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Device or system to play 8 channels of simultaneous audio?
Hello, I’m wondering if anyone has some ideas as to how I can approach this. I am working on a sound-piece that ultimately needs to play across 8 channels simultaneously. I could mix it as 4 stereo programs that would play in sync, or keep it as 8 discreet channels. The main issue is the delivery system will be housed in an enclosure for driving an array of 8 outdoor speakers, and will be looping continuously. So this needs to be a pretty robust “turnkey” kind of system, like DVD, BlueRay, or something else, but not a computer based system.
I was looking at surround-sound formats, but even 7.1 only gets up to 7 discreet channels. Another thought I had was if 4 stereo-playing CD or DVD players could be linked, so that 3 players would slave to one. But I don’t know what kind of players have that capability.
Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated!
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6 Replies
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if you created 2 surround dvds that ran identical lengths,but each had a different arrangement of the necessary playback audio, that could then be routed to amps and speakers , would that not work. If the dvd players were the smae make and model and each were on loop, surely 2 could be started with good syncroniity that would then hold?
I dare say there are more elegant solutions out there but id guess theyll cost !
interessting one to ponder but plenty of people will have done this sort of project so good answers will be along shortly id guess.
PeterPost Production Dubbing Mixer
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Just thinking about it what about Tascam and Alesis ADAT multi track recorders / players, at the moment they are selling 24 track machines new but eBay might be the place to buy older 8 channel machines for peanuts.
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Thanks Peter for your ideas. I am considering the “on the fly solution”, since frame-accurate sync is not needed here. But ideally, I want them to stay “in the realm” of close to each other. My worry, is that after multiple loops (a 20 min program looping 13 hours / day) things might drift considerably between players, whenever they re-load to loop again. I was looking at RS232 linkable DVD players– but the new ones are $$$. Anyway, many possibilities… thanks again for your thoughts!
Teo -
Hi Brian, thanks for your ideas. This could definitely work. My ideal would be something like DVD as the medium, since I wont be present to operate the installation. But in theory, a hard-disk system like the HD-24 could work. Problem being– if there’s an equipment failure, it’s harder and longer to fix or replace.
Thanks again!
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Why avoid a computer… should mostly be a set and forget if it isn’t doing anything tricky? Surely must be the easiest way to run 8 tracks in sync.
Make an 8 track .mov and have VLC run in loop playback
put it in a batch file that runs on start up and all anyone has to do is turn the computer off and on again
https://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT.html
could be a cheap output option
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And, AIUI, lots of surround formats are just 8 discrete, full bandwidth, tracks…
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