I'm gonna call it a hi-def source... (1 Viewer)

[Leo Kerr]

I'm trying to find something that, in this day-and-age, should be simple, inexpensive, and reliable.


I'm looking for a box that takes a SD or CF card (no optical or magnetic drives preferred,) that will play audio. 4-5 channels minimum, 6-8 preferred.


That is, four, six, or eight monaural PCM, WAVe, AIFF, or whatever audio files. Played out of unique audio output ports. That is, like a DTS CD, playing out through the 5.1 outputs. With, preferably, an option for, say, 8-track outputs.


Right now, we've got some obsolete 16-track hard-disk based players that are now 8-9 years old, and are getting unreliable. Same-manufacturer replacements still use hard-drives, and are outragously expensive. And have moving parts.


And they need some minimal programming ability -- like, "when there's power, play these files out those ports, and loop, ad infinitum."

And in a desperate case, they might need to wait for something like an external contact-closure to act as a "go" command, 'cause in one situation, I need to be able to roll 15 tracks + 1 video track together. But in any given situation, all of the audio files for Installation X would be the same length. Just not the same length as, say, Installation Y, so the one player that I've found that looks really good... doesn't work.


And, oh, while I'm dreaming... I'd like it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-800.

So far, the only "close" situation I've come up with would be something like the Oppo Blu players, trying to master a multi-track file to a Thumb-drive.. and I'm not sure it'd work. (Moving parts are a real pain for us. We run stuff long and hard, and expect it to last for 10+ years without attention.)


Any ideas? My Google-fu has been weak on this subject..


Leo Kerr

 

[mattCR]

This sounds a lot like something I ran into trying to setup on-hold music for a client... it is possible; but is it a single AIFF/WAV/FLAC with 6+ channels, or several different files? If it's several different files, then this is absolutely doable... I'll have to get the info together, but that first question is the big one. And how large are the files, etc?

 

[Sam Posten]

Are you rebuilding The Hall of Presidents for Disney?


Try searching on "Multi-track digital controller" tho you might wanna add in sampler to it too.


Something like this, maybe?

http://www.lamusic.ca/ZOOM-R24-Digital-Multitrack-Recorder-Interface-Con-p/r24.htm

 

[Leo Kerr]

The problem with things like the Zoom is that while it'll play a large number of files at the same time, it does a mix-down into 2-track output. Not, say, 16-track.


In my case, I've got a large collection of single-channel audio files. Sometimes they're ganged together into stereo; sometimes, 4-6 tracks. And in once case, 15-tracks. (That's where ganging things together comes in handy. But the vast majority are 4-6 track.)


For example, to use the 15-track version, we have a large locomotive on display. It has a conversation between the engineer and the fireman in the cab, coming from a pair of speakers in the cab. Sprinkled around the engine are two subwoofers and 11 more small speakers, localizing sounds from that part of the train: pumps, compressors, valves, coal-shovels, and who-knows-what-else. In this particular instance, there's also a synchronized video, running captions for the hearing-impaired near the cab. But, also for this specific area, all 15-tracks are the same length, so the entire thing can loop all at once.

(It's about a 6-minute loop, 16-bit, I believe 48kHz, but it might be 44.1kHz sample-rate. Don't remember at the moment.)


Leo

 

[Sam Posten]

Gotcha, will alert one of my audio engineer buds and see if he has any suggestions for you.

 

[Craig S]

I am a theatrical sound designer so I have a little experience with this kind of thing.


I've heard of some stand-alone boxes that are designed for show control, but they are big, HD based, and expensive. You'd probably be better off using a computer and show control software (QLab for a Mac, SFX for a PC) running the sound out through a multi-channel audio interface. Outfit the computer with an SSD instead of a regular hard drive and you solve your moving parts problem. Of course, this kind of solution is going to run closer to $2000.


Given that you have a small fixed-set of sound files, here's what I'd spec out for you: an 11" MacBook Air w/ 64GB SSD ($1000), an 8-output USB audio interface (around $600), and a license of QLab that wil let you feed those 8 channels at once ($250). QLab will do everything you want and more. Amazing software for this type of application.


If you want to look further into the computer solution let me know and I can provide more deets.


I know this is not what you want to hear. Hopefully Sam's friend can come up woth something better, although I doubt you'll find any kind of complete solution with 6-8 discrete outputs at that price point.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Yeek!


To some extent, and I've got to remember to send the people at Oppo a line -- or does anyone know if the Oppos can play an AC3 or similar file off of the thumb-drive? (If I had to, I can probably get everything divided into a 5.1 or less configuration, except for the 13.2 area... yeah, the subs have dedicated full tracks.)


Leo