DM4800 FireWire MAC PRO aggregate device

[Longbarnbilly]

Hi all

I'm new here and 6 months into using the DM4800 after selling my Mackie D8B.

Is there a way to aggregate audio cards on a mac so I can use my 32 channels of FireWire I/O, but add a second audio interface to add more in and outs?

My set up is working perfectly with CUBASE 6.5 straight into the DM4800 but I was considering adding a Focusrite saffire pro to get another 8 or 16 channels of ADAT out from the MAC PRO.

Do you know if the DM FireWire card will work at the same time as another audio interface?

Kind regards
Billy

 

[Will Miho]

The Tascam driver for the firewire card does not play well with other audio devices. I have not found any other device it will work with as an aggregate device, and I think Redbuss the Tascam guy said it won't do it. But you could use two computers and two firewire cards, maybe sync them together.
I feel you, I wanted an easy solution for at least 48 tracks, but it's not the firewire card. My thought was Tascam could update the driver so it will do aggregate, or two firewire cards, or alternately maybe give you a choice of 48 streams in and 16 out, or vice versa. That would be within the 32 in and 32 out (64) streams limitation the card is at now, but I don't expect them to do any more work on drivers unless Operating System changes and owner outcry force them to,
You might look at something like a MOTU 2408 with a 434 pci card in your Mac. You can run like 3 interfaces per card with 24 channels of TDIF or ADAT per 2408 interface. Makes 64 tracks simple, especially with TDIF which is one cable for both in and out and tends be solid in the sync department. The older original and MkII 2408 interfaces are pretty cheap used, if you're just going digital the converters don't matter too much. And even an older MOTU card can be ugraded to whatever kind of PCI card slot you Mac has.

 

[Longbarnbilly]

Ok thanks for your help - i'll explore the MOTU route first but lets hope Tascam appreciate the possibilities with a more flexible driver.

 

[Kenny Dykstra]

Has anyone tried to run a Motu 424 system in addition to the The FireWire card as an aggregate driver in Yosemite? I really don't think it'll work but hey it can't hurt to ask! On that note I was suprised to be able to add the optical dig I/O on the back of the mac with the 424 as an aggregate to record the dig out of the DM-4800 using a coax to optical converter to print my mixes! Its solid and prints with no errors freeing up 8 tracks on the 2408... It's amazing what 15$ on Amazon can do!

 

[Gravity Jim]

RedBus didn't say that the FireWire driver "didn't play well" with other drivers, or that the IF-FW/DMmkII couldn't be used as an aggregate device. What he said was the driver would not address two cascaded DM consoles with FireWire cards. Here's the actual post:

"Neither the Mac and PC drivers for the IF-FW/DMmkII will not recognize 2 devices, so you can't aggregate to 64 channels. Other customers have expanded their track count by using a combination of IF-FW/DMmkii and MOTU interfaces.

RedBus."

Apparently you can successfully aggregate the Tascam FW card and a a MOTU interface for higher track counts.

YMMV, every system is different, don't buy an interface you can't return, blah blah blah.

 

[Gerk]

I think the bigger question is why you would want to aggregate multiple devices ... or at least to me it is. Most DAW applications are quite happy to let you use more than one device at the same time and in my past experience making OS level aggregate devices tend to cause more pain than it resolves.

 

[Gravity Jim]

Well, I wasn't going to say it... but I can't figure out why anybody ever needs more than 32 channels in the board at mix down. With hybrid mixing, I rarely need more than 24. What the hell would I do with 64, besides make a huge sonic mess?

 

[Tuviel]

Yeah, I have to agree with you Gravity Jim. Most of the big mixers I know tend to subgroup tracks ITB before sending them out so it's more manageable. If they had four kicks they'd all get grouped to one D/A output going to the desk. It's super easy with hybrid workflows to EQ each source ITB for precision then bring it up on the desk for tonal shaping and/or processing with outboard. It makes recalls much easier too. Just my .02.

 

[Gerk]

And I just re-read and realized my reply might have come off as a bit snarky, but the reality is that I'm honestly wondering why one would want to aggregate devices if it's not strictly needed, it wasn't meant as a shot.

 

[Kenny Dykstra]

Ok, I see you've responded and thank you for the input!! Although everyone thinks differently the reason I asked the question is that I have both the IF-FWmkii as well as a 424 system with 48 I/O.. I'm not buying anything.. So no worries there I mix OTB with outboard gear, so my point was to free up the 424 system via the FW card and use hardware I/O for hardware inserts using my outboard gear. However the largest mix I've ever come across was a total of 72Trks!!!! Although this was years back in the analog days at the Hit Factory in NYC but I didn't create that puzzle. R&B tends to use a ton of tracks due to all the background vocal tracks as the harmonies, 5ths ( depending on the key ) and octaves are double and triple tracked.... With a lot of stereo keyboards, strings, ect the track its self can easily creep upwards of 32-tracks! Especially on dance remixes! There was no such thing as subbing back then, also working with Major artists and making what I was , it wasn't by no means my place to deny tracks if they were needed!!!!

 

[JHTorch]

Actually I have had very good experiences with using the FW card as an aggregate device and other interfaces. I have used the FW card with the Lynx Aurora 8, the Eleven Rack and the Antelope Orion 32 without any issues. All are USB interfaces. So I don't know if the FW card only likes USB?