Metric Halo uln 8 + Cubase 6 on Mac

[swafford]

I don't see why the ULN8 wouldn't play nice with Cubase. Metric Halo drivers use core audio to transfer audio back and forth between the DAW and the MIO, so I'm not sure why it would care what DAW your using.

As long as Cubase takes AU plugs, you can use the MIO Console Connect plug to recall console settings.

Your best bet is always to contact Metric Halo or a dealer and address your concerns directly to them, though.

Can't comment on CUbase and the Mac O/S.

[macyu]

I haven't used cubase 6, but I've been rocking with cubase 5 and metric halo
2882. Although I now use PT9 as well for DAW.

First, you should be able to use Cubase on the Mac with the same elicenser dongle. I believe it is cross platform.

As for cubase on Mac, I haven't tried it on Windows but I hear that it's faster on Windows. As for me, I've been happy with the performance. Also, console connect plugin for metric halo can be used in VST as well, but I personally like managing the console files manually so I don't use it.

[fizzler]

Hi,
I'm working with an ULN-2 (which has the same drivers as the ULN-8) + Cubase 5,6,6.5 on a Mac Pro 2.66 Nehalem.
IMHO Metric Halo write the most stable drivers I've ever seen and they are ready from day one after every major OS update!
My Cubase setup is absolute stable on Mac since years (I just had a few troubles with Lion and Cubase after updating Cubase from 6 to 6.5, which are gone after a clean reinstall of both)
I also have a brand new Win7 i7 2600k setup, since I wanted to switch to PC for the lot better low latency performance. The improvement was huge, unbelievable what Windows can do at 64 samples latency buffer, but after 2 month I switched back, because Win7 killed my speedy workflow completely and I found out for myself that the OS choice is also very important to me.
To come back to your question.
Cubase & Metric Halo work together perfect on Mac, but there's no Direct Asio Monitoring on the Mac version of Cubase, for zero latency monitoring you have to use the Metric Halo Mixer.

good luck with your new setup!

[rubiulusfat]

Originally Posted by fizzler

Hi,
I'm working with an ULN-2 (which has the same drivers as the ULN-8) + Cubase 5,6,6.5 on a Mac Pro 2.66 Nehalem.
IMHO Metric Halo write the most stable drivers I've ever seen and they are ready from day one after every major OS update!
My Cubase setup is absolute stable on Mac since years (I just had a few troubles with Lion and Cubase after updating Cubase from 6 to 6.5, which are gone after a clean reinstall of both)
I also have a brand new Win7 i7 2600k setup, since I wanted to switch to PC for the lot better low latency performance. The improvement was huge, unbelievable what Windows can do at 64 samples latency buffer, but after 2 month I switched back, because Win7 killed my speedy workflow completely and I found out for myself that the OS choice is also very important to me.
To come back to your question.
Cubase & Metric Halo work together perfect on Mac, but there's no Direct Asio Monitoring on the Mac version of Cubase, for zero latency monitoring you have to use the Metric Halo Mixer.

good luck with your new setup!

Thanx a lot!!!!!

[rubiulusfat]

Originally Posted by macyu

I haven't used cubase 6, but I've been rocking with cubase 5 and metric halo
2882. Although I now use PT9 as well for DAW.

First, you should be able to use Cubase on the Mac with the same elicenser dongle. I believe it is cross platform.

As for cubase on Mac, I haven't tried it on Windows but I hear that it's faster on Windows. As for me, I've been happy with the performance. Also, console connect plugin for metric halo can be used in VST as well, but I personally like managing the console files manually so I don't use it.

I'll give a try and let everybody know about the results!
Many thanx!

[rubiulusfat]

Originally Posted by swafford

I don't see why the ULN8 wouldn't play nice with Cubase. Metric Halo drivers use core audio to transfer audio back and forth between the DAW and the MIO, so I'm not sure why it would care what DAW your using.

As long as Cubase takes AU plugs, you can use the MIO Console Connect plug to recall console settings.

Your best bet is always to contact Metric Halo or a dealer and address your concerns directly to them, though.

Can't comment on CUbase and the Mac O/S.

you can use the MIO Console Connect plug to recall console settings
a little explanation...???

Thnx for the reply.

[fizzler]

Originally Posted by rubiulusfat

you can use the MIO Console Connect plug to recall console settings
a little explanation...???

Thnx for the reply.

It's just a convenience feature...you put the MIO Console Connect plugin in any channel and it automatically stores all the MIO Console Settings/Routings with the Cubase project file. You don't have to save the MIO settings again in the MIO mixer.
I personally don't use this feature, since the basic setup just works fine for me.

[Roger Starr]

You say amazing what Cubase can do with 64 samples on Windows 7, what samples rate are you useing with Cubase on OSX?

Roger

[fizzler]

Originally Posted by Roger Starr

You say amazing what Cubase can do with 64 samples on Windows 7, what samples rate are you useing with Cubase on OSX?

Roger

To clarify, you can do tracking at 32 samples (no plugins) = no problem
...but most of the time I use Virtual Instruments only (not bounced or frozen) and max. 10 additional audio tracks -
f.e.: Kontakt 4 @ 32 samples is not possible on my Mac-Pro
only 7 (yes, seven!) instances K4 @ 64 samples without pops & crackles
...on my new i7 PC: >32 instances of K4 @ 64 samples (Asio-Meter shows spikes, but still no pops & crackles)

To answer your question: 256 samples seem to work best for me
I got used to play my Virtual Instruments at 256 samples buffer settings, to be able to finish the composing stage - in mixing stage I switch to 1024 samples

p.s.: I recently demoed Vienna Ensemble Pro, it's just awesome and works great! I could use cubase @64 samples from start to finish and run all Virtual Instruments on my i7 Slave-PC

[Roger Starr]

Originally Posted by fizzler

To clarify, you can do tracking at 32 samples (no plugins) = no problem
...but most of the time I use Virtual Instruments only (not bounced or frozen) and max. 10 additional audio tracks -
f.e.: Kontakt 4 @ 32 samples is not possible on my Mac-Pro
only 7 (yes, seven!) instances K4 @ 64 samples without pops & crackles
...on my new i7 PC: >32 instances of K4 @ 64 samples (Asio-Meter shows spikes, but still no pops & crackles)

To answer your question: 256 samples seem to work best for me
I got used to play my Virtual Instruments at 256 samples buffer settings, to be able to finish the composing stage - in mixing stage I switch to 1024 samples

p.s.: I recently demoed Vienna Ensemble Pro, it's just awesome and works great! I could use cubase @64 samples from start to finish and run all Virtual Instruments on my i7 Slave-PC

Well, it seems to me that there is no reason at all to use an Apple then, it is a huge difference!

Roger

[fizzler]

I guess no, if the criteria is best low latency performance (for Cubase) only. There are lots of threads about this topic.

I personally stay on Mac for many other reasons (great OS, drag & drop workflow, Final Cut Pro, Logic, ... and all my customers use Macs, since I do Post Production most of the time) - for me the benefits outweigh the worse low latency performance by far, but of course YMMV.

[zephonic]

My reasons to stick with OSX for now are:1) Expose, which is fantastic if you have many windows open and it greatly reduces the need for multiple displays. 2) CoreAudio, which is multi-client and supports simultaneous use of multiple audio devices. 3) Unified system preferences pane, if you change settings often, this is an absolute must-have. 4) I like being online while working. I keep my browser and mail app open and like to check for new music when I run out of creative juice. I find OSX better suited for multi-tasking. 5) Others may feel differently, but in my experience Windows has never been as robust and stable as OSX. My hands-on time with Win7 has been limited, though.

However, the alleged performance deficit is something I can't ignore. My '09 Macpro can't come close to the Windows low-latency performance as reported here and on Dawbench.com

If I eventually hit the bottleneck I may have to reconsider, but until then I'm happy to stay with OSX. I have enough power at a 128 sample buffer, which suffices, but I would like to be able to work at 64.

Originally Posted by fizzler

To answer your question: 256 samples seem to work best for me
I got used to play my Virtual Instruments at 256 samples buffer settings, to be able to finish the composing stage - in mixing stage I switch to 1024 samples

How heavy is your typical project? I thought MH's drivers were the best in the business. I can do most stuff at 128, only Spectrasonics gets finnicky with large (>1GB) sounds. But I rarely have more than 15 VI's open at once.

[swafford]

Originally Posted by rubiulusfat

you can use the MIO Console Connect plug to recall console settings
a little explanation...???

Thnx for the reply.

I used the MIO Console for mix and mastering set ups, for the MIO plugs that are stock and come with the +DSP license, as well as external routing to outboard gear. The Console Connect plugin saves the MIO Console file along with the particular Logic session I'm using so I don't have to open 2 files - the Logic and Metric Halo.

I know, unless your already familiar with the awesome power and routing of the Metric Halo software, your probably scratching your head and wondering wtf this has to do with you. I strongly recommend you download and take a look at the MH tutorial vids. The vid on Console Connect and Firewire routing is very informative and the one on the Monitor Controller really opened up my eyes and enabled me to standardize multiple listening sources and outputs.

Good luck!
Tutorials

[fizzler]

Originally Posted by zephonic

How heavy is your typical project? I thought MH's drivers were the best in the business. I can do most stuff at 128, only Spectrasonics gets finnicky with large (>1GB) sounds. But I rarely have more than 15 VI's open at once.

The drivers are great, but there are other reasons Cubase doesn't perform as good on OS X as it does on Windows 7 (please search for "dawbench") -

My projects are rather small too, 15-20 VIs, 10 audiotracks.

[heb-musik]

I realy like cubase and metric halo on MAC coming from former PC
i have a dual hex core 3ghz and i run about 50 tracks with more than 20 VIs and on all of them about 4-6 further plugines like EQs comp etc...
my cpu is still asleep easy task
my latency setting is also quiet low so i love it
thoough the FW returns for me i dont like it or i dont understand it correctly.

because i tried to route mic inton cubase put a compressor in cubase on it and route it back to mio and while on the mic i could defnatly notice that there is latency, so no sense for me to use this functions in this scenario.
maybe interesting though if u just route mio plugin used stuff back to cubase!?

Best

[cinealta]

Metric Halo Mac OSX firewire drivers bulletproof. Running Logic 9, ULN-8, LIO-8 & ULN-2 here. Flawless.