HDX & 3rd Party DAWs (Mac) Interface Sync & HW Buffer Size

[Jon at Solent]

Hi,

We have several macs running Monterey and PT2022.7 (inc HD Driver 2022.7) and 2 x HD I/O Interfaces. Internal Sync on HD I/O#1, Loop Sync on HD I/O#2. All works exactly as expected when running Pro Tools. However...

We also need to run Logic Pro (10.7.4) and Ableton Live (11.1.5) on the systems. When launching a 3rd party DAW, and setting HDX as the Audio I/O, the interfaces do not switch to Internal and Loop Sync. The result is that there are dropouts in the incoming audio.

If I open Audio Midi Setup (AMS) and toggle the Clock Source of the HDX to something different, then back to Internal #1, it all locks up and works without error.

A possibly related issue is the HW Buffer Size of the HDX does not switch with the 3rd party DAW HW Buffer Size changes and has to be switched manually via Configure Device in AMS. This doesn't work if any software is using HDX at the time. AvidAudioServer crashes.

This has been going on through several versions of the Avid HD Driver. Making me think I've missed something quite obvious. A search of Google is of no help, so I might be unique. ;-) It does appear that the integration of HDX with CoreAudio is not as tight as we might need.

Any suggestions of sensible solutions to help our students have a smoother experience gratefully received.

Jon Wills
Solent University - UK

10 x Avid HDX Systems, 5 x Avid HD Native Systems, 75 x PT Native Systems

[DetroitT]

Pro Tools 2022.9 offers aux bridging in HDX Hybrid mode.
But HD Pro Tools prior has never offered simultaneous HD /Core Audio.

There are Third Party solutions from source connect.

[uptheoctave]

As DetroitT says, you cannot have HDX and Native running at the same time.
You will need a native audio interface of some kind.
Getting that audio into Pro Tools, or monitoring at the same time can be a pain, depending on what interface you are using for Pro Tools.

I use Dante to send my inputs to both Digilink and to a Rednet PCIER card and then use the output of the PCIER card as a monitor source in DADMAN.
The only drawback with this is the PCIER card must be the same sample rate as the MTRX.

I also sometimes use a UA Apollo X8 which can run at independent sample rates, which is sent S/PDIF out into the MTRX's AES card, which can do on the fly SRC.

Even if you do not want them running at the same time, using the HDX engine natively is a total pig- the latency is horrendous, compared to a £100 USB audio interface.
I've never understood why Avid didn't work to get the native latency down to something vaguely acceptable.

[Eric Lambert]

My Avid interfaces haven't played nice with Logic in quite a while. They did -- a few years ago -- but then some combination of OS/Logic/PT updates broke their relationship and I couldn't get Logic and Avid to play in the same sandbox.

However, that changed last week with PT 2022.9. Now, in Logic, my hardware shows up and I can access the ins and outs as expected.

I'm running a Mac Studio w/ Monterey 12.6 and PT 2022.9, as mentioned, and using an HD Native Thunderbolt box.

I'm not quite sure what's happening in your system but maybe some software needs an update?

[lennonbus]

Hi Eric,
I’m interested to know in your exact setup what latency you’re experiencing when recording in Logic through the Avid hardware (and what buffer setting)? Glad to know it’s working for you, would love to hear how well!