No Output in Low Latency Mode

[Cayce]

I came to Pro Tools after 8 years of working in Logic "Pro" (a joke, "Pro"), because I got tired of Logic's idiocy. After nearly two weeks of endless video tutorials, converting my current project's tracks to Pro Tools, and navigating all of this new environment's idiosyncrasies, I'm finally ready to record. I arm my tracks, set the system for Low Latency, and can't get a signal through my headphones. Tried everything.

The symptoms:
• I've got signal showing on my track meter.
• Input & record buttons are active.
• Track is not muted.
• Output is assigned to Ch. 1 & 2.
• Signal showing in my track meter is NOT showing in the main output meter, which leads me to believe it's something internal to Pro Tools.
• Interface is a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 with all current drivers etc.
• Playback through interface is fine.

Any help so that I can get back to being a musician instead constantly in diagnostician mode would be greatly appreciated.

Cayce

[Cayce]

Follow Up:

Researching, I found this:
"Low Latency Monitoring will mute the output of any record-enabled tracks in Pro Tools so that you only hear the direct signal coming from your interface. It is designed this way to prevent the latent signal that travels from your interface, through your DAW, and back out to your interface from mixing with the direct signal so that there is no delay."

Does this mean I'll never hear what I'm recording in ProTools, that I have to monitor the raw signal going into my interface? Does this mean I can't hear what I'm recording, in real time, being effected by plugins I have on the track being recorded?

[Darryl Ramm]

Is your track in input monitor mode?

Do you hear monitoring when not in low latency mode? If so remove all plugins and try again.

That not it,... Does a prerecorded audio clip play back?

Are you using an audio (not say an instrument) track?

Create a new empty session, with one mono audio track and try experimenting with that.

Still stuck? Much more info needed — what are you doing? Recording what with what mic/preamp/interface etc. what Pro Tools version on what computer, etc. Start by reading “help us help you” up the top of each DUC webpage,

How to get out of diagnostician mode is to learn the product. And that is really hard while trying to leap into stuff you want to work on. Normally finding video tutorials and working through them is the best place to start, and it sounds like you tried that. If you cannot find relevant (similar version of Pro Tools and doing similar stuff you want) on You Tube then it might be worth looking at paid courseware at places like Lynda. Pro Tooks 101 and other books can help but video tutorials often are the fastest way of getting started.

I’m not sure what is not “Pro” about Logic Pro, lots of folks here use it, and prefer it over Pro Tools especially for composition work.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Cayce

Follow Up:

Researching, I found this:
"Low Latency Monitoring will mute the output of any record-enabled tracks in Pro Tools so that you only hear the direct signal coming from your interface. It is designed this way to prevent the latent signal that travels from your interface, through your DAW, and back out to your interface from mixing with the direct signal so that there is no delay."

Does this mean I'll never hear what I'm recording in ProTools, that I have to monitor the raw signal going into my interface? Does this mean I can't hear what I'm recording, in real time, being effected by plugins I have on the track being recorded?

What are you recording/trying to do? Do you want to hardware or software monitor? The StudioLive is a full digital mixer.... so many folks are likely to go hardware monitoring with it... esp. If they are familiar with using it live.

You don’t have to monitor the *raw* signal, the mixer is a mixer... you can monitor whatever you can mix in it. It’s all up to you... again what are you trying to do? What monitor latency is acceptable to the artist?

[BScout]

Originally Posted by Cayce

Does this mean I'll never hear what I'm recording in ProTools, that I have to monitor the raw signal going into my interface? Does this mean I can't hear what I'm recording, in real time, being effected by plugins I have on the track being recorded?

Yes
LLM means monitoring from your hardware and not through ProTools. Meant for tracking when want the lowest latency. Then you switch it off when you want to mix.
If you want to hear plugins on your record tracks, you can’t have LLM on.

[Cayce]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Is your track in input monitor mode?

Hey, Darryl;

I'd like to know where that input monitoring setting is. That sounds like it might be the problem.

Does a prerecorded audio clip play back? Yes, as normal.

Are you using an audio (not say an instrument) track? Yes, Audio.

What I'm trying to do is simply hear what I'm recording, in low latency, with the plugins I have on the channel. I can monitor my input through the Presonus, but that doesn't allow me to hear what my plugins are doing in ProTools as I'm recording.

[Cayce]

Originally Posted by BScout

Yes
LLM means monitoring from your hardware and not through ProTools. Meant for tracking when want the lowest latency. Then you switch it off when you want to mix.
If you want to hear plugins on your record tracks, you can’t have LLM on.

Thanks, BScout, but this is right up with the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I thought I was leaving Logic Pro and moving up into a more professional DAW, but for ProTools to not allow real-time, low-latency monitoring drops it down to something below amateur. Recording is the first and foremost critical function of a DAW. Finding out that it doesn't allow real-time monitoring in low-latency mode is like finding out that a supposedly sophisticated camera doesn't allow you to see what your photographing through the view finder.

As stupid as I thought Logic Pro was, it as least has this capability. Pro Tools is starting to make Logic Pro look like a genius.

[The Weed]

Drop your buffer to 32 or 64. If the plug-ins you're using don't cause a lot of delay - and your computer, which we don't know anything about, can handle the load - you can monitor through plug-ins. I do this all the time when recording voiceovers.

Have you done all the Avid recommended optimizations?

[BScout]

I don’t think you get it.

All DAWs have latency. That’s what the audio buffer is. LLM is there to make it easier to direct monitor from your audio interface where you can leave the DAW out of the loop for monitoring. Thereby having “low latency”. Non-LLM is the same as any other DAW (including Logic)

This isn’t about being PRO or not. This is about how DAWs and computers work. If you want the absolute lowest latency, pay out for HDX and only use AAX-DSP plugins. There everything is getting processed in the hardware chips.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Cayce

Hey, Darryl;

I'd like to know where that input monitoring setting is. That sounds like it might be the problem.

Does a prerecorded audio clip play back? Yes, as normal.

Are you using an audio (not say an instrument) track? Yes, Audio.

What I'm trying to do is simply hear what I'm recording, in low latency, with the plugins I have on the channel. I can monitor my input through the Presonus, but that doesn't allow me to hear what my plugins are doing in ProTools as I'm recording.

No the problem as you identified yourself is you are telling the DAW to use hardware monitoring.

It's up to you what you want to do. Hardware of Software, the DAWs can just give you the choices. The "low latency monitoring" name here is historical, in the current context it would be clearer to say "use hardware monitoring", but history wins.

If you want to monitor through plugins in the DAW then you have to use software monitoring. That is the same with every DAW. Others have already laid out different options for HDX/DSP but if you want hardware monitoring and basic effects (like a little reverb etc.) while tracking, your Presonus mixer can do all that. If you have complex plugin and low-latency monitoring needs then HDX or something like an Apollo UAD2 interface are the ways to go.