Using 2 USB I/O's with PT 12 ??
 

I-Mac OSX 10.12.6
Protools: 12.7.0

Wanting to use the Behringer X32 as the Protools inputs device to record up to 32 channels of audio, and at the same time, use a Soundcraft Signature 22 MKT as the USB output device to send up to 22 channels of Protools audio into the 22 MKT for analog mix. Is this possible? If so, please, please, please explain (in a detailed step-by-step manner) how to set this up.

We’re using the X32 as the primary FOH mixer and wanting to use the 22 MKT as a live overflow mixer in another room. X32→Protools→22MKT.

Thanks for your support.

Re: Using 2 USB I/O's with PT 12 ??
 

You can try using aggregate IO on the Mac. It's a standard part of CoreAudio. Setup in "Audio MIDI Setup.app" . But it's unlikely to work reliably, especially not at that number of IO.

Can you even run USB the distance needed? How reliably? Much beyond 20' for USB2 gets dicey.

How well aggregation works depends on the quality of the device drivers implemented by the vendors, some seem to work on getting that to work well (e.g. Motu and Apogee Digital) and many don't seem to care. It likely works better then the interfaces are clocked together... can these boards be clocked together (I doubt it). And other vendors (e.g. UAD) support combining interfaces on say a Thunderbolt bus (e.g. UAD), that's not using CoreAudio aggregation and works better.

The general advice is probably don't use aggregate IO for anything serious.

As for detailed instructions for two random devices? Uh you are not going to get that here, good odds nobody in the world has tried aggregating those devices. If you want to be brave and experiment you need to play with this yourself and learn, there are lots of tutorials/instructions on the web how to use aggregation that you can find. Personally I would not waste time.

And up another level to how to do stuff. Why is Pro Tools in this picture at all? Are you using it to track a live performance? Sure you can do that, or you can skin the cat many other ways, including a rack mount digital recorder, etc. Is this a live performance or replaying from Pro Tools is part of it? Can you just split (or pull aux outs from the primary board) and run the analog signals to both boards? Look at range extenders if necessary, e.g. Dante interfaces/converters.

Re: Using 2 USB I/O's with PT 12 ??
 

The problem(potentially) with Aggregate is, Pro Tools imposes a 32 IO limit(both in and out) so if it "sees" the X32 as the 32 IO, it may just ignore the other hardware completely. If this were me, I would probably simply create the mix in Pro Tools and send that(mono or stereo) to the overflow room.

Re: Using 2 USB I/O's with PT 12 ??
 

The real problem with 32 i/o limit is you cannot choose the i/o you want to use -- FIRST 32 is selected automatically.

Re: Using 2 USB I/O's with PT 12 ??
 

Another option for if you need to do a full mix in the second room. Lose the Soundcraft and get another X32(could be X32 rack, Compact or Producer) and set them to share the same inputs(ethernet between the 2 consoles).:o