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Can I run two Presonus iTwo boxes at the same time using ASIO??


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@Kevin PerryIt's not worth the bother, I was just curious  and love a challenge. I probably could have gotten it to work but its summer and the swimming hole is close by..  I have my Tascam us1641 which has 14 analog in and 4 outs. It works great but the driver is 2014 and I do not expect it to survive to much longer. Tascam was writing good drivers for a short while and I see they have returned to the lazy method again. They are selling large expensive interfaces that use "class Compliant drivers" ,, no ASIO??    But I still have a system with W7 on it so I have that as my mobile live recording rig. If I keep it in a cool dry place I could get 10 more years out of it.  

I love the Motu so far and it's very happy with ASIO. It would have been cool to switch on the 6i6 and grab some extra channels but seems much easier to just plug the Tascam in and bingo, 14 channels of ASIO. 

Edited by John Vere
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On 7/15/2021 at 1:05 AM, Terry Kelley said:

I have done many searches on this and the answers vary from no to maybe, to you might, but no one has said they've actually done it. I can certainly get an interface with several outputs but none (so far) have physical volume controls for all outputs, only the main stereo outs.

If I understand correctly,  your primary wish was physical controls for all outputs. But we are in Cakewalk by Bandlab forum. So, if controlling different outputs in CbB is sufficient, any Control Surface with multichannel audio interface will do the trick.  The controller can be configured to change volumes in CbB  rather flexible way.

Sure, if software in question is not CbB (nor other DAW) or the sound does not come from software at all that approach is not going to work.

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5 hours ago, John Vere said:

Tascam was writing good drivers for a short while and I see they have returned to the lazy method again. They are selling large expensive interfaces that use "class Compliant drivers" ,, no ASIO??

Which interfaces do you mean? All of the USB interfaces listed on Tascam's site use both ASIO and WDM. The SERIES 102i & 208i use ASIO-v2.2 and the rest use ASIO-v2.0. The new Model 12/16/24 hybrid consoles look really nice btw.

I have to say, I had a lot of issues with the drivers on my US-16x08 at first, but the most recent version has been stable for almost a year and a half now.

Edited by pcooke9
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1 hour ago, azslow3 said:

If I understand correctly,  your primary wish was physical controls for all outputs. But we are in Cakewalk by Bandlab forum. So, if controlling different outputs in CbB is sufficient, any Control Surface with multichannel audio interface will do the trick.  The controller can be configured to change volumes in CbB  rather flexible way.

Sure, if software in question is not CbB (nor other DAW) or the sound does not come from software at all that approach is not going to work.

My issue is that, while very rare, Cakewalk or a plugin will flip out (and it could very well be the interface flipping out) and generating tons of noise far beyond the software volume levels. Imagine taking the Tape Out of your pre-amp and plugging it into your 500W stereo amp with the volume on the amp set to 11. If anything goes wrong, you have no way to turn it down without running over to the amp or as in the 21st century, to the back of the speakers to turn them down or off. I want something  on my desk I can grab. I have yet to find an interface with physical volume controls on the line outs or dual master outs without going to a console mixer.

I won't connect to an amp without some physical volume control (and the Presonus interfaces are true passive analog pots at the master output.)

And no, I am not doing a survey so people don't need to post that they've never had a problem! :);)

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17 hours ago, Terry Kelley said:

To MSMcLeod:

When running these interfaces without a common clock the setting of the Mixing Latency Buffer Size affects the sync of the two interfaces doesn't it ...

If I set it short it will start to cutout/jump or if too long sync starts to drift. There is a sweet spot but it's a guess.

 

No, this is something completely different.

Cakewalk will tell the interface to play a buffer of audio at a particular sample time, and the audio device plays it.

It's like telling two people to fire a starting gun at exactly 10pm,  but if one person's watch is 0.5 sec out, they'll fire at different times.  They both think they're firing at exactly 10pm, but their watches are different. 

Even if their watches were synchronised 8 hours earlier, there's still going to be inaccuracies in the quartz crystal or the gearing that will cause them to drift.

Probably not a huge issue for a watch when you're dealing with seconds, but it is an issue for an audio device needing to be accurate to 1/48000th of a second.

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26 minutes ago, Terry Kelley said:

My issue is that, while very rare, Cakewalk or a plugin will flip out (and it could very well be the interface flipping out) and generating tons of noise far beyond the software volume levels.

At such moment I have visited the nearest music store to buy reasonable audio interface... Not that I no longer use other "devices" which can produce sounds from my computer (7), 3 are permanently connected. In critical situations I use the one I trust.

But in practice cables, mixers and amps can start generate something without audio interface help. Big power button is the only ultimate solution against all possible problems of that kind (at home I use power sockets with remote control). From my personal experience, even in case you have big dedicated knobs for each stereo par, find the right one in multi-channel setup once something is really loud is hard 🙄

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1 hour ago, pcooke9 said:

Which interfaces do you mean? All of the USB interfaces listed on Tascam's site use both ASIO and WDM. The SERIES 102i & 208i use ASIO-v2.2 and the rest use ASIO-v2.0. The new Model 12/16/24 hybrid consoles look really nice btw.

I have to say, I had a lot of issues with the drivers on my US-16x08 at first, but the most recent version has been stable for almost a year and a half now.

When looking at interfaces the OP could purchase I was reading Tascams promo info and it clearly said no drivers needed class compliant. But further digging shows that they are also still making a ASIO driver as well. 

Built into the US-16x08 is a DSP Mixer for low-latency digital mixing. Each channel has four-band EQ and compression for polished-sounding monitor mixes. In addition to interface mode, the US-16x08 can be used as a standalone mic preamp. Mac and Windows drivers are provided, as well as USB Class Compliant 2.0 drivers for tablets like Apple's iPad. MIDI input and output are also available on the rear panel.  

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2 hours ago, bdickens said:

Why wouldn't the one master volume on the one interface that has multiple speaker outputs accomplish the task?

This depends on the interface.  Some do , some don't.  My Motu doesn't if I use 3/4 i get blasted out of the room and reaching for the big knob does nothing, I have to use my power amp. 

Edited by John Vere
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43 minutes ago, John Vere said:

This depends on the interface.  Some do , some don't.  My Motu doesn't if I use 3/4 i get blasted out of the room and reaching for the big knob does nothing, I have to use my power amp. 

There are passive stereo pots in a nice housing available on Amazon. I might have to resort to a pair if I do go with line outs.

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