SACD Production Guide - Merging Technologies
Contents
1. DSD stream number AES EBU input output pair AES EBU I O numbers 1 2 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 34 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 As may be seen using the P3D format only six channels can be transmitted to or from Pyramix SDIF Settings Pyramix allows for the use of either SDIF 2 or SDIF 3 protocols when using an SDIF daughter card for DSD Which one to use will depend on your A D and D A converter Check with your A D amp D A converter manufacturer to determine which format to use If you hear distorted audio on playback and it isn t intentional then try selecting the other option These settings can be found within the relevant SDIF daughter card s tab in the mixer settings window Mixer Settings x AES EBU 15096 SDIF 15100 ADAT 15091 Level Meter General 1 0 amp Sync SDIF 161 73 Format C SDIF3 Cancel Mixer Settings SDIF Card Tab Page Synchronization Setting All the DSD capable A D and D A converters we have tested to date generate and expect Wordclock at the stan dard nominal 44 1 kHz freguency and not at 88 2 kHz Therefore Pyramix MUST be set to expect 44 1 kHz Word clock reference when operating in DSD mode and slaving to an externally generated Wordclock signal SACD Production Guide Synchronization Setting Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Failure to do this prevents Pyramix from properly locking to the external source2. Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master xj Table of Content Target Settings Disc Title A little test Label gt indie Image Format Date November 26 2003 SACD Edited Master Mixing Mode v CD Image Red Book Cust omer Name SACD Edited Master Render Mode Customer Contact gt Lutefisk Fanciers Club SACO Edited Master Mixing Mode Customer Phone gt SS5 l212 Image Location Master ID Code a Ref Code UPCEAN Code Processing Marker Lists SACD EMID SACD Title Realtime SACD Artist Track f Index Time ISRC MName Copy Stereo Mix L Stereo Mix R ol 05 52 71 CD Track Start SACD Edited Master ff DSD IFF Settings Generate Image Abort Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Mixing mode Window If you choose this method to make your Edited Master file the EDL audio may be in either DSDIFF or DXD 352k8 PCM formats Therefore any up converted PCM projects will use this method for SACD Edited Master creation Non Standard Masters Creating a Non standard output file 2 1 4 0 etc in Mixdown mode is simple just avoid assigning or panning any audio to the unwanted output busses and perform a multi channel Generate CD SACD Image Mixdown Mode command as you normally would The resultant DSD Edited Master file will contain the necessary channels of digital silence yn SACD Production Guide Creating a DSD Edited Master AMERGING Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKS
3. Mixer really only functions as a DSD signal router in this mode despite the appearance of the interface The incoming DSD streams are stored directly on the hard disk using the native 1 Bit 2 8224 MHz format The maximum number of discrete I O channels which can be recorded or played back simultaneously is two on a system with 1 Mykerinos board or eight on a system with 2 boards or more boards and 16 on a system with 4 or more Mykerinos boards when this option becomes available DSD Project DSD 1b t Pyramix Mixer wiog Mykerinos amp Daugthercards DSD Project signal flow DXD DSD 8fs Mixing Project The DXD Editing Project enables you to do real time editing mixing and processing of DSD audio Since it is impossible to do these mathematical operations on 1 Bit streams the DSD audio data streams are first transcoded into a DXD 32 Bit floating point 352 8 kHz format 352 8 kHz is eight times the standard sampling rate of 44 1 kHz or 8fS This format maintains the excellent noise floor and transient response performance of DSD The signal remains in this format until the output of the mixer where a final re modulation step occurs which transcodes the resultant signals back to the 1 Bit 64fs 2 8224 MHz format SACD Production Guide DSD Project 64fs 1 bit Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION The transcoding processes are carried out in real time by the host PC and the Mykerinos DSP card respectively DXD
4. N native plug ins 12 Noise Shaping 13 Noise Shaping Order 17 Non Standard Masters 18 O Opening an Existing DSD Project 13 Opening an Existing DXD Mixing Project 12 P P3D 7 Peak Filter 14 Philips Super Audio CD Text Editor 20 Projects 6 ProTools 24 ProTools HD 24 Pyramix Render Effects 23 R Real time 24 Red Book 14 Reference Level 13 Render 15 S SACD Text 20 Sampling Rate Conversion Quality 17 Saving SACD Text Files 20 SACD Production Guide Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Scarlet Book 14 System Configurations 6 SDIF Settings 9 Sigma Delta Modulator 10 T Signal Level 13 Sonoma 24 Tide Tp Sony 1630 tape 22 V Sony format 7 Sony SACD Text Editor 20 Viewing DSD Edited Master Properties 19 Stereo 21 Viewing the 40kHz 100kHz Band 14 Surround Mapping 10 visually conform a DSD re master 23 Synchronisation 9 SACD Production Guide Index
5. Save the project under a new name indicating the conversion to Pyramix DSD 2 From the Project menu choose Convert and select 352 8 KHz and PMF 3 If you wish to save disk space then choose Consolidate and a handle length that will allow you to manipu late your edits as necessary At 32 bit resolution 352k8 sampling rate audio reguires 84 7 Megabytes per track minute 4 Invoke the conversion and take a break this may take a while When completed the EDL will look just like it did at the old sampling rate prior to this Project Conversion 6 Create a new Global Library see the main User Manual and AIt Shift drag the entire EDL into this new library Give the library entry a name and save close the existing project SACD Production Guide DSD Tips and Tricks Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION 7 Create anew DXD Mixing Project and configure the EDL and mixer as necessary If you create a Template file for this kind of project you can save some time and effort for future conversions 8 Open the Pyramix Library that you created in Step 6 and drag the relevant library item into the Timeline Now you can follow the procedure for a creating a DSD Edited Master file using the Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Mixdown method described elsewhere in this guide Alternative Method If you are importing previously mixed PCM files into Pyramix for conversion to DSD then you just create a new Pyramix PCM project at
6. a DSD SACD primer It simply details the DSD capabilities of Pyramix and offers some operational advice SACD Production Guide SACD Production Information Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION y TE A page of information and various downloadable documents pertaining to SACD production including the new Super Audio CD Text Editor is now available at the following address http www licensing philips com information sacd and www superaudiocd philips com Plus other Philips web sites and documents SACD Production Guide SACD Production Information Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION SACD Production Guide Index Numerics 2 Channel 21 5 Channel 21 6 Channel 21 A AES EBU Mappings 7 AIT tapes 21 Annex D 40 100kHz Noise Level 13 Artist 15 avoiding ultrasonic noise build up 23 C CD Image 14 Convert PCM to DSD 23 D DC level 13 Digital eXtreme Definition 7 Dither 24 dither 17 DSD Info 19 DSD Project 6 DSD Recording 11 DSD DST info 19 DSDIFF 6 DSDIFF Audio File Specifics 21 DST Encoder 20 DST Estimator 19 DXD 7 DXD Mixing Project 7 DXD Mixng 11 E Edit and add PQ markers to 2 and 6 ch programme 23 Edited Master 15 Edited Master ID 15 Exabyte tape 22 H Hybrid SACDs 22 I O format 7 Information to Accompany Files 21 L Levels 13 Loudspeaker configuration 15 M Markers 15 Meter Frequency Range 14 Metering 13 Metering Algorithm 13 Mix 17
7. and correctly decoding the incom ing DSD bit streams This results in full scale digital noise on the outputs Important You must ensure the Wordclock is Input at 44 1k x 2 checkbox is NOT checked when oper ating in DSD mode Software Settings Sigma Delta Modulator Setting Two user selectable types of Sigma Delta Modulator algorithm are currently supplied SDM type B is the original and under certain circumstances may be preferable to SDM type D which is the default setting There will be more SDM variations available in the future Either type may be chosen per channel or for all channels However in most situations we recommend using the default SDM D dithered modulator which offers the best clarity for most programme material To select the type of SDM open the Record Tab from the Project Information and Settings window Project gt Information amp Settings RECORD Pressing the Settings button opens this pop up window Mixdown Options x Sigma Delta Modulators MV Same SDM for all channels Channel 1 SDM D Channel SINA SDM D Channel3 SDM Channel 4 SoM c 7 Channel 5 SDM D z Channel 6 DM z Channel SDM Channel 8 st M z i eae Sakon T Mixdown Options SDM Dialog Select the desired SDM using the drop down lists If the Same SDM for all channels box is checked only Channel 1 can be selected the rest are greyed out The Channel 1 setting will then apply t
8. is insufficient DSP power to do all of the reguired pro cessing in one pass Using this format there will be no sonic penalty for multiple Mixdown and or Rendering passes Convert PCM at any supported sampling rate to DSD DSD is a very bit efficient format for storing high resolution audio on a disk Converting PCM to DSD for release on an SACD allows the maximum guality to be extracted from your PCM sources regardless of the original sampling rate especially if you are creating surround projects at 176k4 or 192k sampling rates There are a several different ways to achieve this conversion depending on both the source audio and your mixer configuration Please be aware that Pyramix DSD uses a lot more DSP resources than a 1fs or even 2fs PCM project does For this reason the project that you want to convert to DSD should not use any internal busses or use a mixer matrix larger than 8 inputs and 8 outputs If your existing PCM project s mixer doesn t meet these criteria then perform a normal Mixdown at the current sampling rate placing the mixed audio in the EDL Save a copy of the project with only the mixed audio remaining in the EDL and proceed to the Basic Method section below Edit density of the EDL is not an issue just the desired number of playback tracks which will vary from a mini mum of eight which is standard to possibly sixteen if you have a very fast PC with Ultra320 SCSI capability Basic Method 1
9. multi channel DSD file has 5 channels If you wish to make a 2 1 3 1 or 4 1 channel disk then you will have to add a dummy file for the channel s that you are leaving out of the standard 5 1 configuration Method 2 Create an SACD Edited Master using the full set of mixing tools in Pyramix Add your PO markers as necessary Unlike the Render method there is no reguirement for the audio to be placed at a specific start time in the EDL You should still maintain a 7 CD frame offset before any PO start marker Choose Project gt Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master This opens a dialog box with the same name The DSD IFF Settings button allows you to choose which modulator will be used to convert the 8fs audio back to 64fs 1 bit Leave this on the SDM D setting unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise If you are choosing to output this Project as a CD image Redbook file choose the Sampling Rate Conversion Ouality and Noise Shaping Order that you reguire In general the 8th order dither works best for a wide variety of material and therefore is the default setting yn SACD Production Guide Creating a DSD Edited Master AMERGING Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Both stereo and multi channel SACD Edited Master files can be created this way but of course a Redbook CD can only be created from a 2 channel source This 2 channel source could be any two channels listed in the Mix Sources section W
10. off Auto Ripple and make sure that the Markers Tracks Sync indicator says Markers Locked Next make sure that the audio that you have already externally converted to 44k1Hz 16 bit PCM is available in the Media Management window This is also the DSD project used to generate the DSD Edited Master file that was the source for the now converted 44k1Hz 16 bit audio Drag this file into the EDL of the DSD project that you are going to convert You ll notice that it appears to be acceptable in this EDL even though it is at a very different sam ple rate Playback will be 8x faster That s ok because we just want to line it up visually with the existing DSD audio Having matched the visual positioning between the DSD and PCM audio place text markers at the beginning and end of the PCM file Choose Save As and call the project something descriptive like DSD Project_PQ_conform_converted_PCM44k1 Now the interesting part remove all of the audio and choose File gt Convert Project Select the settings that you require the defaults will probably all be OK and invoke the conversion In a second or two you now have a 44k1 PCM project Go to the Media Management window or the library and drag in the previously noted PCM file lin ing it up with the markers that we placed at the head and tail of the file Now that delicate and tedious PQ marker placement that you did for the DSD audio is exactly available for your externally converted 44k1 16 bit aud
11. the same sampling rate as these files and drag the audio in from the Media Management window Simply make sure that the disk containing the required files is Mounted Then proceed to the Basic Method described above Convert ProTools Sessions to Pyramix DSD projects If your ProTools session is at a 44k1Hz or 48kHz sampling rate then you can use the ProTools Interchange module in Pyramix an extra cost option to convert your ProTools session to a Pyramix DSD project The procedure is iden tical to the conversion of PCM projects to Pyramix DSD projects with the first step being to convert the ProTools session to a Pyramix project See the documentation for the ProTools Interchange module for details Convert ProTools HD Sessions to Pyramix DSD projects If your ProTools session is at an 88k2Hz or higher sampling rate then you cannot use the ProTools Interchange module in Pyramix However you can perform a Bounce in ProTools HD and save the file in AIFF or WAV BWF for mat Then use this file as the basis for a PCM to DSD conversion as described above Use Generate CD Image DSD Edited Master to extract only a selection segment of the original DSD file with no losses In the Timeline select the portion of audio that you want to keep and delete the rest Move the audio in the Time line so that it begins at 00 00 02 00 and place a PO start marker at the beginning of this clip and a PO stop marker at the end of the clip Select Fil
12. well as the ability to generate a standard DSDIFF Edited Master in any of the SACD supported channel configurations 2 5 and 6 channel yn SACD Production Guide Creating a DSD Edited Master AMERGING Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION ll Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master E xj Table of Content T t Settini Disc Title SOPE SAUNE Label Image Format Date December 14 2003 SACD Edited Master Render Mode v Customer Name Image Name Customer Contact Craemme qicktest3 ti lt a i C lt s C Customer Phone Image Location Master ID Code Ref Code UPCEAN Code C dsd test xx Media Filesi SACD EMID V Generate Edited Master with DSD audio SACD Title lt SACD Artist i Generate Edited Master with DST audio Track f Index Time ISRC MName Copy ol oo 00 00 00 No 0 00 02 00 Sangria 6Ch Mix CO Length 03 58 03 AA ol 04 00 03 ua Generate Image Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Render mode Window To generate a multi channel DSD Edited Master with the Render mode the tracks in the EDL must be arranged in this order L R C LFE SL SR 6 channel master on Pyramix EDL tracks 1 through 6 L R G SL SR 5 channel master on Pyramix EDL tracks 1 through 5 L R 2 channel master on Pyramix EDL tracks 1 and 2 For Non standard masters 3 0 and 4 0 you must add enough dummy channels actual DSDIFF files of silence so that your final
13. CD Edited master Mixing Mode Method 1 Creating an SACD Edited Master using Render mode Choose the SACD Edited Master Render method if you have a project that only reguires fades cross fades and clip based level changes i e none of Pyramix mixing capabilities are required Note Render mode can only apply level changes fade in fade out crossfades and clip gain No panning channel routing egualization or other effects will be applied These fades and level changes cannot be auditioned in real time in DSD 64fs mode use DXD 8fs mode Using Render mode only audio that occurs during a fade crossfade or level change is processed at 8fs Otherwise the source 64fs DSD audio is copied unchanged into the DSD Edited Master file Additionally the source audio for this export function must be entirely DSDIFF format Failure to heed this warning will result in nasty noises in your master file Here are some specific procedures that must be followed to create a valid DSD Edited Master file before using Render mode Make sure the first clip audio starts at or after 00 00 02 00 because the SACD export module starts pro cessing at 00 00 00 00 and reguires this pre roll time of at least two seconds Silence will be added from this point on when there is no audio clip available Place CD start and stop if applicable markers as necessary In Render mode these markers must only be in the Project timeline and not in a spe
14. Mixing Project adu EWN DSD 1b t Pyramix Mixer process ry b m mig DXD Mixing Project signal flow Apart from the specific DSD mode I O capabilities depending upon the number of Mykerinos boards you can use all the editing and mixing functions of Pyramix as well as all the DSD capable native plug ins The Algorithmix De Noiser De Scratcher native plug ins are limited to 96KHz PCM operation Opening an Existing DXD Mixing Project When an existing DXD Mixing Project is opened Pyramix offers the choice of opening it as either a DSD DSD 64fs project or a DXD DSD 8fs Mixing Project Pyramix Virtual Studio by Merging Technologies S A i xj A Would you lke to convert this DXD Mixing Project into a DSO only Project If the answer is YES the project will be opened in D50 mode and the DXD mixer wil be replaced by a def ault mono mix 8x8 If the answer is NO the project wil be opened in DXD Mixing mode as it s been created Convert DXD Mixing Project to DSD Project mode Dialog Would you like to convert this DXD Mixing Project into a DSD only Project If the answer is YES the project will be opened in DSD mode and the DXD mixer will be replaced by a default mono mix 8x8 If the answer is NO the project will be opened in DXD Mixing mode as it was created SACD Production Guide DXD DSD 8fs Mixing Project Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Opening an Existing DSD Project When an existing DSD pro
15. Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION SACD Production Guide y N Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION y CERA No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form whatsoever or be stored in any data retrieval system without prior written permission of the copyright owners This documentation is supplied on an as is basis Information contained within this documenta tion is subject to change at any time without notice and must not be relied upon All company and product names are or Registered Trademarks of their respective owners Windows Vista Windows XP and Windows 2000 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation Merging Technologies makes no warranties express or implied regarding this software its qual ity performance merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose The software is supplied as is you the purchaser are assuming the entire risk of the results of using this Merging Technolo gies software In no circumstances will Merging Technologies its owners directors officers employees or agents be liable to you for any consequential incidental or indirect loss or damages including loss of time loss of business loss of profits loss of data or similar resulting from the use of or inability to use the Merging Technologies hardware and or software or for any defect in the hardware software or documentation Copyright Merging Technologies Inc 2009 All rights reserved Merging Technolog
16. SD audio to the full Scarlet Book spec ification for a DSD Edited Master file In simplified terms creating an SACD is a six step stage process 1 Create audio content in the DSDIFF file format Record Edit Mix Master Create an SACD Edited Master file in the DSDIFF format If applicable use DST encoding to increase disc capacity Authoring including the creation of SACD Text Creation and verification of an SACD Cutting Master file om BR WN Manufacturing This guide will focus on using Pyramix to create and deliver audio content to an SACD authoring facility Because Pyramix DSD behaves almost identically to the PCM version it is assumed that you are familiar with the basic oper ation of Pyramix including the use of PO markers and the mixer There are also helpful references to further infor mation about steps 2 3 and 4 presented in various parts of this guide Although you might think that this format produces a rather large quantity of data DSD produces the same amount of data that 32bit 88k2 reguires for on disk storage in Pyramix 1 bit 64fs 32 bit 2fs 16 bit 4fs etc Pyramix V 4 2 can handle up to 8 I O channels 8 input 8 Output of DSD audio Three system configurations will be available System Configurations With 1 Mykerinos board two channels of DSD I O are available With 2 Mykerinos boards eight channels of DSD I O are available With 4 Mykerinos boards sixteen channels of DSD I O will be a
17. TATION Viewing DSD Edited Master Properties After you have successfully created the DSD Edited Master file A DSD Info plug in allows the properties of this type of file to be viewed in Windows Explorer Right click on any DSD file and select Properties then choose the DSD DST info tab When Pyramix DSD is installed this extra function is automatically installed into Windows Explorer 21x FNL_ Tony Malaby_Apparitions_SGL SA1545 2_5Ch_DSD_EM General DSD DST info Summary Data type DSD DSDInfo v1 4 2 Files dll v1 4 2 Num ch ids Py ST SA SF NU Es ClusterFrames 1205682240 DD 5E 57 35 0000 HH MM SS FF Samples Sample freq 2822400 Hz B4xFs Start time code 0000 00 00 00 0000 HH MM SS Frames Samples Total Frames 256310 Loudspeaker Configuration 5 channel multi EMID Tony Malaby_Apparitions_SGL SA1545 2_5Ch_DSD_EM Artist Tony Malaby Title Apparitions Markers Position Chan Type Flags Description 0000 00 00 00 0 ALL Progr Ox0 ProgramStart 0000 00 02 00 0 ALL Track 0x0 The Mestizo Suite Picacho 0000 06 53 08 0 ALL Track 0x0 The Mestizo Suite Humo 0000 12 16 18 0 ALL Track 0x0 The Mestizo Suite Mambo Cv nnnn 1 14 DA ALL Tesal Na Tersak Chan Aane wnal Comment Time stamp Type Ref Comment 1 2003 08 03 21 17 History Cre Files DII Version 1 4 2 2 2003 08 03 21 17 History Cre Pyra
18. al Philips DXD format for DSD editing which is recognised and accepted by Sony DXD stands for Digital eXtreme Definition This is an 8fs 32 bit float format offering several advantages for mix ing and processing DSD audio In a DXD Mixing Project you can Edit and mix DSD audio with effects in real time Seamlessly punch in out and overdub recording while listening to previously edited material All record ing in this mode is still at 64fs The edited material is transcoded via 8fs for real time playback during the overdubbing When you create a new Pyramix project in order to work with DSD audio you will need to choose one of the above session types I O Hardware and Settings DSD Audio Input Output In order to be able to physically input and output DSD audio to and from Pyramix an A D and D A converter is required Currently available DSD converters mainly use the SDIF or AES EBU formats for the digital transfer of the DSD signals and thus an SDIF or AES EBU daughter card is required in order to connect one of these external con verters to Pyramix Due to the high sample rate a DSD stream has to be distributed across several AES EBU pairs Selecting I O format Assuming you have both SDIF and AES EBU cards in your system you must first choose either SDIF or AES EBU for your DSD audio connections To do this you must first close Pyramix and open the VS3 Control Panel On the DSD tab you ll find the Daughter Card Priorities sett
19. alue will be clipped if using the same master for doing the CD layer of the SACD master and might also have an adverse effect on SACD playing time Even worse such a master may be rejected by SACD manufacturing facilities Noise Shaping DSD reguires a considerable amount of ultrasonic noise shaping to maintain it s highly linear in band audio gual ity To pass Scarlet Book compliance testing this noise must be kept below a strictly defined maximum accept able level Maximum Allowable Signal HF noise and DC levels Signal Level a k a modulation level Maximum Peak should only very occasionally be allowed to reach 43 1 dB with respect to the SACD 0dB Audio Reference Level in accordance with Annex D3 As a general rule we recommend keeping the Maximum Peak level at 0 dB SACD Annex D 40 100kHz Noise Level HF Noise should be below 20dB with respect to the SACD 0dB Audio Reference Level in accordance with Annex D4 of the SACD Scarlet Book DC level It is recommended that the DSD DC Offset is less than 50 dB with respect to the SACD 0dB Audio Reference Level in accordance with Annex E4 of the SACD Scarlet Book SACD Production Guide Metering amp Levels Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Meter Frequency Range Pyramix allows you to specify the bandwidth for it s signal level meters so that the ultrasonic noise levels can be monitored for proper compliance DSD Peak Filter frequency range is chosen from the dro
20. cific track group Place the CD start markers at least 7 frames before the start of the audio due to the slow fade in time of some SACD players SACD Production Guide Creating a DSD Edited Master Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Remember an SACD Edited Master needs at least 1 SACD track as defined by your PO marker placement A Pyramix Virtual Studio by Merging Technologies TruckersBit_upto352k8DSD pmx NOT FOR RESALE TruckersBit_upto352k8DSD pmx 4b Project Edit View Cl Tracks Cursor amp Marks Selection Fade Editor Automation Workspaces Machines Macros Settings Window Help Markersffracks Sync Cursor Merkin Makout _ In Out Selectionin _ __ Selection Out _ ___ Sel In Out Range 00 00 05 08 Overwrite Remove stereo group 4 11_TheBirthplaceOfMassiveStars_050901 crumar mix 88 2 kHz 1 Panel 1 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 03 00 oo 00 04 00 ZR ASM gt 11 TheBirthplaceOfMassiveStars_050904 crumar mix 88 2 kHz 2 Panel mesi stereo group gt lt Project Default Folder a PQ marker Placement Now you re ready to create the SACD Edited Master file Choose Project gt Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Then select SACD Edited Master Render from the Image Format combo box This method includes full management of Track and Index offsets as created in the Pyramix EDL as
21. ct open in the DXD Mixing Project mode to use this trick 2 Insert a VU Meter plug in on the output buss 3 Next open the VU meter and click the middle mouse button until only the red colored meter display is shown VU Right click on the VU meter plug in and left click on the Scale tab Select the 40k 100k band at the bottom of the window Go to the Align tab and drag the VU Ref slider fully to the right OdB Nous Now the basic Pyramix level meter on the channel strips will show the in band audio level and the VU Meter plug in will show the ultrasonic noise level Speed up the process of DSD Edited Master creation if you only want to change levels and or perform fade cross fade edits with no mixing reguired First open your project as a DXD Mixing Project Then using the Change Clip Gain command adjust the levels of the audio clips in the EDL as desired but do not use the mixer itself for this task Finally as described above choose the SACD Edited Render mode File gt Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Image Format Ren der Change the DSD editing project EDL to a different sample rate If you want to use an external DSD to PCM converter and create a Redbook CD Image This no longer strictly necessary in Pyramix 4 2 as a Redbook CD Image can be created directly from the Gener ate CD SACD Image dialog However you may have other reasons to use an external DSD to PCM converter First turn
22. e gt Generate CD Image DSD Edited Master choose SACD Edited Master Ren der Mode to generate a new DSDIFF file The file will be an exact copy of the source material only trimmed to the size that you specified Import DSD audio files from a Sony Sonoma system Because the Sonoma s default file format is not DSDIFF you must export the audio from the Sonoma Capture the EDL as if you were creating a DSD Edited Master file This will require setting at least two PO markers beginning and end of file The resultant audio file from this Export is in the DSDIFF format and fully compatible with Pyra mix Do a real time Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master Mixdown For stereo projects simply check the Real time box in the Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master window and that s it Pyramix time code generator is available as is the ability to use external effects routed via the mixer For multi channel projects unfortunately this will not work due to the immense amount of computation power reguired for more than two channels of processing and re modulation One Last thing to Remember Leave the Dither function of the Pyramix mixer switched Off at all times when using Pyramix DSD It simply isn t necessary and any dithering noise shaping reguired in the conversion to a Redbook CD image file is performed in the Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master window SACD Production Information This guide is not intended as
23. en the following procedure should be used In the Media Management window right click on the DSD Edited Master file that you wish to encode and then choose the DST Encoder For Encoding Strategy choose 00 or 01 for a stereo DST file 00122 for a 5 channel DST file or 001233 for a 6 channel DST file Note If the DSD file that you are attempting to estimate or encode is not a true SACD Edited Master then the right click options will be greyed out After a minute or two of calculation the remaining time to create the DST file will be displayed along with a Progress Bar Depending upon the number of channels to be processed this procedure can take several hours for a six channel file The processing speed is also highly dependent upon how powerful the PC is Checking In Pyramix there is no way to play QC check the DST encoded file so we do not currently recommend sending masters to an authoring facility in the DST format SACD Text The Super Audio CD specification supports text information on both layers of a hybrid SACD For the DSD layer the information can be album specific details such as album name track title performer composer arranger etc The text information can be created via the Philips Super Audio CD Text Editor program or the Sony SACD Text Edi tor program Both of these programs are free of charge and can be downloaded from their respective web sites http www superaudiocd philips com InformationCenter NO FArticles
24. ies Le Verney 1070 Puidoux Switzerland Tel 41 21 946 04 44 e Fax 41 21 946 04 45 www merging com SACD Production Guide Contents yn SACD Production Guide Contents AMERGING Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Overview 6 System Configurations 6 DSD Projects Formats 6 DSD project and DXD Mixing Project 6 I O Hardware and Settings 7 DSD Audio Input Output 7 Synchronization Setting 9 Software Settings 10 Sigma Delta Modulator Setting 10 DSD Surround Mapping 10 DSD Project 64fs 1 bit 11 DXD DSD 8fs Mixing Project 11 Opening an Existing DXD Mixing Project 12 Opening an Existing DSD Project 13 Metering amp Levels 13 Maximum Allowable Signal HF noise and DC levels 13 Creating a DSD Edited Master 15 Generating a DSD Master 15 Viewing DSD Edited Master Properties 19 DST Encoding and Estimation 19 DST Estimator 19 DST Encoder 20 SACD Text 20 Delivery To an SACD Authoring Facility 21 DSDIFF Audio File Specifics 21 Information to Accompany Files 21 Hybrid SACDs 22 DSD Tips and Tricks 22 One Last thing to Remember 24 SACD Production Information 25 Index 26 SACD Production Guide Contents Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION SACD Production Guide Document Pyramix SACD Production Guide 3 01 Date 21st July 2009 yn SACD Production Guide AMERGING Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Overview With the DSD option Pyramix is capable of recording editing and mixing D
25. ing Simply select the one that you require and click on Save when you close the VS3 Control Panel If necessary you may set the input format to be different from the output format DSD to AES EBU Mappings Two different mappings have been defined thus far The Sony format transmits up to 3 channels of DSD audio over 4 AES EBU pairs The P3D format transmits up to 2 channels of DSD audio over 3 AES EBU pairs SACD Production Guide I O Hardware and Settings Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Pyramix is capable of dealing with both formats The choice of the input and output format is made in the Virtual Studio Mixer Settings dialog under the DSD tab shown below ADAT 11290 AES EBU H11291 LevelMeter General 1 0 amp Syne DSD Mapping Only for AES EBU Input P3D ke Output SONY SEREDE Cancel Mixer Settings DSD Tab Page SACD Production Guide I O Hardware and Settings Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION The following table shows how the eight possible input output DSD streams are mapped to the I O s of the AES EBU daughtercard in the Sony format DSD stream number AES EBU input output pair AES EBU I O numbers 13 1 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 4 6 5 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7 8 9 12 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 This table shows how the eight possible input output DSD streams are mapped to the I O s of the AES EBU daugh tercard in the P3D format
26. io file There is no need to use this method when converting to or from one PCM sample rate to another You can just change the sample rate in the Mixer Settings window or use the Con vert Project command whichever is appropriate to your project Use Pyramix Render Effects All Render effects Project gt Render are available in Pyramix DSD with the exception of the Direct X VST FX Rack Algorithmix Nova spectral interpolator works with up to eight simultaneous channels as will the Prosoniq MPEX time and pitch manipulation plug in Drag in a CD image to visually conform a DSD re master SACD Production Guide DSD Tips and Tricks Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Simply drag the imported CD audio file Project gt Import choose CD Import from the Media Management win dow into the Pyramix Timeline and don t assign it to any mixer inputs Zoom in to a level appropriate for match ing the existing DSD material with the CD Just remember to mute the CD tracks or remove them prior to any mixing or image creation tasks Edit and add PQ markers to both 2 and 6 channel programme simultaneously Usually the two and six channel material will be musically identical If you have editing tasks or Render type pro cessing that is common to both stereo and multi channel programme then simply line them up in the EDL and group all eight tracks by creating a track group and then assigning all eight tracks to that gro
27. ject is opened Pyramix offers the choice of opening it as either a DXD DSD 8fs project or a DSD DSD 64fs project Pyramix Virtual Studio by Merging Technologies S A xj A Would you like to convert this DSD Project into a DXD Mixing Project If the answer is YES the project wil be opened in DXD Mbdng mode Though all your media files wil remain in DSD IFF format If the answer is NO the project will be opened in DSD mode as is been created w e Convert DSD Project to DXD Mixing Project mode Dialog Would you like to convert this DSD Mixing Project into a DXD Mixing Project If the answer is YES the project will be opened in DXD Mixing mode Though all your media files will remain in DSD IFF format If the answer is NO the project will be opened in DSD Project mode as it was created Metering amp Levels Metering Algorithm Peak level metering in DSD Recording mode uses a true Annex D compliant metering algorithm This meter offers both high peak accuracy within 0 1 dB above 12 dB and good out of audio band noise rejection under 15 dB for accurate background noise checking Reference Level All DSD peak meters are aligned to 0 dB SACD The SACD reference level 0dB SACD is defined as 6dB FS PCM Final DSD Edited Masters can have levels as high as 3 1dB SACD a k a 2 9dB FS PCM for very short durations In practice for safety we recommend a general rule of not going over 0 dB SACD Levels higher than this v
28. mis Version 4 1 21 2003 08 03 21 17 History Op Graemme Brown Cancel Windows Explorer DSD DST Info Plug in DST Encoding and Estimation DST or Direct Stream Transfer is Philips lossless encoding system that reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored on the SACD disk On playback in an SACD player the compressed data is re constituted exactly as it was prior to the DST encoding The direct benefit of this lossless encode decode process is extended playing time on an SACD DST Estimator You may wish to use the built in DST Estimator to determine the final on disk file sizes of your project If you have both multi channel and stereo programmes destined for one SACD disk that exceed sixty minutes in length this would be a very useful test to perform Using DSD Estimator SACD Production Guide DST Encoding and Estimation Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION After creating your SACD Edited Master file go to the Media Management window and right click on this newly created file One of the options will be a DSD Estimator simply follow the directions in the DST Estimator win dow as shown below DST Estimation of ConcordJazz_SACD Sampler 2_2Ch_DSD_EM i x Estimate Strategy MEM i accuracy very Hoh 1 5 Y Estimated DST File sze 1019 07 MBytes Average DST File size reduction 60 02 DST Estimator Window DST Encoder If you wish to use the built in DST Encoder th
29. o all channels DSD Surround Mapping Pyramix surround bus outputs are arranged as L C R SL SR LFE SACD Production Guide Software Settings Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION However the SACD standard uses a different order namely L R C LFE SL SR When creating a DSD surround Mix down using DXD mode Pyramix will re arrange the order of the channels in the output file to match the SACD standard However when importing a pre existing surround mix you have to arrange the outputs in L R C SW SL SR order 6 channel master or L R C SL SR 5 channel master For 2 1 3 0 3 1 and 4 0 you must add enough dummy channels actual DSDIFF files of silence so that your final multi channel DSD file has 5 channels If you wish to make a 4 1 channel disk then you will have to add a dummy file for the channel that you are leaving out of the standard 5 1 configuration in this case probably the centre channel If you are mastering previously mixed surround DSD material then you can use either the surround output buss or a multi channel mono stereo buss making sure that you have arranged the channels in the appropriate order In terms of DSP usage the surround mix buss is slightly more efficient than the multiple mono stereo mix busses DSD Project 64fs 1 bit In this type of project Pyramix acts as a pure DSD recorder playback device without any real time digital editing or level changing capabilities The Virtual Studio
30. p down menu in the Mixer Settings Level Meter page Mixer Settings x General WO amp Sync ADAT HIIZ90 AES EBU t11231 Level Meter Headroom fo eB Alignment l E E e ie Peak and Overload hold time E E gt f s Permanent Overload Permanent Peak Decay integration time i g gt 25 ms dB Peak level indicator VW Show after TF a a f a m DSD Peak Filter 40k 100k z 40k 100k Mixer Settings Level Meter Tab Page If you are viewing the Pyramix VU meter plug in in an SACD mastering project then only use the Peak meter dis play not the VU to determine the correct maximum signal levels 0 20KHz for Scarlet Book compliance To view the 40KHz 100KHZ HF noise band use only the VU meter display as this noise measurement is specified using the RMS method Viewing the 40kHz 100kHz Band This VU meter plug in can also be configured to display the 40K 100k band allowing you to use both the VU meter plug in and the built in Pyramix metering to simultaneously view the 0 20KHz band and the 40 KHz 100KHz band Please see the Tips amp Tricks section for details Red Book CD Image When creating the Red Book CD Image there are no level changes between the PCM data displayed at 352 8 kHz and the PCM data displayed at 44 1 kHz However there may be a small difference of the peak value 0 1 to 0 2 dB due to the filtering out of high frequency noise content which is
31. rogramme MLFT MRGT Digital Silence LFE LS RS 3 1 a k a 3 0 1 programme MLFT MRGT C LFE Digital Silence Digital Silence 2 1 a k a 2 0 1 programme MLFT MRGT Digital Silence LFE Digital Silence Digital Silence 5 Channel A five channel master file is required for 5 0 a k a 3 2 0 programme MLFT MRGT C LS RS 4 0 a k a 2 2 0 programme MLFT MRGT Digital Silence LS RS 3 0 a k a 3 0 0 programme MLFT MRGT C Digital Silence Digital Silence Both the Stereo and multi channel audio files for a project can be written to the same tape Information to Accompany Files The following essential information should be supplied with the AIT tape written on insert card of tape 1 Label 2 Catalogue number 3 Performer s 4 Album 5 Number of discs in album 6 Stereo or stereo amp multi channel 7 Incase of multi channel the number of channels Hybrid SACDs If you are making a hybrid SACD that includes a Redbook layer then this programme should be submitted on a Redbook CD R DDP on Exabyte tape or a Sony 1630 tape Check with the authoring facility to determine the best format for submitting this material SACD Production Guide Delivery To an SACD Authoring Facility Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION DSD Tips and Tricks How To Configure Pyramix metering to view both the 0 20KHz band and the 40KHz 100KHz band simultaneously 1 You ll need to have your DSD proje
32. still present at 352 8 kHz but obviously removed SACD Production Guide Metering amp Levels Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION at 44 1 kHz The 6 dB gain makeup is already introduced when converting from DSD to PCM in the DSD editing mode Therefore exceeding 0dB SACD will result in a clipped 44k1 16 bit Redbook file Creating a DSD Edited Master Overview A DSD Edited Master is a specific type of DSDIFF file that is used to deliver audio content to an SACD authoring facility All audio is stored in one multi channel file of 2 5 or 6 channels In its file header is the data that will be used for creating a Scarlet Book compliant SACD disc image including Loudspeaker configuration 2 5 or 6 channel Markers Start stop index Edited Master ID Artist Title More information about the DSDIFF EM Edited master can be found in Chapter 4 of Specifications DSD Inter change File Format This document can be downloaded from the Philip s SACD web site http www superaudiocd philips com InformationCenter NO FArticleSummary asp lNodeld 3404 amp channel 3404 amp channe lld N3404A3601 Generating a DSD Master A DSD master can be generated in two different ways via Render mode or Mixdown mode both of which are available in the Project gt Generate CD SACD Edited Master dialog The Target Settings Image Format combo box offers the choice of CD Image Red Book SACD Edited Master Rendering Mode SA
33. ummary asp INodeld 2560 amp channel 2560 amp channe lld N2560A3400 This application runs under Windows NT 2000 XP and comes with full documentation and Wizard support http www sonyoxford co uk pub dsd sacd txt ed index html Then follow the instructions Saving SACD Text Files A text file generated by one of these two editors should be saved in the stt file format and written to the same tape that contains the DSD files it refers to The native file format for the Philips editor is a lbm file so use the Save As STT File command in the Action menu to create the appropriate file type SACD Production Guide SACD Text Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION Alternately you can send this file separately on a floppy disk or via e mail directly to the authoring facility Delivery To an SACD Authoring Facility Currently DSD Edited Masters are best delivered on AIT I or ll tapes using Windows Backup software on either Windows NT 2000 or XP The following information should be included on the submitted tape stt format SACD Text file one for each disc in the album DSD Audio content Stereo only or Stereo and Multi channel Audio format DSDIFF EM files with a dff extension DSDIFF Audio File Specifics Stereo A stereo file obviously contains two channels SLFT SRGT 6 Channel A six channel master file is required for 5 1 a k a 3 2 1 programme MLFT MRGT C LFE LS RS A 1 a k a 2 2 1 p
34. up Edit as necessary and then add your PO marks and CD SACD Text information Save the project under two different names using the Save As command and then delete the stereo material from the multi channel project and vice versa Keep a copy of the eight channel original just in case This allows you to only add PO marks once and ensure timing consistency between your 2 channel and multi channel programmes If you include the above tip about visually conforming an imported CD then you can do all three programmes at once Do multiple processing passes avoiding ultrasonic noise build up It is extremely important to keep the number of re modulation steps to an absolute minimum A re modulation occurs every time a DSD file is processed in Pyramix and this causes additional ultrasonic noise to be generated If you know you will be applying multiple processes to a DSD file then we suggest that you use Pyramix to keep these files in DXD 352k8 32 bit PMF file format until the final Mixdown or CD Image SACD Edited Master gener ation So simply choose PMF and 32 bit for each time you need to manipulate the audio and then DSD file for mat Mixdown function or Generate CD Image SACD Edited Master for the final step Your final Mixdown If you remembered to choose the DSD file format or Edited Master Generation automatically re modulates the DXD 32 bit PMF audio back to 1 bit DSD Another reason to use this approach would be where there
35. vailable in the soon to be released V 5 0 Note The actual number of playable Tracks in the EDL will vary with host CPU power Disk I O bandwidth and the number of Mykerinos cards DSD Projects Formats DSDIFF The native format of DSD audio is a 1 Bit data stream with a sampling rate of 2 8224 MHz or 64 times 44 1 kHz also known as 64fS Pyramix stores the data in the DSDIFF format Direct Stream Digital Interchange Format The file extension is dff which has been defined by Sony and Philips Although you might think that this format pro duces a rather large guantity of data DSD produces the same amount of data that 24bit 88k2 reguires for on disk storage in Pyramix 1 bit 64fs 32bit 2fs DSD project and DXD Mixing Project A 1 Bit audio stream such as DSD cannot be mixed or edited directly at least no one has found a way of doing it yet without ending up with more bits which then have to be converted back to a 1 bit stream Therefore two dif ferent types of DSD sessions have been defined DSD 64fs Project In a DSD Project you can Record and Playback pure 1 bit 64fs DSD audio Overdub without listening to real time edits in source material Audition final Edited Master DSD files in pure DSD mode with no unnecessary conversions and with the lowest Annex D 40k 100k noise SACD Production Guide Overview Pyramix DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION DXD DSD 8fs Mixing Project Merging has adopted the offici
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