Pro Tools MBOX2 & Ableton Live 5.0

solutionsagent · Post by **solutionsagent** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:44 am

Has anyone heard of this as a successful combination? I was thinking of getting the MBOX2 but I once heard that Digidesign (Pro Tools) Hardware is proprietary, in the sense that their hardware and software only work with each other.

Does that mean that ABLETON cannot be the only program running? Ableton has to run inside of the Pro Tools software?

Thanks for your patience...

Sarah

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 3:42 pm

Um, i'm pretty sure you can use the Mbox2 like any other soundcard. What you heard was that Protools can only run with digidesign hardware, which is true. You can only open up PT LE 7 with a digi 002, or an mbox2. But, that doesn't mean you can't open up Ableton on it's own with an Mbox2. I'm using ableton with my digi002, and it works perfectly. Also works with any other software I connect it to using the Asio drivers. That's what they're there for. Cheers.

Jim S. · Post by **Jim S.** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:19 pm

If you Rewire, can you run ProTools on the same machine as Live, using a non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, like RME's Multiface?

And if that's a "no," can you launch ProTools with a ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, but then Rewire ProTools through Live and use only your non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard for all you audio ins and outs?

I ask, because I've been a longtime ProTools HD guy on a Mac, but I'd like to use ProTools on my PC laptop with my low-latency RME Multiface.

Thanks,

Jim S.

smart1123 · Post by **smart1123** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:27 pm

Jim S. wrote:If you Rewire, can you run ProTools on the same machine as Live, using a non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, like RME's Multiface?

And if that's a "no," can you launch ProTools with a ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, but then Rewire ProTools through Live and use only your non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard for all you audio ins and outs?

I ask, because I've been a longtime ProTools HD guy on a Mac, but I'd like to use ProTools on my PC laptop with my low-latency RME Multiface.

Thanks,

Jim S.

In Short... No

Protools must always be rewire master, and will not let you use the RME interface, you may be able to do something like launch live using the multiface, launch PT on your PT card and sync the up over IAC then route audio digital from PT to live, but you might not be able to do it depends on your system.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:30 pm

If you Rewire, can you run ProTools on the same machine as Live, using a non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, like RME's Multiface?

First off, no... Rewire doesn't work like that. Rewire is Propellerheads technology, and Protools only implements it to bring in other software into Protools audio channels (Such as Reason, Live, FL Studio.. any other software than can implement Rewire client). Rewire has no basis in hardware, and doesn't care to or need to know what hardware your running. It doesn't work the way you're thinking, at all.

And if that's a "no," can you launch ProTools with a ProTools-sanctioned soundcard, but then Rewire ProTools through Live and use only your non-ProTools-sanctioned soundcard for all you audio ins and outs?

Second, that's a double NO. You can't bring protools into any software through rewire, because Protools isn't a Rewire client, only a host. Which means, you will only ever be able to bring rewire clients into Protools, not PT into other Rewire Hosts. That's it.

I'd like to use ProTools on my PC laptop with my low-latency RME Multiface

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you'll never ever be able to use Protools with anything but PT hardware, or the M-Audio interface, Ozonic (and then, only the M-powered version). Cheers.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:32 pm

launch PT on your PT card and sync the up over IAC then route audio digital from PT to live

Sorry, homeboy's not using a Mac, so IAC is out, but Yoke's in.

Cheers.

Jim S. · Post by **Jim S.** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:38 pm

stinky wrote:
launch PT on your PT card and sync the up over IAC then route audio digital from PT to live
Sorry, homeboy's not using a Mac, so IAC is out, but Yoke's in.

Cheers.

Thanks for the info - is this Yoke a solution?

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:01 pm

is this Yoke a solution? A solution for what? Maybe I misunderstood your question. You cannot run protools with hardware other than digidesign's. You can however open up protools with digidesign hardware, and yes, you can run Live sideby side with another piece of hardware, but not through Rewire. And you would have to disable rewire slave using an options.txt file.

Look, to be clear, i think you're making it harder than it has to be. But, I'll go through the procedure so you understand. You would be using Yoke (on a PC) or IAC (on a Mac) for MTC timecode sync between two seperate applications, using seperate hardware. If you want to use rewire, you can use the same hardware. I rewire Live in to protools all the time, but you don't need seperate hardware for that. If you want seperate hardware, then you'll have to use the options.txt file to disable Rewire slave within Live. Use protools, with digidesign, use Live with another peice of hardware, RME Multiface, if you like. At that point, you would have to sync MTC, so you don't drift, and physically connect Output of RME to Input of Digidesign. It'll work, but on the same machine, you better have a powerful machine, or it's going to be slow, and you may get dropouts. That configuration would be better with seperate computers, and you'd have to route Yoke over a lan configuration, or connect the hardware's midi ports for MTC.

Jim S. · Post by **Jim S.** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:41 pm

stinky wrote:is this Yoke a solution? A solution for what? Maybe I misunderstood your question. You cannot run protools with hardware other than digidesign's. You can however open up protools with digidesign hardware, and yes, you can run Live sideby side with another piece of hardware, but not through Rewire. And you would have to disable rewire slave using an options.txt file.

Look, to be clear, i think you're making it harder than it has to be. But, I'll go through the procedure so you understand. You would be using Yoke (on a PC) or IAC (on a Mac) for MTC timecode sync between two seperate applications, using seperate hardware. If you want to use rewire, you can use the same hardware. I rewire Live in to protools all the time, but you don't need seperate hardware for that. If you want seperate hardware, then you'll have to use the options.txt file to disable Rewire slave within Live. Use protools, with digidesign, use Live with another peice of hardware, RME Multiface, if you like. At that point, you would have to sync MTC, so you don't drift, and physically connect Output of RME to Input of Digidesign. It'll work, but on the same machine, you better have a powerful machine, or it's going to be slow, and you may get dropouts. That configuration would be better with seperate computers, and you'd have to route Yoke over a lan configuration, or connect the hardware's midi ports for MTC.

I appreciate it - thanks. Guess I'm going to stick with what I have, which is your very last thought: ProTools HD on MAC sync'd via MIDI with Live/RME on PC.