Solved Aggregate device issues in Studio One

[SoundEngine]

I'm running Studio One 7.1.1.104411 on a MacMini M2 Pro, Sonoma 14.7.4

I've been away from my hardware for a while and am attempting to connect it all. In addition, I've added a new device and I'm attempting to create an aggregate audio device for use in Studio One.

My audio devices:

Studio Live 32R, Universal Audio Apollo X4, and (the new one) Kurzweil K2700.

I had some success last year using an aggregate device of the Studio Live + Apollo, but this year, no matter the order in which I add devices to the combined device in Audio MIDI Setup, only the audio INPUTS of the first device added appear, but the combined OUTPUTS all appear.

For example, if I create an aggregate of the Apollo + Studio Live, I only see the inputs of the Apollo, but the outputs of both devices.

Are there any Aggregate device geniuses here? I'm clearly not one.

I hope that there is some guidance out there.

Thanks!

 

[TDF1981]

1. make sure that clock drift is enabled and check your I/O setup after a reboot
2. if you want a hassle free experience try Audiomovers Omnibus, it gives you a Matrix and virtual devices where you can route any interface into anything and from anywhere to anywhere. It really changed my workflow and I can now use multiple interfaces all at once.

 

[SoundEngine]

Thanks - I appreciate the ideas. The main issue is that the number of inputs do not match the number of outputs in the aggregate device. The input list (see photos below) are the inputs from the first device added to the aggregate - the Apollo X4. You'll see that there are no inputs listed for the 32R or the K2700, but they ARE listed and shown in the output list (second screenshot). It's also odd that the name of the device shown is StudioLive 32R when Aggregate Device is 100% connected in Audio setup.

I've seen others on the FB groups claiming the same issues - I'm getting the sense that this might be a bug in Studio One.

I like the look of Omnibus, but I'd rather not pay $199 for it at the moment. I'll look around a bit more and wait a bit more for a fix.

Thank you again!

 

[TDF1981]

Thanks - I appreciate the ideas. The main issue is that the number of inputs do not match the number of outputs in the aggregate device. The input list (see photos below) are the inputs from the first device added to the aggregate - the Apollo X4. You'll see that there are no inputs listed for the 32R or the K2700, but they ARE listed and shown in the output list (second screenshot). It's also odd that the name of the device shown is StudioLive 32R when Aggregate Device is 100% connected in Audio setup.

I've seen others on the FB groups claiming the same issues - I'm getting the sense that this might be a bug in Studio One.

I like the look of Omnibus, but I'd rather not pay $199 for it at the moment. I'll look around a bit more and wait a bit more for a fix.

Thank you again!

Have you checked whether all inputs of the devices are being activated in MacOS when you check the audio/midi setup?
I’d suggest you try the omnibus test version - it’s money well spent if it suits your workflow.

 

[SoundEngine]

Yes, all the inputs are activated and what's more - they work as expected in Logic Pro.

I will check out the demo - again, not in the mood for a $200 expense at the moment. I may just nurse my setup through until there's a fix - switching interfaces as needed.

That way, I'll get super impatient and just buy Omnibus - LOL.

 

[SwitchBack]

Looks like you've selected the 32R as your audio interface in Studio One, not the aggregate device (unless you've called that device 'StudioLive 32R' too).

 

[ianaeillo]

Looks like you've selected the 32R as your audio interface in Studio One, not the aggregate device (unless you've called that device 'StudioLive 32R' too).

That's it.

 

[SoundEngine]

No, that's not it - I mentioned that with the photos- I absolutely have selected the Aggregate Device, yet the 32R shows as the selection.

Also important, the names of the inputs shown are from the Apollo X4, not the Studio Live 32R. The Output tab has the aggregate of all of the interfaces (including the K2700 all the way to the right (Front L and Front R),

 

[SwitchBack]

Yes I saw that but first things first. Anyway, something clearly went wrong there. Maybe delete the aggregate device, restart the Mac for good measure, and set all your audio interfaces to same bit depth and clock rate. Then create a new aggregate device with unique name. Choose which of the aggregated interfaces is clock source and set the others to drift correction, then select the new device in Studio One. See if that clears things up

 

[SoundEngine]

Thanks - just did that again, and created a movie showing the result. It's the same as before - the inputs shown on the aggregate device are the inputs from the Apollo X4. The outputs are the complete aggregate outputs. And, the name of the device is Studio Live 32R - not Fancy Pants Aggregate that I just created.


Aggregate device movie

 

[SwitchBack]

Weird. Are all those interfaces class compliant? I'm out of ideas here.

 

[SoundEngine]

The Apollo is not class compliant - mainly due to the management of the DSP onboard. The UA software is required for it to run.

I tried iterations of the aggregate device yesterday - R32 + Apollo, Apollo + K2700, R32 + K2700. I always got the same result - differing input lists than output lists.

I also think I mentioned this before - the aggregate devices work perfectly in Logic Pro. At this point, due to my experiences and a couple other posts on Reddit within the last 30-45 days, I'm thinking it's an issue with Studio One.

I'm going to open a ticket at Presonus and see where it gets me.

Thanks all for the responses - really helped me focus and make sure I was doing the right thing.

 

[SoundEngine]

Here's another weird wrinkle.

As I wait for the Presonus response to my ticket, I wanted to sort out audio and MIDI routing where possible in my setup.

So, I selected just the Studio Live 32R as my audio interface - by itself. I spent about 2 hours trying every possible iteration and setting I can imagine.

First, the audio from the synths I've plugged into the Studio 32R can be seen in the Universal Control meters for each synth I plugged in.

Second, I can hear the audio from the synths in the Studio Live 32R headphone jack, and it responds to fader changes on UC.

Third, I can record said audio coming in from the synths into Logic Pro.

Fourth, no matter what setting I attempt, I can see no audio making it into Studio One. Tracks in Studio One and Capture do not receive the audio from the mixer.

I believe the issue I'm having with aggregate interface and this Studio Live 32R issue are related, but that's speculation, to be honest.

Has anyone ever run into a similar issue using a Studio Live mixer via USB and Studio One?

 

[SoundEngine]

I’d suggest you try the omnibus test version - it’s money well spent if it suits your workflow.

Yeah, well, okay, I'm getting impatient. I've downloaded the 7-day demo and it does seem to make a lot of problems go away. Making those problems disappear is likely worth $199 to me.

On a side note, the official response I got back from Presonus support was that they (and I quote):

"Currently, our support does not extend to aggregate devices. This decision was made by the Studio One Developers based on the complexity introduced by various hardware configurations, each with its unique technical intricacies, which can introduce numerous unknown variables into the setup."

Now, the agent acknowledged how frustrating that must be (and it is), but given that the core of my system is all Presonus, it's even more frustrating, especially since things work as expected in Logic.

That said, I pared down my request to making the 32R work with Studio One, which it doesn't at the moment as per my post last night. Magically, Omnibus made it work perfectly and as hoped. One more day of semi-patience will probably turn to impatience and I just buy it. I see a lot of magic in multiple configurations, the elimination of other Loopback solutions, etc. as being very useful.

Again, @TDF1981, thanks for letting me know about that product.

​

 

[SoundEngine]

For the past week, I've been interacting with customer support at Presonus, the team based in Ireland. The support has been good, and after spending an hour with me earlier this week remotely driving my Mac, they confirmed what I was seeing regarding the latter issue I noted above—that I was unable to get audio over USB into StudioOne, but I could in both Omnibus and Logic Pro.

They recommended I disable/delete two programs from Rogue Amoeba (Loopback and Audio Hijack), and delete/remove all preferences and files for Studio One 7 ([option] HD → Library → Application Support → Presonus → Studio One 7), which I did.

No change in behavior.

Still, I wasn't going to give up. The next day, I went into the following folder on my Mac:

HD > Library > Plug-Ins > HAL

I removed all the drivers there (first creating a ZIP, then deleting them so I could "Put Back" one by one from the Trash).

One by one, I started putting them back. Restarting and rebooting S1 each time.

I found the proverbial smoking gun in "MS Teams Audio driver." When that driver is removed, audio to Studio One from the Studio Live 32R works as expected.

Now, the last time I used MS Teams was in 2021. It's not even installed on this computer, but it went through the Apple Migration process from an M1 laptop I have, so that's probably the origin (Teams isn't installed on that machine anymore, either).

Now, I have drivers for MMAudio Device, Omnibus, the Parallels Audio Toolbox, and five Roland synths installed and playing nicely.

I've given all of this info to Presonus Customer Support, just in case someone else finds themselves in the sorry state that I was in.