New Pro Tools First User

[[email protected]]

I am a beginner user of Pro Tools first and recording. I bought myself new hardware in including a Scarlett interface and microphone. Included in my Scarlett was a copu of PC Tools First.

I set up the DAW software on my Windows 10 console. The interface and DAW work fine when the interface is plugged into my console computer.

However my intended use is to run the DAW remotely from the music area of my house, using my Ipad mini 4 and the PTI control software. I am using the Apple camera control to connect to the Audio interface. Running PCI control from the IPAD I can see the Pro Tools on my main computer so IU am guessing that Eucom is properly set up.

The problem is if I try to set up a new Project I am unable to see the audio engine. Documentation says my setup is compatible but is doesn't say anything about any special preparation for using the Ipad as a remote. Am I doing something wrong?

[cwsand]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Am I doing something wrong?

Probably. What are you trying to do using Pro Tools remotely?

Help Us Help You

[Darryl Ramm]

No, no, no. You are wasting your time. Pro Tools First, Pro Tools and other DAWs do not support doing what you are trying. If you want to connect an interface to the iPad you need to use a DAW on the iPad, like Garageband. Or you need the interface connected to the PC and audio cables run to it... that is likely not practical.

There are options for "remote" interfaces, especially using long distance connections like Dante or MADI, aimed at professional users. None of which you probably would be interested in because of cost.

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[[email protected]]

Thanks for the response, cwsand.

Yes documentation suggest that I can use PCI Tools on my IPAD using the eucon protocols. I can see the DAW on the IPad and can even do primitive functions like shutting Pro Tools down. However I cannot set up a session because PCI Tools does not see the audio interface. It is impractical for me to have my workstation and instruments in the same room and I wanted to avoid buying a dedicated laptop for just this purpose. Garageband works fine but I wanted to use first-class DAW with my new 6I6 interface. I thought this was possible but docs are vague.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Thanks for the response, cwsand.

Yes documentation suggest that I can use PCI Tools on my IPAD using the eucon protocols. I can see the DAW on the IPad and can even do primitive functions like shutting Pro Tools down. However I cannot set up a session because PCI Tools does not see the audio interface. It is impractical for me to have my workstation and instruments in the same room and I wanted to avoid buying a dedicated laptop for just this purpose. Garageband works fine but I wanted to use first-class DAW with my new 6I6 interface. I thought this was possible but docs are vague.

What you want to do and reality are not in agreement are they. I'm first lost why you think it is possible, then you are surprised when it does not work, then apparently don't want to listen when told it can't possibly work. And I doubt any docs are "vague" (if so I'd love to see a link that implies what you think), you have a very usual idea how stuff might work and that doc not does dissuade you of that unusual idea...do you want to keep believing that unusual idea? EUCON comes out of a fairly professional user base, where folks would not think this would work, and no documentation writer for EUCON control software likely thinks they need to spend space documenting this won't work.

The DAW can't see the remote audio interface because there is no way for it to. No way for the sound pixies to get from one place to the other in any way that a DAW expects. No DAW control protocol, HUI, MCU, EUCON or whatever, transports actual audio to a remote DAW. They provide remote control of the DAW and that is all.

Sorry to be blunt, but if you want to make progress here you have to realize you have a complete misunderstanding of what is possible.

If you need to track with the iPad then Garage Band is the answer, and won't cost you more. You can take that audio into any other DAW you want later on. If you want a remote interface then you can look at Dante interfaces, but you'll be spending several $k and requires fixed Ethernet and maybe a dedicated Dante card in your PC.

[[email protected]]

Darryl, first of all I want to mention that my reply was to cwsand, who answered me prior to your response, so your comment that I "apparently don't want to listen when told it can't possibly work" was a out of context and a bid harsh. I hadn't read your response yet. (One of the side "benefits" of reading on the small screen of a smartphone)

I have never seen recording equipment up close or even known anyone who uses this stuff. I am a recently retired IT pro who wanted to get back into playing music fast after a hiatus of 45 years. My piano coach told me I should record my practice sessions and I didn't have a junky recording device so I thought I would dip into it whole hog. My daughter is a singer so I bought stuff I could grow into.

Advertising info available on the web was all I had to go on. Like any technical field, including the ones I had worked with in my own career, audio recording has its own jargon, designed to sell equipment more than to elucidate its purpose. I wanted to get my studio project off the ground quickly. The audio guy in the mainstream (deliberately omitting the name) music store, said that what I was buying should work. When unboxing everything I had the immediate question how will the DAW see the audio drivers. I didn't even care about the output, which after all might be saved on the IPad and transferred later. Of course the inability of the PTI control to access the drivers made it impossible to even start a session. One problem is that Apple, Avid and Focusrite all have just a sentence or two about IOS interoperability with the other products. There are no flow diagrams or even explanation on what "compliant" means. Here is one of the better documents:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-...ace-to-an-iPad

I still think the documentation is inadequate. There is always space to write legalese and really obvious thing like how to load software, plug in a USB cable or turn on a switch. They just leave out the middle part on what the gizmo is suppose to after hooking things up.

Thank you for clearing up things. Looks like I will have to settle for Garage Band, until I figure out how I can fit a laptop in my piano space and justify spending a few hundred bucks for a one-purpose computer.

[Darryl Ramm]

Sorry but I don't agree that doc is confusing. I think most people will understand that an audio interface is the thing that interfaces audio devices like microphones and monitors etc and the computer (or iPad) you plug it into. You are maybe just making a huge leap based on your IT background.

The documentation for a product probably should not be the place to get the most basic concepts of DAWs and digital audio explained. By the time you read that it is likely too late. To me the more disappointing thing is your retailer did not help you out. If you go shopping for stuff at a store the folks there should be judging your experience, what you are trying to do and budget, and able to help you out (which might include saying you can't do what you want). The problem is many local music store staff are lost when it comes to DAWs and computer audio, typical Guitar Center stores especially. In future you should probably try www.sweetwater.com and talking with a sales rep there who can help you. There are other dealers as well I would go to, but they tend to focus on high-end pro studio customers. Sweetwater is broad music stuff, but have in-house folks who know recording and DAWs.

Garageband is a interesting and capable DAW and for what you want to do may well be much better than Pro Tools | First or Pro Tools.... except you don't have a way of continuing to work on sessions on a PC. If you had a Mac you could work on the Garage Band sessions there, or import them whole into Logic Pro sessions, but with a PC running any DAW you need to export out the audio from Garage Band and import into the other DAW.

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[Wizzoboy]

Gene, Eucon enables you to use your Ipad as a remote control for PT using the PT Control app. It does not enable recording onto your Ipad. You are right, Eucon is compatable with Pro Tools First.

[[email protected]]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Looks like I had some misconceptions on the capabilities of the gear I bought. I am going make do in the meantime and use Garage Band for my recording temporarily until I am ready to change my workspace to accommodate a new laptop or workstation. It's a bummer since I really wanted to use at least one of the starter DAWs (Pro Tools First or Ableton Live 9 Lite) that were included with my audio interface.

As Darryl pointed out, I still should be able to export the audio tracks and bring them into Pro Tools, though that might be overkill for my immediate goals.