SAW Sub group / Multi Main outs....?

[cgrafx]

If you don't mind spending a few $ then there's this, which I've found to be very useful:

https://www.samplemagic.com/details/184/magic-ab

very cool plugin, currently only $26. If I was doing more recording work I'd pick this up myself.

[Cary B. Cornett]

Some things are absolutely best done with hardware. Buy or build a monitor controller. Usually it will have an input select, level control, speaker select, and headphone amp.

Play your reference track using another program, not from SawStudio (foobar2000 is my current choice). Pick a pair of hardware ASIO output channels for the player, do NOT have this pair active in SAW, and thus you can play both and switch between on your monitor controller. You will find this is easier than controlling everything inside SAW, and you don't have the "subs into subs" problem.

[cgrafx]

Some things are absolutely best done with hardware. Buy or build a monitor controller. Usually it will have an input select, level control, speaker select, and headphone amp.

Play your reference track using another program, not from SawStudio (foobar2000 is my current choice). Pick a pair of hardware ASIO output channels for the player, do NOT have this pair active in SAW, and thus you can play both and switch between on your monitor controller. You will find this is easier than controlling everything inside SAW, and you don't have the "subs into subs" problem.

This is not true and actually much more work than necessary.

Both the Plug-in referenced or using SAC as the monitor console will do exactly what is being asked for and doesn't require doing any additional external routing (which can create additional problems when multiple programs are potentially trying to use the same drivers as well as control the clock rate).

I've personally run into the clock rate problem, which took a number of months to track down and messed up a number of recording sessions because the clock rate got changed under the covers.

[Cary B. Cornett]

This is not true and actually much more work than necessary.

Both the Plug-in referenced or using SAC as the monitor console will do exactly what is being asked for and doesn't require doing any additional external routing (which can create additional problems when multiple programs are potentially trying to use the same drivers as well as control the clock rate).

I've personally run into the clock rate problem, which took a number of months to track down and messed up a number of recording sessions because the clock rate got changed under the covers.

I have more than once used SawStudio for recording/mixing and another program for separate file playback in the same machine at the same time, dividing the same ASIO driver between the two applications, just making sure that the same channel pairs were not assigned to both programs at once. I also made sure that the both applications were using the same sample rate. I had no problems at all, and this was in live performance situations where glitches would have been very embarrassing.

I always control monitor headphone and speaker levels in the analog domain after the outputs. I have done this for years, and it serves me well.

If a different method works for you without problems, that's good too. I am just speaking from my own experience.

[cgrafx]

I have more than once used SawStudio for recording/mixing and another program for separate file playback in the same machine at the same time, dividing the same ASIO driver between the two applications, just making sure that the same channel pairs were not assigned to both programs at once. I also made sure that the both applications were using the same sample rate. I had no problems at all, and this was in live performance situations where glitches would have been very embarrassing.

I always control monitor headphone and speaker levels in the analog domain after the outputs. I have done this for years, and it serves me well.

If a different method works for you without problems, that's good too. I am just speaking from my own experience.

I'm wasn't implying that a separate external method was not a workable and functional method, only that it is not better or worse than other solutions.

[Dave Labrecque]

I'm surprised to hear of multi-client capability with ASIO drivers. Is this relatively common these days? That would be very cool. I don't know that I ever had my Digiface capable of sharing ins or outs with SAW plus another program at the same time. Or maybe I'm thinking of having the two programs use the same outputs at different times (e.g., both SAW and Sound Forge open and using outputs 1 and 2, but only playing back from one program or another at any given time.

What's the skinny? Can someone catch me up/remind me?

Perhaps it's only a problem when one of the programs stays "live" even when not playing back? Maybe it's SAW and Melodyne Editor that I'm thinking of. Does anyone but SAW actually toggle the audio engine on and off as needed?

[Cary B. Cornett]

I'm surprised to hear of multi-client capability with ASIO drivers.

I have heard of people using the same ASIO driver channels to feed SAC inputs and record with Reaper at the same time. Haven't tried anything like that myself.

Is this relatively common these days? That would be very cool. I don't know that I ever had my Digiface capable of sharing ins or outs with SAW plus another program at the same time. Or maybe I'm thinking of having the two programs use the same outputs at different times (e.g., both SAW and Sound Forge open and using outputs 1 and 2, but only playing back from one program or another at any given time.

Not how it works. As I understand it, ASIO drivers handle device channels in pairs, each pair being treated as if it was its own device. For example, in a live concert/show mix situation where I need to run playbacks, I could have device output 1-6 feeding amplifiers from SAC, and have device outputs 7-8 fed from a player like foobar2000. I have done stuff like this.

I think ASIO inputs might be able to be multi-client, but probably outputs could not do this.

[Dave Labrecque]

I have heard of people using the same ASIO driver channels to feed SAC inputs and record with Reaper at the same time. Haven't tried anything like that myself.
Not how it works. As I understand it, ASIO drivers handle device channels in pairs, each pair being treated as if it was its own device. For example, in a live concert/show mix situation where I need to run playbacks, I could have device output 1-6 feeding amplifiers from SAC, and have device outputs 7-8 fed from a player like foobar2000. I have done stuff like this.

I think ASIO inputs might be able to be multi-client, but probably outputs could not do this.

Interesting. Thanks for the clarification, Cary. That would explain my issue trying to share outputs between SAW and Sound Forge or Melodyne (alternating playback between programs). Perhaps the live engine thing isn't even relevant.

[UpTilDawn]

Interesting. Thanks for the clarification, Cary. That would explain my issue trying to share outputs between SAW and Sound Forge or Melodyne (alternating playback between programs). Perhaps the live engine thing isn't even relevant.

Yeah, I miss being able to easily have two different applications ready to play just by switching focus.
Izotope RX is giving me fits as a stand alone app... especially RX 5 for some reason. The RME cards keep getting messed up and I can't easily get back to SAW like I once could. I've seen them report all sorts of whacko sample rates, regardless of which rate the file and/or app is set to at the moment. I pretty much have to reboot sometimes.

[Angie]

Yeah, I miss being able to easily have two different applications ready to play just by switching focus.
Izotope RX is giving me fits as a stand alone app... especially RX 5 for some reason. The RME cards keep getting messed up and I can't easily get back to SAW like I once could. I've seen them report all sorts of whacko sample rates, regardless of which rate the file and/or app is set to at the moment. I pretty much have to reboot sometimes.

Isn't there a setting in RX that disengages the sound driver when playback stops?

I actually still use WMD drivers (MOTU 424-PCIe)in SAWstudio so that I can easily go back and forth. Only use the ASIO drivers in SAC where low latency is important.