The and Frequently Asked Questions

How can I go quickly to the beginning of a sequence ?

Double-click on the "Control" Window / "Fast Rewind" button.

How Do I Insert a new track ?

In the "Tracks" window, hold the CTRL key and click in the background of a track parameter area.

You may also modify all the details of your tracks organization using the "Track Order" option page.

Each time I open Quartz AudioMaster, the placement of the windows is not as it was the last time I used the program.

If you have found a good window configuration for your work, you can save it using the "Options / Save Setup" command, with "Window parameters" checked.

You may also store several window configurations using the "Window Configuration Manager" (available from Project version).

I used to be a regular user of Cubase or Cakewalk program, and I am used to the keyboard shortcuts defined in it. Is there a way I can get them in Quartz AudioMaster ?

Yes, we have provided keyboard shortcut configuration files corresponding to these programs. Load the corresponding file using the "Options/Keyboard window" command. Note that due to the differences between the programs, it was only possible to transpose a few commands. The files "CubaseKeyboardShortcuts.txt" and "CakewalkKeyboardShortcuts.txt" can be found in your Quartz AudioMaster installation folder.

You have also the possibility to load the "QuartzKeyboardShortcuts.txt" file to restore the default keys for Quartz AudioMaster.

I want to move an element from a track to another track by dragging it, but when I release the mouse button, the element comes back to its original place.

You are certainly trying to move a MIDI element on an Audio track or vice versa. You can move an element only to a track of the same type.

Does the "Tracks" Window snap value apply to locators ? I can't manage to put the locators to a precise snap time position when I drag them.

The snap value is used when you click anywhere in the Locator Bar to place a locator, not when you drag a locator with the left mouse button pressed.

When I paste something, nothing seems to happen.

Be aware that what you have copied on a track is pasted on the same track. So, if you paste at the same song position (the left locator has not moved) you are merging elements with themselves ! If you want to copy elements from a track to another, select and drag them in the "Tracks" Window while holding the CONTROL key.

I don't see all the tracks I have selected in the "Spacialization" window.

The "Spatialization" window displays only tracks that are "ON". Check that the "ON" button corresponding to each track you have selected is highlighted, in the "Tracks" window or in the "Mixer" window.

I've made an automation master curve for master volume to make a fade out, but when it plays, only the audio volume is affected; the midi volume remains constant. However, the master slider is following the automation curve.

First, volume for MIDI tracks can be handled in different ways by the program. (See "Options/Volume control" topic in the help file for details on MIDI volume management).

If you use the "Velocity divider" option, a note is played more or less loud according to its velocity value. A master volume change will only affect the following notes, not these which are currently playing. Thus, a note keeps its own volume until its end, and if the master volume changes before the note ends, it doesn't affect it. So you may still hear notes even if volume is at zero.

In other cases maybe your synthesizer, especially if it is a simple soundcard, doesn't handle the volume changes that are sent to it.

I recorded a file using 24bit resolution. It opened fine in AudioMaster’s Element editor, but when I wanted to edit the take in another Audio Editing program, using the external editor link, I got a horrible noise that nearly damaged my speakers. Where did this come from?

Very dangerous indeed! Be careful. Quartz Audio has no way of knowing whether or not the external editor supports 24bit recordings....It may happen that it doesn’t check what resolution the file was recorded in, and supposes it’s a 16-bit file. The result is a 0dBFS “white-noise”.....that can really damage your speakers. If you record in 24bit resolution, make sure your external editor supports 24bit files!!!

Can I use several soundcards, and record simultaneously from all the available inputs?

Yes, you can, but....there is a bear in the woods. Sample rates may differ from one card to another, even if they are the same brand. Even a slight difference in sample rates, like 3 or 4 Hz, will make your recordings to be played out of sync: the sequencer will play them all back (and export them) as perfect 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz files. So you CAN do it, the sequencer allows for it, but you will have good results only if :

1.) The soundcards are designed to do this (internally linking their clocks)

2.) You use an external reference clock (wordclock) so that each card uses the same clock.

Some cards with S/PDIF or AES/EBU interfaces have an option in their control-panel to be synced to the incoming S/PDIF clock. In that case, you can link the S/PDIF out of card 1 to the S/PDIF in of card 2, and set card 2 to sync to the incoming clock.

You said Quartz AudioMaster is Win2000 – compatible. But it doesn’t seem to recognise my soundcard ! What to do ?

You need Win2000-compatible drivers for your soundcard. Check your manufacturer’s website for availability.

I downloaded Quartz AudioMaster Freeware . I spent quite some time tweaking the settings in my previous version, like the keyboard shortcuts, custom track colors and screen arrangements. Before installing the full version, I would like to be sure that I will not loose that work. How do I proceed?

Your custom settings are saved in the QuartzAudioXXXX.ini file. Your DirectX plug-in list, and the category assignment list are stored in the wmdax.ini file. Your SP-plug-in user presets are stored in the files with a .qfp extension. Before installing a new version, or a service pack, you might want to back these files up; then you do the install, and replace the new files created by the install, with old ones that you backed up. These files are all stored in your program main directory, typically C:\Program Files\DigitalSoundPlanet\(program)

I found a lot of files called: seq(number).tmp in my Windows/Temp directory. I think these are Quartz AudioMaster files.What are these for?

These are the files necessary for the undo’s. For example, Quartz AudioMaster Pro 4.6 has unlimited undo levels. Each time you edit something that can be undone, a .tmp file is stored in C:\Windows\temp. Under normal circumstances, you should not worry about these files: they are deleted when quitting the program. If you have come across these files, then probably the program did not shut down properly. You can safely delete these files (unless you have the program still open, of course!)

I have troubles with Quartz AudioMaster and my GadgetLabs Wave8/24 soundcard. When I play back more than 1 track, the program seems to slow down completely, although the sound continues to play, the mouse is very slow and when I hit “stop”, my PC freezes. This doesn’t happen with the other soundcard I have in my PC. Can something be done about this?

The GadgetLabs Wave8/24 driver seems to have troubles with the very small buffers used by Quartz AudioMaster. We implemented a special mode to be able to use this fine card with our software. Open the QuartzAudioXXXX.ini file in Notepad, and look for an entry called: “OutBufMethod”. Set it’s value to 1, and save the file. Restart the program. You will now be able to work with the 8/24. Audio performance is not affected by this setting, but you might notice less fluid graphics. We have notified this problem to GadgetLabs.