The Aux I/O device has disappeared from the system and will be disabled

[chrisVVS]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Yep, I think the lower the buffer setting in pro tools, the higher the success rate with connecting to outside services such as SC Now. Like I said, a higher playback buffer in Pro Tools to an external lower buffer is prone to glitches and dropouts.

Thanks for your help with this, it's been battering me for a long time now.

[The Weed]

Chris, remember that Source-Connect Now is not Source-Connect Standard, it's going through a browser, just like apps like Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Source-Connect Standard is peer-to-peer. See if you and any VO you are working with can set up www.sonobus.net. Similar to and in many ways better than Source-Connect and certainly superior to a browser app and peer-to-peer. I've sent 24/48 PCM to the remote studio with little to no latency and a buffer of 64 at my end. Happy to discuss offboard and do a test if you like. The routing is the same as it is for Source-Connect Standard, either standalone or with the supplied plugin. And the best part? SonoBus is free.

[mattrixx]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Chris, remember that Source-Connect Now is not Source-Connect Standard, it's going through a browser, just like apps like Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Source-Connect Standard is peer-to-peer. See if you and any VO you are working with can set up www.sonobus.net. Similar to and in many ways better than Source-Connect and certainly superior to a browser app and peer-to-peer. I've sent 24/48 PCM to the remote studio with little to no latency and a buffer of 64 at my end. Happy to discuss offboard and do a test if you like. The routing is the same as it is for Source-Connect Standard, either standalone or with the supplied plugin. And the best part? SonoBus is free.

Also, another low latency option I've used with some broadcasters is Cleanfeed.net (as a single peer to peer, it is also free).

[chrisVVS]

Thanks again everyone.
I worked in a VO studio for 8 years, originally recording people in the booth and ISDN only, but the pandemic started and every actor went out and bought a Rode NT1, a Focusrite Solo, a duvet, signed up for Source Connect Now and declared themself a VO. It's been utterly miserable - I've set up my own studio and got my end sorted, properly, but the VO at the other end is trying to work out how to get his £40 mic working in SC Now on a Windows laptop with a revving fan, telling me that everything worked properly yesterday while the clients are listening to their hour disappearing minute by minute.
The total lack of understanding that the VOs had of their gear left me without a constant to check my own with - there were so many variables it's been difficult to work out problems, but this thread has helped me hugely.
I've tried Cleanfeed, iPdtl, Bodalgo, Audiomovers, Source Connect Now, SessionLinkPro... all the Google Chrome ones function identically, as far as I know, all just a different front end for the open-source Opus codec that Google put into their browser so Hangouts would sound good. I've had days, though, when SC Now is MUCH better than SC Standard or Pro (I've got Pro). Sonobus looks fantastic, but the idea of talking a 65 year old VO through it is my worst nightmare :)
I used to be a Pro Tools 310M expert teacher in a Pro School for AVID, and moved into this when everyone started making music at home and the studios closed down, so I'm still finding holes in my understanding of what I'm doing now, but I'm glad I've worked the buffering out to some degree - thanks again all.

[chrisVVS]

Further to that last one - here are some things I've learnt and been told by the SC people that might be useful for anyone who searches for this thread.

SC Standard/Pro and SC Now exist for different purposes, from what I've been told and understood, and the clue is how they deal with network congestion:

-SC Standard/Pro recognises that you want perfect audio, and it gives you this at the expense of a short delay. Great for VO, crap for radio interviews.
-SC Now (and all the other Google Chrome ones) recognise that you want a conversation without a delay, and gives you this at the expense of the audio being degraded if there's a network problem. Great for radio interviews, crap for VO.

Add to that the fact that SC Standard/Pro has underlying TC, whereas SC Now doesn't.

This is entirely ignored, as far as I can tell. Every agency advises their VOs to use SC Now/Cleanfeed etc or SC Standard/Pro as if they're the same thing. SC Now and all of the Opus ones have largely been awful for consistent, high quality audio.

I've done jobs with VOs on SC Now and clients watching my screen on Zoom, where we're doing dozens of takes, dropping into prior takes, and comping takes together with audio from other sessions. The VO is recording at their end but this is no safety net - it would take a day to match the heavily edited delivery I have to there two hour long WAV. (I've done that, incidentally, twice. Not doing it again.)

The bigger issue is when you send the ad for review to Clearcast or someone, it comes back with the box ticked to say the audio isn't right - I was listening for content instead of quality and missed something, somehow.

...and then had to pay everyone to do it again.

I know I can use the Q manager, but that's a false start in my work too - the VO's know as much about creating a Q folder and starting a Q session as I do about their job. Instead, it's a daily slog to get non-techy people to be techy for just five minutes

If anyone is interested, my studio is entirely online - www.virtualvostudio.com, have a look if you're interested. Not sure of the policy on mentioning your business here, so if this needs to be changed please let me know, whoever checks these things :)

[daeron80]

Not sure if this is the same issue as the original post.

I frequently use Aux I/O to get Zoom in and out of Pro Tools. It works wonderfully except for one thing. Almost every time use it, I have to uncheck Pro Tools Audio Bridge 2A and 2B in I/O setup and add them back in, then choose those busses again on the tracks. It's clearly a buggy implementation. But it's still better that having to use a second interface for Zoom and running analog cables.

This is on my MBP M1 Max, PT Ultimate 2022.9. I gather that updating to 2022.12 would not likely fix it.

[chrisVVS]

Originally Posted by daeron80

Not sure if this is the same issue as the original post.

I frequently use Aux I/O to get Zoom in and out of Pro Tools. It works wonderfully except for one thing. Almost every time use it, I have to uncheck Pro Tools Audio Bridge 2A and 2B in I/O setup and add them back in, then choose those busses again on the tracks. It's clearly a buggy implementation. But it's still better that having to use a second interface for Zoom and running analog cables.

This is on my MBP M1 Max, PT Ultimate 2022.9. I gather that updating to 2022.12 would not likely fix it.

In the Avid doc it tells you how to create your own pairs -

How can I change the configuration of Pro Tools Audio Bridge.
Quit any applications that are using Pro Tools Audio Bridge. Find the ProToolsAudioBridge.config file and copy it to your desktop. This will help prevent accidental renaming.

Located: Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/ProToolsAudioBridge.driver/Contents/Resources/

Open the file with any text editor.

Add, remove, or modify an existing line to add, remove, or change the device listings. The first number is the channel count, followed by the name of the device.

Save and close the file. Drag it back into the original location, and replace the previous file. It is important to keep the file name the same.
Reboot the computer.

I did this, made all the pairs I needed for Zoom, SC etc. Maybe try that?

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by daeron80

Not sure if this is the same issue as the original post.

I frequently use Aux I/O to get Zoom in and out of Pro Tools. It works wonderfully except for one thing. Almost every time use it, I have to uncheck Pro Tools Audio Bridge 2A and 2B in I/O setup and add them back in, then choose those busses again on the tracks. It's clearly a buggy implementation. But it's still better that having to use a second interface for Zoom and running analog cables.

This is on my MBP M1 Max, PT Ultimate 2022.9. I gather that updating to 2022.12 would not likely fix it.

You shouldn’t have to remove the Aux IO from session to session once implemented. They stay in you IO setup.
However, if the bussing in your session is different each time, you will have to map the bus to the Aux IO output each time.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by its2loud

You shouldn’t have to remove the Aux IO from session to session once implemented. They stay in you IO setup.
However, if the bussing in your session is different each time, you will have to map the bus to the Aux IO output each time.

Well, I certainly agree that shouldn't have to. But every time I reopen the session after having used sessions with a different I/O setup, the Aux I/O buses are disabled, even though they appear in I/O setup. The only workaround I've found is to recreate them.

I can't imagine how changing the name of the virtual bus will solve anything. But it's nice that we have that option.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by daeron80

Well, I certainly agree that shouldn't have to. But every time I reopen the session after having used sessions with a different I/O setup, the Aux I/O buses are disabled, even though they appear in I/O setup. The only workaround I've found is to recreate them.

I can't imagine how changing the name of the virtual bus will solve anything. But it's nice that we have that option.

This is normal behavior. If you open a session with a completely different IO setup and bus routing and then open another session with another different setup, Pro Tools will not know how to link the busses to outputs since it will retain the information and bus routing from the previous session opened. This is why you are having to remap the busses to the Aux IO each time you open the session.

If you just keep the Input and Output IO the same, all you have to do is remap the busses to the necessary outputs.

If you change the name of the Aux IO, Pro Tools will automatically match your "To Zoom" Bus to the "To Zoom" Aux IO Output path also named "To Zoom". This is how changing the name will help you with this issue.
You can also just change the name in the IO Setup Window. You don't have to do it in the Core Audio Preference file.