Master device

The ISA bus is easily identifiable by the presence of the small bus connector behind the 8-bit connector, as shown in Figure 5.3. This additional connector adds several signal lines to make the bus a full 16-bit bus. The other connector is a regular 8-bit bus connector. The ISA bus has eight more interrupts than the 8-bit bus and four additional DMA channels. Also, this bus can operate at nearly twice the speed of the older, 8-bit bus (ISA can run at 8MHz, and Turbo models can run as fast as lOMHz reliably). Finally, this bus can use one bus-mastering device, if necessary. 

MCA was a major step forward in bus design. First, it was available in either 16-bit or 32-bit versions. Second, it could have multiple bus-mastering devices installed. Third, the bus clock speed was slightly faster (lOMHz instead of 8MHz). And finally, it offered the ability to change configurations with software rather than with jumpers and DIP switches. 

There were several new, desirable features introduced with EISA. Its creators took the best of MCA s features and added to them. As we have already mentioned, EISA has a 32-bit data path. Additionally, it has more FO addresses, it allows expansion cards to be set up using software, there is no need for interrupts or DMA channels, and it allows for multiple bus-mastering devices. However, despite all these advances, it still uses the 8MHz clock speed of ISA (to ensure backward compatibility with ISA cards). 

While there are a large number of ways to interpret and play back MIDI data on your computer using any number of hardware and software devices, there is only one way to use MIDI to render a project in ACID. On the Track Header for MIDI tracks, the track must be routed through the Master device, which is the DirectX SoftSynth that ACID uses internally to process MIDI data. Click the Device Selection button (the Bus Selection button on audio tracks—see Figure 10.2) to see the list of available devices. The specific device that is available is set up on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog box (see Figure 10.2). 

The most important aspect of using the Master device for MIDI is when you render projects, as discussed above. Since the Master device is internal to ACID and the other devices are external, tracks that use these devices for MIDI playback will not be able to take advantage of any FX or pitch shifting. Notice that the Master device track (bottom) in Figure 10.3 has an FX button,... 

Rendering projects with MIDI tracks is exactly the same as rendering any other project and is discussed in detail in Chapter 12. Just to repeat If you render a project and find that the MIDI track is silent, but the track previews when you play back the project, the problem is that you are not using the Master device for the MIDI tracks. 

DownLoadable Sound sets (DLS) on your computer. As the name suggests, DLS fdes have a. dls extension and can be downloaded from a number of sites on the Internet. Some examples of some DLS sets are the Roland GS or Yamaha XG sets. DLS sets use the DirectX SoftSynth for playback and thus can be mixed into ACID projects and rendered out using the Master device. Both DLS-1 and DLS-2 formats are supported in ACID, but your sound card may not support both. The difference between the two is not important in ACID. The default GS sound set (16 bit) is found here C WINDOWS SYSTEM32 DRIVERS GM.DLS. The Load button allows you to add DLS fdes to the Voice set list. 

In other words, shonld ACID be the master device or the slave Very broadly speaking, ACID seems to be better in the role of master, generating MTC or MIDI Clock to trigger and sync a slave application. 

Most consumer-level sound cards have only one hardware MIDI port and, therefore, only one default driver for MIDI input. This input driver can be shared between two applications running at the same time, so you can trigger and synchronize playback from two applications at the same time. It is not possible to use this port to communicate between two software applications, but you can install a software-based Virtual MIDI Router (VMR) to create another MIDI inpnt port so you can use another software application to trigger ACID. Sonic Foundry has included its VMR on the ACID CD. Specific usage is discussed later in this chapter. Once you have configured the master device to generate MTC, make sure the frame rate of the device and AQD match and then ... 

Begin generation of MTC from the external device or start playback of the master device. 

The MTC Input tab corresponds to the Trigger from MIDI Timecode settings item and allows ACID to compensate for breaks, delays, and other irregularities that may occur when listening to MTC generated by a master device. Once ACID has been triggered and synchronized, it can continue at the same rate and stay more... 

ACID as the master device triggering and syncing Cakewalk Pro Audio with MIDI Clock. SONAR works the same way, although the application has a different look. 

MIDI tracks must be routed through the Master device ou the Track Header to use FX. Other devices are external to ACID aud cauuot be processed by ACID, but they will still work for playback. 

Make sure the MIDI back is using the Master device for playback. 

Because the HART protocol is widely used due to its similarity to the traditional 4- to 20-mA field signaling, it represents a safe, controlled transition to wireless field communications as an alternative to fieldbus. The HART protocol is principally a master/slave protocol, which means that a field device (slave) speaks only when requested by a master device. An optional communication mode, burst mode, allows a HART slave device to continuously broadcast updates without stimulus requests from the master device, which is an important attribute for wireless data transmission. 

Lee, K. and D. S. Kwon. Wearable Master Device Using Optical Fiber Curvature Sensors for the Disabled, in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2001, IEEE. 

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