Audio Tracks 24 Bit ?

[javes]

Hi guys,
I'm thinking about buying a 6HD, but just want to confirm that the audio tracks record at 24 bit as I have just read the sampler only recorders at 16 bit?

Also, can samples be placed in the audio track or do they have to be set to midi triggers?

Many thanks

Kris

[gwenhwyfaer]

That's right. The audio and the sampler are different things; the sampler works exclusively out of RAM, the audio exclusively from the hard drive, and there's no way to take things from one and put them on the other (unless you feed the Fusion's outputs into its HDR inputs). So yes, you'd have to trigger samples via MIDI.

Incidentally, the sampler will happily play 24-bit samples, as far as I'm aware; it just won't sample at 24 bits.

[javes]

Thanks for responding gwenhwyfaer.

Can the audio tracks be exported or saved in some way so you could import them into the sampler ?

Can you chop up audio in the audio tracks to create loops within them ?

How flexible are the audio tracks on the fusion ?

Cheers

Kris

[gwenhwyfaer]

javes said:

Can the audio tracks be exported or saved in some way so you could import them into the sampler ?

Kind of, but you'll need a Windows PC or a Mac. You can export the audio tracks as WAVs, chop them about in your favourite audio editor, and use the Fusion Converter to convert them into Fusion samples.

Can you chop up audio in the audio tracks to create loops within them ?

Well, you can cut and paste bits of audio, and you can loop each individual track, as well as the whole song, and change the loop positions in real time. You can import WAVs to audio tracks too.

How flexible are the audio tracks on the fusion ?

More flexible than a tape recorder, but not as flexible as my BR864 (no "virtual tracks" or "takes"). To be honest, they feel a bit "stuck on the side". It's best to approach the Fusion as a synth and an HDR in one box; they end up mixed down to the same outputs, but as far as their inputs go they're pretty much completely separate.

[javes]

Many thanks for this information.

One or two last questions if ya don't mind.

If you import a wav to an audio track, will a 1 second wav overwrite the rest of the track or will it be added it to ? - I noticed in the manual that their is no start point when you choose import to the audio track!

Does the fusion sample converter on the PC not convert 24 bit samples down to 16 bit ? Can you put samples onto the fusion without using this converter ? ie can the fusion play wav samples ?

Thanks again.

Kris

[gwenhwyfaer]

javes said:

If you import a wav to an audio track, will a 1 second wav overwrite the rest of the track or will it be added it to ? - I noticed in the manual that their is no start point when you choose import to the audio track!

As far as I know, it'll just replace it. However, you can import to a track and then cut and paste it to the end of another one, or do the chopping around on a PC.

Does the fusion sample converter on the PC not convert 24 bit samples down to 16 bit ? Can you put samples onto the fusion without using this converter ? ie can the fusion play wav samples ?

I don't know about the Converter, not having used it (I use Linux). But other than by sampling on the Fusion itself, that's the only way to get a file into it.

...At least, it is until the sample format is either released or reverse engineered.

[djnorythm]

My understanding is that the fusion convertor app converts various formats into the fusion format. So if you convert a 24bit sample, their is a lossless compression algorithm that is used to save your sample in a format that the fusion can read from the hd and use from ram.

24bit audio files for audio tracks stay 24bit files.

I asked Alesis about the 24bit sampling myth years ago, go figure the posts were deleted from the other forum.

If you ask me, it really doesn't matter. The sampler sounds really good and it is not hard (actually quite easy) to make good sounding playable programs. I have an mpc 4000 which is a 24bit sampler, but use the fusion for instrument programs that I perform.

I don't edit much when sequencing on the fusion. I build the song using my mpc and modules and stream their tracks (up to 8) into the fusion in song mode. I then layer the fusion sounds on top. The fusion inspires me to play.... not micro editing stuff on the fusion sequencer.

For me this set up works, because I can take the fusion out live and voila I have my backing tracks in song mode that sound good.

sorry for the ramble..

[elwoodblues1969]

javes said:

Hi guys,
I'm thinking about buying a 6HD, but just want to confirm that the audio tracks record at 24 bit as I have just read the sampler only recorders at 16 bit?

Javes,

Another factor to consider the attributes to sound quality is how good the analog to digital converters are.
Consider this,the Korg Oasys has the most stellar audio fidelity on the market,but the audio recorder on the Oasys is only 16 bit.
At Alesis's price point,the Fusion is as good as it gets in the $1,000 price range-so don't worry so much about specs.
I myself,have the Korg Triton Extreme-but I still have gear lust for the Fusion & it will be my next keyboard.