Using SPDIF input on MBox3

[Old School]

I've been recording since the early 1960s but mainly as a musician and singer. My first venture into computer-based music was a Turtle Beach sound card with an E-Mu Proteus 1 module on board, bundled with Cakewalk. I've since progressed to Pro Tools / MBox and my main sound source is a Proteus 2000 module. My question concerns the use of the SPDIF output on the Proteus module.

My dream solution would to wake up one morning and find the entire Proteus soundset is available as an RTAS plug-in, but I've read about the early schism between E-Mu and Digidesign so I'm assuming this isn't going to happen any time soon.

The way I like to work is to use multiple MIDI tracks utilizing the multi-timbral capability of the Proteus 2000. Especially important to me is the ability to edit MIDI 'on the fly'. This approach works fine using the Proteus as a sketchpad but it makes mixing extremely laborious. There are also timing issues while recording. (Delays).

I get a wonderful clean sound using the SPDIF output on the Proteus, but I can only record it as Audio in Pro Tools and my keyboard playing definitely isn't up to this.

Is there any way I can record the MIDI to Pro Tools while hearing the Audio coming out of the SPDIF out for monitoring purposes?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Old School]

Sorry. I should have said in the previous post that I currently use 'Internal' as the clock source. The moment I switch to SDPIF as the clock source, the recording of MIDI tracks while hearing the audio signal via SDPIF seems to be the problem.

[flommer]

Your audio connection from the Proteus to Mbox (spdif) should have no bearing on the MIDI side of things at all.

Are you setting up midi sync somehow?

How are you connected for MIDI?

the recording of MIDI tracks while hearing the audio signal via SDPIF seems to be the problem.

So what problem exactly?

[derFunkenstein]

Not sure if it works with Structure Free (my guess is yes), but DSF made the Proteus 2000 into a library compatible with Structure. I have it with the full version of Structure and it...well...it sounds like a Proteus.

http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/e...roducts_id/319

Not really what you want, I know, but thought I'd throw that out there.

[Old School]

Originally Posted by flommer

Your audio connection from the Proteus to Mbox (spdif) should have no bearing on the MIDI side of things at all.

Are you setting up midi sync somehow?

How are you connected for MIDI?


So what problem exactly?

Current setup, NOT using SPDIF:
MIDI input comes from my Axion 25 keyboard via USB. I record MIDI direct to a MIDI track which uses the (external) Proteus module (MBox MIDI out to Proteus MIDI in) to create the sound. This then comes back into the MBox thru the line inputs into an Audio track in Pro Tools, so I can hear what I'm playing.

The MBox cannot process a signal from the SPDIF out on the Proteus unless SPDIF is chosen as the clock source for the session. The setup I have described will only work with the clock source set to internal. Somewhere along the line, there seems to be a conflict between SPDIF, MIDI and clock source.

Your advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Old School]

Originally Posted by derFunkenstein

Not sure if it works with Structure Free (my guess is yes), but DSF made the Proteus 2000 into a library compatible with Structure. I have it with the full version of Structure and it...well...it sounds like a Proteus.

http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/e...roducts_id/319

Not really what you want, I know, but thought I'd throw that out there.

This might just work! I'll see if I can get any information re using this library with Structure Free. Thanks for the thought.

[Old School]

Forget the thread title. The discussion has moved to using Structure Free in Pro Tools LE 8 multitimbrally.

I downloaded some Proteus 2000 patches which I can now use in Pro Tools using Structure Free in an instrument track. Now I need to figure out how to use more than one instrument at once. Do I use multiple instrument tracks?

So far, I have managed to get Structure Free to work with Pro Tools and my Axiom keyboard but it only seems to work with the MIDI assignment on 'A1'. When I assign a different channel, I'm seeing an input signal on my Instrument channel MIDI monitor and I'm getting sound out from the Structure mini-keyboard but somehow the two are not connecting.

How can I tap the multitimbral capabilities of Structure Free?

[flommer]

Structure free is pretty limited, but you should be able to get 4 instances per session with 4 patches per instance.

Watch this video and the next one