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Old 06-05-2020, 11:03 PM
Culturedslob Culturedslob is offline
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Default Can’t hear recorded tracks via headphones

Hello everyone, I just recently decided to start playing music and recording again after a decade hiatus. I believe you can see my equipment on my profile but to make sure, I’m running protools 10 with a 2008 MacBook recently wiped clean and OS 10.7 installed. Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 interface.

Firstly, I’m confused on if I need to or should run the saffires MixControl software with PT. My buddy says I don’t have to, but it controls wether my first two inputs on the saffire are “Line” or “instrument” and has a routing presets area where right now, after tinkering over and over reads, “monitor output 1 > daw1, monitor output 2 > daw2” and an area below that with a headphone icon between and pointing to “line output 3 > daw1, line output 4 > daw 2” I can turn all of these off or select analog ins 1-4, spdif 1-2, daw 1-12, or mixes 1-6. I apologize I realize this isn’t a Focusrite forum, not trying to get carried away. But I’m confused on how much and to what extent I need to use this software.

Protools.
Specifically I’ve recorded 4 tracks of a drum machine. A friend showed me that I need a master fader track, also made a reverb track which has “D-verb” selected in insert A. I have a basic understanding of why and how to use these, as well as how to use the mouse to drag and select tracks etc... I messed around with fruityloops in high school.
I’m totally lost as to what configuration I need among the inserts, sends, and I/O to get a headphone sound. I CAN hear my Drumbrute played live into the saffire itself through its headphone out. I can hear and see armed tracks being recorded live in PT, but I can’t get sound for playback after recording. When I play back my four drum tracks I can see all their meters bouncing with signal, but no sound.

So with each track, the master and each drum, I can select, “no output, output: out 1-2 (stereo) > mon 1-2, line 3-4 (stereo) > line 3-4, spidf, DAW/etc.. and then Bus (which right now for instance is selected to “headphones” ) .. not sure how redundant this is but I’m trying to be specific.

I feel like I’ve tried everything I can think of, making sure faders are all up, testing pairs of headphones, exploring the menu inside protools itself. Not getting any luck. I should mention I DO NOT currently have regular monitors, only a pair of Sony MDR headphones which I intend to use to monitor with solely till I get something appropriate.

I went to “playback engine” under “setup”, it’s selected as “saffire” at the very top. 512 samples, 2 processors, cpu useage limit %85, minimize additional i/0 latency is clicked on.

I apologize if my description isn’t very helpful. I’m very frustrated because all i want to do is make some music and this small but apparently complex issue is the only thing holding me up. I will promptly provide whatever information might be needed that I left out if anyone can help and give me some guidance. Thank you!
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Old 06-06-2020, 09:57 AM
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Ben Jenssen Ben Jenssen is offline
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Default Re: Can’t hear recorded tracks via headphones

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I don't have time for a detailed reply right now, but I think I can at least point you in the right direction:

I agree with your friend, I'm pretty shure you don't need to use the control software, because the Saffire is so-called "core audio compliant" and don't need a driver, it just works. And it may be best not to install it on your old system. I would uninstall it.

There is a control on the Saffire called "Mix" or similar, it controls the level of PT main output and the direct signal coming in thru saffire inputs. I think you have it set to the latter. Try turning it all the way to the left.
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Old 06-06-2020, 11:48 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Can’t hear recorded tracks via headphones

Just to be clear.. what exact model Sony headphones? Plugged into what exact connection port?

Start with a new empty session with one stereo audio track, drag and drop a known good mp3 song or similar onto that track. Get that playing back correctly first. (You don’t need to create a master fader for this test, and you never need a master fader to get audio out of anything... the master faders effectively always exist even if you cannot see them.). Were you recording a physical external drum machine? Or you used a software plugin/virtual instrument? Especially if the earlier, you very likely have a simple signal path routing problem, and may only be hearing stuff while recording because of hardware monitoring in the interface or something else setup wrong with signal paths. You already sound a little overwhelmed with audio signal routing, faders and plugins etc. So get rid of everything and start with one stereo audio track, starting from a new totally empty session.

The other question is can you just play back stuff from iTunes... is so the Focusrite and it’s internal monitoring mixer is fine and all your problems are in Pro Tools.

You should work out how to use the Focusrite software... make sure you have the right version of MixControl or Control for your interface and OS Version, it unlocks nice capabilities in your interface. As with Pro Tools there are great video tutorials on YouTube about how to use this, but at some time you likely have to open the manual and skim through it. I personally would have that installed while getting started, just leave it set to defaults.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 06-06-2020 at 11:58 AM.
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Old 06-06-2020, 11:55 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Can’t hear recorded tracks via headphones

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen View Post
There is a control on the Saffire called "Mix" or similar, it controls the level of PT main output and the direct signal coming in thru saffire inputs. I think you have it set to the latter. Try turning it all the way to the left.
There is no physical mix control knob on a Sapphire Pro 14, the hardware monitoring is controlled by the appropriate software. Folks using these really need to work out how to use that software.
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