I'm working on a live >30 IO project, most all hardware IO, DSP devices are routed 1:1 to ASIO Dest. While all these feed to STM mixer, most all is throughput via STM's Direct Outs to HW output to a 24tr analog mixing desk. Some sources are fed to STM's buses and from there to the analog desk since i don't have enough tracks on the latter. All sources have tracks in my DAW, with dedicated ASIO IO for each. Mind you, I do not want to route everything over ASIO the way VDAT works as an insert: I want to work without any DAW running, just the same. I do not want round-trip ASIO latency while making the music. I do not need phase alignment or latency compensation in the DAW, which has a negative samples offset for recordings to align them with the realtime throughput of HW devices through Scope.
Now, I'd like to have my DAW act most similarly to what VDAT does, but with added editing, multiple takes, etc, from the DAW. Then I can easily toggle between every (live or MIDI sequenced) HW or Scope synth and a previous recording in the DAW, before they're processed downstream in the DSP project, in other patches/FX/STM.
A couple options I've explored:
- "External Master Effect": a relatively simple device from stock, with level controls if needed. Doesn't have MIDI remote. to sort that, it could be inserted in the mixer, MultiFX, or a patch. But this device comes in no mono version. Still probably the most aesthetically pleasing option, with a little overhead considering most channels are mono.
- Talking of overhead, yesterday I loaded up mausmuso's 24tr patchbay, but damn that's heavy on DSP. I suspect that under the hood, it has every possibly connection permanently made, and switches then select from these options. I don't need the option to switch any input to any output.
- I could merge both live devices and ASIO sources (External Source) inside a patch with 'xfade mod' or some switch. This can be easily controlled both individually and globally, and in Scope or using MIDI. In the patch, the live devices can also be easily forwarded to their respective ASIO Destinations (External Dest).
If I failed to explain some things, or you have additional questions, I'll be glad to clarify. The reason I'm asking here is that maybe you folks have ideas for devices or tricks that I've missed. So I'm looking forward to your suggestions:
- to make this work-flow, or at least its objective, go easier
- DSP efficiency
- Bonus points for tips that avoid cluttering the project window!
at0m