Presonus deliberately limiting the functionality of the Quantum HD8. This thing is total garbage.

[NoTimeForThoughts]

Well, I'm ultra dissatisfied with this interface, had it less than 24 hours. It will not be bringing its ADAT in as WDM capable inputs. BY DESIGN.

I had a discussion with AI (GPT LUNA 5.6) which went something like:
I said:
getting adat to show up in windows audio inputs for the quantum HD8
AI said:
The Quantum HD8 can appear in Windows Audio Inputs when connected via USB and recognized by the Quantum driver; ensure the HD8 is powered on, connected via USB, and the Presonus Universal Control or Quantum software is installed and running (yada yada a bunch of ways to get it to work that AI has heard work for getting Audio ins, like trying a different USB port)

I say: i'm pretty sure that the Quantum HD8's ADAT in ports are not visible in Windows by design. I have no indication that Windows ASIO can ever or will ever get to see these?

To which AI replies:
You’re right to question that. My previous answer was too broad.
The Quantum HD8’s ADAT inputs are not necessarily exposed to Windows as separate WDM “Audio Inputs.” They are digital hardware inputs, and Windows’ ordinary Sound control panel may show only the analog channels or a stereo device endpoint. (yada yada bunch of excuses)
So I say:
Why would the company that makes this device deliberately deny its users this useful function?

To which AI replied:
Because the HD8 appears to be designed as an 8-channel analog USB interface with ADAT expansion for internal digital routing or monitoring, rather than as a fully expandable USB multichannel interface.

That is a frustrating design choice, but there are several plausible reasons:

• Product segmentation: Exposing ADAT as additional USB/ASIO channels would make the HD8 function more like a higher-end 16-channel interface, potentially competing with PreSonus’s larger Quantum models.

(GPT Luna 5.6)

So I came to the conclusion that the device is complete garbage. By design. Like a taco with bacteria from Mexico on the lettuce.

And I know what you're gonna say man, you can use the Loopback to bring (TWO STEREO ONLY) ins to your OBS from the ADAT ins you want (ONLY 2 of 8 Stereo INS) but that deliberate limitation is a total punk move by some absolute scumbags.

 

[NoTimeForThoughts]

The really ridiculous thing is now I have to get an additional fiber optic cable and run it from the unused ADAT outs of the Quantum 8HD to the unused ADAT Ins of the original interface that only sends outs (or temporarily to the 2nd ADAT ins of the Quantum 8HD until I get something else that sends ADAT outs to there).
So the path is USB to ADAT out (Voicemeeter) then ADAT out (thru the Quantum HD8) to the original interface that it came out of. Now it can come in thru KS or WDM.
Then I can bring it into the OBS. So yeah, How is hobbling a device deliberately with software not associable with garbage? It's the anger it causes. The redundant routing it necessitates.
I looked into reverse engineering the driver but AI says it's not likely.

Of course AI will come up with a different explanation to back the idea that everything is allright and there aren't corrupt and twisted entities beyond the hobbling of modern devices...but that's why we have eyes to see and bodies to protect, so we don't have to think only Fabian thoughts like AI when we got mouths to feed and ears to hear.

 

[SwitchBack]

Did you contact Fender Customer Support, within those 24 hours you had the interface? Pretty sad to come up with this assessment based on some computer generated *stuff* for an interface you had only for a day. WDM is slow and does not support high-I/O interfaces, so all high channel count interfaces use their own proprietary drivers, for audio applications that do support high channel counts. Windows Audio does not.

Oh, and ASIO is just an extra shell to port ASIO compatible hardware to whatever audio application you want to use for the hardware. If that audio application runs inside WDM then those limitations still apply. Windows Audio is *#%*! (non-AI generated answer).

 

[TimC340]

Your inputs from the external device connected to the HD8 via Toslink (ADAT) should be visible in Universal Control. Your inputs in UC should show as 1-8: onboard analogue inputs; 9-10 S/PDIF inputs; 11-18 ADAT inputs. Make sure the external device is locked to the same clock as the HD (44.1/48Khz). In Studio One, open a new Song then go to Song Setup in the Song menu, click on Audio I/O Setup. The matrix there should show your external inputs as ADAT 1-8. If Studio One hasn't generated tracks for these inputs, you can add them from the 'Add (Mono)' button at the bottom. You can then rename them to whatever is appropriate. Click in the matrix to link hardware input ADAT 1 to the created track 1 - an M should appear in that box; the input is now locked. Once you have it set up as you want, save it ('Make Default'). You can now select whichever input you want for each track in the main Studio One window. If this doesn't work, talk to Support - but it should!

Edit: I don't use OBS, so I can't speak to that, but the setup in Universal Control is crucial.

 

[NoTimeForThoughts]

Read thru what I said again. Maybe you will get it. Of course there is a prerequisite that you have to know what WDM is and how interfaces work and KS. I found the KS was the only decent way to bring in my Rolands via USB to VBAN. I have done all this shit and I ain't no studio hand for hire. NSFW all the way here.

But as usual I am met with the same old stuff on a forum. People who don't really go that deeply. I set up my stuff a particular way and there are certain expectations. And that statement "Windows audio is garbage" is un well thought out trash. Oi. Never liked that shit.

 

[NoTimeForThoughts]

Time will tell if the interface is satisfactory, but at the very least it freed up the very satisfactory 1810c for moving to my bedroom setup. I bought a toslink cable for its ADAT outs and that runs to the 1824c's ADAT ins. I don't doubt that the adat ins on the 1824 will serve just fine so I never have to use any sort of creeping loopbacks that I don't understand outside of VBAN.

I put together my bedroom studio finally with the help of all these new computers and moving disk drives out of old computers and into new ones. Pretty much flawlessly. I'll try and posta bout it someplace on here if there is any place to put it. I made a video of the initial event. Just about 2 hours ago and uploaded it to Odysee with a pretty full description.

I still hold with my initial statement that the interface is garbage. It's got that deliberate punk move of taking the WDM and KS ins, going out of their way to program the device not to allow windows to see them. I have a whole long discussion about it with AI. Though I am sure that idiots out there will hate AI and have lots of negative things to say, because without any decent questions you will never be able to see the usefulness of a good thing like AI.
My video of my initial Guitar thing in the bedroom with the old 3900 Ryzen 12 core (bought used in 2023) with the new used Aorus 2080 GPU: https://odysee.com/@SynthesizersNMu...p-For-Live-Recording-Your-Guitar-Noodling(1:7

 

[BobF]

I didn't go thru this thread in detail, so apologies if this is totally unrelated.

Maybe this setting will help ... I keep it off

 

[sintil8]

I have no indication that Windows ASIO can ever or will ever get to see these?

This,
I don't believe Windows uses or has an ASIO driver available ?

Microsoft are currently developing an ASIO driver for windows, which should fix the windows system level multiple in/out issue...

Kindest regards

 

[NoTimeForThoughts]

That's a good idea. I'll try that. Don't have much hope that it will help as there is already no problem getting ADAT to the KS and WDM out of the 1810c and 1824c and never has been, which you can see in VBAN (if you install it) in and out choices if you don't want to install OBS. But you probably don't do anything like that anyways and if you do it will mess with your listings for the others and you will have to reassign them for each of your 11 oscilloscopes you open for your live videos.

I actually went thru a very long conversation with AI about how to get these lists to act right, because the Tor Vergata oscilloscopes have only a short window for viewing the WDM list, so if you have 16 ADAT ins and 16 or 20 Analog ins it can take quite an effort to find the one you want in each of 11 oscilloscopes. AI says that's on the individual program like OBS to sort them or make some way to sort them. I think it also is on Windows to make them list properly it's another thing they never get around to doing. I can't be the only one who had enough interface ins to have noticed it. Live Professor used to have a real good ASIO support listing in it where you could see things from each device and it was sorted.

Just made a short-ish video (5:40) going thru the new Fender version and the new *to me version of the UC. https://odysee.com/@SynthesizersNMusic:5/Understanding-The-Presonus-Quantum-Hd8:d

Worth noticing that in the video I uploaded before, you can easily spot the instances of the ADAT from the 1810c on my new bedroom setup. In this 2nd video here today I uploaded something I made when I understood how the UC works for the Quantum HD8 which if you compare to the brief settings I did in the 1st video (the bedroom video) you can see it's real different.

 

[TimC340]

Read thru what I said again. Maybe you will get it. Of course there is a prerequisite that you have to know what WDM is and how interfaces work and KS. I found the KS was the only decent way to bring in my Rolands via USB to VBAN. I have done all this shit and I ain't no studio hand for hire. NSFW all the way here.

But as usual I am met with the same old stuff on a forum. People who don't really go that deeply. I set up my stuff a particular way and there are certain expectations. And that statement "Windows audio is garbage" is un well thought out trash. Oi. Never liked that shit.

Yes, my bad. I didn’t clock the WDM/KS relevance to OBS. You’re right that WDM doesn’t expose the Quantum HD8 ADAT inputs to OBS. There is an OBS plugin that bypasses WDM and allows it to understand ASIO which should allow discrete control of all the channels from within OBS - https://github.com/Andersama/obs-asio. As I said, I don’t use OBS so I can’t pass on any experience with this.