Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The Job of a Sound Designer

Q: What the heck does a Sound Designer do anyway?

A: This is the most eloquent answer I have yet seen, posted extemporaneously on the stagecraft mailing list by Chris Babbie on April 3, 2008:

The job of the sound designer in theatre is to wrest control over every sound heard by the audience, and to ensure that it is appropriate, and adequate.

Should the director choose to use a cap gun in his little play, and wish that it sound like a handgun, my job is clear. Should he wish to use the local children as actors, before they're adequately trained to hit the last row of the balcony, my job is equally clear. Should he wish to pair a doddering old fool with the local opera diva, and wish that the fool's voice match hers in volume, if not quality, I also go to work. I rarely get to address casting.

The job of the Sound Designer is to transport and transpose. You should feel the time of day, the year, the location, and the emotion. I train the very air molecules to do my bidding, and to caress the tranducers of your brain, to delude them into thinking that it is possible, for just an hour or two, that faeries do exist; that there is a large sea-going vessel center-center; or that there is a door, and it leads to a dark, damp dungeon; or sometimes, if I'm not very lucky, that there is a loo just upstage of that wall.

From nothing but electrons I quell disbelief, and form my own reality. The very ether is my canvas. I create not on the stage, but in your imagination.

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How to Report Bugs Effectively

Q: I found a software bug. What do I do now?

A: This is the best page we have found on this subject: How to Report Bugs Effectively

But we have additional request we ask of everyone: PLEASE UPDATE THE SOFTWARE AND FIRMWARE TO THE LATEST VERSION YOU CAN.

It is impossible to support or fix bugs in software or firmware that is no longer current, and updating will probably fix the problem anyway! Besides, you might as well do it because we'll just ask you to as soon as you ask us for help....

That said, if the problem persists, please follow the suggestions in the article above, noting everything you can and provide that information to us, preferably in an email. If you call and we don't know an immediate solution, we will ask you to email us full information.

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MIDI Cable Length

Q: I know the MIDI specification says there is a maximum cable length of 50 feet (15m) but how far will it really go?

A: The only perfectly correct answer to this is to try it with the specific equipment and cable you want to use dressed where you want it to be and see if it works.

Here are the facts:

• Most MIDI equipment manufacturers have copied the examples (which are pretty good designs) from the original MIDI specification provided by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) for their MIDI IN and OUT circuits. There is no guarantee they have designed these circuits as well as they can, but most designs are good if not better than the MMA example circuits.
• The MIDI specification (especially if implemented using the example circuits and even more so if designed as well as possible) is inherently well conceived for transmission over long distances using typical cabling.

  The reasons for this are:

  • The receiver is differential and optically isolated. It also has a back-EMF diode (if the equipment truly obeys the specification)

  • The transmitter is fully balanced as long as it has been correctly designed. Early circuits used TTL logic with an open collector driver which does not work as well as current glue logic technology but that technology has essentially been obsolete for 15 years.

  • Low voltages (5V maximum) and reasonably slow bit rates (31.25kHz) are used

  • Digital data is transmitted via a current loop transfer function (rather than voltage level detection) and this is an inherently more robust protocol since noise sources are extremely unlikely to induce enough current (especially considering the very low impedance nature of the receiver circuit) to create errors

The process of MIDI transmission is very similar (despite significant differences) to the transmission process that modems employ - a process which normally works quite well over many kilometres of small gauge unshielded telephone line pairs.

A major difference between the two lies in the fact that modems use very powerful error detection and correction algorithms which normally prevent incorrect data from being received.
MIDI does not have any such error detection capabilities.

Some MIDI standards (such as Two-Phase Commit Show Control commands and File Transfer Protocols) have fail-safe error detection/correction built in but this is not generally true.
If any device could become dangerous if incorrect data were received, then a robust MIDI link must be used.

The most robust MIDI link we know of is our NetMIDI E-Show device which carries MIDI over a network.

Most other devices we have investigated which purport to be a 'long distance MIDI transmission link' actually use a variation of the EIA RS-422 standard which has a very long but definitely finite range.
We are also not aware of any such device which includes error detection/correction capabilities.
Because of this and since RS-422 uses voltage level detection and it is technically more susceptible to induced noise errors than the current loop design of MIDI itself, we do not recommend such units.

In fact, we know of nothing which is in fact more robust than simply using well designed MIDI equipment and interconnect cabling which follows standard procedures for data transmission integrity.
For those more familiar with audio than data, follow the procedures you would use with audio lines.

Specifically:

• Keep total loop impedances to a minimum within practical cost limits. The inherent impedance of a MIDI receiver is minimum 200 ohms so the total loop impedance should not exceed 20% of this value or 40 ohms
• Keep cables away from power lines or other wiring carrying high voltages, currents or especially noisy transmission cables
• Use twisted pair instead of untwisted pair and shielded rather than unshielded cable for maximum noise rejection - although these are definitely not essential and many installations use basic telephone wiring quite successfully over long distances
• Use good quality locking connectors in non-corrosive and non- condensing environments

Adhering to the above guidelines will result in the most reliable connection and the longer the run, the more important they become.
We have seen many installations in which some or all of the above have not been followed and MIDI was flawlessly transmitted, so designing a successful installation involves many intangibles which may or may not affect the ultimate result.

Which is how we get back to the original and only genuine answer:

Try it with the specific equipment and cable you want to use dressed where you want it to be and see if it works.

One final caveat: if you want to use a 'MIDI powered' device such as the type made by MIDI Solutions, you will have to use a third conductor to carry ground/earth from pin 2 of the MIDI OUT or THRU jack to the device even though ground/earth is not required according to the official MIDI specification. If you only utilize a signal pair to carry MIDI in your installation, then you may have to add a MIDI Solutions Power Adapter at the receiving end of your connection to provide local power for 'MIDI powered' devices, but this is a very good solution to this problem.

The MIDI Solutions Power Adapter will probably extend the distance MIDI can be carried over standard cables. Connect one to the MIDI OUT of the sending unit and another one to the MIDI IN of the receiving unit. If this does not extend the distance far enough, connect more at evenly spaced intervals through the length of the run.

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Windows XP Alternatives

Q: Will ShowMan or SoundMan-Server run on Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000?

A: Probably, but we don't guarantee that it will work as well.

You may certainly use Win95/98/ME/2K to check out the demo version to see if you like it but you should use Windows XP to actually run shows since it has superior multitasking, more precise timing and different file handling characteristics.

Q: Will ABEdit or SM-Designer work on Windows 95/98/ME/2K?

A: No, ABEdit/SM-Designer will absolutely not work correctly with Windows 95, 98, or ME.

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Windows XP Optimisation

Q: How do I optimise Windows XP for audio/show control use?

A: The following web page provides very useful information and instructions on how to do this:

Tuning Tips

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Recommended PC Hardware for SoundMan-Server

Q: What PC do I need to make the most of SoundMan-Server?

A: A high performance machine is recommended for SoundMan-Server.

SoundMan-Server requires a PC with a processor that has MMX and SSE2 instruction sets. Use a sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers that are certified to work with ASIO sound cards. ASIO drivers for almost any sound card can be obtained from ASIO4ALL

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: A zipped driver file archive must be unzipped into a directory of its own and we recommend you keep all the files there for future reference! DO NOT attempt to install drivers from within the .zip archive display that WinZip and other utilities provide.

SoundMan-Server runs in demo mode when no license dongle is plugged in and only requires two ASIO inputs and two ASIO outputs in that configuration.

Your computer supplier will need to know that the recommended PC for these is:

• 3GHz Pentium IV with 1GB RAM and 40GB free HD space. The free/demo version requires a 1GHz processor of any type that has MMX and SSE2 instruction sets with 512MB RAM for best results. Almost any modern PC will work but the higher spec PC you have, the more you will be able to do.
• Video card with 64MB RAM minimum
• Windows 2000, 2003 Server, 2005 Server, and XP Pro, in 32 or 64 bit form
• Colour video monitor(s) - 1280 x 1024 resolution recommended
• 100Mb/Sec ethernet port
• Direct internet web access to obtain software updates
• ASIO sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers
• MIDI Adapter, properly installed and configured

We have tested SoundMan-Server with many of the following audio interfaces and have measured the latency of the drivers in some cases. IMPORTANT: SM-Designer requires a sample rate of 48K!
NOTE: The software and drivers that currently come with the MOTU 424 are designed primarily for Windows Vista and are not recommended by us for use with Windows XP. This software runs an 'online' configuration program that actively interferes with the operation of the unit when it is connected to SoundMan-Server. We recommend installing the Version 1.6.6.11 drivers which can be downloaded here and using the offline configuration utility that comes with that driver.

NOTE: The MOTU PCIe-424 card with AudioWire interfaces have additional things to check.
First, the interfaces have built-in monitoring capabiliity. Make sure monitoring is not set up or make sure the monitoring outputs go someplace you don't care about, if it seems you can't completely turn off monitoring.
Second, the CueMix Console can set up all kinds of monitoring which can survive turning it off so you need to bring it up and make sure you have all the sliders set to zero and possibly no output channels selected.
Any configuration setting for 'monitor output' should be set to blank and 'enable multi channel wave synchronization (recommended)' should be selected.

• MOTU 424 with HD192 interface and 1.6.6.11 driver - 16 samples minimum
• MOTU 424 with 2408 interface and 1.6.6.11 driver - 16 samples
• MOTU 424 with 1224 module and 1.6.6.11 driver - 16 samples
• MOTU 324 with 2408 interface - 32 samples
• MOTU 828 & 896 firewire versions - 96 samples
• MOTU Ultralite - 96 samples
• M-Audio Delta 1010, FW410, FastTrack Pro, Audiophile 192 - 64 samples
• Echo Audio Gina & Layla - 1024 to 2048 samples
• Echo Audio Gina24 - 64 samples
• Digigram Ethersound PCI cards - variable latencies
• AudioScience ASI6416 16-channel (8 pair) Cobranet card - up to 4 can be used at once, giving 64 channels total, however at this point the samples are not guaranteed to all be simultaneous across all of the cards, so audio should be divided into groups and assigned to individual cards if the audio is supposed to be simultaneous channels - 1124 samples
• LiveWire Ethernet PCI cards - variable latencies
• Axia Ethernet PCI cards - variable latencies
• RME MADI PCI cards - variable latencies
• Yamaha mLAN interface using ASIO driver
• Presonus Firepod & Firebox
• Lynx Studio AES16 Card
• Maya 7.1 (not recommended)
• AudioTrak Inca 66 and Inca 88 - 48 samples (not recommended)
• Crystal 6-channel audio cards - 64 samples (not recommended)

NOTES FROM THE DEVELOPER

I haven't actually had any problems with the MOTU 424 cards and interfaces on W2K or XP. I did download the drivers for the correct OS version, and they are very possibly different for Vista.

There are two programs that come with the setup: Cuemix and the setup program. You *must* use the setup program to correctly configure the interface for things like routing and default sample rate and buffer size.

I don't believe I've ever tried using Cuemix and SM-S at the same time; Cuemix can be processor hungry as I recall, at least in some versions. I probably would not run it with SM-S. But it is completely optional.

Note that you can't run the configuration program while SM-S is running or vice versa. But configuration is pretty much a "do once" sort of thing.

Note that the 424 is a newer version of the 324. The drivers are different, but they are pretty much equivalent devices except for max channel capacity and max sample rate.

On the MOTU 324, I run it here with 64 samples all the time with 2408 Mk II units, and I think it will probably work that way with a 2408 Mk 0 unit or the newer Mk III units. I have one machine that can't run more than about 12 channels off the 324 card without getting dropouts. This is the fault of the Nvidia motherboard chipset, not a problem with the 324. The 324 works fine in other machines. Finally, when you use the 324 control panel to change the unit configuration the system will go into a solid processor loop for up to a minute or two as it reconfigures the card. It has always in my experience eventually come out of this.

One thing with *ALL* MOTU units -- NEVER install the drivers that come on the CD with the unit. *Always* go to the web site and get the latest versions when you do the install. Some of the old drivers were not wonderful.

Note that there are the original Layla and Gina which were 16 bit cards, and the Layla24 and Gina24 that are 24 bit cards. There are even newer versions.

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Recommended PC Hardware for SM-Designer

Q: What PC do I need to make the most of SM-Designer? (NOTE: if you just want SoundMan-Server, do NOT install SM-Designer!)

A: The same requirements as for SoundMan-Server (see above ) plus:

• Audio workstation software to make 48k .WAV files. Use a sound card or mainboard set to 48K sample rate with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers that are certified to work with an ASIO sound card that has at least 16 inputs and 16 outputs for best results.
  RSD does not include digital audio workstation (DAW) software with SM-Designer, but a large number of these programs are available. Check with your computer supplier for any additional hardware requirements DAW software may have. We recommend SAWStudio.
  SM-Designer runs in demo mode when no license dongle is plugged in and only requires two ASIO inputs and two ASIO outputs in that configuration.
• Your computer supplier will need to know that the recommended PC for SM-Designer is:

  • 3GHz Pentium IV class with 1GB RAM and 40GB free HD space. The free/demo version requires a processor of any type that has MMX and SSE instruction sets with a recommended 512MB RAM for best results. Almost any modern PC will work but the higher spec PC you have, the more you will be able to do.
    

  • Video card with 128MB RAM minimum - multiple head montitoring is supported

  • Windows XP (Windows 95/98/ME/2000/Vista is not supported)

  • Colour video monitor(s) - 1280 x 1024 resolution recommended minimum

  • 100Mb/Sec ethernet port

  • Direct internet web access to obtain software updates

  • ASIO sound card or mainboard set to 48K sample rate with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers

  • MIDI Adapter, properly installed and configured

NOTE: Installation must be done by an administrator but any user can run the program. TOP

Stage Manager 3000/ShowMan Alternatives

Q: Which is better - ShowMan or Stage Manager 3000?

A: ShowMan now has a huge number of features that Stage Manager never had.

Q: I am used to Stage Manager - is it obsolete?

A: Yes! It is no longer being supported and we are now recommending replacement of all Stage Manager systems with ShowMan!

Every show that is written for Stage Manager 3000 can be easily imported into ShowMan128 so you can keep using Stage Manager as long as you want and move your shows to ShowMan painlessly at any time.

Q: Is ShowMan the successor to Stage Manager?

A: Yes. Currently, ShowMan128 will import any Stage Manager 3000 Show.

ShowMan and E-Show combined comprise the most powerful live Show Control solution available.

Q: How do I transfer Stage Manager shows to ShowMan?

A: Here are the detailed instructions from the ShowMan user manual:

3.3.7. IMPORT SHOW

Click 'Next' in the Import Existing Show window and a window titled 'Open' appears in which "ShowDefs" is already in the File name field. Select the temporary folder into which an exported show has been exported and confirm that the ShowDefs file is in the chosen folder.

Click Open and the 'Imported Show Setup' window appears in which the temporary folder appears as both the Show Name and the Show Directory. Both names may be changed as desired and the directory should be changed to avoid confusion.

Click Next and the Show Import Summary window appears with the configuration and directory tree of the ShowMan show which will be created. Confirm that this information is as desired then click Finish and the show will be created and opened.

You can also choose "Import Show" in the Show menu to import a Stage Manager®3000 show. This is a special procedure and may require some preparation of the Stage Manager show before transferring to disk or network.

An instruction window titled 'Import Existing Show' appears with detailed instructions for importing a show. If an Amiga computer is not networked with the ShowMan computer, the transfer will be more easily accomplished via floppy disk.

To put the Stage Manager show on a disk, it must be prepared as a single show drawer and zipped into a single transfer file with an MSDOS-compatible name. The Amiga utility 'Zip' can be obtained from RSD or any www.Aminet.web site. Put both the Zip utility and the show drawer in a temporary location, open the Shell and make that temporary directory the current one by typing its full path name after the prompt.

Type the following Shell (CLI) command (suitably altered) to pack the entire show drawer into a .zip file:

zip -r show.zip "directory"

where:

• zip is the utility in the current directory
• -r recurses into directories
• show.zip is the name of the transfer file
• directory is the name of the show directory contained in the current directory - this must be in quotes but the quotes cannot be part of the directory's name

Mount the PC0: or PC1: device by opening the Storage/DOS Drivers drawer in the Workbench and double clicking PC0 or PC1. If these devices are in the Workbench:Devs/DOS Drivers drawer, then they are already mounted.

Place an unformatted 720K floppy diskette into the appropriate floppy drive and click once on the disk icon for PC0 or PC1 when i appears. In the icons menu of the Workbench, select 'Format Disk' and confirm that it is a 720K PC disk that will be created.

After the disk is formatted, drag the show.zip file onto the disk icon. After the file has copied, place the disk in the ShowMan computer and open the floppy disk drive. Unzip the file into a temporary Windows folder on the hard disk. The entire contents of the Stage Manager show drawer will be created and recursed fully into the temporary folder.

Click Next in the Import Existing Show window and a window titled 'Open' appears in which "ShowDefs" is already in the File name field. Select the temporary folder into which the show has been unzipped and confirm that the ShowDefs file is in the chosen folder.

Click Open and the 'Imported Show Setup' window appears in which the temporary folder appears as both the Show Name and the Show Directory. Both names may be changed as desired and the directory should be changed to avoid confusion.

Click Next and the Show Import Summary window appears with the configuration and directory tree of the ShowMan show which will be created. Confirm that this information is as desired then click Finish and the show will be created and opened.

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SM-Designer Show Control Capabilities

Q: How do the show control features of SM-Designer compare with ShowMan?

A: SM-Designer is designed to run cues from a maximum of eight cue lists simultaneously whereas ShowMan has up to 128 cue lists.

ShowMan and SM-Designer work well together because ShowMan shows can easily control both live and show control functions of SM-Designer.

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AudioBox AB64 Networking

Q: Why don't my computers see my AB64s even though they are connected to the same network?

A: There is probably a firewall or firewall software isolating them.

Make sure there is no router or firewall between computers and AB64s in your network. Also, make sure there is no firewall or antivirus (such as AVG) software running on your computers (including the built-in firewall that now comes with Windows XP.) We do not recommend having your show control network connected directly to the internet. Use a firewall/router to isolate your network from the internet. Each AB64 communicates with up to four devices on the network (including multiple computers running ABEdit) automatically.

If you must run the Windows XP SP2 firewall, then go to Control Panel/Windows Firewall/Exceptions/Add Program and click AB64FirmwareLoader. Click 'Change Scope' and select "My network (subnet) only" then click OK. Repeat, choosing ABEdit.

The AudioBox AB64 works with 10Mb/S or 100Mb/S Ethernet but the latter is preferred. Connect the control network to the AB64's Ethernet Network RJ45 connector. It is recommended that your network use a router that assigns IP addresses via DHCP and that each AB64 on the network be set to obtain IP addresses via DHCP.

If you must set a static IP address on the AB64 (if there is no DHCP server available, for example) you must make sure the AB64's IP address is different from all other devices on the network and the IP address is within the submask range of your computer's IP configuration. You can see the IP configuration by opening a command prompt window, and typing ipconfig then pressing return. It will show something like this:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 5:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vc.shawcable.net
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

The subnet mask is usually 255.255.255.0 which means in this case that the IP address of the AB has to match the first 3 fields of the IP address shown. In this case (for example) that means that the AB64's IP address must start with 192.168.0.something. If settings are not correct, ABEdit will generate an error message if the IP address of the box is not in the proper range that will work on the local network. This message specifies the IP address, the AB64 S/N and that it can't work on the network.

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AudioBox Sample Rate

Q: Why does the AudioBox use a 48K sample rate only?

A: The short answer is: that's the AES standard.

The detailed reason, though, is that there are serious compromises involved in supporting multiple sample rates simultaneously. We must accommodate 48K because it is the standard and the AudioBox is a professional audio device. ABEdit automatically resamples files recorded at any other sample rate while the file is being sent to the AudioBox using the freeware resampling program called Sox, which is the best program known for doing this.

The primary compromise involved if the AudioBox were to accommodate multiple sample rates internally is the use of on-the-fly sample rate conversion (SRC) which is known to create serious audible distortion as well as:

- Introduce a small amount of playback latency depending on the file's original sample rate

- Cause image smearing because of

- Loss of sample specific synchronization between files that play at different sample rates

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Remote GO buttons for ShowMan - Joysticks in Windows

Q: How do I set up a remote GO button for ShowMan?

A: The cheapest way is to use a Windows XP compatible joystick or game controller which is properly installed.

You must use a real joystick (or game controller) which has a Windows XP driver and you must properly install it all while the joystick is actually attached to the joystick port on the computer.
The joystick driver will not install correctly if the joystick is not connected.
When a joystick is installed, ShowMan will indicate the joystick fire button is available to be used as the remote GO button when you look at the System Configuration window.

To use a switch other than the one on the joystick itself as the GO button, you will have to disassemble the joystick to the extent that you can wire the contacts of the switch you want to use to the contacts of the joystick's fire button.
You cannot simply connect a switch to two contacts of the joystick port of the computer since this will not fulfill the requirements of a Windows compatible joystick.
If you are using a typical 15 pin PC game port, Matt McKenzie reports "it is possible to connect switches to the port IF you fool the Windows driver that a joystick is attached by putting 100K resistors across the appropriate pins:"

Pin #	Function
1	+5v
2	SW1 (connect to ground to operate)
3	100K to +5V
4	GND
5	GND
6	100K to +5V
7	SW2 (connect to ground to operate)
8	+5v
9	+5v
10	SW3 (connect to ground to operate)
11	100K to +5V
12	MIDI TXD
13	100K to +5V
14	SW4 (connect to ground to operate)
15	MIDI RXD

We have checked this configuration with a Sound Blaster joystick port.

The universal way to set up a remote GO button - and one which allows multiple buttons - is to use one or more MIDISolutions Footswitch controllers and just program them to send MSC GO messages (or any other kind of message) per your needs.
Contact us for further information on show control applications for MIDI Solutions products.

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Recommended PC Hardware for the AudioBox

Q: What PC do I need to make the most of my AudioBox AB64?

A: A high performance PC is necessary for ABEdit.

Windows software for the AB64 is now technically obsolete although it can still be used with an old version of the AB64 firmware. We recommend the use of HFI's ABShowMaker for the Mac.

Users of 1616HD and AB1616 units should upgrade to SM-Designer to avoid problems with SCSI which are being caused by the lack of support for SCSI processor devices by Microsoft operating systems.

The free Windows software utilities included with the AudioBox require a high speed Pentium PC, which can also be used as an audio workstation to make 48k .WAV files for the AudioBox. Use a sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers and CoolEdit or equivalent software (available from TuCows ) to record and play 48k .WAV files.

RSD does not include digital audio workstation (DAW) software with the AudioBox, but a large number of these programs are available. Check with your computer supplier for any additional hardware requirements DAW software may have.

The AudioBox Windows utilities are:

• ABEdit, including the Show editor for programming all AudioBox memories and parameters and creating and editing shows and cues and now including file loading for downloading .WAV and SHO files to the AudioBox.
• FirmwareInstaller.EXE Firmware upgrade software to keep your AB1616 and 1616HD AudioBox firmware up-to-date at all times.
• InstallFirmwareLoader64.EXE Firmware upgrade software to keep your AudioBox AB64 firmware up-to-date at all times.

Your computer supplier will need to know that the recommended minimum PC for these is:

• 3GHz Pentium IV with 1GB RAM and 40GB free HD space.
• Video card with 64MB RAM minimum - multiple head montitoring is supported
• Windows XP (Windows 95/98/ME/2000/Vista is not supported)
• Colour video monitor(s) - 1280 x 1024 resolution recommended minimum
• 100Mb/Sec ethernet port
• Direct internet web access to obtain software updates
• Sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers
• The Sound Blaster PCI 16 card is acceptable
• Game Port to MIDI Connector Adapter, properly installed and configured
• USB to MIDI adapters with Windows XP drivers may also be used.
• Models 1616HD and AB1616 ONLY: 50-pin PCI SCSI host adapter, USB to SCSI adapter, PCMCIA to SCSI adapter or Firewire to SCSI adapter properly configured. MOST adapters designed to work ONLY with MO, Zip, Jaz, Orb, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW drives will NOT work. In order to work, the adapter must state SPECIFICALLY that it is capable of working with SCSI PROCESSOR DEVICES! If in doubt please check with RSD.
  SCSI configuration:

  • SCSI terminator at end of chain of connected SCSI devices (newer models have active terminators installed inside)

  • The AudioBox is shipped from the factory preset to SCSI device 4. If conflicts arise, see included manual or Web Site documentation for information on changing AudioBox SCSI ID if necessary.

  • The following adapters are recommended:

    • Ratoc CB31U scsi host adapter with Ratoc CBS52U cardbus adapter for PCI mother boards.

    • Belkin USB-SCSI adapters (F5U015-TPW and F5U115-UNV) with LATEST drivers. These are discontinued but can often be found on eBay.
      Notes: The driver that Windows automatically installs for the Belkin units will NOT work and must be updated to the correct Belkin driver! Use the Windows 2000 driver with the Belkin F5U015 on Windows XP.

  • Other SCSI adapters may work but if difficulties are encountered, try the above units. The CompuCable USB-XFormer 2.0 WILL NOT WORK. ADAPTEC ADAPTERS WILL NOT WORK.

  • Use the highest quality (double shielded) and shortest length SCSI cables available.

  • Ensure the computer(s) and the AudioBox(es) are firmly grounded/earthed together with a heavy cable to prevent any possibility of loops.

  • If difficulties continue, RSD will be pleased to assist. Also, please read the next section "SCSI and the AudioBox 1616HD and AB1616"

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SCSI and the AudioBox 1616HD and AB1616

Q: Why am I having trouble using my computer's SCSI interface?

A: SCSI compatibility isn't what it used to be.

Users of 1616HD and AB1616 units should upgrade to SM-Designer to avoid problems with SCSI which are being caused by the lack of support for SCSI processor devices by Microsoft operating systems.

At one time, any SCSI interface could talk to any SCSI device but now there are two basic types of SCSI interfaces: high performance and utility - and they can't be categorized on the basis of cost. Low cost high performance adapters have fewer features while higher cost interfaces can be utility devices with lots of features.

High performance interfaces are designed primarily for very high speed data transfer between the computer and very large hard disk drive arrays, whereas utility interfaces are designed primarily for medium speed communication between computers and SCSI Processor Devices such as scanners, CD-R and CD-RW drives. The AudioBox uses SCSI in a similar fashion since extremely large amounts of data do not need to be transferred at high speed.

Since the CD-RW market is currently quite large, there are a number of very low cost SCSI host adapters on the market which are intended specifically for these units. We have taken advantage of this availability by making our SCSI interface compatible with most of them.

Many high performance SCSI interfaces, especially ones built in to some motherboards, are not designed to be compatible with SCSI processor devices and it is quite possible that the one you are using is one of those. If you are having trouble with such an interface, please try one of the recommended units listed in the section Recommended PC Hardware for the AudioBox

RSD cannot provide support for hardware which we have not supplied nor can we provide computer hardware support for such setups unless we are contracted to provide a working notebook or notebook system.

The CompuCable USB-XFormer 2.0 WILL NOT WORK. ADAPTEC ADAPTERS WILL NOT WORK. We will continue to test as many adapters as we can and add to the recommended list. Please note that everyone has reported extremely variable results with all Adaptec units and lots of problems. We have not recommended any Adaptec interfaces for several years now and this simply continues to reinforce this position despite the fact that they are perceived as the industry standard and are the most readily available. This is unfortunate but any concern should really be focused toward Adaptec since they seem to have no interest in providing updated drivers for older products or for making their units work with anything but mass storage devices.

SCSI installations are extremely sensitive to cable length and quality plus termination characteristics. You must use the highest quality (double shielded) cable and shortest cable length reasonable and choose an active or passive terminator, depending on the type of host SCSI adapter being used. SCSI bus errors will occur if a mismatch exists and when these errors happen, the symptom is usually that the computer just 'hangs' forever, with no error message evident. If this is the problem, try another cable, a shorter cable or a different terminator. If there are other devices in the SCSI chain, try disconnecting them and connect the SCSI host adapter to the AudioBox alone.

When you replace a SCSI interface you MUST uninstall the old one using the Windows Device Manager and install the new one correctly with the LATEST drivers obtained from the manufacturer's web site if necessary.

'Wide' SCSI (68 pin connector) adapters are not compatible with the AudioBox although some Wide SCSI interfaces also have a 50 pin connector which can be used with or instead of the 68 pin connector. Use the 50 pin connector only.

The computer and AudioBox should have their SCSI connections established before either is powered on. Both should be powered on simultaneously to properly initialize the SCSI connection.

Use the highest quality (double shielded) and shortest length SCSI cables available.

Do not bend or kink the cable sharply as it can cause data reflections resulting in data corruption, or in extreme cases can damage the cable. Do not bend an external SCSI cable into a radius of less than 5cm/2" (10cm/4" diameter loop).

Ensure the computer(s) and the AudioBox(es) are firmly grounded/earthed together with a heavy cable to prevent any possibility of loops.

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AudioBox Hard Drives

Q: How do I choose Hard Drives for my AudioBox?

A: For Model AB64: please consult the AB64 User Manual to calculate your size requirements and installation instructions.

For models 1616HD & AB1616: please consult the Disk List Page to calculate your size requirements. Users of 1616HD and AB1616 units should upgrade to SM-Designer to avoid problems with SCSI which are being caused by the lack of support for SCSI processor devices by Microsoft operating systems.

For the model AB64 we currently recommend the Samsung SpinPoint models PL40 SP0411N (40 GB), P80 SP0612N (60GB), P80 SP0802N (80 GB), P80 SP0812N (80GB), P80 SP1203N (120GB), P80 SP1213N (120GB), P80 SP1604N (160GB) and P80 SP1614N (160GB). These drives are extremely quiet, have a very good warranty and include mounting hardware.

All drives must be jumpered for Cable Select and the Master drive connected to the black connector (on the end of the cable).

If Samsung drives are not available, similar models MAY be acceptable HOWEVER the maximum drive current the AB64 can supply is 5A at 12V so your disk drives must NOT draw more than 2.4A maximum peak startup current if you install two hard drives in an AB64.

For models 1616HD and AB1616 we currently recommend the Seagate ST336607LW (36GB) and ST373307LW (73GB) drives. Units manufactured before May 2002 may require a very minor power supply modification and a 68 to 50 pin SCSI adapter.

Jumpers should be placed in position TP1 on J2 of Seagate SCSI drives for proper operation in the AudioBox 1616HD and AB1616.

Please contact us for further details if necessary.

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Recommended PC Hardware for ShowMan & E-Show

Q: What PC do I need to run ShowMan & E-Show?

A: A high end machine is not necessary for ShowMan & E-Show.

Your computer supplier will need to know that the recommended minimum PC is:

• 233MHz Pentium class with 256MB RAM and 200MB free HD space.
• Video card with 4MB RAM minimum
• Windows XP - Win95/98/ME/2000 MAY be used to evaluate the demo version (with some anomalies) but NOT to run shows.
• Sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers.
• The Sound Blaster PCI 16 card is acceptable
• Game Port to MIDI Connector Adapter, properly installed and configured
• Compatible joystick, properly installed and configured if you wish to use the 'Fire' button to make cues GO
• USB or Firewire to MIDI adapters with Windows XP drivers may also be used
• Colour video monitor - 1280 x 1024 resolution recommended minimum
• Direct internet web access to obtain software updates
• 100Mb/Sec ethernet card if an E-Show Network is to be connected
• Adequate number of PCI/ISA slots to accommodate I/O cards required - this information will be supplied by RSD for each installation

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Upgrading ShowMan to the Latest Version

Q: How do I get the latest licensed version of ShowMan?

A: ShowMan Licensees should run ShowManSetup.exe and put your license file (RSD_Reg_****.smr) in the same folder as the executable file (ShowMan II.exe).

We advise you always to use the latest posted version of ShowMan.

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MIDI and Notebook Computers

Q: Can I use my notebook computer with a MIDI interface?

A: Most notebook computers have built-in sound but don't provide a connector for MIDI IN and OUT. You can add a PCMCIA MIDI interface, USB MIDI interface or Firewire MIDI interface but some notebooks have compatibility issues.

Also, some notebook computers are not specified for Windows XP. Before deciding to use a notebook, get a guarantee from the dealers and manufacturers of both the computer and the adapter that you will be able to use them together to send and receive MIDI under Windows XP specifically. Find out how to set them up and get the commitment from the dealer that they will get them working or your money will be refunded.

RSD cannot provide support for hardware which we have not supplied nor can we provide computer hardware support for such setups unless we are contracted to provide a working notebook or notebook system.

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MIDI and Sound Cards

Q: Can I use any PC Sound Card as a MIDI interface?

A: Most Sound Cards provide a connector for MIDI IN and OUT.

We have discovered that some are better than others, though. If you seem to be getting MIDI data errors, try using a different sound card. Use a sound card or mainboard with proven Windows XP sound and MIDI drivers which are fully 48kHz sample rate compatible. The Creative Sound Blaster PCI 16 card is acceptable.
We have found specific problems with the following sound cards:
AOpen (Acer) FX-3D
Sound Blaster SBLive!
We cannot recommend these cards at this time.

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MIDI OUT ERROR!

Q: Why does this error window (which usually contains the following message: "A device ID has been used that is out of range for your system") appear?

A: This error window comes up when you have a Yamaha USB-MIDI interface device driver installed.

We have discovered that the Yamaha USB-MIDI interface device driver which is used by Yamaha to provide MIDI communication services between a Windows computer and various Yamaha digital audio consoles creates illegal MIDI device numbers in Windows which causes this error when MIDI software attempts to discover MIDI ports.
This is not usually a fatal error but if you wish to stop the error from occurring you must completely uninstall the Yamaha USB-MIDI interface device driver and stop using that service. You will usually have to reboot the computer after uninstalling that device.
If you are willing to simply ignore this error, RSD software should continue to operate without difficulty after the error window is closed.

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Why Doesn't XYZ work?

Q: What's wrong with this thing?

A: The almost universal answers to this question which can be asked about virtually anything in the world at one time or another are:
"Is it plugged in?"
"Is it connected properly?"
"Is it switched on?"
"Are the DIP switches set correctly?"
Truthfully, without being facetious or trying to insult your intelligence, 90% of the problems we solve are done by double checking the simple stuff.
Just take a moment to make sure everything is actually connected to the right connectors on the right units and then try new cables if anything is suspect.
The greatest possibilities of failure exist where connections are made so pursuing the mythical 'good connection' will probably make things come back to life.
Cables wear out more often than you might imagine so it's always a good idea to have a box of new spares on hand.
DIP switches also are connections of sorts and have been known to become intermittant. Just switching them back and forth a few times and possibly putting a little contact cleaner in them may make them more reliable.

Still doesn't work? Give us a call or email and we'll try to help!

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The Question We Didn't Think Of

If you have any questions you want answered, just email or phone us and ask us to post it here so everyone can get the answer! We'll credit you for being the first to ask (no prizes yet... ;-) if we feel it's of general enough interest. (we reserve the sole right to make such determination)

Thanks for your interest!