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Edit mode spark for mac2/1/2024 ![]() There's also a small section to the left of the Transport window where most of the I/O hardware settings can be chosen. The scrub function can be used either from Play or Pause mode depending on whether you want play to resume automatically after scrubbing or not. In addition to the main windows, there's also a floating transport window with all the usual play/stop/fast wind buttons plus looping, location readout and a multifunction wheel that can be used for scrubbing, varispeed or time‑stretching. This is the only way I know that you can use VST plug‑ins inside Digital Performer, but as I don't use Performer myself, I have no way of verifying how well this works. The Master View section is itself usable as a VST and MAS plug‑in so that the entire effects matrix can be used inside another application, almost like a kind of VST macro or shell. This may seem like overkill for routine editing, but it's certainly very powerful when you want to indulge in a little sound design. ![]() Master View deals with metering, real‑time processing and mixing, and it's here that the FXmachine resides, in which you can set up a matrix of up to 4 x 5 VST plug‑ins with numerous routing options. Regions may be whole songs or sections of songs to be reassembled into a new arrangement. As with most editors, regions are defined in the waveform editor before the regions are assembled in a playlist. Any audio recorded or imported into the session is shown in the file‑management window. In the Browser View, there are three sub‑windows for waveform editing, audio file management and the playlist. Spark is based around two main windows, known as the Browser View and the Master View. ![]() The Cut Editor, a new addition to version 1.5 of Spark, provides powerful features for manipulating the transitions between audio regions. I used Pro Tools hardware running under Direct I/O for my tests. If your hardware isn't ASIO‑compatible, you can still get it to work by selecting ASIO Sound Manager. The software can work with Apple Sound Manager (for playback but not recording) or it will record and play back via suitable ASIO or Direct I/O‑compatible hardware. When you first install the software, it will run for 21 days without being authorised, so you don't have to worry about not being able to use Spark straight out of the box. If you want to use Spark on different computers, then you could install it on an external drive and authorise that. However, if you need to move Spark to another computer, you'll need to call TC again to obtain a new code as this will be different for every computer. If you accidentally trash Spark, just reinstall it and enter your code again. You can email or fax this challenge to TC Works and the code you get back authorises your machine. Instead, you install directly from CD and the software generates a unique 'challenge' based on your hardware. You can work at 24‑bit, 96kHz if you want to, and there is provision to dither down to a lower resolution at the end of the processing chain. Spark also has the ability to produce MP3‑coded audio files, of which more later, though its normal currency is AIFF‑, SDII‑ and WAV‑format files. The majority of my testing was done using a modest beige 266MHz G3. To run it, you'll need a 166MHz Power Mac 604 or better and you should be running Mac OS 8.1 or later. TC's Spark is a Mac‑only stereo editing package which also includes a comprehensive effects matrix that works with standard VST plug‑ins. It also offers sampler support and MP3 file creation, and its effects section can even run within other VST‑ and MAS‑compatible software. Paul White checks out TC Works' Spark, a Swiss Army knife of a Mac editor that takes an entirely new approach to the use of VST plug‑ins. The Browser View contains a waveform‑editing window (below) plus file‑management and playlist subwindows (top left and right respectively).
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