Qu streaming to Mac mini M1

[Driller]

Hi, I need to upgrade my WZ4 to either qu or Sq. can somebody confirm if USB streaming is working correctly to M1 macs please?

Many thanks!

[volounteer]

@Driller

read the other posts here about various usb problems

it should work it might work
but
it all depends
nobody can tell you unless you actually try your mac with your qu/sq

why do you need usb? live or later editing?
many find they can use a mix or matrix and avoid fighting the usb problems for live
or they can record on local usb HD and then move the file to the PC for batch editing

[Driller]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Unless there are other USB topics in relation to M1 Macs that I missed you seem to be suggesting that the QU USB DAW streaming functionality is flaky at best. That is not good news. If that is the case is the USB DAW streaming on the sq any better?

For info I need to record my band rehearsals “live” for analytical reasons but also to mix down with video to present the band.

The 18 track limit is potentially a problem as I want to record all the drum kit and with backing/guide tracks things add up quickly.

[volounteer]

it appears to be a problem with the usb2 hardware chips AH used for usb
versus what is in the usb3+ memory sticks or i/o ports on the PC use now
and gaps with the usb standard
so same issue for both qu and sq

i had problems with a win10 and usb3 that destroyed my usb memory stick used for sneakernet from my old XP
whatever billyg did to it now it only works on that win10 machine and not on my other devices b
but that might be a usb3 issue although i still suspect billyg is not fully innocent

not sure how you analyse live or who could be watching that info during rehearsal
if you record on a usb memory stick you can take your time to analyse and not miss anything
YMMV but for me 18 tracks is way plenty but I would use stems (usually 8 or less) not record every mike separately
two qus would give you twice the tracks and you could merge them in the DAW later

how big is the band? 7 mikes is a lot for drums which leaves you 11 more for the others

could you record backing guide tracks separately and merge with the band in the DAW for deeper analysis?

could you take the mac to a dealer and try the usb recording?

i would expect when you mix and add to video you would have many takes not just one done live start to finish

[Driller]

Sorry perhaps I wasn’t clear: when I said “analyse” I meant analyse musically what the musicians were playing, part by part, instrument by instrument with the goal of perfecting each musical piece.

I don’t want to seem like I’m arguing with you because you’ve been kind enough to answer 😉 but you seem to be reasoning that 18 tracks is enough for me because it’s enough for you.

My band is quite technical musically and has a lot of different parts. I disagree that 7 mics for drums is a lot (I actually have 8 including a hihat sdc) and in fact for a larger kit many more mics would be necessary.

I’m not a lover of compromise and I’m not prepared to compromise my setup to make up for a short fall in a mixer. I love A&H and would dearly love to get a qu or sq but if they are lacking in this department as they seem to be I’ll have to look at another model elsewhere sadly.

Is does seem crazy though and a real shame if true.

Interesting idea to not record the backing tracks with the live tracks but again frankly it’s a compromise and I don’t want to have to mess about syncing up tracks afterwards.

As far as mixing with video goes, yes I want to do single takes with multiple cameras simultaneously trained on the different musicians.

Again I don’t want to have to compromise my management of the project and be forced to adapt to the mixer.

Thanks for reading,
Driller

[SteffenR]

@volounteer

again and again
can you please stop this unqualified rants against Microsoft and Windows, this doesn’t help anybody…

[SteffenR]

@gainstage

I recommend to evaluate the SQ5, it’s more modern, sounds better than the QU and has the option to add a Dante Card that makes possible to record 64 channels…

but still, it’s possible that both desks not fit your workflow
try to get your hands on one… 😉

[Driller]

Oh now I understand what “Billyg” means lol.

Just to be clear I work on Mac and this is specifically about the M1 Apple Silicon Macs.

Steffen, interesting about the Danté on the SQ5, I’ll look into it.

[Lee7]

@Driller

As Steffen has pointed out, SQ5 is probably the way to go, but you can record upto 32 channels via the USB-B port on the rear of the QU direct into your Mac depending on which model of QU you use. QU-32 or QU-SB.

Cheers
Lee

[volounteer]

@Lee7

The block diagram p88 shows the Qu32 can stream 24 channels out usb B
how do you come up with 32?
Is that unique to the QuSB?

[Driller]

Very surprised this topic is so controversial. I’ve made a decision: I’m sending back the Mac mini M1 and will stick with my WZ4/USB module and Mac Pro running El Capitan. If I have to compromise I may as well do it with the 16 channels I’ve already got.

Hopefully with time the USB streaming performance of these digital desks will become clearer/better including with the M1 Macs.

[SteffenR]

Mr. Adams

you asking the same questions over a year now… and still not learned anything?
We answered that question many times in this forum and we pointed you to the informations available… already many times…
So how does it come… that you do not know that the QU desks have different capabilities regarding to the USB-B recording?

USB-B
Qu-16 > 24 inputs 22 outputs
Qu-24 > 32 inputs 30 outputs
Qu-32, Qu-PAC, QU-SB share the same core > 32 input 32 output
SQ Series > 32 input 32 output

btw… it took me 3min to search for the right numbers

[Lee7]

@Volounteer

As Steffan has beat me to it, read his response.

[SteffenR]

@Lee7uk
sorry on that 😉

[volounteer]

@SteffenR

so the block diagram in the manual is wrong
we were talking about USB to a PC not generic in/ out

[Author]

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