Mix Master with Qu send stereo to DAW

[stupaak]

Hello, recently I have decided to do all the mixing and mastering in my Qu32 with Logic pro x ver. 10.4.6. DAW Mac OS ver 10.13.6

I know if I set all my channels to USB b stream I can see all the metered channels on layer a of the mixer. I then would like to do all the processing using the Qu’s engine and then would like to send the stereo mix back to my DAW.

Can someone please guide me in this process or point to a Youtube video that could help me with this?

Thank you,

Stupaak
email is Nejonstudio@gmail.com

[KeithJ A&H]

Hi @stupaak –

It’s totally up to you, but as this is a public forum you might not want to share your email address, as it could be grabbed by bot’s or individuals for nefarious reasons (i.e. sending you lots of spam).

Regarding your question though, it sounds like you’re very close!
So to mix down using the Qu and record the results:

1. Route tracks out from your DAW to individual USB channels (as you already noted) – these will appear as the USB-B inputs for the matching input channel numbers.
2. Process and mix the tracks, you could use any mix, group or even route through to a matrix, but I’d recommend simply mixing to the main LR.
3. Patch the LR mix back to USB channels in the ‘Setup > I/O Patch > USB Audio’ screen – by default the LR mix will already be patched to USB channels 17&18.
4. Create a new stereo track in your DAW with the input sourced from the USB channels you just patched to (or 17&18 if you haven’t altered the default patching).
5. Make sure you do not have record monitoring enabled on this track or you could end up with a feedback loop!
6. Record/Playback in the DAW and you will be sending the tracks out to the Qu, processing and mixing them, then recording the stereo result back to the DAW.
7. You will probably then want to patch the output from that stereo track back to a pair of USB channels that you haven’t already used (which have no processing) for playback and final checks.

Note that latency introduced by sending out to the Qu and back to the DAW will mean your stereo mix down will not be aligned with the original tracks, so when you do playback, just make sure you’re only listening to the mix down by itself or it will sound very weird!

If you need more details on any of this, feel free to contact us directly using https://support.allen-heath.com , though I imagine you’ll get some tips from the community here too 🙂
Cheers,
Keith.

[volounteer]

@KeithJ A&H

Is there any chance of getting all that verbiage in a signal flow diagram format?

[KeithJ A&H]

@volounteer

It’s pretty simple, but here ya go!

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[volounteer]

Thank you.

For me pictures are easier than words in situations like this one.

[volounteer]

@KeithJ A&H

Which leads to my next question.
As I always read the block diagram you can not go both in and out from usb.
So is it possible to actually go in and out simultaneously on some channels via usb, but not all of them?

As a bonus pls tell us what the green triangle and red circle indicate. These are new to me.

[KeithJ A&H]

@volounteer

The green triangle and red circle were just extras to show that the top tracks are playing and the bottom (stereo) track is recording 🙂

The USB-B interface is bi-directional and on checking, I couldn’t see anything on the block diagram which suggested otherwise so please let us know what you spotted!

If your question is about the input channels and source points though:
USB channel to USB input source patching at the Qu is fixed, but of course each channel can be sourced from Local, dSnake or USB (with a master option for USB-B or Qu-Drive), so you choose which Qu channel you’re patching to from the computer/DAW then just switch that channel to USB-B on the Qu.
Output patching to USB (from Qu to computer) can be selected as already described, with options including input channel direct outputs or insert sends, FX returns, Groups, Mixes, Matrices and even PAFL. You then need to select the USB channels you wish to record in the DAW/computer.
Put these together and you can see that there is both a USB input and potential USB output, simultaneously available per input channel.

Regarding the original post though, @stupaak only needs the ‘DAW to Qu input channels’ as separate channels, followed by a stereo ‘Qu LR mix to DAW’ return.

Cheers,
Keith.

[volounteer]

Thanks.

It was just the way I had read the block diagram following the usb paths in and out with that switch that seems to remove other inputs when you use usb for input. The usb is bidirectional but seemed to have other problems doing both from the diagram.
That is why I asked if you could do some in each direction.

For me it would have been clearer to see your diagram above if the source started at top left with the green triangle pointing to the next box with the Qu and returning on the bottom for recording stereo. But I do appreciate your creating and posting it even if I took a while to understand it fully.

[WaihekeSoundie]

I would be interested in your experiences doing this.
I tried this on a recent recording but found that the main limitation is that of course you are mixing in real time and that it becomes hard to reproduce mix moves you make .. though I guess you can punch in record in the DAW. I tried finding ways to automate the mixer fader moves with MIDI and you can (well at least on the SQ you can) but it all became a bit complex and I have UAD plugins.

But how did you get on?
Are there significant advantages of working this way “Out of the Box” or it is just to use the mixer’s effects engine rather than plugins?
Thanks

[volounteer]

@WaihekeSoundie

It is easier and faster to move faders on the Qu than do do that in the DAW.
Whether on Qu or DAW you are doing it in RT.

And you also get to use the fx in the Qu32 if you want them.

I would prefer to send stems to the DAW and then do the final mix ITB.
YMMV

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