So I know multitrack recording doesn’t work the best with sq drive and a usb stick.
I was wondering if someone could point me in the best way of doing multitrack recording. Example: best external hard drive or straight into a Mac?
The SQ Drive is no option for me since it is until now not very reliable and 16 tracks is in the most cases too less for my needs. So, USB B is one of my alternatives. I also use Dante together with DVS. Since firmware version 1.2 both works reliable. But for important recordings I use both for redundancy issues. But my recording computers are running Windows 10, not MacOS. I had some troubles in the past using my Mid 2012 MBP with the SQ and so it stopped trying to run it with the Mac.
With Firmware 1.5 you can switch USB B and SQ Drive to 48kHz allowing 32 channels of recorded glory. And if we can trust Keith, 1.5 is right around the corner.
I bought me a SQ Waves card and record up to 48 channels without any troubles in WaveTrack Live on a 2010 13inch MacBook Pro 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
So is there any true way of recording multitrack to a Mac now without Dante or SQ Waves?
The problem (for me) so far when using SQ-drive has been the speed of the USB-drives, I bought a HD-cabinet and put an older SSD (Intel 540-series) in it - & the problems disappeared.
So can I not record to a Mac through the usb-b?
@GraceGCF
You should be able to record via usbb…
How much/how good depends on your hardware capacity/speed and the software including drivers.
Unlike @Mfk0815 I use stems and have no need for more than 16 channels. Usually 8 is plenty.
But I do not use a Mac. I have an older PC withOUT win10.
@PGW
are you saying that old SSDs are faster than new USB flash drives?
Could there be something else that is the problem?
How do I record multitrack directly to my Mac?
When I switch from sq-drive to usb-b in the I/O screen then choose the channels I want to record when I go back to the record utility screen, format and the arming options are grayed out and I can’t choose them.
The record utility screen is only relevant for recording directly via SQ drive. And you can only use SQ drive or USB B but never both at the same time.
The routing is the same, with the exception that you can record up to 32 signals via USB B.
On your connected computer you have to run a DAW application which can record enough tracks simultaneously. I am using Reaper for years now and never had problems to record up to 64 tracks (using Dante) on my Laptops. For me it is worth every cent.
Is Logic Pro x a daw?
@GraceGCE
That is a mac and whatever software you are using question.
Try gearslutz or other audio forums for more responses aimed at mac users.
This forum is mostly AH devices plus whatever people may have connected to them.
How you record to the mac is connect it to the SQ via the usb.
That may need an adapter cable.
Then it is all up to the mac and the software there.
You may need to download a driver too.
You will have better luck on that part of your question in mac audio forums.
Perhaps you would have better luck with garbageband or audacity , which is free and simpler , than logic.
Yes logic pro x is a DAW.
It sounds like you would find it easier to use a hard drive on the SQ directly then copy it to the DAW.
Yes I would like to record it directly on the sq to a drive.
I got it all setup and started recording right into Logic Pro x but got an error after about 30 seconds of recording saying my drive isn’t fast enough.
- Try Waves Tracks Live (https://www.waves.com/mixers-racks/tracks-live#presenting-tracks-live)
- disengange WiFi (they sometimes share the same USB Bus inside the Laptop)
- shut down all other Programms
- Do you have an SSD in your Laptop?
@GraceGCE
Does not compute.
You record it all on the HD attached to the SQ then transfer the file to the PC, and
then the DAW will work just fine without complaining about speed.
You do not use logic pro until after you transferred the file.
Almost all USB sticks are only around 10Mbyte write speeds.
They might have 100Mbyte+ read, and often I have seen then advertised as pure 100MByte speeds without any word of the lower writespeeds…
Only way I have had no problems recording via SQ Drive, has been an external SSD enclosure with a SSD disk.
(usually use Samsung EVO drives or Kingston A/UV400 series)
The single most important factor to understand is a the degree to which a independent power supply is critical to the process and ultimate HD quality. This is the reason most flash drives provide spotty, at best, performance. I use, with out any problems, a Glyph GPT50 with it’s own power supply and it is a USB2 work horse. I use the USB drive on the face of the unit and can record hours of up to 16 tracks of multi-track performance with out a single hint of a glitch: however it is imperative to be fully versed in the A & H recording protocol. I have a complete Digigrid/Waves LV1 system set up in my project studio however I find dumping the tracks into the Waves system and S1 4.5 DAW after the fact to be most efficient and have not in any way degraded the final two mixes.
Hugh
The single most important factor to understand is a the degree to which a independent power supply is critical to the process and ultimate HD quality. This is the reason most flash drives provide spotty, at best, performance. I use, with out any problems, a Glyph GPT50 with it’s own power supply and it is a USB2 work horse. I use the USB drive on the face of the unit and can record hours of up to 16 tracks of multi-track performance with out a single hint of a glitch: however it is imperative to be fully versed in the A & H recording protocol. I have a complete Digigrid/Waves LV1 system set up in my project studio: however I find dumping the tracks into the Waves system and S1 4.5 DAW after the fact to be most efficient and have not in any way degraded the final two mixes.
Hugh