apologies to the admins if this needs to be somewhere else in the forum. if I need to change anything, please lmk.
what would be the best routing/midi/brain set up for my devices? how would you route these? hopefully, something that could be set and not have to change to get one feature over another. thank you for your help/suggestions in advance.
my devices/specs:
digitakt II
syntakt
push 3
kaoss replay
embodme erae II (on order)
macbook m2, 15", 1tb ssd, 16gb ram (logic & ableton daws)
arturia minifuse 4
This may not truly exist in the wild without involving patchbays and a proper mixer but let’s set that aside for now.
I think that to increase the chances of receiving any kind of lucid response, you should lay out your goals:
What kind of music are you making?
Do you want a setup for jamming? recording? recording jams?
What are your priorities sonically? (ie compressor VS fx block)
studio only or is this for a live setup?
what portion of your workflow is daw based?
which pieces of the gear listed do you actually have experience with?
At a glance, there is some overlap in the capabilities of some of your devices and it would help to know how you would like to use the gear. The best routing is the one that makes the most use of what you have, towards the end goal of optimizing that gear to work most effectively with your process.
Almost everything on your list is an audio interface one way or another, so it speaks to your computer over USB. While TD II waits for OB support, it can be used as 2x2 interface and accepts audio via USB from and to computer. I never worked with aggregate devices, so I don’t know how much you can push my suggestions. And I don’t know Kaoss Replay, so I will connect it via Minifuse. And I don’t know if you use speakers, so I will leave room for them in Minifuse. And I am ignoring that Push 3 also can be used for monitoring and sending to speakers, because of my lack of experience in aggregating devices, but I imagine that it also could work.
I would advocate hybrid setup, with DAW being your brain. You can alway jam with devices, while having one template just for monitoring, but also other templates for specific routings, to save time on repeatable configurations. I would use Syntakt via OB (to give you possibility to use its FX route), and Minifuse for headphones, speakers and also to send and return for Kaoss. Then DT II as a 2x2 interface, until it gets OB support, to send to its inputs via USB and grab audio via its USB send (one template might use it as master insert or send, to utilise it as a compressor and also as sampler for whatever you are doing on master or specific channels - if used as a send instead of insert). That way the only audio signal would go to your monitoring devices (headphones and/or speakers, but could probably also go just thru laptop speakers, if you don’t mind) and to and from Kaoss.
I would read about MTT that is used in USB hubs, because you might be forced to be cautious in that department. I am not sure, how Arturia works as a hub. I use Overhub and even own three for three setups and it handles load pretty well. But either someone wiser than me comments on that, or you might have to find yourself. ;]
I will justify why I choose this approach. I have one setup that has DT I, Syntakt and Digitakt, which is my mobile setup always packed in dedicated backpack. While it requires me to carry my computer, it’s not a problem, because whenever I have this setup with me, I need to have computer with me anyway. And when computer is packed, it usually sleeps, so I just open screen and it’s ready to go. I find it a lot faster, to connect everything via USB to Overhub and then that to my computer. And I don’t have to screw on adapter to my headphones. I just connect them to my computer and listen via OB. It’s faster to setup and gives me all controls. I don’t even turn on my DAW, unless I need it. With DT II that is in other setup, until OB comes, I would need to use it as an audio interface, with class compliant audio over USB, but I digress.
I wish you fulfilment from your setup. :]
Cordially,
Norman
P.S. In the future, if you don’t want to expand too much, think about using ADAT in your Push 3, but not today, not now - it’s just a suggestion on simplifying in the future.
P.P.S. The FX track in Syntakt can also be configured as a send in your DAW. And DAW can handle a lot send and insert effects for each track from Syntakt via OB.