sq drive multitrack error

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This topic contains 10 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by Profile photo of Hugh Hugh 5 months, 3 weeks ago.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
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  • #97809
    Profile photo of Jazzman
    Jazzman
    Participant

    hello, I wish you a great year 2021.

    Has anyone had any issues with the SQdrive recording? I have cuts in my multitrack recording and stereo.It is written error count.
    i updated the console to 1.5.2 and formatted the usb key several times. I record in 48 khz with a 32gb 130mo /s usb key
    thanks for your help

    #97812
    Profile photo of Mike C
    Mike C
    Participant

    What model USB drive are you using, it sounds like the drive is not fast enough to
    keep up with full multitrack recording even though it may work fine for stereo recordings
    and playback.

    Here is a SanDisk 250gb USB drive that works great for multitrack recordings.
    SanDisk 250gb drive

    It does not directly plug into the USB jack but uses a short cable to make the connection
    between the drive and the USB jack.

    #97815
    Profile photo of tourtelot
    tourtelot
    Participant

    I recently bought this cool Samsung Portable 1T drive on Amazon for $140 delivered.

    It’s really tiny and needs no power supply.

    (Weird. The link gives me a picture but doesn’t point to the Amazon page.)

    I plan on buy a few more to replace spinning HDD in other situations. It has gotten some play on the USB recording sticky, but I will confess to not having tried it for a large multi-track channel count yet. It did format without any issues on my SQ6.

    D.

    #97816
    Profile photo of nottooloud
    nottooloud
    Participant

    SQ Drive is quite fussy about what USB drives work with it. Try different ones, and keep a close eye on the error count. If you ever see an error, don’t use that drive.

    #97820
    Profile photo of Jazzman
    Jazzman
    Participant

    Thank you, I tried 3 different keys of different brands and capacities but always the same cut in the sound. :s

    #97822
    Profile photo of Søren Steinmetz
    Søren Steinmetz
    Participant

    Most usb keys only write at speeds like 8-12MB/s, where as a SSD drive writes at 80MB+/s

    the problem when buying usb keys are, that they often only tell you the max read speeds (80MB+) and not always the write speeds.

    #97870
    Profile photo of Dave Meadowcroft
    Dave Meadowcroft
    Participant

    I haven’t tried multitrack but I used a Sandisk Ultra Fit 256 GB to record stereo at 96 kHz for 70 mins last week to check that nothing glitched with RTA on with the new firmware.

    The recording and console worked perfectly. I formatted it to FAT32 initially using guiformat with a 32 kB allocation size and I’ve never had an issue.
    https://ridgecrop.co.uk/guiformat.exe

    I’ve just bought a Samsung T7 1TB (not touch) SSD for stereo/multitrack purposes for the occasions when the laptop won’t be available for USB B but I’ve not had an opportunity to try it yet. All I’ve done is format it to FAT32 using the same tool.

    #115421
    Profile photo of Aaron
    Aaron
    Participant

    Are there other smaller flash drives or hard drives than the sandisk one?

    #115439
    Profile photo of tourtelot
    tourtelot
    Participant

    I have done a lot of (failed) experiments trying to record multitrack off the SQ. Fortunate for me, I always run a clone recording on another device and hence, haven’t been fired by any clients. I try again today, 28 tracks at 24/48. Not quite brave enough to record at 24/96 yet.

    I don’t believe that ANY USB “stick” is a safe device for recording multitrack on an SQ, no matter what.

    I have been successful, so far, and lately using an external SSD that runs on its own wall-wart power supply. I may report back after tonight.

    Sad that I can’t feel comfortable using my SQ as a recorder, and, in fact, would never record any job without a backup. I read in another thread, other complaints about the USB in the SQ, and Keith chimed in about A&H working on some “cures”. I really look forward to the day that I can record on my SQ worry-free.

    D.

    #115500
    Profile photo of nottooloud
    nottooloud
    Participant

    Enabling simultaneous SQ Drive and USB out, like Qu has, would help. Love to have redundant recording. But I think they really need to rewrite the entire USB stack.

    #115541
    Profile photo of Hugh
    Hugh
    Participant

    I bought a Glyph external HD more than a dozen years ago to accommodate storage of raw video footage. When I replaced my beloved 24 channel A&H analog console with my first A&H QU16 digital desk I read all of the cautionary advice pursuant to deploying flash drives with the internal USB recording protocol. I tested the old Glyph GT051 and It worked very well so I added a Glyph GPT50 10 years ago. Shortly after purchasing my SQ5 I added a Glyph Studio HD for both studio video and audio tracks and have now retired the original GT051 to archival storage duty. The GPT50 is secured in a SKB case, with a rolling base, housing an Atlas ECS-3 power sequencer & conditioner with a ETA-20SH 20 amp isolated outlet and also houses my trusty Masterlink HD/CD player. The rolling rig is an ideal stable base for my SQ5 and is very quick and easy to transport and by placing the SQ5 and my DX168 in a gator suitcase there is no worry about accidental damage in transit.

    tourtelot is absolutely correct, no bullet proof flash drive exists for SQ drive USB recording: so do it right from the get go, buy a dependable external HD for capturing any live concert performance. It is also worth mentioning the ultra importance of following diligently the total A&H recording protocol to the exact letter of their written instructions: there are no proven short cuts or work arounds.

    My travel rig featuring a DX168 expansion stage box is the live gig gear I have always dreamed of to pair up with my KV2 FOH stacks and EX10 stage wedges. However for my studio recordings I have a Waves card in the SQ5 that thru tie lines facilitates the front end DX32 Prime I/Os to my Digigrid/Waves recording system. With any of these activities the SQ5 is a perfect “front end” tool to efficiently manage all monitor cueing for performer dubbing of live tracks or any primary initial studio tracks.
    Hugh

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