Aggregate Audio Interfaces-Logic and Pro Tools

[pwillis]

I've never posted pro audio questions here but in other areas related to Mac products I find Macrumors to have the most helpful people so, here goes . . .

I've watched quite a few Youtube videos about Aggregate I/O's all claiming that it's a piece of cake to do however I'm not finding it so easy.

I'm trying to run my Apollo x8p, a Focusrite 18i20, and Focusrite 18i8 together using an aggregated setup in Apple's Audio/MIDI setup. It seems straightforward enough but it's not working. Rather than showing up as CH 1, 2, 3 etc., I'm getting 32 channels from the Apollo, 20 from the 18i20, and about 18 from the 18i8. In videos that I've watched, the I/O after being aggregated comes back with 8 channels for each device and those correspond with Logic and Pro Tools I/O setup so I'm not sure what the hell I'm doing wrong here.

Here's a screenshot of what's going on inside Apple's Audio/MIDI Setup.

Here's a shot of how Pro Tools is interpreting these changes.

I tried just forgetting about using any kind of aggregated approach and just attached an ADAT cable between the Apollo and the Focusrite 18i20 but that didn't seem to work either. While I can access all channels and record on all chanels I have no actual control over the inputs or output. Mics are live all the time. Can't mute them, can't route them. Ughhhhh!


Any advice would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Peter

 

[theluggage]

Rather than showing up as CH 1, 2, 3 etc., I'm getting 32 channels from the Apollo, 20 from the 18i20, and about 18 from the 18i8.

Yes, you'll see all the potential input/output channels from each device. On your typical bog standard USB audio interface that might be the same as the physical inputs/outputs - but you've got higher end devices with bells and whistles. That will include 8 channels of input and output from the ADAT ports, possibly more from the Apollo since it's got a lot of bells and whistles besides 8 mic inputs.

If you aggregate them together in that order, the 'real' inputs from the 18i20 will start at Ch 33, the 18i8 at 53 etc. Logic will just work off channel numbers (you can choose more helpful labels in Mix -> I/O Labels). I don't know ProTools but it looks like it's offering a whole additional level of input mapping/patching that you can edit to taste, so you may have to do some work setting it up.

In case it's not obvious, if you connect another interface via ADAT then their channels should show up as those extra channels on the Apollo.

 

[olavsu1]

You can direct the sound of anything if you really want to. Depends only on the willingness of programmers to support QjackCtl in their audio software. I am not currently able to test what it does with two or more audio interfaces. I think it should work very nicely.

 

[pwillis]

Thanks, olavsu1, I've never heard of this before. I'll definitely check it out!