Specifications

Keep your audio cable quality as high as possible; this also goes for your amplifier and speakers.
Your recording quality will only be as good as the lowest component in your system. The same
goes for PC's. Any PC is only as fast as its slowest part. It is no point having a state of the art
computer with a 1MB ISA buss poor graphics card or slow compressed IDE hard disk.
Keep a track of your system files, (system.ini, win.ini, protocol.ini, autoexec.bat, and config.sys)
and make back ups of them. Free downloadable applications like Microsoft REGCLEAN and
others will help to keep items like your system registry running at optimal performance. The back
ups are also handy if your system ever crashes.
Try to keep your audio recording gear as far away from noisy components as possible. This goes
from the location of the soundcard inside your PC, to the fan noise on your PC, to the position of
speakers, cables in your room, and mains hum caused by badly earthed components.
To use an analogy, you wouldn't try to win the World Formula 1 drivers championship in a car with
a roof rack carrying a load of baggage, so ditch the baggage when you are running your PRO
AUDIO applications, and you will be amazed how well your system may perform.
It always amazes us here at Yamaha when we read the newsgroups to see how many people
make fundamental mistakes like these, and then try to go and blame their new soundcard or synth.
This when a more fundamental understanding of audio recording and what you need to get the
best out of your system is all that is needed in many cases. In addition (you reading this is proving
that you are an exception to the rule) people just don't read FAQ's. They would rather have a good
old moan on a newsgroup. The other amusing thing we see on newsgroups are questions relating
to technical aspects of a card. If Yamaha make and support the card, isn't it more sensible to ask
Yamaha before posting on alt.binaries.moaning.loads !
103 Question: Can you explain more about how the SW1000 Wave2 input record option works?
Answer: This works in 2 modes
Mode Option 1: This allows you to record directly any analog audio input signal directly through the
effects busses (and any plg effects busses if fitted) to hard disk. Unlike SW1000 wave (1), which
monitors the effects but places a dry signal down on the hard drive. This mode is useful for effects
testing and using the SW1000XG as a real-time effects unit, without committing your effects to the
take you are making.
Mode Option 2: This option allows you to effectively buss record the main stereo or wave outs 1-6
back and the midi parts (all 32 channels) into the system without going into the analog domain.
The way it works is that the outputs from both the synth parts and all of the audio parts that may
be active (you decide how many by selecting them/muting them in your audio app) are piped back
to the card internally via the digital buss system. This includes any tweaks and edits that you may
make either in real-time or in static mode to both audio and midi parts.
An easy example of this is using an application such as Cakewalk Pro Audio or VST/Logic Audio
as follows:
1. Set up your midi file and edit it (using something like XGEDIT if you wish), until you feel that the
midi sound you are getting is at its best).
2. Now do all of your audio part recording across the 12 wave channels, using SW1000 wave input
1, to record each part or parts (for example guitars on audio 1, vocals on audio 2, sax on audio 3,
bass on audio 4, backing vocals on audio 5 etc)
3: Use the sysex (or controllers if set-up) nature of the audio controls for reverb, chorus, variation,
insertion 1&2 etc to mix the audio parts on your track until you are happy again. This may involve
dynamic mixing of audio parts using sysex throughout the song, and allows you to use the effects
in many different ways, and with total flexibility in real-time, and without touching your CPU!