oh ok, i didn't know you could use the TR-8 as an audio interface. i haven't really looked at the TR-8 so i had to do some googling to look for pictures of its rear panel. so it looks like you can use the TR-8 as your soundcard since the Roland TR-8 is able to do MIDI+audio over USB. it looks like the rear panel has 2 inputs which are labeled as "External In: R & L" and it has MIDI IN/OUT on the rear panel also.

http://lib.roland.co.jp/support/en/.../TR-8_e02_W.pdf

the 1 page owner's manual is above, look at "Connecting your equipment" section "G", it points to the external inputs on a drawn picture of the TR-8's rear panel. it goes on to say that the External Input audio will be output from the "MIX OUT" jacks. that sounds like the Pulse 2 audio would go into the TR-8's 1/4" external inputs but then it would go right out the 1/4" "mix out" meant for a mixer. does it not let you route the external input audio to a channel so that it's sent over USB to the computer?

quote:

EXTERNAL IN (L, R) jacks Connect an external audio source here. The input sound will be output from the MIX OUT jacks ( E ). You can apply scatter ( 15 ) to the input sound. * When connection cables with resistors are used, the volume level of equipment connected to the EXTERNAL IN jacks may be low. If this happens, use connection cables that do not contain resistors.

also look at the "Various Settings" section of that same manual (it's the very last section i think) and look at the "External In" parameter. this seems to show that you can configure those 2 external inputs as either 1 stereo input or 2 separate mono inputs. You'll want it set to stereo for the Pulse 2.

quote:

EXTERNAL IN select [4] Lit (STEREO) Specifies whether the audio input from the EXTERNAL IN jacks Unlit (MONO) will be stereo (default setting) or mono x 2.

what's confusing is that it looks like the "External Inputs" only have 1 channel dedicated to them - channel 14? that makes me think it's only mono when sending it over USB. unless per the first quote above, maybe the external inputs are routed to channel 1 & 2, the main left/right audio output channels. if that's the case then you could have the Pulse go through channels 1 & 2 on the TR-8 ("mix out L" and "mix out R"). maybe you just don't trigger any TR-8 sounds so the Pulse 2 is the only audio being routed through it. here's a list of the TR-8 channels:
http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare...-tr-8-over-usb/

i just came across the link below which has far more helpful information than Roland's 1-page owner's manual. i didn't read the full article and the OP uses Cubase as his DAW but that shouldn't matter, the steps will be slightly different for FL Studio but he includes alot of helpful TR-8 information:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/ele...step-guide.html

i'm going to let somebody else hopefully provide an answer to your question - can the TR-8 send external input audio in stereo to the computer over USB, using 2 designated external input channels or does it route it through the main stereo output which seems to be the case?

another long post i know, but i wanted to reference everything i came across that half-assed mentioned anything about external inputs with the TR-8. hopefully a TR-8 owner will chime in with info about using the TR-8 as an audio/midi interface for a hardware synth.

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Last edited by Dj Dizzy on May-15-2015 at 14:01

The issue with using the TR8 is that you'd need to select it as your audio interface in Windows, and then have no audio output. You won't be able to hear what you're doing.

What you need, is a proper audio interface!

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But then i dont think you can use a contemporary audio interface along with the TR-8?? Or if you do you have to match the TR-8's sampling rate which i believe is 96khz

its a pity as id already have a TR-8 but for this

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No but that's the issue, you can only use one audio interface at a time on PC. I think you can aggregate in some way using ASIO4all, but I can't imagine it'd be a particularly stable solution.

The idea is to get a multi input interface and then use the 4 assignable outs on the TR8 and record audio the old fashioned way.

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most of this is above my head

but the external ins on the TR-8 is so you can sidechain a synth or bassline with your drums. i don't have my pulse 2 in the external ins, as i want it to have its own channel on my dj mixer, so i can independently adjust the EQ/filters/volume.

i usually control the pulse 2 with a midi keyboard controller or my TB-3 to sequence basslines, but i noticed that i can also control the pulse 2 midi out track with the piano roll in FL. but i can't seem to assign effects to it...

Last edited by rubez on May-19-2015 at 09:39

To assign a VST effect you'll need an audio channel active in FL that's 'listening' to a physical audio input. The question here is where is that physical audio input coming from?

If you purchased an audio interface you'd connect (for example) your Pulse2 to two of the audio interface inputs (or one if you wanted a mono signal) and route those two inputs to your stereo audio channel in FL. FL would then monitor or listen to those audio inputs which you could then apply FX to.

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so can't i do it without an audio interface?

i would rather put the money into a hardware delay/reverb unit than an audio interface if it comes down to it.

The more hardware you buy the more likely you are to want some kind of interface. Consider that with an interface you could also use the hardware FX as a send as well, not something you can do without.

Something like the Steinberg UR44 is going to give you 6 inputs and 6 outputs plus midi. It'll also give you proper ASIO drivers for less latency in the first place.

That would allow you to plug the Pulse and the TR-8 in at the same time (2+4 outputs) whilst addressing each output on a separate audio channel within FL.

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this all sounds very technical... i probably couldn't even set it up and question even the need for it when i'm trying to go fully OTB, other than to record.

quote:

Originally posted by rubez other than to record.

Bingo

No point in being OTB if you can't record anything!

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does that even make sense?