Studio One with Quantum HD8 and external digital mixer.

[MC2]

I have a question primarily to people who use such ”inventions” for integration on MacOS Sequoia with the basic Quantum HD8 + Behringer Wing Rack interface.
I am referring to the simultaneous use of Behringer Wing (24-48 inputs) + Quantum HD 8, i.e. 8 inputs + 2x ADAT. That is a total of 48-96 inputs. Is it possible to connect all of this in a way that makes sense and works stably, so that I can control all of the inputs from Studio One?
What configuration do I need to use to take advantage of multi-track recording simultaneously from 24 WING inputs and 24 Quantum HD8 inputs?
Any suggestions?

 

[ianaeillo]

I have a question primarily to people who use such ”inventions” for integration on MacOS Sequoia with the basic Quantum HD8 + Behringer Wing Rack interface.
I am referring to the simultaneous use of Behringer Wing (24-48 inputs) + Quantum HD 8, i.e. 8 inputs + 2x ADAT. That is a total of 48-96 inputs. Is it possible to connect all of this in a way that makes sense and works stably, so that I can control all of the inputs from Studio One?
What configuration do I need to use to take advantage of multi-track recording simultaneously from 24 WING inputs and 24 Quantum HD8 inputs?
Any suggestions?

-There is a way to make them work together on a Mac. Research Aggregate Devices. If you’d like a hand I can do a step by step later.
-Certain drivers work well together but it’s hit or miss. Metric Halo and Presonus drivers play nice aggregating with each other when I’ve tested it. Presonus and Universal Audio work really poorly together. You’re just gonna have to try it out and let us know.
-you’ll have to remember to add your inputs in the IO in Studio One.
- you will have a latency increase that is, I believe, the latency of the two devices added together. As in, if one is 13.2ms and another is 10ms, you’ll get a total latency of 23.2ms.

 

[Jemusic]

I believe, the latency of the two devices added together. As in, if one is 13.2ms and another is 10ms, you’ll get a total latency of 23.2ms.

Not quite correct. Latencies of multiple interfaces do not add. The overall latency of the system is determined by the slowest interface latency only. The trick is to use fast latency interfaces only. I have got two interfaces connected and they are both fast so there is no real latency issue. There is a little CPU overhead needed to run multiple interfaces but if your computer is fast it wont be an issue.

 

[ianaeillo]

Not quite correct. Latencies of multiple interfaces do not add. The overall latency of the system is determined by the slowest interface latency only. The trick is to use fast latency interfaces only. I have got two interfaces connected and they are both fast so there is no real latency issue. There is a little CPU overhead needed to run multiple interfaces but if your computer is fast it wont be an issue.

Ahhhhh! I knew it was one of those. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Jemusic]

One of my interfaces is a Thunderbolt Clarett and its under 2mS round trip! The other is a Presonus 24c which easily runs at 3mS. I have never had an issue with the Aggregate. Also if you know you are going to run one interface only you can easily select just that one interface in the audio settings and bypass Aggregate mode.

 

[ianaeillo]

Motu worked fine in aggregate for a few years but I could never get anything to play nicely with UA gear. I’ve had issues with Steinberg / Yamaha drivers and Presonus drivers before too.

 

[MC2]

Thanks for your quick response. So, the Aggregate Devices solution remains. It looks like we'll just have to use the 14-day trial to assess its stability in practice. The simplest version of the Behringer Wing Rack seems to be a good solution for introducing 24 or more tracks to multitrack recording, and maybe the Presonus Quantum HD8 will also work here.
Unless you have another noteworthy solution that can be expanded and, in its basic version, allows you to connect 24 audio sources. And that it is in a similar price range to the Behringer Wing, i.e. around €1,500.

 

[ianaeillo]

I use Metric Halo ULN8s and get 48total inputs.

8 analog mic pres
8 onboard AES channels
32 ADAT

The stability is astounding and it’s a very very nice sounding unit. They are a bit more than the wing, but worth it.

 

[MC2]

Or maybe different?
In the price of Behringer Wing I can buy two HD8 pieces.
Maybe the aggregation of what I already have (HD8 2xADAT) with two HD8 pieces? As if to sum up this, the basic version would have 40 channels and in the max 72 version and it would probably be possible to keep low latency.
Is this solution ok or will HD8 2xADAT + Wing be better?

 

[MC2]

Still on the subject of HD8 but about configuration, I want to “convince” it to work with Ableton Live.
How do I force the HD8+ADAT to send a signal to the DAW?
I have a situation that I don't quite understand.
I feed an audio signal into one of the line inputs on the HD8, and the signal immediately appears on the assigned output in Ableton Live and on my headphones. And that's OK.
I feed the signal through ADAT and the situation is strange. With the Universal Control mixer turned off, I can see that the signal is entering the computer. It is also visible on the HD8 display. However, there is silence on the assigned channels in Ableton. Clearly, the signal from ADAT is not passing to the DAW. The question is, what am I doing wrong?