Multitrack recording s/w for mac for long live recording

[radix]

I need to video a presentation, and I'd like to record the audio on my laptop via usb off a motu ultralite-mk5. I'd like to keep all the mics (3-4 of them for the speaker, the room, question mic) on their own channels and mix it down later in Davinci. What software could handle recording for 1-2 hours straight at say 48k/24? I have Ableton LIve 11, but it craps out at 2GB, though it does record each track as it's own file so it can go a few hours. It seems like overkill. I also have Performer Lite, but never really used it.

I do have a da-3000, but I'd prefer to not lug that to the remote site, or spend $ on a Zoom that I won't use again.

 

[JSmith]

What software could handle recording for 1-2 hours straight at say 48k/24?

Reaper will, although it caps the files at 1GB but then starts a new file without missing anything, seamless. It has a full function 60 day trial too. Or are you after something that will store the whole recording in one large file only?


JSmith

 

[radix]

Reaper will, although it caps the files at 1GB but then starts a new file without missing anything, seamless. It has a full function 60 day trial too. Or are you after something that will store the whole recording in one large file only?


JSmith

As along as I can stitch it together in Davinci, I don't care about the fragments. I'll have a feed of the two main mics going into the camera too, to sync up against later.

I've been meaning to try Reaper for a while, so maybe this is the kick in the behind to do it.

Thanks

 

[AnalogSteph]

Have you tried a classic wave recorder like good ol' Audacity? Looks like it should support multitrack recording on Mac. I did many, many radio recordings with it back in the day. A full-blown DAW seems kind of overkill for such a job.

 

[radix]

Have you tried a classic wave recorder like good ol' Audacity? Looks like it should support multitrack recording on Mac. I did many, many radio recordings with it back in the day. A full-blown DAW seems kind of overkill for such a job.

Huh, it does look like Audacity will do multitrack. I'll give that a try. Supposedly it uses 64-bit for everything, so max number of samples is about 13 hours. I'll set it up with 4 tracks on the motu and record for a few hours and see how it goes. I'd prefer to use the simplest thing that does the job right.

Thanks

 

[radix]

I was able to record 4-channel mono from the ultralite-mk5 (more channels are possible) for 3:11:55, so plenty of time. Exported WAV (48kHz/24-bit) was 1.66GB per channel, and FLAC 48k/24 with "5" compression was 1.31 GB/channel.

Some of the audio quality was not good, but I just set some levels and never tested it before recording. I need to more carefully setup my test and make sure its not having jitter problems on my laptop. I think I had a motu compressor on the mic channels too, and maybe I was clipping it. More tests....

 

[chelgrian]

I need to video a presentation, and I'd like to record the audio on my laptop via usb off a motu ultralite-mk5. I'd like to keep all the mics (3-4 of them for the speaker, the room, question mic) on their own channels and mix it down later in Davinci. What software could handle recording for 1-2 hours straight at say 48k/24? I have Ableton LIve 11, but it craps out at 2GB, though it does record each track as it's own file so it can go a few hours. It seems like overkill. I also have Performer Lite, but never really used it.

I do have a da-3000, but I'd prefer to not lug that to the remote site, or spend $ on a Zoom that I won't use again.

Back in the day the answer to this was Boom Recorder but's not been updated in 6 years.

If you had an RME interface its built in Durec functionality would be the thing, similarly for Metric Halo and their 'Session' feature.

Also note that if you record video and audio separately without a common word clock and genlock from the same source you will get sync issues on playback on a 2 hour take.

 

[radix]

Also note that if you record video and audio separately without a common word clock and genlock from the same source you will get sync issues on playback on a 2 hour take.

I am going to be feeding a send of the speaker's mic into the DSLR so I have a sync'd audio track (using the motu's monitor send, so it should be very low latency and not rely on the laptop). For her mic, that might be all I need. For the room and question mics, I'll use Black Magic sync between the recorded speaker mic and the DSLR track to get them aligned. If the room and question mic are a little out of sync, it's not a problem as I'm only getting the speaker's face/lips on the video. Those mics will be muted most all the time, and they will likely need a fair bit of processing adjust level and remove noise. But thank you for pointing that out.

I'm going to do a test of this (maybe video a tv for 2 hours) and make sure I can get it all worked out like I expect.

 

[chelgrian]

I am going to be feeding a send of the speaker's mic into the DSLR so I have a sync'd audio track (using the motu's monitor send, so it should be very low latency and not rely on the laptop). For her mic, that might be all I need. For the room and question mics, I'll use Black Magic sync between the recorded speaker mic and the DSLR track to get them aligned. If the room and question mic are a little out of sync, it's not a problem as I'm only getting the speaker's face/lips on the video. Those mics will be muted most all the time, and they will likely need a fair bit of processing adjust level and remove noise. But thank you for pointing that out.

I'm going to do a test of this (maybe video a tv for 2 hours) and make sure I can get it all worked out like I expect.

The issue is that while both devices the DSLR and the laptop will record at 48KHz their exact idea of 48KHz will be different so when played back from a common time base the recordings will actually be different lengths.

You won't get significant issues on short takes but the discrepancies can add up to noticable problems over the course of a couple of hours continuous recording.

This is not something Resolve can correct for it can only correct for fixed offsets between the audio and video.

 

[radix]

The issue is that while both devices the DSLR and the laptop will record at 48KHz their exact idea of 48KHz will be different so when played back from a common time base the recordings will actually be different lengths.

You won't get significant issues on short takes but the discrepancies can add up to noticable problems over the course of a couple of hours continuous recording.

This is not something Resolve can correct for it can only correct for fixed offsets between the audio and video.

OK, I see. I'll likely then need to rely on the speaker audio track recorded only on the DLSR and only patch in the room & question mic later.

I could probably send the speaker mic to L and the room & question mics mixed to R using Motu's CueMix then record everything on the DLSR with a custom cable from the motu.

the Nikon can record timecodes, but I'm not sure if that would help sync it up later with an audacity (or similar) recording.

 

[chelgrian]

OK, I see. I'll likely then need to rely on the speaker audio track recorded only on the DLSR and only patch in the room & question mic later.

I could probably send the speaker mic to L and the room & question mics mixed to R using Motu's CueMix then record everything on the DLSR with a custom cable from the motu.

the Nikon can record timecodes, but I'm not sure if that would help sync it up later with an audacity (or similar) recording.

Timecode is just metadata is helps you line up data from multiple sources however it doesn't affect how the recording is made, only genlock for video and wordclock for audio do that.

With what you have available as you say it's best to record enough useable material by recording a different mix in to the left and right inputs of the DSLR then make the separate audio recording as a safety and line up the bits of it you end up needing in post but don't rely on it as the main audio recording.

For reference the cheapest camera/recorder I know of that's still available new that can receive genlock and timecode is a Panasonic DG-BGH1 some computer audio interfaces have word clock inputs, the ultralight doesn't. Having dedicated wordclock and timecode inputs is rare. However LTC is just a analogue signal that can be recorded as audio and pulled out again by resolve.

Earlier Ultralights could also do this in hardware into a audio input but MOTU seem to have dropped the feature in the MKIV.

 

[radix]

Timecode is just metadata is helps you line up data from multiple sources however it doesn't affect how the recording is made, only genlock for video and wordclock for audio do that.

With what you have available as you say it's best to record enough useable material by recording a different mix in to the left and right inputs of the DSLR then make the separate audio recording as a safety and line up the bits of it you end up needing in post but don't rely on it as the main audio recording.

For reference the cheapest camera/recorder I know of that's still available new that can receive genlock and timecode is a Panasonic DG-BGH1 some computer audio interfaces have word clock inputs, the ultralight doesn't. Having dedicated wordclock and timecode inputs is rare. However LTC is just a analogue signal that can be recorded as audio and pulled out again by resolve.

Earlier Ultralights could also do this in hardware into a audio input but MOTU seem to have dropped the feature in the MKIV.

I realized after I posted that even with timecodes if the clocks are skewing they won't help.

I'll be using the Rode Go 2 system, and it turns out the TX can record backup audio even if the wireless link is lost, and it will record continuously from link establishment to power off. So, there's my backup for the speaker.

Thank you for all the help.

 

[Confused]

I need to video a presentation, and I'd like to record the audio on my laptop via usb off a motu ultralite-mk5. I'd like to keep all the mics (3-4 of them for the speaker, the room, question mic) on their own channels and mix it down later in Davinci. What software could handle recording for 1-2 hours straight at say 48k/24? I have Ableton LIve 11, but it craps out at 2GB, though it does record each track as it's own file so it can go a few hours. It seems like overkill. I also have Performer Lite, but never really used it.

I do have a da-3000, but I'd prefer to not lug that to the remote site, or spend $ on a Zoom that I won't use again.

I think the easiest and seamless way is to use Fairlight, which is integrated in Davinci Resolve [edit: I havent' tested this myself so don't know about possible recording limit):