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2Box Drumit 5 Forum => General 2box Drumit 5 forum => Topic started by: spoenk on December 11, 2009, 12:22:53 PM

Title: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 11, 2009, 12:22:53 PM
when the 2box was advertised i also decided to get it because of the 8 individual outputs, so far i couldn't assign individual channels to the headphone out. am i missing something or is that not functional yet?
i played it live twice so far and the first time i used a stereo mix to feed the pa which (obviously) isn't an ideal solution.
second time i used 6 outputs, 1 for bd, 2 for snare, 3+4 for toms, 5+6 for cymbals but as the samples are stereo, this means that bass and snare sounds become mono which colours the sound unfavourably...
i'd like to have mono samples as well or be able to use 8 individual outputs to make this work better at concerts...

any information on that?
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: NeilC on December 11, 2009, 12:28:23 PM
I was always under the impression that there would be only 6 outs and then the headphone out which would incorporate all of them. That's what I understood from the brochure?

You're right though in terms of stereo to mono etc when assigning outputs, so be careful.
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 11, 2009, 02:35:38 PM
this is what the manual (0.36) says: The PHONES output is independent of the other outputs. It can be used as 2 additional line level outputs for a total of 8 audio outputs. Use a split cable (as described above) to obtain a left and right signal.

?

for recording as well as for playing live, 6 outputs are not enough in my opinion...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: HM on December 12, 2009, 09:34:06 AM
Quote from: spoenk on December 11, 2009, 02:35:38 PM
this is what the manual (0.36) says: The PHONES output is independent of the other outputs. It can be used as 2 additional line level outputs for a total of 8 audio outputs. Use a split cable (as described above) to obtain a left and right signal.

It would be great if one could route some of the drums to the headphone output, having a total of four stereo outputs. That would be far more better than three stereo outs. Spoenk, how does it sound like when you put a stereo sample to a mono channel?
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: nonoduweb on December 12, 2009, 10:30:50 AM
Quote from: spoenk on December 11, 2009, 02:35:38 PM
this is what the manual (0.36) says: The PHONES output is independent of the other outputs. It can be used as 2 additional line level outputs for a total of 8 audio outputs. Use a split cable (as described above) to obtain a left and right signal.

?

for recording as well as for playing live, 6 outputs are not enough in my opinion...

Hi

I don't know if I will help: you have 6 outputs mono (or 3 stereo): you can assign there the pad or cymbal of your choice.
You have too a stereo "phones" output where you can assign one or all of the 8 groups (kick, snare, percu, toms, input, song...) using the "mix" menu; the sound of one sample can be right or left using the "env" menu in the "kit" menu.
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 12, 2009, 02:24:58 PM
i can't do that in os 1.02. there's the NODE page to do the routing and of course as you said the ENVELOPE page to do the panning, but i can only assing outputs 1 to 6 or the mix to the headphone out.

but as this is 'just' a software routing issue it should be possible to include it in a future update, that is if more people think that this would be great...

for recording i would really want to be able to assign an output for each drum...

and as i said before, i think the manual said you could use the headphone out as two additional line outputs so i hope they are working on it...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 12, 2009, 02:38:32 PM
Quote from: HM on December 12, 2009, 09:34:06 AM
Spoenk, how does it sound like when you put a stereo sample to a mono channel?

one can not generally say and the effect also depends on the way the samples were recorded. mono compatibility is sometimes not paid enough attention to. i don't want to bore anyone, but when mixing down a stereo sound to mono, phase cancellation occurrs to a certain degree. depending on the recording procedure, the mono sound might still sound good or be totally useless.

and although i think the stereo samples of the 2box are great when using headphones at home, i'd prefer to be able to use mono samples live and not stereo samples mixed down to mono...but as soon as the editor is released, i will be able to do that...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: nonoduweb on December 13, 2009, 08:18:39 AM
Quote from: spoenk on December 12, 2009, 02:24:58 PM
i can't do that in os 1.02. there's the NODE page to do the routing...

Sorry, I think you're right.  :-X
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: UC on December 13, 2009, 10:59:26 PM
Sounds like something to flag up with 2box - I'll point Bengt at this thread (hopefully Scot will see it too).

Hopefully this is something that will prove the merits of an open system and can be patched :)
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: UC on December 14, 2009, 01:08:32 AM
From Bengt just now:

" Well. This is a feature we should be able to add in a future upgrade.
For now it's only 6 outs. "

It's good to know they're listening :)
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: wbrs on December 14, 2009, 02:06:55 AM
They have delivered on almost everything that was promised. I believe the rest will follow. From where I see it things seem to be coming together nicely. Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs? workaround?
Post by: spoenk on December 14, 2009, 04:10:10 PM
i'm currently not near my kit to try this, but maybe this is a workaround to get 8 outputs:

on the 2box FAQ-page it says:

How do I assign a drum channel to be routed to outputs 1-6?

First make sure outputs 1 and 2 are set as direct outputs. The Out12 parameter on the UNIT-OUT page should be set to 1+2, otherwise the mix is on these outputs. Be careful with the volume on the receiving device ( speakers, mixers etc ) as outputs 1 and 2 are changed to line level without additional volume control. ( Outputs 3 to 6 are always at line level. )

Then choose the output you want each drum channel to be assigned to. This is done on the UNIT-NODE page for each drum channel separately. Select the Out values from 1 to 6 for mono or 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 for stereo. If a mono output is selected, the left and right channel of a stereo sound will be mixed to mono. The volume of the sounds on these outputs is only affected by the channel volume ( KIT-DRUM page ), not by the mix volume. So you can make a monitor or recording mix by taking outputs 1 to 6 to an external mixer with the volumes as set in KIT mode, and a separate personal mix with an additional volume setting as set on the MIX page ( see How do I set the volume of the channels in the mix? ).

so for the purpose of getting a fourth stereo pair, one could entirely mute all the drum channels that are routed to output 1 to 6 on the unit mix page, then the mix on the headphone out should consist of the rest of the sounds only...just wonder how this output works in terms of level...but i'll try to see if this is a workaround or if i'm totally mistaken...

Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: nonoduweb on December 14, 2009, 04:52:32 PM
I think I understand what you talk about, but I tried that.
The problem is that what you call "the rest of the sound" from the "mix" menu is also in one of the 6 outputs (because you must always affect an output to a trigger in the "node" menu).
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 14, 2009, 06:39:15 PM
yeah you're right, i can get e.g. the snare to be the only thing in the headphone output but it will still be present in one of the other outputs...damn...as far as the level is concernded this would work fine though...

so we'll have to wait for an update...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: nonoduweb on December 14, 2009, 08:02:28 PM

In fact, the menu "node" should contain the possibility of allocating no output to a trigger, so we could put it in the mix.
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on December 14, 2009, 08:05:28 PM
that would be a simple solution which should be easy to put in the software...or providing PHONES as another choice of output
Title: Individual outputs?
Post by: Gissing on January 19, 2010, 10:30:33 PM
I have a more simple question than that.

I am a total newbie, and I wanted to have Highhat on output1, Snare on output2, kick on output3, toms on 4, and so on.

(I wanted to record the drums into a 16 channel harddisk recorder, to be mixed further later, into Ableton).

I could do that, but they all too were on output 1 and 2.

Have anyone some experience into that? I mean: to stop the drums going to to channel 1 and 2 too.
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: nonoduweb on January 20, 2010, 07:37:58 AM
Hi

Go in the UNIT menu, then go down to the OUT menu and select which output you want for out12 (top right button): mix, mix# or 1+2. Here, you will select 1+2. 
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on January 20, 2010, 11:50:53 AM
you should also be aware that when doing it this way for recording purposes, the stereo samples are mixed down to a mono signal...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: UC on January 20, 2010, 12:37:51 PM
hey ppl

I was about to buy a load of seperate mono leads from http://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/ - but I had an issue with their online store and ended up talking to one of their technical chaps called Chris who was really helpful - and he pointed me at the 8-way looms they've got on offer at the moment:

6 metre unbalanced Jack to Jack - £49.99 inc VAT

EDIT: oops posted wrong product. Attention to detail perhaps not my strongest point!

...I'll let you know if they're any good (or pick up Radio 1 ;D)
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: NeilC on January 20, 2010, 12:48:11 PM
Try eBay also, I found some 8-way looms jack to jack for cheapness which are really good...
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: Deve Loper on January 20, 2010, 01:31:42 PM
Next OS will have the ability to route each channel separately to the headphones left only, left and right, or right only (UNIT-NODE Out).
The headphone out (UNIT-OUT Phons) will then be selectable for the left / right signal pair.
That way you'll have 8 separate out.

(New OS due mid march before Frankfurt Messe.)
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: puttenvr on January 20, 2010, 01:38:24 PM
That's great news
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: Remi on January 20, 2010, 01:40:36 PM
Quote from: Deve Loper on January 20, 2010, 01:31:42 PM
Next OS will have the ability to route each channel separately to the headphones left only, left and right, or right only (UNIT-NODE Out).
The headphone out (UNIT-OUT Phons) will then be selectable for the left / right signal pair.
That way you'll have 8 separate out.

(New OS due mid march before Frankfurt Messe.)


Include the new hi-hat calibration?
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: Scottie on January 23, 2010, 11:16:44 AM
Quote from: Deve Loper on January 20, 2010, 01:31:42 PM
Next OS will have the ability to route each channel separately to the headphones left only, left and right, or right only (UNIT-NODE Out).
The headphone out (UNIT-OUT Phons) will then be selectable for the left / right signal pair.
That way you'll have 8 separate out.

(New OS due mid march before Frankfurt Messe.)


Well looks like you guys on the forum get the exclusives  :) as we didn't even know when the next OS would hit, or that these bits have been included!

Hopefully these updates will help a lot of the end user's out on this forum  ;D

Scott
Title: Re: 8 individual outputs?
Post by: spoenk on January 23, 2010, 12:10:26 PM
yes that's great! again can't wait ... this will make a great recording setup possible!