Hi @anthony1974,
I have just got back to you on the support system, but as the information could be useful to other users who happen upon the thread I’ll pop it here too.
Firstly, be aware that as you are looping back through multiple AD and DA conversions, as well as at least two USB streams (from DAW to Qu and from Qu to DAW) there will be a relatively high latency.
In post production this latency shouldn’t cause any issue as long as you make allowances for it, either with compensation or manually shifting any ‘re-recorded’ tracks.
It could be a problem when tracking and monitoring with external FX when making a live recording or overdubbing though. For this reason, we would always recommend using the internal FX for tracking/record monitoring, then incorporate any external units during the mix.
I noticed that you were attempting to ‘ping’ for latency compensation though, so are probably aware of all this!
It’s also worth mentioning that there are quite a few points here where you could introduce a feedback loop. To avoid this, trace the signal path carefully and make sure you don’t do things like monitor a live input in Cubase that gets sent out to the Qu which then goes straight back into that live channel in Cubase.
So it’s probably best to break the routing of the whole setup into parts.
Live input to DAW:
Once your inputs are set up (connection/preamp/processing/monitoring), go to the ‘Setup > I/O Patch > USB Audio’ screen to choose what you send out from the Qu to the DAW.
Personally I like to use ‘Insert Sends’ when tracking in a studio setup, as it allows you to use the input channel processing for the monitoring (through mixes or direct outs to a ME system) without affecting what’s being recorded. It’s totally up to you though, and many engineers like to print all processing.
Whichever you choose, the numbers above each ‘box’ represent the USB channel your DAW will receive the channels from, so if you set box 4 to ‘ST2 R’, then to record ST2 R into your DAW you would record input 4 from the Qu’s USB interface.
DAW to Qu:
The USB return routing at the Qu end is fixed to avoid extra patching, as this can all be taken care of at the DAW end.
Send out from your DAW to USB channel 7 for example, and it will appear on the USB-B input for channel 7.
The Qu-16 and Qu-24 can have individual USB signals patched to all mono channels and then the stereo channels follow on too. For the Qu-32, Qu-Pac and Qu-SB you can patch to all 32 mono channels.
So for your setup, you could create a bus in the DAW that only outputs to a single, or stereo (odd even) pair of channels. You then just need to switch those channels to their USB-B input on the Qu in the ‘Processing > Preamp > Source (Fn)’ screen and they are now your USB returns from the DAW.
Return channels to outputs:
You will need to get the USB returns to output sockets using mixes (as you have suggested with stereo mixes 5/6 and 7/8 and Steffen mentioned too).
To avoid accidentally sending anything other than your USB return to a mix, select it (Blue Mix key then Sel key on master fader strip), go to the ‘Routing’ screen and set Assign to ‘All Off’.
[quick method to toggle all assignments to mix - Blue Mix key, hold ‘Assign’ key on surface, press Sel key on master fader strip]
Now, still in the routing screen, assign only the USB returns to that mix by selecting the USB return channel/s, going to the ‘Mix Sends’ tab and switching the send to your chosen mix to ‘On’.
[quick method to toggle individual assignments to mix - Blue Mix key, hold ‘Assign’ key on surface, press Sel key on individual channels]
Finally, play back from your DAW, raise the level of your USB return and mix channel (master send) and you should have just the signal from the DAW appearing at your chosen mix outputs.
External FX unit back to DAW:
This will work in exactly the same way as getting live inputs to the DAW.
Connect the unit to the Qu, setup the channel, then ensure you have it patched to a USB channel.
Record that USB channel in your DAW.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Keith.
