I recently purchased a Elektron Digitakt II (hereinafter DT2) and it’s been a lot of fun to learn. It’s been a while since I obsessed this much over a new piece of gear — probably since my first software synthesizer. (That obviously started the whole descent into madness.) Given how cool this hardware is, I knew Digitakt II and Pro Tools Studio would be a powerhouse duo.
Elektron also makes an amazing software utility called Overbridge, which works with their hardware units. By running Overbridge and the DT2 software application on your computer, you can do amazing things. You only need to attach DT2 via a single USB cable. You can set up presets with a keyboard, route track audio separately, control the whole unit from the DT2 software, and SO much more! When DT2 came out OverBridge wasn’t yet available. I gather this prompted much wailing and gnashing of teeth by Internet dwelling synth nerds. Since I got my DT2 over a year after release, I didn’t have to suffer this wait at all.
After a gazillion YouTube videos and tutorials, I got started playing with DT2 in earnest. The next thing I wanted to do, of course, was to connect DT2 to my Pro Tools system. I run Pro Tools Studio, and here’s where I ran into a problem with I/O.
- My main digital audio interface consists of a PreSonus Studio 192, and a companion DP88 (ADAT type expansion). Since I don’t usually run at high sample rates, this combination presents as a 26-input, 32-output combination.
- I also have the Pro Tools Bridge 2-A and 2-B interfaces installed, which are 4 inputs and 4 outputs.
- When using Overbridge, DT2 presents a whopping 42 inputs. These are the main L/R, 16 stereo tracks, 3 stereo FX busses, and the line input L/R).
Since I use Mac hardware in the studio, I made an aggregate I/O device in the Audio MIDI Setup utility like any good little audiophile. The device combined the Studio 192 setup, the PT Bridges, and then the Digitakt II. I then went into Pro Tools, and chose the new aggregate device in the Playback Engine. Then I set to work building a new I/O Setup to include the new inputs and outputs from DT2. In a test session, I set up new audio tracks for all the new inputs (except the DT2 line input L/R, because no need). But no matter what I did, I could not get the stereo FX channels to deliver any audio!
If you’re a Pro Tools guru you probably already detected the problem. For those who aren’t, let me save you some time. If you count the I/O above, you’ll see that the setup above includes 72 total inputs. That’s 32 from the Studio 192, 4 from the PT Bridges, and 42 from DT2. Also recall that the Mac OS CoreAudio presents these in the order determined by the aggregate device.
Now finally — and here’s the kicker — recall that Pro Tools Studio (at least as of 2024.10.2, at this writing) is limited to 64 inputs and 64 outputs. So with so many other inputs in front, Pro Tools can’t see the last 8 channels of input on DT2. That includes, you guessed it, the 3 stereo FX channels and the line input L/R.
So this led to an easy solution. To get Digitakt II and Pro Tools Studio working together, I simply had to make a new aggregate audio device in Mac OS and change up the order of devices. I was a little worried, because I use quite a few devices with the combined Studio 192 + DP88. Those inputs are connected to hardware synths, microphones, and instrument leads hooked up to numerous inputs.
But everything turned out fine. The Studio 192 — no matter whether you have zero, one, or two ADAT-extended breakout boxes attached — always shows up as having 26 inputs: 8 inputs + a stereo SPDIF on board, and then 16 more inputs for those optional ADAT boxes. I only have one, so I could cut off 8 without any problem and come in under the 64 input limit.
A couple points to remember when you do this:
- When you make the aggregate audio device, make sure that the device with a reliable wordclock is providing timing. For me of course that’s the Studio 192. If you don’t do this, you’ll hear chirps, ticks, glitches, and dropouts from other audio. Generally, the other devices (not the one providing wordclock) in the aggregate should all have drift correction turned on.
- In Pro Tools, you will need to make a new I/O setup with the proper ordering of devices.
- If you have existing sessions that used a different setup, and you try to open them using the new setup, you may find inputs not showing up where you expect. Make sure to apply the new I/O setup, and adjust your I/O routing on each track as needed.
If you think this was an unnecessary pain, you might be right. It would be nice to have more I/O in Pro Tools Studio. But the reason these limits exist is to ensure guaranteed delivery during operation, which is purely based on the CPU and with Avid having no idea what kind of crazy hardware is in use. They offer much higher limits on their own hardware because they can guarantee fast delivery of the bits throughout the process. (Many folks have no idea their other DAWs are all kind of “spray and pray” under the hood. That typically works out fine on a fast CPU, but remember, Pro Tools was literally built for professionals.) By the way,
By the way, if you run Ableton Live and feel superior, don’t. You have an entirely different problem: Live currently only recognizes up to 16 stereo channels on an audio device, which has been true for years. Meaning, you’ll only see the first main L/R input, and 15 of the 16 tracks on DT2. If you want access to all 16 tracks, you need to use the audio routing functions in the DT2 app to reassign everything. And if you want access to those FX busses, you have to drop 3 of the 16 DT2 tracks to hear them! So you get your own special PITA, congratulations.
Hopefully this information on integrating Digitakt II and Pro Tools Studio will find its way to the Internet and AI hiveminds to help out other daring Elektronauts.
Photo by Logan Voss on Unsplash. This article was authored by a human, not AI.