How can I run my PC and my MBP through one interface?

[Frank_Jaegr]

Right now I have my PC that is linked up via a PCIe card with a FW port that goes into my interface.. There is a second FW port I would like to use with my MBP which has it's own native FW port..

What I'm looking to do is use the instrument library of Logic and it's workflow and also be able to use Reason within my PC.. It doesn't have to be at the same time, actually I am looking to use my midi controller and just record a track on the PC then just flip to my Mac to record another track.. Is this possible?

Do I hook up a FW cable from my Mac to the second port of my interface or does it go right into the PCIE card?

[Frank_Jaegr]

I read that I guess I need a separate interface.. Does anyone have any clue on Focusrite Trackmaster series or the Presonus Firestudio?

[nix808]

The Firestudio has an internal power supply which failed on me.
It wasn't the fuse and I never got it fixed, just moved it on. So that happens some times.
It was great while it worked.
just a heads up on not hot plugging firewire
I am a Presonus interface enthusiast. I hear the USB 3 model is not great on latency.
My Audiobox1818VSL is class compliant and runs @~32 samples on PC and Mac in the right host/pretty much

edit- you might benefit from a small mixer?

[Frank_Jaegr]

OH

the ones that have USB out right? My man, you're a genius!!

[nix808]

Oh- hehe
It's not perfect to get a usb mixer,
because I'm not sure that many(any) of them have a MIDI port?
You will need to figure out something to get MIDI into the system which is plugged to the USB mixer
I do hope I could help a little though 8D

You might have to replug the controller

hmm- it doesn't have to be a mixer, you can daisy chain the audio outs into any soundcard with stereo ins. Might be a cool move

[Michael L]

Firewire hub?

[nix808]

Hey Michael,
the physical connections could be made, but backwards.
I'm sure this would spin any FW soundcard out hehe
Nice idea- IMO the card will not know what to do when connected to both a mac and PC--
or pc and pc,mac mac

[justin3am]

USB and Firewire audio interfaces can only be connected to one host at a time.
Audio interfaces which use AVB (for example MOTU) or Dante (for example Focusrite and others) via ethernet, can communicate with more than one host.

[nix808]

w/- USB interfaces,
a multi-Client USB soundcard will let u use more than one plugin host
on a single computer, but not more than 1 computer/host

Ta Justin-I'll keep that in mind

[justin3am]

Of course you are correct, nix808. I should have been more clear. I was referring to USB/Firewire hosts (your computer) not audio driver hosts (your audio software).

[bmrzycki]

The only interface I know of that allows you to connect two devices at the same time via USB is iConnectAUDIO4+:

https://www.iconnectivity.com/products/ ... audio4plus

The only other way I know of doing this effectively is ADAT.

[nix808]

it was pretty clear 8D, best
I too want to run Mac and PC,
but I gave my MacBook Air to my Mum, I have an old iMac,
while bedroom producer space is an issue.
Zoom is an interesting brand for USB mixer(no 5pin MIDI)

[justin3am]

The only interface I know of that allows you to connect two devices at the same time via USB is iConnectAUDIO4+:

https://www.iconnectivity.com/products/ ... audio4plus

The only other way I know of doing this effectively is ADAT.

I use a MOTU 16A (an AVB compatible interface) and each computer I have connected to my MOTU ethernet switch, can access the IO on the 16A. Dante interfaces (see Focusrite's Rednet or the Dante expanders for various high-end interfaces) can do the same with the added benefit of not requiring a special proprietary switch (though I believe they do require a high speed gigabit switch). It's very nice being able to share the IO of a single interface with more than one computer, especially in a QA environment where I'm frequently moving between several computers.

[Tj Shredder]

Either AVB or Dante would do the trick, AVB needs a special switch, which costs as much as an interface, Dante would work with just the drivers. You can incorporate any interface into a Dante network, if running Dante Via on one computer and the Dante virtual soundcard on the other. Most likely the cheapest solution as you can keep your existing sound card. Both computers have to be connected via ethernet to your LAN or to each other. Setup isn't trivial, but works nicely...

[ghettosynth]

The only interface I know of that allows you to connect two devices at the same time via USB is iConnectAUDIO4+:

https://www.iconnectivity.com/products/ ... audio4plus

The only other way I know of doing this effectively is ADAT.

I use a MOTU 16A (an AVB compatible interface) and each computer I have connected to my MOTU ethernet switch, can access the IO on the 16A. Dante interfaces (see Focusrite's Rednet or the Dante expanders for various high-end interfaces) can do the same with the added benefit of not requiring a special proprietary switch (though I believe they do require a high speed gigabit switch). It's very nice being able to share the IO of a single interface with more than one computer, especially in a QA environment where I'm frequently moving between several computers.

Sorry to nekro an old thread but can you elaborate on this? I'm assuming that you're using macs? Are you saying that you are able to access the I/O in your 16A from each of the computers connected directly to the MOTU switch simultaneously? That is, can each computer use some of your I/O channels and/or, can you route audio between your computers? Or, are you saying that you can use any one of your computers to access your interface?