Recording with Q24

[mikeyboy]

Hey folks…… Trying to record in Logic Pro x or Digital Performer using the USB streaming …… Anybody have any luck at this…… So far I’m failing miserably.

What versions of software work etc.

[Tommy]

Not sure about the ones you’re wanting to use, but I use Presonus Studio One 2 and have had no problems recording with USB streaming. The only thing I have seen is with a mixdown, I can only send 2 channels back to the QU-16 (the L-R Mix). Sending each channel to the DAW is not an issue.

[mikeyboy]

Thanks for writing back….. Did you have to download any drivers?

[ljefe]

I am using the Qu-16 with a Macbook Air and Logic 10.0.7 on Mountain Lion. I have no trouble at all recording tracks into Logic, and at mix time I have twenty-two tracks streaming out of Logic back to the Qu. I run those tracks through outboard gear and mix down to the Qu-drive. I didn’t download any drivers, I am using Core Audio. Do you have Core Audio selected in Logic?

Let me explain that I am not very technically inclined, so my ability to assist might be limited.

[Tommy]

Morning Mikeboy,

Yes I did have to download drivers with my setup. I am running my DAW on an Asus Laptop. Where ljefe is using a Macbook, if I remember the docs correctly, with Mac products it works flawlessly. They haven’t developed it enough to work completely with PCs and that is why you need drivers and are limited with what you can do when sending tracks back to the board. With Mac, you are also supposed to be able to control the board from the computer as well, where I don’t think that support is there for PCs.

Looking back at the A&H website, I am finding that I am correct with the MIDI control of the DAW – it is only available for Mac. Drivers are available only for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 platforms only in the PC versions.

With my setup, I am running an Asus Laptop Core i5 with 6GB RAM. It has a USB 2.0 and a USB 3.0 port. I run the QU-16 into the USB 2.0 port and run an external drive out of the USB 3.0 port. This allows the DAW to access the software straight from the computer but record the tracks to the external drive. When I first started learning the DAW software, I did not realize you need to have the external drive for your audio to go to and I believe I killed the computer (had to send it to the factory for repair which took over a month!). The processor speed is 1.8 GHz. Now that I am getting better at the DAW, I am realizing that I am going to have a better computer. While Presonus says the DAW will run fine on the platform I have, I have heard that it is better to have a platform with at least 2 GHz speed. I have noticed that when I watch the performance meter on the software, that it is beginning to use more resources than what it used to. However, I am also using the system at my church to record the praise team as well as the preacher’s message. When I am recording the praise team, I am processing the tracks as well and sending them out to a CD recorder so the band will have a recording to listen to right after the service. I am sure this is part of why the performance meter is jumping so much now.

Not sure if all this information helps, but it is how I am running my DAW. It does seem to run a little better when I am recording straight from the QU-16 compared to how I record through a different board and Audio Interface on Sundays.

[Andreas]

sorry, I need to add some minor clarification regarding driver requirement on windows. Drivers are reqired only since Microsoft refuses to support AudioClass2.0 on their Windows platform for a decade now so any hardware developer, who wants to stream more than a few audio channels through USB, needs to deliver drivers. This is an additional work to do for developers like A&H which also need to follow any system update to ensure their drivers still work well. Apple (and several *nix based platforms) provides AudioClass2.0 support, so devices like the Qu work nice without drivers.
DAW control isn’t much magic as well, its just a wrapper from the HUI protocol to the (official) Qu MIDI implementation. Any configurable DAW can nicely be controlled from the Qu (there already are various threads here).
And, finally, the required CPU speed for a DAW only depends on the required audio processing. For recording-only a pretty low-end machine should work well. I also prefer to use a slim application (Reaper in my case, works well on both Mac and PC) for recording and move tracks afterwards into my DAW (on a more advanced machine) for processing.

[dpdan]

I have recorded a number of concerts into a Macbook Pro using Digital Performer 8.07 (now DP9) and absolutely no problems.

[Tommy]

Here I always thought it was just something the manufacturers were trying to do to steer you toward Mac products. I never realized it was Microsoft not wanting to keep up with Mac. Maybe I do need to look at getting a Mac when I upgrade next time. It’s all about that dollar when it comes to Microsoft.

[Anonymous]

No – it’s MS not wanting anything to do with standards.

[Andreas]

In fact Microsoft asked the community several times if it makes sense to implement AudioClass2 in “upcoming” Windows releases, here is one thread from 2009: Why would you want USB Audio 2.0 in Windows?.
And, if you think Windows10 finally may support AudioClass2, read this: Windows support for USB Audio 2.0?.
I’m part of this since the very early days, where AudioClass 2.0 wasn’t even gone public, at that time engineers from Microsoft were part of the usb working group…

[dpdan]

as much as I really lke Apple productsm
unfortunately they aren’t perfect either,
but a far more enjoyable experience to use and own compared to MS.

[mikeyboy]

Thanks for all of the input guys………… not sure why I’m still having problems……… I am running a desktop mac pro 2009 with 16 gigs of ram……… I’ve gotten it to record in both Logic and DP but not consistently…….. moving usb cable to a different usb port on the mac seems to make a difference…….. very weird behaviors…… makes no sense. Any help from anybody is appreciated.

[Andreas]

So basically it seems to work (DAW sees input from Qu) but failed with dropouts or similar?
How many channels are you trying to record?
Tried to use a different/shorter USB cable?
Tried to start recording stereo?
Did you try using a more slim DAW like Reaper?
Did you check the load on your HDD? Maybe its too fragmented to properly take that many channels in parallel.
Are you recording to an internal drive or something connected to another USB or whatever port?
Did you check CPU load? Maybe something working in the background.

Multichannel audio streaming should just work, and if my museum MacMini (2008 model with 1.8GHz CoreDuo) can handle 32 channel recording from my Qu32, your system should be able to do that as well.

[mikeyboy]

Thanks for the response……. Recording one track…… Have not tried a short cable…
I’m using DP AND LOGIC….. Allen and Heath does not recommend a slimmer DAW…. Recording to internal drive.

[Dick Rees]

Recording to internal drive.

I believe it is recommended to record to an external HD.

[Author]

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