ConsoleConnect vs IO

[nulldevice]

I've been using the 2d stuff for a bit now, and I gotta say, it sounds great.

But.

Honestly I find ConsoleConnect kind of a pain, since I still want to do most of my processing and recording in Logic, not the MIO mixer. (and, since I've only got two monitors, I'm just running out of screen space for yet another mixer!)

I've been using the Logic IO plugin with fairly decent sucess, although I haven't quite figured out how many samples I need to compensate when I'm mixing tracks through the MIO with tracks entirely in Logic.

Anyone had any experiences, good or bad, with either setup? Some tricks with the IO plugin (or others) for getting the most out of the MIO? Or some ConsoleConnect mojo that makes Logic workflow easier?

 

[Allen Rowand]

I think you're confused about what ConsoleConnect does; it simply stores your MIOConsole setup with your Logic session- it has nothing to do with passing audio. If you don't want to link MIOConsole to your session, you don't have to use it. Also, if you run ConsoleConnect in "Conduit" mode you can hide MIOConsole and just work in Logic. Go to MIOConsole's preferences and check out the ConsoleConnect section.

Best,
Allen

 

[nulldevice]

Gah, it's too early, and I need coffee before I start typing.

Yeah, I get what ConsoleConnect does, I mean more of the mixing-in-the-box/using record panel for everything instead of processing in Logic. Uisng ConsoleConnect/MIO Mixer for mixing instead of Logic's Mixer.

I route things with the IO plugin out to the mixer and then bring it all back in for furhter processing - it seems like the "recommended workflow" with the MIO mixer is to route everything out of the DAW and into the mixer and Record Panel...which I suppose is fine, but I already *have* a mixer and recording interface in my DAW (Logic, obviously) so the idea of keeping track of a second set of channels and busses and recorders seems a bit, erm, excessive, especially given I'm already short on screen real-estate.

Hence, I use the IO plugin and a few fire-and-forget MIO mixer setups. I'd love it if I could access a lot of the commonly-accessed 2d DSP stuff directly from within Logic (the Channel Strip or character stuff especially) without leaving the Logic environment, but that would probably make software support difficult, since I know there ar eplenty of people out there who like to build all their custom DSP graphs and complex routings, so we'd be stuck with essentally two sets of software and...

...well, anyway, I guess I'm looking for tips-n-tricks to utilize some of the features of the MIO 2d without having to "go deep" into the MIO mixer.

 

[Orren Merton]

Yeah, I get what ConsoleConnect does, I mean more of the mixing-in-the-box/using record panel for everything instead of processing in Logic. Uisng ConsoleConnect/MIO Mixer for mixing instead of Logic's Mixer.

Hi Null, I get exactly what you mean. Ultimately, the best solution for you is what I would want, which is a PowerCore, Duende, or UAD2-like hook up, where you can simply pull-up a MIO plug-in on a Logic channel strip like any other plug-in. The plug-in runs on the MIO, but it "looks and feels" like any other Logic/AU plug-in.

That would be fantastic, but unfortunately it's "non-trivial" as they say in programming terms. MH knows we want that (hell, I'm pretty vocal about asking for it myself!) and if it were easy, it would be there already. That's not to say that it never will be, but it's obviously a long and difficult process with lots of false turns and technical issues, and until then, it is possible as we've both found to make use of the current system:

I route things with the IO plugin out to the mixer and then bring it all back in for furhter processing

That is what I do as well. For example, I absolutely love the sound of my Access Virus TI Snow through the "SoftSat" Character. So I have my MIO Mixer set up so that one channel accepts DAW 3/4 As its input, FW 3/4 as direct output, and that channel has Character set to SoftSat. I then set an I/O plug-in up on my Snow channel with the outputs and inputs set as above. Works flawlessly.

Where console connect comes in is that it lets me save a "plug-in setting" with my Logic Project of the mixer state, so if later I build a different mixer, I can always use the original MIO mixer state with that song.

...well, anyway, I guess I'm looking for tips-n-tricks to utilize some of the features of the MIO 2d without having to "go deep" into the MIO mixer.

See above. I'd recommend that you keep doing what you're doing-setting up MIO channels with the plug-ins you want as a "set and leave" configuration, putting I/O plug-ins on your Logic channels trips to send stuff out to them, and then put a console connect plug-in on an unused Aux or something as a way to save your MIO Mixer for that song, so if you end up changing your mixer for some reason later, that project will always have the original mixer.

And we'll both hope we get our PowerCore/UAD2/Duende style support in years to come. 🙂

Orren