supported audio devices

[FBB]

We use a Tascam US16x08 and it workes fine.
Otput 2/4 and 5/6 are swapped, but it's easy to fix this in the SCS options.

[Chunky]

Hi all - just wondering if anyone can help with the Behringer X-USB card in the X32 desk?

I've been using a E-MU 1616 card to send 8 channels to the mixer - this was in place before we got the digital desk, and now appears to have fallen over. I have a Behringer X-32 desk now, which has a X-USB card in it purporting to offer up to 32 channels over USB, straight into the desk, however I can only see 2 channels on SCS - it just offers me L-R, L or R as options on outputs. I've followed all the setup advice from Behringer and have the drivers downloaded etc, just wondered if anyone else had experienced anything similar, or have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance
Alan

[Mike Daniell]

I have a Behringer X-32 desk now, which has a X-USB card in it purporting to offer up to 32 channels over USB, straight into the desk, however I can only see 2 channels on SCS - it just offers me L-R, L or R as options on outputs.

In SCS you need to select ASIO as the Audio Driver. You should then be able to access all 32 channels.

[Chunky]

I have a Behringer X-32 desk now, which has a X-USB card in it purporting to offer up to 32 channels over USB, straight into the desk, however I can only see 2 channels on SCS - it just offers me L-R, L or R as options on outputs.

In SCS you need to select ASIO as the Audio Driver. You should then be able to access all 32 channels.

That's brilliant - thanks Mike. I knew it would be something little that I'd missed

Works like a dream now.
Alan

[PhilVale]

While not an extensive test by any means I recently bought a Berhinger X18 Air and to my joy I discovered that by installing the Behringer driver all the channels on the mixer popped up as possible outputs from ShowCue when the mixer was connected to my pc via USB. By the way they also acted as inputs to Adobe Audition as well so it's bidirectional.

Talking to a fellow amateur sound engineer the other day they also highlighted that they'd had similar with other newer desks as well.

So the whole discussion on "supported audio cards" seems to have moved on a pace and now if I want I can go straight to the mixer via USB cable rather than having to use a sound card or other device in-between. This of course also means that the signal stays as a digital one for longer.

[Eric Snodgrass]

Since this conversation has moved on to include direct connection to digital consoles via USB I think I should mention that for a few years users of the Allen & Heath Qu series have reported issues with streaming and recording audio from a computer via the USB-B port on a Qu console. The issue is that random "sizzle" or "electrical noise" is introduced in the audio path at times, rendering the recording and/or streaming useless - I myself have experienced the issue during recording on a laptop running Windows. This vexed users for quite a long time and even led to demands that A&H fix the problem. Various solutions were offered, including one suggesting that the console not be chosen as the Default Audio Device of the connected computer. While some of these suggestions seemed to help, none seemed to offer a permanent, universal fix to the issue, meaning that the problem was still not correctly diagnosed.
One Qu user dug very deeply into the problem and came up with the root cause of the problem. He presented the findings to the A&H support team and they confirmed his diagnosis. I'll now simply post the response from the A&H support team -

The issue you are experiencing is actually down to Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller (xHCI) on your computer or laptop. The QU mixer has a USB 2 interface and Intel ‘broke’ compatibility with the real time streaming protocol when they implemented this driver that deals with USB 3.0 ports.

We have been in contact with Intel, but they currently have no interest in fixing it. Our software team have been looking in to this to see if there is any permanent solution we can create at our end, but this is currently ongoing.

Depending on which platform you are using there are some work arounds that work for some customers.

With a Mac, the only way to update or change this driver is with a full system update, and I have had feedback from a couple of users who found that updating to macOS Sierra resolved the issue.

With PC’s, you are able to update or change these host drivers independently. Some manufacturers have more recent USB host controller drivers available which ‘improve compatibility’ with USB devices. I would recommend seeing if there are any more recent drivers available for any system where you see this problem.

However, if that doesn’t work, another work around at the moment is to disable the xHCI driver using ‘Uninstall a program’ in the control panel.

This has been found to solve the issue, though it also removes USB 3.0 functionality.

This makes complete sense to me because when I experienced the issue I was using a laptop with an Intel i7 processor and only USB 3.0 ports available. Besides the workaround solutions offered from A&H another solution is to use a machine with an AMD processor and chipset. Doing that is reported to have cleared up any recording/playback issues people experienced.
I have not yet experienced this issue while connected to my Qu console via a USB 3.0 port on my laptop and using SCS as playback, but I have only done this once precisely because of this issue.
Has anyone on this forum experienced anything like this noise issue while connected to a digital console via USB 3.0?

[jmgordon]

I am hoping that someone can give me advice regarding my M-Audio FireWire 410 sound card, with I have been using on a PC and laptop under Windows 7 SP1 for the best part of 10 years. I set up the show with the FW410 connected to the PC, then swap it over to the laptop I will use at the theatre to set up the devices. Because it is not recommended to hot plug FireWire devices to avoid killing chips, this involves tediously powering down of the PC, transferring the FW410 to the laptop and powering it up.

Recently FW410s have been appearing on online auctions at reasonable prices, as people upgrade to computers without FireWire, and I thought I would get hold of a second unit. This was both as a precaution in case the original unit dies (I did have trouble needing a repair in the early days), and in the hope that I could have units attached to the PC and laptop simultaneously, saving the powering off stage.

When the 'new' unit was received, in my innocence I connected it to the PC, expecting the existing driver to recognise what is effectively an identical unit. This did not happen, presumably because Windows could not see a different GUID. I was glad to find that I had not mucked up the existing set-up and the 'old' unit was still recognised and connected.

My question is therefore, is it possible to install a second instance of the driver so that Windows recognises whichever unit is connected, without compromising the installation, and if so how? I emphasise that I am not wanting to connect two units to the PC at the same time, which I understand requires special drivers to be written, which has not been done by M-Audio. I would raise the question with them, but the unit is so old I could not now get a support ticket, and Google searching has not come up with anything.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Malcolm

[David Preece]

I keep looking at one of theses... https://loopcommunity.com/en-us/track-rig

[erwin]

And now it's the year 2023
Behringer gave birth to a new child in November 2022!

The small digital mixer FLOW8 With an unbelievable number of excellent properties and possibilities.
And it's not the end yet, the community's wishes are being converted into new firmware and it already supports it perfectly.

I don't work for Behringer, I'm not making a profit and I paid full price for FLOW8
Read complete information and description directly from Behringer...

Here for the forum only important pieces of information for the questions from earlier.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, up to 8 input channels are read into the DAW via USB.
Channel 5/6 and 7/8 are stereo channels. These can be configured as input from USB.

So 8 line channels with connection to the mixer XLR/Jack can used in your DAW
Or as I do it: 4 line channels directly on the mixer (microphone) and 2 stereo channels come from laptop/SQS/USB with playback.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to SQS:

After installing the driver from Behringer, the device "FLOW ASIO Driver" is immediately visible in SQS with all 4 outputs.
I chose them and gave them names:
Main / L
Main / R
monitor 1
monitor 2

Audio cues can be sent individually to these 4 (SQS) outputs and will then be seen in the mixer app as a two USB stereo input.
If you have it configured in the APP.
And assigned as you wish, with EQ and effects too.

For sending audio cues I use
source USB1 (5/6) and send individual Volume to Main L or R
Source USB2 (7/8) and send individual Volume to Monitor 1/2

The routing is easy to understand.

The FLOW8 is super cheap if you understand what it can do, it currently costs €272.39

Using it as a standalone mixer is also great, or in combination with the app.

It has no motorized faders, which is not possible at the low price.
For the faders that have been adjusted in the app, there is a display and the option to very easily move the fader to the required position for further manual movement.

It's still a very young device (November 2022) and I'm sure it still has a lot of potential.

Erwin

[berto2002]

This thread is very old and there are so many devices listed that must be outdated by now it's really hard for a novice to work out what to do.

I looked at the Flow8 because it is audio interface via USB and mixer and looks great for 8-channel IN but it's only 2-channel OUT.

I need a USB audio interface that can present at least 8 channels to the SCS software and then push at least 8 channels to an amplifier. If that interface is a mixer with FX so much the better since it can be used for karaoke/mics too. I then need an amplifier to take those 8 channels to speakers.

I am guessing no-one yet makes an 8-channel amp that also acts as a USB audio interface in one unit?!

I am amateur, working in am-dram and small occasional community events so I need something that is budget.

[PhilVale]

Most digital mixers these days will act as a USB interface and come with FX processors built in. So in a lot of respects the worlds your oyster.

Before I go to a venue I usually check if and what they have and will aim to use their mixer if I can.

Otherwise, personally I use a Berhinger X18 - it has 18 in and 8 out. Comes in at about £400 although can be found cheaper as B stock or in it's 12 or 16 input versions. What it doesn't have is any knobs or faders so I will add in a Berhinger BCF200 (available from eBay for about £150 - £200 to controll the output from SCS or an X Touch to controll the mixer itself depending upon what I'm trying to do. Other control surfaces are available and the X18 can also be controlled from a PC or tablet.

Alternatively if you want just an interface box with built in FX then you could try looking at UR816C. Looks like it's got about 8 in and 10 out but there might also additionally be some optical I/O too. I've not used one but their webside says it has an onboard DSP giving some effects and has USB c interfacer. I also don't know if or how successfully it works with SCS but once again it says it works with "all major software". So would assume it would be fine with SCS. Looks like it runs in at about £600.

If you are happy to live without effects then Focusrite of PreSonus do prefectly acceptable units both of which I have used in their 4 in 4 out formats, and do come in relatively cheaply and easier to transport. They do have larger versions.

Most interface box's you can also connect a mic to and route it back out again or if it's simple then you could consider Sound Man Server which if free in a 1 or 2 mic input scenario and interfaces to SCS for mixing and cuing. Most people though (myself included) prefer to go down the mixer route because we jsut need that extra control.

Update - there are certinly 8 channel amps on the market although not cheap. I have certainly used Audac SMQ with 4 channels each of which can be iondependantly configured. and a very nice amp it was too if a little too powerful for the speakers we were using.

Hope that helps.