Getting MainStage audio to Digital Performer via Connector (SOLVED)

[stubbsonic]

EDIT: I came on first to ask how to do this, but was able to work it out with some trial-and-error.

I'm sharing my steps here. Please add a post if you found these steps helpful. If a BC person has any suggestions to simplify, I'm all ears.

Specifically, these are steps for using Blue Cat Connector to pipe MIDI from DP to Mainstage, and to pipe audio from Mainstage's bundled virtual instruments back to DP. If you request it, I can revise to work out how to send audio from DP through audio plugins in MS/Logic and back to DP, but perhaps from this description that process will be apparent.

My results for this example show a total latency of almost exactly twice the buffer amount in samples. The host buffers (not the Connector buffers) in both DP & MS need to be set to the same amount. Keep raising until glitches go away. I set them both to 256, and in MS's audio settings I turned off the i/o safety buffer checkbox. I got glitch free sound on a simple one voice sound, but need to do more rigorous/demanding tests.

Here are the (revised) steps:

1. I created a new Aux Track in DP and set the input to an arbitrary-and-unused stereo bus pair. I selected Blue Cat Connector ("BCC") in the first audio FX insert slot. I set the BCC mode to "LOCAL HOST". I set it to Transmit MIDI (I turned audio off). I left the default "Port 8080" as is. You can name the BCC instance (which I did). Probably makes sense to name the Aux track "BCC MIDI Send".

2. Still in DP, I created a MIDI track and put some MIDI notes in there. For MIDI track's output destination, I chose "BC Connector : BCC MIDI Send etc" I set up some looped playback for testing purposes.

3. Then, I went over to MainStage, where I made an instrument track. I chose Sculpture, as this is the instrument I'd like to access in DP. I selected "Blue Cat Connector MFX" as a MIDI FX insert, I also set it to "LOCAL HOST" and left its port number at the default port 8080.

4. Below that on the same instrument channel strip in MS, in the first Audio FX insert slot, I added an another instance of BCC to transmit audio-only back to DP, also set it to "LOCAL HOST" but I changed the port number to 8081. I turned the channel-strips volume slider down in MS, so I would only hear the returning signal in DP.

5. Back in DP, I made second Aux Track, and named it "BCC Audio Rcv". In the first FX insert slot I selected another instance of BCC, again I set it to "LOCAL HOST" mode, and set it to receive the audio, changing the port to 8081 --to match the sending instance from Mainstage's 2nd insert of BCC.

6. I set the output of the 2nd aux track, "BCC Audio Rcv" to bus 3-4. I created a new stereo audio track to record onto/into. I set the input of that track to Bus 3-4. I hit play and... "bob's your uncle".

NOTE: in my previous instructions I got a significant amount of latency. For some reason, having the returning audio go to a 2nd Aux Track (rather than directly to an audio track) seems to have fixed it.

FWIW, Connector is still on sale for $39 as of 1/3/25

[Blue Cat Audio]

Thanks for sharing! Are the buffers you are talking about the buffer sizes as set in Connector, or each application's buffer size? You can try to reduce the overall latency buy reducing the apps' buffer size (which then lets you also reduce each Connector's buffer size).

[stubbsonic]

The buffers I was referring to where the host's audio hardware settings (not Connector's).

I had to INCREASE the host app's buffers to 512 in order to avoid glitchy sound-- which was inconsistent from session to session-- I had the Connector buffer (which was only available on the audio receive side) at zero.

When I decreased the host buffers to 128, the latency was reduced, but the audio was glitchy. When I increased the Connector buffer on the receive instance, the glitches did not improve, and the latency went up proportionally.

Having the high latency (1024 samples) isn't terrible. But the main challenge would be if I wanted to track live instruments piped in from MS while recording MIDI in DP. The workaround would be to record MIDI using a local, temporary instrument in DP,