Soundtracs Topaz Project 8

What can you do if you've been tempted by the automation facilities offered by digital desks like Yamaha's 02R, but your finances just won't stretch that far? In the first of two reviews of affordable automation systems in this issue, Paul White considers the Soundtracs option for those who already own an IBM‑compatible PC...

Based on their earlier Soundtracs Topaz mixer (see the review in SOS June 1994) Soundtracs' Topaz Project 8 is an 8‑buss, in‑line console, but unlike some in‑line designs, where you have to split the EQ to service both the main and monitor signal paths, the Topaz has a 4‑band EQ permanently in the main channel path, and a further 2‑band EQ dedicated to the monitor path. In most other respects the console is quite conventional, both in layout and operation, and the main thrust of this review is to concentrate on the VCA automation option available for the console. For more details on the specific features of the console, see the 'Topaz Project 8' panel elsewhere in this review.

The introduction of a low‑cost, dedicated automation system for the Topaz Project 8 makes it much more interesting, and because the automation runs on an IBM‑compatible PC, the designers have had the opportunity to create a very user‑friendly graphical front end (the minimum PC required is a 25MHz 386, though a 33MHz 486DX or better is recommended). Apparently, a Mac version of the software was also planned, but this has been abandoned due to the Mac's poor market penetration in the studio!

Based on those fashionable analogue devices, VCAs, the Topaz Project 8 automation system is a little different to most, in that it doesn't interact with the console faders or switches. In this respect, it's more like the other affordable automation system we're looking at in this issue, the Mac‑based Mackie Ultramix system (see review on page 180), but unlike the Ultramix system, all control is done on the Project 8 automation via the computer and mouse — there's no outboard fader pack option. Topographically, the VCAs are situated adjacent to the console insert points, but as the VCA cards are located inside the main console body, the only external connections comprise one ribbon cable for every eight channels of the console. These plug into the 1U rackmount automation controller, and other than a mains switch and a rotary MIDI channel selector, this box has no user controls. It all makes for a very tidy installation, the downside being that you can't use this automation system on any console other than on the Topaz Project 8 and the previous Topaz.

On the back of the Automation rack box is a MIDI In and a MIDI Thru socket, the MIDI In being needed to receive data from the PC running the included automation software, and Thru to carry MTC (derived from the external sync source), to any other machine that might need it. A green status LED on the front panel confirms MIDI activity. No MIDI interface is included, so the user has to provide one, ideally a Roland MPU401 or equivalent, though many others will work. This system syncs to MIDI Time Code (MTC) only, and it is up to the user to provide a source of MTC, either from a sync box or from other hardware such as an Alesis BRC.

When the Automation rack unit is switched off, relays bypass the VCAs, providing a convenient means of taking the VCAs out of circuit while recording. Though the VCAs are very high quality, purists will still prefer to pass signal through them as few times as is possible.

Because the VCAs are in series with the channel signal path, the channel faders must be set at unity gain position before mixing commences. If the faders are down, no signal will pass through the channel, regardless of the VCA setting. However, because this is a VCA‑based system, it can automate only the channel fader levels and the mute functions — EQs and Aux sends have to be set manually in the usual way, which means that you need to keep careful notes if a session needs to be reloaded in the future.

The price of an automated Topaz Project 8 console plus the PC needed to drive it comes pretty close to that of Yamaha's 02R, which offers the seductive combination of moving faders, complete recall and digital interfacing with Alesis ADAT and Tascam DA88 digital multitracks. While this doesn't detract from the high quality and good value of something like the Topaz package, it does mean you have to think very hard about whether or not you have sufficient reasons for sticking with analogue, especially if you use digital multitrack.

Installation

Apparently, the hardware required for the automation can be retrofitted to an existing Soundtracs Topaz — but it isn't designed to be used with any other mixer. It is important when installing the software that the MIDI interface and its drivers are installed first. That's because the Topaz automation software looks for an installed MIDI driver, and then configures itself to talk to it. Installation should be straightforward, especially if you're running Windows 95, and once you're done, you can boot up the software and click the On‑Line screen button to establish MIDI communications. If everything in the PC is happy and you have a MIDI lead from the PC interface's MIDI Out to the Automation rack MIDI In, the green front panel LED on the rack will flash, to let you know MIDI is being received. If this doesn't happen, (and predictably, it didn't in my case), you may well have a problem with your MIDI driver software.

This type of automation falls far short of total recall... but provides the essentials of mix automation in an easy‑to‑use format.

Being a newcomer to PCs, I did everything by the book — but there was still no green light. The software is supposed to auto‑detect the MIDI driver, but in my case, it was auto not‑detecting it! After several phone calls and some detective work that required me to become rather better acquainted with my .INI, AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files than I might have liked, it turned out that with my combination of hardware (an AWE32 SoundBlaster soundcard) and Windows 95, there was a bug in the Topaz software that prevented it from finding the MIDI interface unless the system was set to internal (test mode), rather than external MIDI sync. I got the system running in internal sync mode with no problem, and a couple of days later, a revised version of the software arrived which allowed me to work to MTC with no problem. Strangely, the system ran perfectly using the original software on a friend's system, which is fitted with a Roland RAP10 card. The original software is also reported to run fine on the AWE32 card under Windows 3.1! Whatever the problem was, the software should be cleared for Windows 95 by the time you read this review.

Automation Facilities

The system is based around three main screen windows, the most important of which is the Main Fader window, and as the name suggests, this gives you a graphical representation of the console faders, along with buttons to activate the various automation modes. The faders may be dragged up and down using the mouse, and mute buttons can be clicked on and off as the mix progresses, but as you never get a mix right first time, there's also provision for correcting sections — rather like dropping in on a tape machine. You can also move fader and mute events off‑line, by selecting them using a rubber band tool and then nudging them. This is more akin to editing with a sequencer, and a useful Join tool lets you construct a linear level change between any two points you select. A similar Fade tool allows fade‑outs of any length to be imposed on any number of simultaneous tracks.

You can also store and recall snapshots of all the fader and mute settings, which could be useful for mixes where a lot of things have to change at the same time. The first ten snapshots can be recalled directly from the keyboard, but if you use more than that, you have to press a few more buttons to coax them back to life.

Making Passes

Every time a new mix pass is made, you have the choice of keeping it or discarding it, and mixes may be saved to any designated hard or floppy drive attached to the PC. Unless you want to overwrite previous mixes, you have to manually change the mix title each time you save to disk. I would have liked to have seen an option that added a mix version to the file name, so you could automatically keep all the histories of a mix without having to keep typing in new names.

The graphic Mix window provides a visual representation of the fader and mute data for each channel, with levels presented as envelopes on a time line. You can zoom in on this either horizontally or vertically to provide the desired degree of detail when editing. The ability to nudge mute events forwards or backwards in time is potentially very useful, as is the ability to create fade‑outs. You can also copy data from other mixes, which might come in handy if you're doing an extended remix of a song you've worked on earlier.

The third main window is entitled Groups, and here you can construct up to eight Groups, where two or more channel faders can be brought under control of a single Group fader. This isn't linked to the console Group system in any way; it's simply a way of creating VCA subgroups so that multiple channels can be controlled by a single fader. When the Master fader of a Group is moved, the other channels move proportionally, just as they would in a real subgroup, and no data is recorded into the Group fader as such — all data is stored under the individual channel faders. Record, Play, Trim buttons and so on are provided adjacent to the Group fader, and these have the effect of acting as masters for whichever channels are in the Group. Similarly, operating the Group Mute button drives the mute switches in the grouped channels, providing a convenient way of muting multiple channels. Unfortunately, you can't allocate a channel to more than one group at once.

Only one window can be active at a time, though the on‑screen faders continue to move, even if the window isn't selected. All windows may be dragged around the screen in the usual way, while a further floating window provides basic Stop, Start and Fast Wind MMC commands via the MIDI Thru port on the rack unit. This section also operates the automation when you're in the internal sync mode.

Looking more closely at the Fader window, you'll see eight buttons alongside each fader, as well as a numeric window where you set which Group the fader should belong to. If zero is set, the fader is ungrouped. A further set of buttons is placed at the extreme left‑hand end of the window, allowing global control of the automation status. These affect all channels except those set to Safe, and further buttons are provided for setting all the faders either to their off position or their 0dB position. The View button also enables the Fader window to be scaled down, so that more faders can be shown at once — but at the expense of visual resolution.

The channel Mute switch operates like the switch on the desk, but does not link to the button LED on the console itself. Instead, it mutes via the VCA, rather than an electronic switch, as you'd expect in a mute‑only console. Both the mute and fader have their own Record buttons, so that you can record the fader and mute events together or independently. When either the fader or mute is set to record, any changes made while MTC is running are recorded. Similarly, both the fader and mute sections have their own Play buttons, which allow previously recorded automation events to control the mix. You can still turn mutes on and off manually in Play mode, but the changes won't be recorded. You can move faders in Play mode, but again, no new data is recorded and the fader snaps back to its recorded position as soon as you release it.

Keeping In Trim

In common with most VCA automation systems, the Project 8's system has a Trim mode which allows the fader to be used to modify existing automation data rather than to replace it. The best way to think of this is that in Trim mode, any fader movements are either added to or subtracted from the data already recorded, so if you go into Trim and then push the fader up by 5dB, you'll end up with all the same automation moves as before, but 5dB higher. Trim is useful for fine‑tuning a mix that's almost right, and to show the actual automation level as well as the physical fader level. A True Level indicator line appears on the fader scale after the first mixing pass has been made, so you can see what the VCA level is really doing.

When you put a fader into Trim mode, nothing happens until you grab it, at which time it moves to the ‑10dB position to give you plenty of plus and minus trim range. Grabbing the fader also puts the channel into record mode. A nice addition to Trim is Auto Nulling, designed to prevent abrupt level changes when you drop out of Trim mode, and you can set the number of SMPTE frames (up to a maximum of 100) over which the level fades from the punch‑out value to the previously recorded value. Hitting the Trim button gets you out of Trim mode and allows the auto nulling to smooth the join for you.

An alternative, and equally useful way of working is to use the Manual Nulling feature, which works as follows. If you drop out by hitting Play instead of Trim (and have Auto Nulling turned off in the Options menu), the fader stays in record mode, with the record button flashing until you move the fader through the ‑10dB position, where the current and recorded data are equal. At this point, the system drops out of Record, leaving a perfectly smooth transition. If you leave Auto Nulling switched on, it simply does this before you get a chance to move the fader.

Because the automation is PC‑based, the designers have had the opportunity to create a very user‑friendly graphical front end.

Another standard VCA automation feature is Isolate, and this may be selected either for the mutes or faders. In Isolate mode, the selected channels are isolated from the automation system, and so respond only to manual changes made via the mouse. No new data is recorded if moves are made while in Isolate mode. In Safe mode, the mutes and faders behave as though they're in Play mode, except that you can't make any alterations using the mouse, and any safe channels are greyed out.

Adjacent channels may be stereo‑linked, allowing two channels to be controlled from a single fader and set of buttons. Right at the bottom of the on‑screen channel is the Group select window, which has up and down arrow buttons so that you can click the number up and down, just like a mechanical thumbwheel switch.

In Use

The main difference between using the Topaz Project 8 automation and something like my own Optifile Tetra system is that there is no physical control link between the console faders and the software — everything has to be done from the screen. Other than that, the software is actually very easy to use, and the screen graphics are beautifully crisp and clearly set out. Creating subgroups is easy, linking two or more channels for ganged operation is just a matter of clicking on arrows, and when you've completed a mix pass, a dialogue box reminds you that you either need to save the new mix data or bin it.

Because you have to use the mouse to move faders, the best way to work seems to be to set up a nominal mix and then fine‑tune it, though different engineers will discover their own favourite ways of working. The off‑line editing in the graphical mix window is limited to sensible things you might actually want to do, so the procedure is fairly simple. To select mix data, you simply box it using the rectangle tool, after first choosing the icon that determines whether you're editing mutes, levels or both. Selected data can be moved backwards or forwards, copied, or erased altogether, while further tools allow mutes to be inserted, fades drawn across a selected area, or different levels joined by a straight line. It's all very nicely thought out, and unless the mix is really busy, not being able to get your hands on real faders may not bother you at all.

No compromise in sound quality attributable to the VCAs was evident, and the VCAs snap quickly out of circuit when the automation is switched off.

Summary

The Soundtracs Topaz Project 8 is a good example of a quality, budget recording mixer and the high engineering tolerances ensure that the pots all feel very firm, despite them not being fixed directly to the front panel. The EQ is flexible, with a gratifyingly wide range and the provision of a second, dedicated EQ for the monitor section is excellent. The aux send situation is less satisfactory, as the two dedicated pre‑fade sends are of little use when mixing — but then you can never have everything you want in a budget desk.

This type of desk automation does of course fall far short of total recall, as it doesn't affect aux or EQ settings, but given the limitations of any VCA system, it provides the essentials of mix automation in an easy‑to‑use format with on‑screen emulation of a moving fader system.

If you're not a PC wizard, I suggest you buy the MIDI interface card from the same dealer as your Topaz system, so that if any compatibility problem does arise, it doesn't become your problem. From what I've experienced of PCs so far, this advice applies to just about everything you can load, plug or slot into one!

Because there are now more automated recording options coming onto the market, both analogue and digital, the decision of which one to go for is no longer a clear one. For those users who already have a PC equipped with a MIDI interface, however, the Topaz Project 8 provides a tidy and cost‑effective solution for those who want to retain the convenience of conventional analogue mixers.