Cadac Waves Tracks Live User manual

© 2016 Cadac Holdings Ltd. Technical specifications and appearances are subject to change without notice and accuracy is not guaranteed.
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Quick Reference Guide
Cadac Holdings Limited
One New Street
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 5DX
England
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
www.cadac-sound.com
Contact
Product Name
Instructions for use of Waves Tracks Live on a
computer for audio playback / recording with a
Cadac CDC six and CDC eight mixing console
Waves Tracks Live
Product Description

Page 2of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Introduction
These instructions are intended to cover two scenarios using Waves on the CDC eight or six:
AIM: To demonstrate the use of Waves Tracks Live for audio playback /monitoring on a computer.
This will allow the record and playback of audio on the CDC six to a separate PC or Mac computer.
Any test audio needs to be supplied to and from the console via a CDC I/O rack.
This use of Tracks Live describes the CDC six without Waves plug-ins in use as this would require a
Waves SoundGrid server.
This document describes two methods of connecting audio in Tracks to the console via the Waves
SoundGrid network.
1) MultiRack SoundGrid is running on the console. (SoundGrid drivers only required on the PC)
2) SoundGrid Studio is running on the Computer. (No MultiRack software required on console)
In both cases the computer will need Waves Tracks Live software. Separate Cadac instructions are
available to describe a common PC software installation process to suit both methods: Quick
Reference Guide: Installation of Waves Tracks Live on a PC/Mac
The CDC eight or six Waves software should already be installed on all new consoles. Separate
instructions are however available describing this software install/update process to suit all tracks and
other waves uses: Quick Reference Guide: Installing Waves on a CDC six or CDC eight.
Ethernet
CDC eight / CDC six running
MultiRack SoundGrid
MegaCOMMS
RG6 coaxial cables
Audio in - XLR
Audio out - XLR
Audio Source
Computer running
Waves Tracks Live
CDC I/O stage box
Audio Monitor

Page 3of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Equipment
Equipment:
•PC / MAC
•CDC eight or six consoles with Waves audio card fitted
•Cat5e/6 cable
•Waves licence (on USB memory stick) Required for MultiRack SoundGrid use only
•USB mouse / Keyboard
Optional: Only required for sourcing / monitoring audio to / from the console:
•CDC I/O 6448 or CDC I/O 3216 stage rack
•Audio source
•Audio speaker
Minimum PC Requirement
CPU Intel i5
RAM 8 GB
Operating System Windows 7 64 bit / Windows 8.1 64 bit / Windows 10 64 bit
Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 32-bit
Network Gigabit Ethernet
Minimum Mac Requirement
CPU Intel Core i3
RAM 8 GB
Operating System 10.9.5 - 10.11.3 / 10.8.5 for ProTools 10 only
Screen Resolution Minimum: 1024 x 768
Recommended: 1280 x 1024 / 1600 x 1024
USB displays are not supported as the primary display
Network Gigabit Ethernet

Page 4of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Set-up
Attach the CDC eight or CDC six to the computer (PC or Mac) using single Cat6 cable - CDC six is
shown below.
Any of port - 1, 2 or 3 - may be used to connect the computer:
Connect CDC I/O stage rack to the console using RG6 coaxial cables for the MegaCOMMS network
Connect the audio source to an input on the CDC I/O stage rack
Connect speaker to an output on the CDC I/O stage rack
Note:The computer Ethernet connection to the console should not be shared with any other network
element such as an internet connection. A switch may be present but not required.

Page 5of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Software Instructions
There are several aspects to this.
a) There is a common computer ‘Tracks Live’ software setup required.
b) The SoundGrid network itself has to be setup, which links audio from the console to the
Tracks live software. This is where there are two options, affecting what software is run on the
console and computer.
c) Finally the console GUI has to be setup to link audio/to from its Waves hardware.
All must be set up correctly in order to pass audio between the DAW and the console.
The Tracks software
The computer requires a program called ‘Tracks Live’.
Tracks Live is run by selecting the Icon:
Following start-up, select the system settings button the following screen appears:

Page 6of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Note: That no licence is required to run this software.
The ‘Waves Tracks’ track numbers should be assigned to SoundGrid numbers, so there are 1 - 64
SoundGrid inputs assignments AND 1 - 64 SoundGrid output assignments
•Audio engine should be set to ‘ASIO’ ( or “CoreAudio” if you are using a Mac)
•Interface should be set to ‘Waves SoundGrid ASIO’
•Sample rate should be set to ’96 kHz’
Once this is configured, the project settings may be saved and the program started and used as
required.

Page 7of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
The SoundGrid Network: Using MultiRack on the Console
Console Setup
Waves software called MultiRack SoundGrid.
This software may be started from the small setup screen on the console (IMPORTANT: The licence
dongle must be inserted –as show below - into the console to run this software), as follows:

Page 8of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Select the ‘Menu’ button, above and to the left of the screen:
Select ’User Options’ on the touch screen:

Page 9of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Select ‘Settings’:
Select ‘Waves’ logo. This will run the Waves MultiRack software which will open on the main screen.
(Subsequent use of the large logo will “full screen” the Waves window on the main screen. The
smaller Waves logo will open the software in a smaller resizable window).
Note:A USB mouse and keyboard connected to the console may be useful from now onwards.
First screen of Waves should be as follows. (Click connect if required, to remove server start-up box):

Page 10 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Select ‘File’, then ‘Preferences’:
Ensure the local LAN port selection is correct. When correct, ‘SoundGrid network found’ should be
displayed:
Select ‘OK’

Page 11 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
From the main screen, select ‘Audio’ then ‘SoundGrid Inventory’. The following screen should
appear with several devices listed.
Adjust the assign buttons till the correct three are assigned as shown below:
This screen is the key place to spot if everything is correctly connected and running properly.
There should be no Red on the screen.
Note: IO: Cadac SP6 represents the CDC six Waves I/O and should have 64 channels.
DRV: SG Driver this represents the audio networks visible in the system. There may be two of these
shown, one for the console and one for the computer. However, ONLY the external computer one
should be assigned. It will have a MAC address / handle related to the computer and should become
‘N/A’ when the Ethernet cable is disconnected or ‘Tracks’ is not running.
Select so it has 64 channels.
MR: MultiRack This represent the MultiRack program itself.
Be aware that firmware error screens can occur. This usually means the server or the console’s I/O
firmware is out of date compared to the MultiRack software on the console. The cure for this is to
select the appropriate UPDATE button which will load new firmware into the hardware.

Page 12 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Historical settings may also appear here if different Waves hardware or servers have previously been
used. Select REFRESH or close/restart the software if such errors occur.
When ready you can close this window. Use the Xin the top right hand corner.
From the main screen, select ‘Audio’ then ‘SoundGrid Connections’.
The following screen should appear:
Now ‘double click where indicated to add two connections; Cadac SP6 to SG Driver, 1 to 64 and SG
Driver to Cadac SP6, 1 to 64.
Ensure both are ticked.
Select ‘OK’ to close when the window below is shown:

Page 13 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Computer Setup
The computer must run with SoundGrid Drivers.
Note: That no licence is required to run this software.
The ‘SoundGrid Driver Control Panel’ is run by selecting the icon:
You must ensure that network interface shown is the correct one relating to the computer link to the
console:

Page 14 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
The SoundGrid Network: Using SoundGrid Studio on a Computer
Console Setup
There is no need to run any software on the console. You DO NOT,and should not, select the Waves
software from the GUI.
Note: There are Waves SoundGrid drivers running in the background but this should happen
automatically every time the console powers up.
Computer Setup
The computer must run ‘SoundGrid Studio’
Note: That no licence is required to run this software.
This software is run by selecting:
The main screen should come, (select cancel if any window comes up requesting plugin directories)
and ultimately must look like this:

Page 15 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
The only select buttons that you have control over are
a) SAMPLE rate MASTER/SLAVE.
This must be selected as SLAVE. It should auto select 96 kHz if the console has successfully
connected.
b) START, under Autoconfig.
This will cause the program to scan the system and should discover the console denoted
‘Cadac’ in the Rack A window.
The Rack B box represents the SoundGrid / Tracks DAW.
c) Network Port
The appropriate network address for the Ethernet port attached to the console should be
selected here.
Once there is no text in RED then this setup is complete. There is one other window which must be
configured.
Select PATCH then DEVICE to DEVICE. You will see the following screen:

Page 16 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
On this screen you will need to select cascading ‘ticks’ to indicate one to one connections for:
From RACK Bchannels 1 – 64 To CADAC channels 1 - 64
And
From CADAC channels 1 - 64 To RACK B Channels 1 - 64
Once this is done, then the audio channels from the console are linked to the audio channels in
Tracks, in both send and receive directions

Page 17 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Console Audio Routing
Accessed from the main GUI window this software starts up automatically as console is powered - like
the small set-up screen described earlier.
Use the main GUI to configure audio routing to / from Waves.
The actual signal path to and from the ‘Waves’ looks like this:
When the full system is running these 1 - 64 SoundGrid input and output ports are directly connected
to the Waves 1 to 64 input and output ports on the console.
SoundGrid 1
Track 1
SoundGrid 1
Track 1
SoundGrid 2
Track 2
SoundGrid 2
Track 2
SoundGrid 64
Track 64
SoundGrid 64
Track 64
To Waves 1
To Waves 2
To Waves 64
From Waves 1
From Waves 2
From Waves 64
The Waves SoundGrid interface may be considered as 64 separate channels of audio between
the Tracks software and the console.

Page 18 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
The Waves ports are accessed via the assign input /send screen of each channel on the console,
shown below:
To use Waves, the channel assignment window ‘Assign input’, ‘Assign send’etc. may be used to
configure any desired signal path / mix involved in taking audio from, or sending audio to, the Tracks
DAW.
If you playback audio from Track 1 (SoundGrid 1) on the computer:
• This track may be heard when ‘From Waves 1’ is assigned as an input on a channel
assignment on the console, and sent to the ‘I/O rack’ output for the speaker
• If you assign an input to another channel from ‘I/O rack’ input audio source on the CDC six
• Send this channel to ‘To Waves 2’ then this may be monitored/recorded at Track2 on the
computer.
Note:It is important to note that the console’s local I/O or AES ports, and the Waves I/O ports 1- 16,
share the same internal resource on the CDC six. In addition, Waves output 63 and 64 are not
available as they internally used for the headphone outputs.
Be aware of this selecting which SoundGrid channels/track numbers you use. It is easy to get some
loud distortion or feedback paths by accident….
Screen shot from a CDC eight

Page 19 of 19
DOC02-Using Waves Tracks Live - Issue C - July 2016
Fault Finding
If no audio is heard it may be necessary to repeat some of the above steps.
Note the following:
MultiRack
•The % value shown in the top right of the main screen should be GREEN typically 12% on
console’s Waves screen.
•Status indicators should be green on the inventory screen on console waves screen
•Try deleting and re-entering the “to / from entries” on the connection screen on the console
Waves screen.
•Check external Ethernet connections. Both network connections should be flashing.
•If the SG driver for the external computer does not appear on the console inventory screen,
ensure that the SoundGrid drivers are running and connected to the correct network port on
the external computer.
•If all else fails, then program restarts may be useful.
SoundGrid
•If no Cadac hardware appears in Rack A or it is in RED or the Autoconfig start scan finds no
devices.
Check you are on the correct network port..
The console may not be running SoundGrid drivers properly, which implies the console has
not had waves software installed properly or the software need update.
•A simple restart of the PC/Console may also cure the problem.
As a general note, software installations prior to mid-2016 will likely need updating, as all the Waves
software prior to this has had major revisions.