Have QU-Pac, will AB168 stream extra channels to DAW?

[sofine]

Hi there folks.

I have done a cursory google search and cannot seem to get clarification as to whether or not adding an AB168 to my QU-Pac will result in the additional AB168 channels of audio being available as independent audio streams in my DAW (Ableton / Studio One) on top of the existing QU-Pac ones.

I am currently using my QU-Pac as my studio interface and I find it very reliable, sounds good and I can achieve low latency.

Thanks.

[Alex A&H]

Hi Sofine,

Adding an AB168 to a Qu-Pac will mean you can map the AB168 inputs to channels 17-32 on the Qu-Pac, providing all 32 microphone inputs in your DAW.

To set this up on your Qu, connect the Ab168 to the dSnake port on the Qu and go to Setup > IO Patch > dSnake In. You should now make sure that CH17 to CH32 are assigned to Main 1 to Main 16. If they aren’t, press on a block on screen and use the screen encoder to change the assignment.
Now go to Setup > IO Patch > USB Audio and make sure all 32 USB channels are assigned to CH1 to CH32. If you need to make a change, again select a block on screen and use the screen encoder to adjust.
Lastly, press the Sel key on an input channel, followed by the Processing key. Now press the Fn (Source) key and change CH17 to CH32 to dSnake, leaving CH1 to CH16 as Local.

I hope this helps!
Thanks
Alex

[sofine]

Alex,

Thanks a mill for the fast reply, that’s exactly what I wanted to know.

Cheers,

Simon

[sofine]

1 more quick q if you don’t mind 🙂

I plan to connect around 6 or 7 synths / drum machines to the AB168. I guess it’s mostly used to connect mics on stage, but for my home studio I guess I could use 1/4 inch to male XLR cables (balanced?) to hook up my gear?

Would you recommend against this approach for any reason?

Is there a more suitable A&H product to achieve this (getting around 30 tracks into my PC, currently using 20 into my PC with the QuPAC)?

Cheers,

Simon

[SteffenR]

I recommend using DI boxes instead of adapters…
makes unbalanced connections balanced, adds pad

Palmer DI Boxes

[Alex A&H]

Hi Sofine,

If the output of the Synth/drum machine is a TRS connection, then a TRS cable directly into the Line input on the Qu should be fine.

If they are TS connections, as Steffen said, DI boxes should be used to convert the unbalanced signal into a balanced signal.

Any of the Qu Series is probably the best product for this task, and with the Qu-Pac you can achieve up to 32 inputs into your PC over a USB B connection.

Thanks
Alex

[sofine]

Thanks Steffen and Alex.

Excuse my clear lack of understanding, but I thought balanced is preferable more so over longer cable distances and that unbalanced might be OK for my small box room setup? Or is it preferable that balanced should to to balanced even just over 2 or 3 meters?

Most of my synths are TS (unbalanced mono or mono L mono R)

Alex, I already have a QuPac and I connect my synths directly to the 1/4 inch inputs there using TS cables, all sounds fine this way. I am looking to get another 16 inputs, hence my consideration of the AB168. I’d rather avoid the expense of having to pick up a 16 channel DI box on top of an AB168, but do you think it’s a no brainer to haev to do so? I could pick up a used RME UFX for less that the AB168 and DI boxes and just run a stereo mix out of my Qupac into the RME and still have spare channels left over.

Any thoughts?

Cheers guys,

Simon

[Alex A&H]

Hi Simon,

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend connecting a TS connection to an XLR socket. As, for example, if you accidentally enable +48V on one of these channels, you could cause damage to your equipment. In terms of signal quality, you may find that it sounds okay for what you want to do, but it can be more susceptible to interference and noise.

So I recommend either the RME or the AB + DI Box for this.

Thanks
Alex

[MarkPAman]

Though I’d also recommend a DI box (I like Orchid Electronics) you can make up a safe cable yourself if you can solder.

Connect the tip of the jack to pin 2 of the XLR, and the screen of the jack to pin 3.
The cable’s screen should be connected to pin one of the XLR but make sure it does not touch anything at the jack end.

See number 13 in the (excellent) Rane Sound System Interconnection document.

Sound System Interconnection

[sofine]

Thanks again guys. I will stop soon I promise 🙂

I think for now I will order the AB168 and only connect my synths / samplers / FX units that have TRS line outputs to the AB168 using 1/4 inch TRS to XLR cables and the rest of my unbalanced gear outputs using TS to the line ins on my QuPac – that should be OK right?

[Author]

Posts