mellenwater@gmail.com

prob a stupid question, but i searched hard and couldn't find anything specific enough...

so i have a presonus firebox (which i use with max) and am sick of cubase as a DAW.

wondering if, hypothetically, it would be possible to buy a cheap m-audio card (like the guitar jamlab BS or something) in order to get pro tools to run on my machine. THEN could i run the firebox through max (using another interface) through a rewire/directconnect into a pro tools AUX insert?

i've never attempted a multiple interface operation (as i've never owned more than one interface). i imagine it creates driver conflicts... but would this be possible to run max on the Firebox driver, and Pro tools on the jamlab driver, simultaneously?

thanks for any antidotes you have to offer my obvious naivete...

hey all,
prob a stupid question, but i searched hard and couldn't find anything specific enough...

wondering if, hypothetically, it would be possible to buy a cheap m-audio card (like the guitar jamlab BS or something) in order to get pro tools to run on my machine.  THEN could i run the firebox through max (using another interface) through a rewire/directconnect into a pro tools AUX insert?

i've never attempted a multiple interface operation (as i've never owned more than one interface).  i imagine it creates driver conflicts...  but would this be possible to run max on the Firebox driver, and Pro tools on the jamlab driver, simultaneously?

rewiringdirectconnecting-msp-and-pro-tools

> wondering if, hypothetically, it would be possible to buy a cheap 

> m-audio card (like the guitar jamlab BS or something) in order to get

Be carefull, I think not all m-audio interfaces run with PT m-powered

> i've never attempted a multiple interface operation (as i've never 

> owned more than one interface). i imagine it creates driver 

> but would this be possible to run max on the Firebox 

> driver, and Pro tools on the jamlab driver, simultaneously?

Digidesign forces all their customers, who want to run another program, 

to buy another interface, as ProTools NEVER uses OS drivers, but talks 

directly to the interface (and blocks it for other programms. Your idea 

is a common solution and should also work on Windows, as only one 

interface will be used by the OS, the other by ProTools...

I would go for the cheapest m-powered interface that has digital 

in/outs. This gives you the somewhat simpler posibility to connect the 

monroe wrote:
> wondering if, hypothetically, it would be possible to buy a cheap 
> m-audio card (like the guitar jamlab BS or something) in order to get
> pro tools to run on my machine.

> i've never attempted a multiple interface operation (as i've never 
> owned more than one interface).  i imagine it creates driver 
> conflicts... 

> but would this be possible to run max on the Firebox 
> driver, and Pro tools on the jamlab driver, simultaneously?

Digidesign forces all their customers, who want to run another program, 
to buy another interface, as ProTools NEVER uses OS drivers, but talks 
directly to the interface (and blocks it for other programms. Your idea 
is a common solution and should also work on Windows, as only one 
interface will be used by the OS, the other by ProTools...

I would go for the cheapest m-powered interface that has digital 
in/outs. This gives you the somewhat simpler posibility to connect the 
two programs via spdif...

-- 
Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
--_____-----------|--------------
--(_|_ ----|-----|-----()-------
-- _|_)----|-----()--------------
----------()--------www.ccmix.com


It's not strictly true about Digidesign blocking other programs from their interfaces, I can use channels 1 and 2 for other apps on my digi 001, (using Wave Driver), but that's pretty useless nonetheless!

So can a Mac run multiple interfaces simultaneously too?

I've never actually tried but i only ever get intermittent access to Mac world.

You can have multiple soundcards in a PC, without conflicts, but you can only use one at a time and you have to physically switch the ASIO driver in the app everytime you want to use a different card, (which is a hassle). It used to be taboo due to the CPU overhead of having multiple cards but that's utterly negligible by today's standards!

For what it's worth, i wouldn't recommend Pro Tools as a DAW anyway...it's pretty restrictive, with RTAS proprietry formats and the extra cash you have to shell out for Fxpansions VST to RTAS wrapper is just another anoyance...not to mention that PT's not too hot with MIDI, (compared to Cubase).

Depending on which platform you're on, you might want to consider Sonar, (for PC), or Logic, (for Mac)...although i'm presuming you're using a PC because surely no Mac user would choose Cubase over Logic, would they? I think Sonar has the same problems as PT, needing a Wrapper for VSTs though...there could well be a free one out there, although there's definitely not one for PT.

Other DAW apps worth having a look into are Tracktion, (XP only i think), which is very easy to use but suffers the similar MIDI issues to PT and Digital Performer which i keep hearing lots of good things about but have never tried.

Anyway, good luck with it and i hope my inane ramblings have helped,

So can a Mac run multiple interfaces simultaneously too?
I've never actually tried but i only ever get intermittent access to Mac world.

Anyway, good luck with it and i hope my inane ramblings have helped,
John


> It's not strictly true about Digidesign blocking other programs from 

> their interfaces, I can use channels 1 and 2 for other apps on my 

> digi 001, (using Wave Driver), but that's pretty useless nonetheless!

> So can a Mac run multiple interfaces simultaneously too? I've never 

> actually tried but i only ever get intermittent access to Mac world.

Not only that, you can combine multiple interfaces in a way that they

look like a single one. Essential if you want to adress multiple

interfaces with Max, as Max can only choose one...

> surely no Mac user would choose Cubase over Logic, would they?

Why not, the Cubase/Logic competition is going on for decades, and as I

see it, the only reason to choose one over the other has always been 

Now that Logic is Mac only, PC users have lost that choice... (I am not 

sure if the few hardcore Logic users which had been forced to switch to 

the Mac really pushed the sales of Macs dramatically (but they might 

> Other DAW apps worth having a look into are Tracktion, (XP only i 

> think), which is very easy to use but suffers the similar MIDI issues

> to PT and Digital Performer which i keep hearing lots of good things

DP has been Mac only for ever and has its own propriatary plug format...

I wonder if any of the pro DAW's will ever support LADSP as its a 

john inder wrote:
> It's not strictly true about Digidesign blocking other programs from 
> their interfaces, I can use channels 1 and 2 for other apps on my 
> digi 001, (using Wave Driver), but that's pretty useless nonetheless!
>
While ProTools is running???

> So can a Mac run multiple interfaces simultaneously too? I've never 
> actually tried but i only ever get intermittent access to Mac world.

Not only that, you can combine multiple interfaces in a way that they
look like a single one. Essential if you want to adress multiple
interfaces with Max, as Max can only choose one...

Why not, the Cubase/Logic competition is going on for decades, and as I
see it, the only reason to choose one over the other has always been 
taste...

Now that Logic is Mac only, PC users have lost that choice... (I am not 
sure if the few hardcore Logic users which had been forced to switch to 
the Mac really pushed the sales of Macs dramatically (but they might 
have gained other advantages... ;-))

> Other DAW apps worth having a look into are Tracktion, (XP only i 
> think), which is very easy to use but suffers the similar MIDI issues
> to PT and Digital Performer which i keep hearing lots of good things
> about but have never tried.

DP has been Mac only for ever and has its own propriatary plug format...
I wonder if any of the pro DAW's will ever support LADSP as its a 
non-propriatary plug format...

rewiring/directconnecting msp and pro tools