Old Motifator threads are available in the Archive.
Donald-M
Total Posts: 666
Joined 11-08-2007 status: Guru |
I have not gone the mLAN firewire connection with my XS8 because I was told from the beginning that mLAN wouldn’t work very well with Pro Tools. However, in a discussion thread on the Digidesign user conference a guy said he’s using mLAN with his PT set up just fine. So now I’m curious, is anyone here using an mLAN connection with Pro Tools and their Motif XS? If so, any issues, problems? I also have a question in the “mLAN for Dummies” category. Since I didn’t think I could use it, I haven’t really looked into it all that much. Assuming mLAN and the Motif do work, and I set up the connection, does this mean the AUDIO output from the Motif gets into PT via the mLAN connection rather than the AUDIO outs? Also, would the mLAN enable me to use the various faders and knobs on the Motif to control the virtual faders and such when doing a mix in PT? I know these are basic questions, but I’ve never even seen, let alone used this sort of connection before. Thanks |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
I have mLAN: I use Pro Tools… and, Pro Tools is a closed system. It will not ‘see’ any other Audio Interface other than DIGI / M-Audio, period… The XS will transmit MIDI via the Firewire connection while operating in PT but not audio… Challenge him to post video or images of PT showing the option of choosing the mLAN as a Audio Interface… That said, there are supposedly apps like sound flower and other that communicate audio between apps- I can’t speak to the quality of the audio… |
Bad_Mister
Total Posts: 36620
Joined 07-30-2002 status: Moderator |
The problem with rumors is they are mostly only partially true and based on one person’s experience. They can quickly get totally out of control and blow up into things that are very far from the actual truth. It comes down to MIDI and AUDIO and the difference. Pro Tools would not be very “pro” if it could not deal with MIDI data from no matter what the source. It is the audio functions that PT deals with as a “closed system”. When some one says “Pro Tools” are they talking about the DAW software application or are they talking about the high end audio boxes… or are they talking about the low end audio interfaces...? |
Donald-M
Total Posts: 666
Joined 11-08-2007 status: Guru |
Which is why I’m asking the questions. If it included the audio, I’d be far more interested. I asked the guy who posted the comment to clarify, but so far he hasn’t responded. Without the audio, I don’t see a whole lot of advantage in my set-up to going to the mLAN connection. USB midi is working just fine. It is still my wish that Yamaha and DIGI will get together on this, though. |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
I saw that post on the DUC
The thrust of what he is talking about is the MIDI interfacing of Yamaha and DIGI, not Audio. There was, (maybe still is), a known conflict with the Yamaha USB MIDI Driver and PT. See my posts HERE. It doesn’t have to do with recording or playback of MIDI, rather the syncing of the sequencers… The only way he’s getting XS Audio into PT is through that DIGI I/O. |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
Though PT is certainly not my main DAW, the advantage of mLAN for me is that it remains by far the most effective and inexpensive means of getting 16 channels of XS Audio into PT. In the time it takes to do several passes in PT, I could record the audio into either Logic (or my recently deleted Cubase AI) and import the audio files into PT and be well on my way to doing other things...
What exactly would be DIGI’s incentive? PT Software requiring their own proprietary hardware, allowing other hardware to access its software, decreases PT HW sales… |
Donald-M
Total Posts: 666
Joined 11-08-2007 status: Guru |
Well, by opening it up, they might get MORE PT users who don’t want to be stuck with just their proprietary hardware. THey could make up in PT sales what they may lose in hardware. How many potential PT users went to Logic or Cubase precisely because of this? Who knows...But I’ll bet there’s quite a few. It would be a business risk, sure, but I think they might come out ahead in the end. And some of the users might switch to the proprietary products or add them anyway. I’m not so sure it would be a bad business deal for Digi. Might be...but then again, might not be. |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
Donald-M,
Simply ensure that you are recording to the same sample rate, bit depth, tempo and key preferably… :) Then use the import audio command from PT’s File Menu…
The 16 channels, of course, are any combination of mono and stereo equaling 16 total, which is still going to be light years faster than an M-Box’s 2 channels. Not every voice requires the effect. In some cases, I may want to treat it with another effect within the DAW. Still, if I use all 16 channels on 8 stereo voices each utilizing it’s insert effect, every voice has it’s insert and I still have saved three passes on a two channel Audio Interface… Hope this helps… |
Donald-M
Total Posts: 666
Joined 11-08-2007 status: Guru |
That does help. One other question. Once you’ve created the audio tracks in Cubase, are you saying you don’t need to export them from Cubase first as WAV files before importing to PT? I don’t know how CB saves its audio files within a project file. I figured the sample rate, bit depth, etc all needed to match. This idea has me very intrigued and I may start doing it this way, especially when I work with MIDI files using the Motif as my main voice source. |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
I do need to be clear, I had Cubase AI4 but used it very seldom and my main work is between Logic 8 and PT 8. That said, I normally would do just navigate to the project folder where the Audio file from the Cubase session reside. I don’t quite remember what file format Cubase saves to either, or if you designate the file type yourself from within the session but, if it’s audio, it’s probably going to be either wav or aiff depending on your OS… So, I don’t know that they necessarily need to be exported from Cubase. But, you’re probably more familiar with it than I am. In PT or Logic, I can just import the recorded audio in… Peace… |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
Absolutely, the mLAN ports show up in Logic in voice mode! |