Best way to interface MH with Logic

Blair Fisher

Blair Fisher

Logician
Hi MH Mavens:

On the advice of several people here on this list I have finally purchased a ULN-2 and 2882. The main reason was to have a great solution for location recording (some of you may remember the thread on the LUG)

I was using a Mackie Onyx mixer, which was very bulky, and the preamps wouldn't drive the Royer SF-12 ribbon mike for quiet classical recording. For location recording I think most things will now be pretty straight ahead:

The ULN-2 should do a very nice job of driving the Royer for a main stereo pair. The 8 mike pres on the 2882 will give me a total of 10 preamps in a nice compact rack. (Albeit the 2882 preamps are said to be somewhat low output "utility" pres) For bigger/more demanding recordings I can attach some external pres through ADAT inputs on both units. Backup will be to a Tascam X-48 making for what should be a bullet proof and great sounding system.

So, now I have the 2 boxes and am wondering how others use theirs with Logic. I have read the other thread here and checked out a number of the tutorials on the MH site, but I figure a few words of advice from those of you who have more experience will help me get going faster.

So far I have set up an aggregate device (I assume that is what I need to do) - since my studio setup is a MOTU PCI system which connects all the various boxes automatically I have never had to use the aggregate device before...

I have also set up a big MH mixer and selected appropriate hardware channels for the various strips. I have managed to get some sounds showing up in Logic as well, although I am a bit sketchy on the exact signal flow...I'll need to spend a bit of time and check out some more videos I guess.

Some specific questions:

- I remember reading on GearSlutz that these boxes had to be physically hooked together (I guess like an analog submixer) - so I have started by taking the AES output of the 2882 and plugged it into the ULN-2. I assume that is the only way I can get everything to arrive at one place for monitoring/output? If anybody can shed a bit more light on this I would appreciate it....how do you hook your boxes together, and am I understanding this correctly?

- I haven't bought the DSP license yet, but am considering it. Is this something that you find useful (considering all the plug-ins that Logic has?) I guess one reason for these is to use them without having to deal with Logic's software monitoring/latency (for cue sends etc.)?

-Do you use the MH stuff for mixing, other than as an audio interface for the stereo mix?

-What other cool stuff does it do????

OK - I know this is a long-winded and open ended question...SORRY. However I do find the learning curve a might steep, and I hope to flatten it out just a bit with the help of the good folks here. TIA for any nuggets you can throw my way.

Blair
 
Hi Blair,
Welcome! I'll do what I can to answer your questions. Regarding signal flow, the thing to remember is that DAW channels are the returns from Logic, and FW channels are the sends to Logic. So to send an input or bus from the MIO mixer into Logic, assign it to a FW channel. Send Analog 1 to FW 1, and that will be input 1 in Logic. Conversely, Outputs 1-2 in Logic are DAW 1-2 in the MIO mixer.

As to your specific questions:
1- You are correct. If you're working at 44.1 or 48k you could also use ADAT to join the boxes (assuming you have a ULN-2 2d). This tutorial: http://www.mhsecure.com/technotes/MultiboxRouting.html
should tell you what you need to know.

2- If you have 2d Expanded units (I don't know if you bought the boxes new) you already have some basic plug-ins, like MIOStrip which are great for tweaking cue sends. +dsp allows you to build advanced plugs and work with your audio in different ways. I use it all the time in my sound design and remastering work.

3- I do all my mixing in the MIO, since this makes it easier to use +dsp. Many users work this way, some don't. You can also use the I/O plug in Logic to access the dsp like a virtual insert.

4- Check out the Record Panel- I use it for all my location recordings.

Best,
Allen
 
Allen Rowand said:
Hi Blair,

As to your specific questions:
1- You are correct. If you're working at 44.1 or 48k you could also use ADAT to join the boxes (assuming you have a ULN-2 2d). This tutorial: http://www.mhsecure.com/technotes/MultiboxRouting.html
should tell you what you need to know.

2- If you have 2d Expanded units (I don't know if you bought the boxes new) you already have some basic plug-ins, like MIOStrip which are great for tweaking cue sends. +dsp allows you to build advanced plugs and work with your audio in different ways. I use it all the time in my sound design and remastering work.

3- I do all my mixing in the MIO, since this makes it easier to use +dsp. Many users work this way, some don't. You can also use the I/O plug in Logic to access the dsp like a virtual insert.

4- Check out the Record Panel- I use it for all my location recordings.

Best,
Allen
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, Allen. I have now downloaded and watched the tutorial, so I am pretty much up and running. I have a mixer set up that shows all my analog and ADAT inputs on both units - so theoretically I should (with some external pres via ADAT) be able to have 10 mikes coming in on the ULN-2 and 16 on the 2882. (18 if I use the digital in on the 2882)

I am using the AES out to connect the 2882 to the ULN-2. So far signal seems to be appearing where it needs to - but haven't fired up Logic yet.

I do have the new models with the 2d card so I have been playing around a bit with the plug-ins. I guess if I want to be able to bus anything across the 2 boxes I have to use up some of my physical inputs to do that?

I will play with it some more tonight - but I was curious about one thing you said in your post: Why do you like mixing on the MIO better than in Logic? Is it just certain plug-ins that you like or is there something else about the process?

I would be curious to find which plug-ins you like so I can explore with a bit of experience behind me. Also, are there any presets, or does one configure and save manually?

Cheers

Blair
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey Blair,
Glad you're getting things sorted. Yes, you have to physically connect the two boxes if you bus between them. This is only if you're monitoring in the MIO mixer. You could feed all your inputs into Logic and do your routing and mixing there, which would eliminate using the box to box connection but would add latency to your monitoring.

I mix in the MIO because I like to use Character, TransientController and MIOStrip a lot. For me it's mostly a workflow thing; many of our users prefer the sound of B.J.'s mixer over Logic's. This is very subjective, and we recommend people try it for themselves.

With 2d, you can do basic mixing and tracking. If you have +dsp, the sky's the limit. I've built patches to turn stereo mixes into L/C/R/Lfe, remaster recordings using M/S processing, and other projects. Some of our users are starting to play with synthesis in the box. It's pretty powerful stuff!

MIOStrip comes with over 100 presets; you can also save and load your own in all of our plug ins.

Best,
Allen
 
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