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Author Topic: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?  (Read 6882 times)

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Offline silverkettle

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YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« on: May 07, 2018, 03:42:01 PM »
I have an AW4416 with a 20gb hard drive.  I also have installed the Waves Y56K card which has several processing toos, including an L1+ Ultramaximizer.  The Ultramaximizer is used when mixing down from the 16 song tracks to a stereo master track.  The Ultramaximizer has several settings you can choose when mixing to your two track master.  You can choose quantize to 24bit, 20bit, 16bit, 12bit and 8bit for your two track master.  You can also select Dithering Type 1, Type 2 and None.  You can also choose Shaping (noise shaping) Normal, Moderate, Ultra and None.  And you can choose "Domain" as Digital or Analog.  I have a couple of questions.  First, when I record I record at 44.1k since I want to burn the two track master using the built-in CD/RW burner, since CD-Rs can only be burned from a 44.1k master.  But I record in 24bit rather than 16bit thinking the sound quality will be higher. My main question is, now that I am thinking of converting to a modern computer DAW, or uploading songs I've recorded on the AW to iTunes, etc., is there any way to get the 24 bit version of the recordings from the AW to a computer?  My AW has a "digital stereo out" but it's a SPDIF type RCA connector and I think those are limited to 20bit and I don't know how to connect that to a desktop computer.  I may get an Apple for my future recording, by the way, but I presently use a Windows HP desktop.  There is also a 50 pin SCSI connector but I don't know what it could be used for exactly and I don't think there is a way to use that to get the 16 track recordings over to a PC or Apple computer.  I think they're obsolete now and I don't know if the AW passes the actual recorded material through that connector or if it's just for control.  I don't want to convert from the digital 24bit multi track recordings through the analog outs and then go back through analog to digital conversion to get them onto a computer and I also don't want to have to re-record all the original sequences to a new DAW.  So can anyone tell me a way to get the 16 tracks of a song recorded at 24bit on the AW4416 onto a modern DAW system?  My understanding is that a CD/RW drive recording onto a CD-R disk can only record in 16bit, which is why I'm wondering why the Waves Y56k card offers the selection of 24bit and 20bit when your making your master stereo mix to begin with???  You can select 24bit quantize all day long but what's the point if when you burn the stereo track to the CD-R it drops the lowest 8 bits (unless you choose to quantize down to 16bits)?  So since there is a choice to keep the bit level at 24 bits when recording the two track master mix how could you even get that 24bit stereo master mix out of the machine without going back through the D/A analog outputs?  And is there any way to get the 16 tracks recorded in 24bit to a modern DAW for more work and final mastering?  One more note:  there is an unused Option I/O slot in addition to the one the Y56k card is plugged into.  Thanks.  Jim O in Corpus Christi

Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2018, 05:37:59 PM »
Dear Silverkettle,

You could take out your ide hardrive and mount it via an adapter to either a pc or mac.

Better still, buy a ide to CF adapter of ebay and then a CF card. You can replace the ide drive with this setup and then easily transfer files to your DAW.

There is a programme called AW extract for the PC or Aware for the Mac you can get it here http://happyharry.net/yamaha/

The AWExtract (AWX) application was developed to be a tool for extracting .wav files from Yamaha AW4416 and AW2816 backup files. All audio tracks, regions and sample data can be extracted from an AW4416 backup file. All formats are supported, 16-bit at 48kHz, 16-bit at 44.1kHz, 24-bit at 48kHz and 24-bit at 44.1kHz.

The benefits of using AWExtract over using the AW4416 built-in 'wave export' function are many. The major advantage is the ability to extract all tracks from a single CD, where the AW4416 only allows a single wave file (mono or stereo) on a CD using 'wave export'.

Best Adrian


Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2018, 05:46:42 PM »
Here is a link to the CF card mod if you're unsure what I'm talking about. http://www.home-machine-shop.com/AW4416_Compact_Flash/

Here is a video explaining the AWaware http://happyharry.net/yamaha/aw4416/helpvideos/AW4416_mac_AWaware-DAW.mp4

Offline chrisNova777

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2018, 08:09:15 PM »
I have a lexar compact flash reader which connects via USB I got from a thrift store for five bucks

Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2018, 11:21:44 PM »
Regarding the extra slot in the AW4416 it's not possible to use all of the available cards while this Y56k is installed. You can use this to find out which cards can be used together or not. https://asia-latinamerica-mea.yamaha.com/en/products/contents/proaudio/training_support/ygdaicards_matching/index.html#checksheet

Adrian.

Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2018, 11:32:26 PM »
 Here is a bit more info
about the AW Extract

Extract wav files from Yamaha AW4416
and AW2816 backup files. All audio tracks, regions and
sample data can be extracted from an AW4416 backup file. All
formats are supported, 16-bit at 48kHz, 16-bit at 44.1kHz,
24-bit at 48kHz and 24-bit at 44.1kHz.The benefits of using
AWExtract over using the AW4416 built-in wave export
function are many. The major advantage is the capability to
extract all tracks from a single CD, where the AW4416 only
allows a single wave file (mono or stereo) on a CD using
wave export.The wave extraction using AWExtract is also much
faster than using wave export on the AW4416. And since you
should be making backups of all your work anyways (you are
backing up right?.) you can just use the backup to extract
the wave files. AWExtract can also be a bit more useful than
flying tracks in realtime over ADAT to the PC. With
AWExtract you get sample-accurate transfers, with regions
intact and saved as separate files if needed. You also can
extract the Stereo Track and sample pad audio with
AWExtract, which would be a bit trickier using ADAT
transfers.AWExtract will also be quicker than flying tracks
via ADAT in some situations, especially if you only have 8
channels of ADAT I/O available, because you will need to
make multiple ADAT passes to get all tracks transferred.

Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2018, 03:42:37 AM »
If anyone else is interested in this multitrack here is a link to the original brochure http://whitehouse2002.co.uk/AW4416_catalogue.pdf

I picked one up including a brandnew flightcase for 200 euros. It can also be used as a midi controller for certain DAW's.

Here are a few videos of tracks made with the AW4416 that I found on youtube.

These are from DJ Specht from South Tirol in Austria


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Offline MV-GTOW

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Re: YAMAHA AW4416 24bit recordings trapped forever?
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2019, 04:38:30 AM »
Actually I've found a much easier way to do all of this. Buy an adapter like this https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-SATA-IDE-Adapter-CB-ISA225-U3/dp/B01E7EPKUO/ref=sr_1_3/143-4567433-9064749?ie=UTF8&qid=1550223383&sr=8-3&keywords=Ide+To+Usb+Adapter then take the HD out of the AW4416, plug it into the adapter and then access the files over USB!