Burydudexxx wrote:Be great to see QuiRobinez's audio into daw set up - this has always been an issue for me. I'm researching which is the best external audio interface to get (I'm wanting to connect 4 synths (stereo) and 1 TR-8 + vocals). Is it too cheeky to request a vid on this Qui ?
a video about this is not that easy, every audio interface is different, and the way to do it in a daw depends on the daw. So a tutorial would be way to specific for one case to really show how to do it. But in my specific situation i'm using these 'simplified basics':
in my case i'm using the MOTU 828 mk3 FireWire audio interface with two adat units that add 8 inputs each.
The Motu detects if an adat unit is attached with toslink and if it is connected you will see the 8 adat input and 8 adat output channels added to your interface. There are two toslink inputs available so you can use two adats (and add 16 channels that way).
When i did that it was easy, let's say that we do it for cubase:
- open cubase
- go to the connections window
- there you can set your inputs and outputs routings
- route every channel to the motu channels
- save the configuration as a preset, so you don't have to do this again.
- add audio tracks in cubase and route them to each input (you can create a group trackfor this in cubase to store all the inputs beneath it)
- save the projects as a new template so you can select it every time when you create a new song
This is a basic setup in cubase, you can make it more complicated , like for instance say that motu audio channel 1 and 2 are always used for the kronos, in that case create and external instrument named kronos in cubase and route the input channels 1 and 2 to that external instrument. Now whenever you need the kronos just select it in the VST instrument window and in the cubase midi tracks you can select your kronos and timbre channel. The benefit of this is that the audio is latency compensated, so if you use a VST or audio loop or sample drums in cubase it will always be sample accurate in sync with your kronos. Cubase takes care of this.
If you use the audio tracks way (the basic setup) then you have to do the latency compensation per track or overall in the connection window. The most easy way to determine the latency is to go to the device window in cubase and check your input and output latency, add those two numbers and then you have the latency value you can use. There is also a ping feature in cubase if you use external hardware effects to determine the audio chain delay, so that's also something you could do.
Now for ableton live it's a little bit different, there you don't have the connection routing window. There you create your audio channels or external instruments, by pressing the IO button on the right side of your screen you get an extra input / output dropdownlist where you can select your input / output channels. Your motu or adat channels are also available there. Store the external instrument and then you can select that whenever you want.
In one of the other threads on this forum i explained more about this, here's an example of how to use the Kronos KARMA engines with any VST instrument. If you look at step four in the screenshot you will see that i routed the kronos external instrument to audio inputs 7/8 which means that any audio over analog input 7 and 8 in my motu will be considered the audio of that kronos external instrument.
So you see, just two basic and rather simple examples how you can start with it. My own setup is a lot more complicated than this, so there is a lot possible, but first start experimenting with the basics otherwise the advanced stuff can be understand. Advanced stuff i use is things like dynamic routings and internal patch possibilities. For instance if i want to route my kronos output through the filters of my virus TI, then i can do that with a couple of mouse clicks in cubase. I don't have to change any cable in my studio at all. Or if i want to use the output of my kronos as an input of a VST Glitch Insert effect or as realtime input in a VST granular synth and sample the result of that vst in the kronos, then it's also just a couple of mouse clicks. This setup can all be done in the connections and routings windows and with presets you created upfront in cubase. It's very powerful to do this in a studio setup.
