windows 95/98/Me - PCI Now that you have identified the offending card and the IRQ in contention, you will want to try to reconfigure its IRQ setting.
Appendix C: DirectSound FAQ Q: What is DirectSound? DirectSound is an alternate method for a Windows application to access audio hardware. Previous Echo card drivers (for Layla, Gina & Darla) only supported wave (or multimedia) and ASIO. DirectSound typically provides much lower latencies than wave mode. While DirectSound was designed to be used by games, a number of professional audio applications now take advantage of it.
Q: Does this mean I can play games through Mia? Sure. The only snag is that many games use CD audio for their background music. Since the Mia card does not have a CD audio connector, you won't hear the music. If you are really determined; it would be fairly straightforward to run a cable from the headphone jack on your CD-ROM drive to the inputs on Mia and set up the monitors in the console. Radio Shack sells a handy cable for this – 1/8” stereo connector to a pair of RCA male connectors.
Appendix D: Multi-client audio FAQ Q: What is “Multi-client audio”? Multi-client audio is a feature that lets you use different inputs and outputs on your Echo card with different applications at the same time. This way, you can use several different audio applications with just one Echo card. Otherwise, you would have to use a different soundcard for each audio application. For example, suppose you own both Cubase VST (multitrack audio) and Reality (software synthesizer).
The first program to start recording or playing back through Mia will set the sample rate. As long as an application continues playing or recording (software synths are typically always playing, even if it is just silence), then subsequent applications won’t be able to change Mia to a new sample rate. If you're planning to use multi-client audio, the best thing you can do is to sit down and plan it out.
Q: What I really want to do is use a software synthesizer or sampler like Gigasampler, Reality, or Retro AS/1. What's the best way to use this with an audio and MIDI sequencer like Cubase VST or Cakewalk? The best thing you can do is run the synthesizer/sampler application first, then run the sequencer. Make sure that each application is set to use a different set of inputs and outputs. Cubase VST is somewhat harder to get going in multi-client mode.
Appendix E: Audio Software FAQ Cubase VST and ASIO Q: Can I use all Echo cards together at the same time in Cubase? No. There are two different Echo ASIO drivers. One is for the Echogals cards (Layla, Gina, Darla & Darla24). The other is for the new Echo24 cards (Mona, Layla24, Gina24 & Mia). Q: Wow, can I really use a buffer size of 128 samples in Cubase? You're welcome to try. The smallest buffer size we have been able to use reliably is 1024 samples on a Pentium III 450 with 128 MB of RAM.
Look at the list of MME outputs. Disable each entry that does not represent an actual piece of hardware. Specifically, if you see Retro AS/1, Reality, or Gigasampler listed, disable them (select the entry with the mouse, and then click the “Set inactive” button). Go ahead and run Cubase. Make sure you can select our ASIO driver and that it works. So far so good, now exit Cubase.
If you want to use both Gigasampler and Reality, you'd better have a really good computer. If you do, just make sure you start both of them before VST. Retro AS/1 and Cubase VST Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get Retro AS/1 to work with Cubase at the same time. This is mainly because we couldn't find a way to tell Retro AS/1 to use any outputs other than 1 and 2. Even if you start Retro first, both Retro and Cubase end up fighting over outputs 1 and 2 and nobody's happy.
Reaktor Q: I'm a Reaktor user. Anything I should know about? Be sure that you enable multi-client audio in the driver property page, or Reaktor will tell you that the hardware can't handle full-duplex audio.
Appendix F: An Introduction to Digital Recording Converting Sound into Numbers In a digital recording system, sound is represented as a series of numbers, with each number representing the voltage, or amplitude, of a sound wave at a particular moment in time. The numbers are generated by an analog-todigital converter, or ADC, which converts the signal from an analog audio source (such as a guitar or a microphone) connected to its input into numbers.
The more bits that are used to store the sampled value, the more closely it will represent the source signal. In an 8-bit system, there are 256 possible combinations of zeroes and ones, so 256 different analog voltages can be represented. A 16-bit system provides 65,535 possible combinations. A 16bit signal is capable of providing far greater accuracy than an 8-bit signal. Figure B shows how this works. Figure B.
Sample Rate The rate at which the ADC generates the numbers is equally important in determining the quality of a digital recording. To get a high level of accuracy when sampling, the sample rate must be greater than twice the frequency being sampled. The mathematical statement of this is called the Nyquist Theorem. When dealing with full-bandwidth sound (20Hz−20kHz), you should sample at greater than 40,000 times per second (twice 20kHz). Mia allows you to sample at rates up to 96,000 times per second.
Storing Digital Data Once the waveform has been transformed into digital bits, it must be stored. When sampling in stereo at 48kHz using a 20-bit word size, the system has to accommodate 1,920,000 bits per second. Though this is a lot of data, it is well within the capabilities of personal computers. Most computer-based digital recording systems record the data directly to the computer’s hard disk.
1.0, converting dBV levels into dBu levels is as simple as subtracting 2dB (2.21 to be exact). Signals are also occasionally represented with units of dBm. This is an older unit that measures power instead of voltage levels with 0dBm representing 1 milliwatt. Earlier tube-based audio equipment used standardized input and output impedances of 600 ohms, so a 0dBm signal was produced with a voltage of .775 volts.
Unbalanced and Balanced Inputs and Outputs An unbalanced signal, commonly used for guitars and consumer electronics, contains two components, a ground signal and a “hot” or active signal. The ground is the barrel of a ¼” connector and the shell of an “RCA” style connector. A balanced signal contains two active signals instead of one in addition to the ground. These are referred to as the “plus” and “minus” signals. A balanced input amplifier amplifies the difference between these two signals.
Balanced signals connect with either XLR connectors or TRS (tip, ring sleeve) connectors. Mia uses TRS connectors for connecting balanced line level signals. The three sections of a TRS connector are used to transmit the three components of a balanced signal (T = plus, R = minus, S = ground). Mia will also accommodate the two conductor unbalanced style connector.
In answering the second question, consider the fact that music is often compressed or amplified after it is recorded, and that some headroom is necessary when recording to avoid clipping. The only way that 96dB would be adequate is if all music were recorded so that the peaks were just under full-scale and no compressing or amplification was going to be applied after recording. Any time recorded music is amplified, so is the noise at the low end.
Appendix G: Specifications Audio Performance Analog Inputs (x2 balanced TRS): !"Frequency Response: 10Hz – 22kHz, ±0.5dB !"Dynamic Range: 106dB A-weighted !"THD+n: <0.001%, 20Hz–22kHz !"Nominal Input Level: +4dBu !"Maximum Input Level: +18dBu !"Input Impedence: 10K Analog Outputs (x2 balanced TRS): !"Frequency Response: 10Hz – 22kHz, ±0.5dB !"Dynamic Range: 106dB A-weighted !"THD+n: <0.
Hardware !"Host Interface: PCI bus card !"PCI bus master interface !"Two balanced ¼” analog inputs with precision 24-bit 64x oversampling analog-to-digital converters !"Two balanced ¼” analog outputs with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters !"S/PDIF digital I/O with up to 24-bit resolution !"On-board 24-bit Motorola DSP !"24-bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path !"Multiple sample rates from 8kHz to 96kHz 65
Index dither · 26 driver installation · 11 dynamic range · 62 A adjusting record and playback levels · 21 analog resolution · 57 analog-to-digital converter · 56 ASIO 2 · 52 audio software · 52 available devices · 15 E Echo Console · 17 Echo Console controls · 18 G Gigasampler · 53, 54 GSIF · 30 B Background Mixing · 34 Background Mixing Priority Level · 34 balanced · 61 buffer size · 52 H hardware installation · 8 Headroom · 60 C I cd-rom, contents · 5 clock sources and destinations · 22 consumer mo
PCI · 43, 46 PCI card, installation · 8 PCI slots · 8 Playback Buffer Size · 34 Playback Device · 33 Plug-and-Play · 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 Preferences Page · 24 Preferred Multitrack Devices · 33 Priority · 34 professional mode · 25, 37 professional output setting · 26, 38 S/PDIF resolution · 57 sample rate · 56, 58 sample rate lock · 26 sample size · 56 SAW compatibility mode · 28 SCMS copy-protection · 25, 38 selecting a slot · 8 settings · 27 software Installation · 11 software synthesizer · 51 specific
