need some help setting up and using external hardware unit as an effect plugin.

[GuyBorlander]

Hi! I'm trying to set up my SPL transient designer hardware unit to use as an effect in Logic... it has two line in and line out plugs on the back

my audio interface is presonus 1810c and has plenty of line in and line out plugs.

I also have plenty of XLR cables.

the desired end result:

1. I want to be able to have a stereo audio file on loop and in real time as its playing back turn the knobs on the transient designer and listen to the processed signal only with the original audio file muted... basically turning this external unit into a plugin. I can then hopefully print a new processed audio file with the desired effect.
2. I also want to be listening back on my headphones - when I change output device to headphones rather than my audio interface - this stops me from setting up the I/O plugin correctly... I've tried so many times to get this right and I just can't (I need to be able to pull this off for my next project, I need quick easy access to this unit and use it like a plugin)

please help! if someone can solve this for me you'll be an absolute legend! all I've achieved so far is nasty feedback noises and frustration.

kind regards,

Joe

[des99]

Presumably, your headphones are connected to your audio interface, so I'm not sure why you have to switch audio interfaces to listen on headphones?

If your headphones are on a different audio interface (for some reason?), you might want to combine those interfaces with an Aggregate Device, so all your I/O is always available without any switching required.

All you need to do is add the I/O plugin onto your track, set the Outputs to the outputs on your interface your patching to the SPL, and then patch the SPL outputs back to another pair of inputs on your interface, and set the inputs on the I/O plugin to those where the SPL is coming back in on.

If you're having routing issues, you may have set up other internal routings for those inputs and outputs inside the audio interface, so check with it's control panel software that those inputs you're using for the effects return are not being routed anywhere else additionally...

[GuyBorlander]

headphones are plugged into back of my Mac mini,

I'm having a hard time understanding what you've written. I'm new to all of this - I have only used plugins since I started

I don't know how to do a physical set up like this

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by GuyBorlander

[des99]

27 minutes ago, GuyBorlander said:

headphones are plugged into back of my Mac mini,

I'd recommend you plug them into your audio interface, to keep things simple then.

27 minutes ago, GuyBorlander said:

I don't know how to do a physical set up like this

No problem. Currently, you'll have a pair of outputs from your audio interface going to your monitors presumably, eg Outputs 1&2. Pick another pair of outputs, for example say Outputs 3&4, and plug those to the inputs of your SPL. Plug the outputs of your SPL back into a spare couple of inputs on the interface, for example say, inputs 3&4.

No you have a stereo pair of outputs that go to the SPL, and the stereo signal coming back from it to inputs 3&4 on the interface.

Now, put the I/O plugin on your track, and in the plugin, set it's outputs to 3&4, and it's input to 3&4.

Now that that track in Logic goes out of the channel via the I/O plugin, out of your interface ouputs 3&4, through the SPL hardware, back into interface inputs 3&4, and then back into the channel - so the audio you hear is running through the hardware box. (This is what's called a hardware insert.)

You can tweak the hardware controls as necessary, and you can hear the result as normal in Logic.

[GuyBorlander]

thank you so much des you have really helped me - will I be hearing the processed version of the audio file and definetly not the original doubling over the top? I'm going to set this up later and I'm sure it will work.

also I don't have a headphone jack to xlr adapter so I will get one - I've never plugged In my headphones to the interface.. will this change the signal from studio monitors to headphones simply by plugging it in? (and yes my outputs one and two on interface are plugged into my monitors)

and will I have to play with the gain on line input 3&4?

[des99]

15 minutes ago, GuyBorlander said:

will I be hearing the processed version of the audio file and definetly not the original doubling over the top?

You will be hearing the audio that's coming back from the hardware only - that's what "insert" means, you're effectively inserting the hardware into the signal path of a track, just as if it was a plugin. You're only hearing the fully processed signal (as long as you haven't setup some alternate routing inside the interface, as already mentioned).

15 minutes ago, GuyBorlander said:

will this change the signal from studio monitors to headphones simply by plugging it in?

No, they will be independent.

15 minutes ago, GuyBorlander said:

and will I have to play with the gain on line input 3&4?

The usual gain staging rules for any analog input applies, so yes, adjust to get a healthy signal level, without getting near clipping.

Give it a try, and if you're not sure of anything, post back and we'll walk you through it as best we can...

[GuyBorlander]

SOLUTION

The 1810c has routing options within the mixer software, which allows the user to set up custom mixes for each pair of physical stereo outputs on the interface. These custom mixes can be created by highlighting the Main, Mix 3/4 or Mix 5/6 buttons and adjusting the faders and mixer settings. I could see that in my setup, i was currently sending both the Stereo 1-2 and Stereo 3-4 outputs of Logic to the 1810c Main out. In order to get the setup working properly, i would need to set different mixes for Main and Mix 3/4 on the software mixer.

I downloaded the 1810c manual from the Presonus website and skimmed through the relevant info on routing. I then set up the software mixer as shown in the pic attached.

 

For the Mix 3/4 setup, I reversed the mutes on the first two DAW (Logic) channels. DAW1 was muted and DAW 3 was unmuted. (The setup of Mix 5/6 wasn’t relevant at this point.)

This meant that the Presonus physical outputs were now matching the outputs selected in Logic. 

I could see that the Presonus mixer settings were also responsible for the feedback I was experiencing. All the input channels were turned on with raised faders on each of the mixes. This meant that the output of the SPL would be feeding back into itself. Muting all the mixer inputs stopped this problem and Logic could be used to control input monitoring.