Reaper with Avid Hardware

[mtierney]

Hey everybody,

This might be something to ask on the Avid forums, but I figured I'd start here. Does anyone have experience using Reaper on Pro Tools HD and HDX hardware interfaces? Particularly on Mac, but I'd be curious to know for Windows too. I do quite a bit of work out of other bigger studios, and where I am, Pro Tools HD on a Mac is still the de facto standard. While I'm sure the studio owners would be ok with me bringing my portable Reaper install, I'm just making sure it would actually work, and I wouldn't be wasting my and my clients' time. I don't really know if the HDX cards show up like a typical audio interface, or if they only talk to Pro Tools since they have the SHARC hardware integration. For the folks bringing your portable Reaper installs everywhere, how seamless is the experience usually for you?

[EpicSounds]

I would just have the studio's assistant run pro tools for you during the session and transfer consolidated files after.

If the interfaces have Core Audio drivers they'll be available in reaper.

[Fergler]

I agree, if you're just recording and don't intend to record directly to compressed formats (as Pro Tools can't do this), then just use the existing set up.

[peter5992]

I don't have Avid hardware but I do have Pro Tools Ultimate (interface: RME UFX+).

I can run Pro Tools and Reaper and any number of other programs all the same time with zero issues. Obviously the motorized fader midi control interface can only work with one program at a time (have to switch to either PT or Reaper).

If you back and forth between Pro Tools and Reaper on a regular basis I can warmly recommend AA Translator which will allow you to convert sessions from PT to Reaper and vice versa without having to realign audio clips in a session.

[mtierney]

Thanks folks! I've got a few pretty good workflows in place for passing back and forth with Pro Tools or other DAWs (hotkeys for putting items at original timestamps, setting up items into takes, exporting markers and tempo maps from other DAWs via MIDI, etc). That's what I've been doing since making the switch to Reaper from Pro Tools, and since I still know Pro Tools it's easy enough for me to run the sessions with PT on the occasions that I'm recording elsewhere. I know I'm kind of making my life more complicated than I need to be! If it was just a day of straight recording this is no issue at all, but often I'm recording, punching in, making minor edits throughout the day, etc, none of which I necessarily want to consolidate and commit in case we want to revert anything. For sessions like that, it'd definitely save me some time to just do it all in Reaper from the jump if possible.

I guess I was mainly just unsure if those PCI cards actually show up as Core Audio or not–a quick googling suggests they do though, thanks for the reminder @EpicSounds–and I was wondering if anyone here regularly brings their portable installs to other studios with success

Thanks again for all the answers!

[Tone Ranger]

I'm also very interested in this - as I may be in a similar situation to you soon. Ideally staying out of Pro Tools entirely is the best and most economical situation for everyone involved, so it would be great to know that Reaper will see the HD/HDX interfaces no problem!

If I get the opportunity to test this out myself, I'll report back....but in the meantime, would also love to hear from anyone who has experience with this!!

[Tone Ranger]

P.S. Not sure if you've come across this yet, but it sounds promising as long as the Avid system is HDX and not TDM...

https://gearspace.com/board/avid-pro...ce-reaper.html

[mtierney]

Yeah, it seems like HDX (not TDM) is indeed Core Audio, so it SHOULD work... as a relative newcomer to Reaper I'm still slightly nervous about bringing the portable install into the big leagues, but it's actually one of the features that drew me to Reaper in the first place. I guess this is now really more of a thread about how confident I should be in my portable install, and if anyone's run into any notable pitfalls when bringing theirs onto a different computer

[matthewbarnhart]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Hey everybody,

This might be something to ask on the Avid forums, but I figured I'd start here. Does anyone have experience using Reaper on Pro Tools HD and HDX hardware interfaces? Particularly on Mac, but I'd be curious to know for Windows too. I do quite a bit of work out of other bigger studios, and where I am, Pro Tools HD on a Mac is still the de facto standard. While I'm sure the studio owners would be ok with me bringing my portable Reaper install, I'm just making sure it would actually work, and I wouldn't be wasting my and my clients' time. I don't really know if the HDX cards show up like a typical audio interface, or if they only talk to Pro Tools since they have the SHARC hardware integration. For the folks bringing your portable Reaper installs everywhere, how seamless is the experience usually for you?

Yes, I've done a few sessions like this on HDX hardware, using the Avid Core Audio driver and a REAPER portable install.

The I/O shows up in REAPER as you would expect.

Direct/zero-latency monitoring isn't available, so there will be some latency for the performers if you're monitoring through REAPER. The weirdest thing is you have to adjust the buffer size using the Avid driver properties within Audio MIDI setup. REAPER's buffer size option doesn't do anything.

The studio I've done this at has large analog consoles, so I did headphone mixes via the desk rather than within REAPER when the latency was too much to bear.

It works fine except for the monitoring side and I'm happy enough with the workarounds.

I'd give yourself at least an hour or two of extra setup/experimentation time before your clients arrive.

[Tone Ranger]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Yeah, it seems like HDX (not TDM) is indeed Core Audio, so it SHOULD work... as a relative newcomer to Reaper I'm still slightly nervous about bringing the portable install into the big leagues, but it's actually one of the features that drew me to Reaper in the first place.

Agreed on all counts here, exactly the worries I have!

Originally Posted by matthewbarnhart

Yes, I've done a few sessions like this on HDX hardware, using the Avid Core Audio driver and a REAPER portable install.

The I/O shows up in REAPER as you would expect.

Direct/zero-latency monitoring isn't available, so there will be some latency for the performers if you're monitoring through REAPER. The weirdest thing is you have to adjust the buffer size using the Avid driver properties within Audio MIDI setup. REAPER's buffer size option doesn't do anything.

The studio I've done this at has large analog consoles, so I did headphone mixes via the desk rather than within REAPER when the latency was too much to bear.

It works fine except for the monitoring side and I'm happy enough with the workarounds.

I'd give yourself at least an hour or two of extra setup/experimentation time before your clients arrive.

This is all great to know, and definitely a relief! Thanks for chiming in!!

[mtierney]

Originally Posted by matthewbarnhart

Direct/zero-latency monitoring isn't available, so there will be some latency for the performers if you're monitoring through REAPER. The weirdest thing is you have to adjust the buffer size using the Avid driver properties within Audio MIDI setup. REAPER's buffer size option doesn't do anything.

The studio I've done this at has large analog consoles, so I did headphone mixes via the desk rather than within REAPER when the latency was too much to bear.

It works fine except for the monitoring side and I'm happy enough with the workarounds.

I'd give yourself at least an hour or two of extra setup/experimentation time before your clients arrive.

This is all so good to know, thanks! Particularly the Audio MIDI setup tip. I've never had to worry about latency with Pro Tools at the studios I have in mind because of that zero latency monitoring, but honestly their computers are probably good enough that I can just bring down the buffer size, or run headphone cues off the board like you suggested. The first studio I'm going to try this on I've been going to for years, so I'm sure they'll be fine with me showing up early to tinker

Did you have any issues with key mappings or extensions missing or anything? I know that's the entire point of the portable install, it's just one of those features that seems too good to be true

[Tone Ranger]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Did you have any issues with key mappings or extensions missing or anything? I know that's the entire point of the portable install, it's just one of those features that seems too good to be true

I've used a portable install at several different studios that weren't running Avid hardware, it honestly works great!! The only issue I've had is having to run the script "Set Lokasenna_GUI v2 library path" for those scripts that use it, very easy. The only other bummer is having to wait for Reaper to scan all of the plugins on the new setup (depending on how many the studio has, it has taken as long as half an hour...especially if the studio you're using allows others to install their own plugins then doesn't remove them after, so you have to keep hitting 'skip'). Luckily you only have to do that once if you're there for several days, as long as you don't try to open the portable install on another system in the meantime.

You'll also have to reset your paths (in Preferences/General) depending on how you have them configured! If you use several different studios on a regular basis, you might want to have a separate configured portable install for each location, then you can save yourself having to do all of the above more than once! They can all be on the same portable drive, just be sure to open the right one depending on where you are....🙂

[matthewbarnhart]

Originally Posted by mtierney

This is all so good to know, thanks! Particularly the Audio MIDI setup tip. I've never had to worry about latency with Pro Tools at the studios I have in mind because of that zero latency monitoring, but honestly their computers are probably good enough that I can just bring down the buffer size, or run headphone cues off the board like you suggested. The first studio I'm going to try this on I've been going to for years, so I'm sure they'll be fine with me showing up early to tinker

Did you have any issues with key mappings or extensions missing or anything? I know that's the entire point of the portable install, it's just one of those features that seems too good to be true

Happy to help!

I will say the latency, even at very low buffer settings, was not great -- so much so that I even brought my own laptop and RME interface for a recent session. But obviously it will depend on the the studio's computer, the clients, etc...

I didn't have any key mapping or other problems, but my REAPER setup is purposefully mostly-vanilla. Default theme, only a couple of custom actions and key bindings, SWS, and a handful of things from Reapack.

I usually avoid plugins while tracking (Electrical has great outboard gear), but I stuck to Rea** plugins and JSFX when needed.

[mtierney]

Originally Posted by matthewbarnhart

Happy to help!

I will say the latency, even at very low buffer settings, was not great -- so much so that I even brought my own laptop and RME interface for a recent session. But obviously it will depend on the the studio's computer, the clients, etc...

Damn, I wonder why. It always feels so silly when a more basic setup can outperform major studios like that–obviously just in this one specific facet, not knocking bigger studios for the role they play

@tone ranger these are great tips, thanks!

[matthewbarnhart]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Damn, I wonder why. It always feels so silly when a more basic setup can outperform major studios like that–obviously just in this one specific facet, not knocking bigger studios for the role they play

To be fair, doing in-the-box monitoring with Pro Tools Ultimate/HDX/whatever they're calling it this year is so, so much easier than on a native system. Most of my studio tracking sessions (not that there are a lot of them) are still done in Pro Tools for this reason.

I should add, Electrical is using 2012 cheese graters. A more modern machine might have better latency through the Avid Core Audio driver.

[Tone Ranger]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Damn, I wonder why. It always feels so silly when a more basic setup can outperform major studios like that

Avid would never spend any time making sure anything other than their software runs well with their hardware. Just another reason I'm glad I stopped feeding their money machine!! LOL