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Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

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PeterB

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Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostTue May 04, 2021 3:22 am

I've used a FocusRite Saffire with my Hauptwerk installation since I put together my 3-manual, 8 channel system some years ago. Now, it's time to upgrade as the Saffire no longer is supported and MacOS no longer has support for 32-bit apps.

I've purchased a Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820 to replace the Saffire.

My question is simple: what is the best practice for upgrading your sound card in v5? The setup is simple: three speaker pairs for the three manuals, another pair plus a subwoofer for the pedals, so routing is straightforward.

/ Peter Bengtson
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mdyde

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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostTue May 04, 2021 4:14 am

Hello Peter,

There isn't really anything fiddly or involved in changing an audio device (provided that a MIDI ports isn't also changed/renamed) -- basically you just select the new interface/driver and its channels on the 'General settings | Audio device and channels' screen. Hauptwerk will prompt you and show that screen automatically if it finds that your previously-selected audio device is no longer present, and/or if it finds that a new audio device is present. Definitely don't attach or detach any audio, MIDI or USB devices whilst Hauptwerk is actually running though.

It's always good practice to use 'File | Backup ...' in Hauptwerk before changing anything, just for good measure.

If I was in your situation I'd probably do it as follows:

- Run Hauptwerk.

- Use 'File | Backup ...'.

- Exit Hauptwerk.

- Detach your old device.

- Install the latest version of the driver for your new interface.

- Attach the new interface.

- Launch Hauptwerk.

- Select the new device and channels on the 'General settings | Audio device and channels' screen (which Hauptwerk will show automatically after prompting you that the previously-selected device isn't present and that a new one has been found).

However, the one other important thing to bear in mind is that if you were also using the Saffire for MIDI, or if you have USB-MIDI devices that might get renamed by the operating system when connecting/disconnecting USB devices, then with Hauptwerk v5 you might potentially need to reconfigure all your MIDI settings due to any previously-used MIDI ports having been changed/renamed.

[In Hauptwerk v4/v5 MIDI settings were stored relative to the MIDI port names that they related to, and if a MIDI port that you are using was changed/renamed then your previous MIDI settings for it would no longer work, and you would potentially need to auto-detect/reconfigure the MIDI settings for it for all relevant virtual controls for all of your organs again. Hauptwerk v6 handles MIDI ports differently in order to address that, whereby MIDI settings are stored relative to virtual/aliased MIDI ports (e.g. 'Console MIDI IN 1') instead of MIDI ports' device names, so that in v6 you simply need to change which column is ticked for the relevant row on the MIDI ports screen in that situation. That's covered in more detail in the list of v6.0.0 changes in the release notice ( https://www.hauptwerk.com/documentation/ ) and in the 'General settings menu: MIDI ports' section in the main Hauptwerk user guide (page 160 in the v6.0.2 version).]

Hence if there's any risk of any MIDI port names being changed or renamed then I would instead recommend:

- Upgrade your existing installation to Hauptwerk v6.0.2. (If you currently have perpetual licence for the v5 Advanced Edition then you would need to buy this upgrade and apply activate the resulting v6 licence in iLok License Manager: https://www.hauptwerk.com/upgrade-advan ... perpetual/ , then download and install v6.0.2 itself.)

- in Hauptwerk v6, specify meaningful 'user aliases' for any 'Console MIDI IN/OUT' rows that are currently ticked on the 'General settings | MIDI ports' two screen tabs, according to what MIDI hardware is currently connected to them.

- Use 'File | Backup ...'.

- Exit Hauptwerk.

- Detach your old device.

- Install the latest version of the driver for your new interface.

- Attach the new interface.

- Launch Hauptwerk.

- Select the new device and channels on the 'General settings | Audio device and channels' screen (which Hauptwerk will show automatically after prompting you that the previously-selected device isn't present and that a new one has been found).

- If any MIDI port names have changed, on the 'General settings | MIDI ports' screen (which will also be shown automatically if any MIDI devices have changed) make sure that intended MIDI ports (columns) are (still) ticked in the appropriate 'Console MIDI IN/OUT' rows (the rows for which you would have specified meaningful aliases above, so as to help identify them more easily).
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 10:33 am

Hello Martin,

Thank you for your exhaustive reply. However, as I'm changing the entire interface which includes MIDI, I know find myself in the unenviable position of having to configure the whole shebang from the ground up again. As you know, and we have corresponded about this topic before, the setup process of HW5's mixer is an outright nightmare.

I really wish you did something about this. I'm by no means a newcomer to computers, as I make my money by working as an AWS cloud architect, so complex systems are something I encounter every day. However, configuration-wise HW5 is by far the most convoluted piece of software I have ever encountered, and I've spent countless hours in music studios working with professional mixers. In comparison, HW5 feels incredibly over-engineered when it comes to its UX.

As a result, I have put off configuring my system for over two months. Can't avoid the pain any longer, though; concert coming up.

My system is now completely silent. Not even St Anne's works any longer. I need my 8 channel, 3-manual setup back for the Caen, but the documentation offers not a single shred of help. It might be in there somewhere, but it's all hidden by obscure verbiage and overly long sentences with multiple run-on clauses in italics and boldface and with an almost LISP-like forest of parentheses.

I'm really not looking forward to once again having to decipher the system of buses, controls, feeds, routes, alt buses etc etc etc. Also, the manual is worded and disposed in a way which is counterproductive in the extreme. The 4096-item long menus in "advanced" mode do not really help, either.

I've wasted so much time on HW5 configuration. HW is brilliant. Your UI however is abysmal. Sorry, but it's the only possible verdict. You'll need to do something about it, or you will lose customers like me. Upgrading to HW6 seems completely pointless until you actually make your brilliant piece of software configurable in earnest.

Please try, Martin. Configuring HW, as it is, is an insulting experience.
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 11:33 am

Hello Peter,

Sorry that the design isn't to your taste. (I personally find it exceptionally logical, which is why I designed it that way, but of course I appreciate that we are all different.)

PeterB wrote:However, as I'm changing the entire interface which includes MIDI, I know find myself in the unenviable position of having to configure the whole shebang from the ground up again.


As I mentioned, if you previously had the audio routing configured how you wanted it and you change your audio interface then all you have to do is to select the appropriate new physical device channels for the relevant ones of the 'logical output channels' on the 'General settings | Audio device and channels' screen'. If you were previously using 8 device channels (on your Focusrite Saffire) then you would probably just need to select the new device channels for the first 8 entries (i.e. for output channels 001 to 008) on the 'General settings | Audio device and channels' screen' screen. However, if you'd like us to check your settings to confirm whether they're configured to use output channels 001-008 (and thus whether those are indeed the ones for which you would need to select your new physical device channels), then do feel free to create a diagnostic file ('Help | Create a diagnostic file') and send it Francois at support [at] hauptwerk.com. That will allow us to see your existing settings.

(If you previously had the audio routing configured how you wanted it) there would be no need to change any audio/routing settings on any other screen.

Also, if you do/did decide to upgrade to Hauptwerk v6 (and assuming you haven't already cleared all MIDI settings for your previous interface) then you wouldn't need to auto-detect any MIDI settings again, because Hauptwerk v6 has a specific mechanism for migrating MIDI settings (a layer of abstraction between logical and physical MIDI ports, i.e. MIDI ports are 'virtualised' in v6 specifically to make it simple to remap them whenever needed).

PeterB wrote:The 4096-item long menus in "advanced" mode do not really help, either.


Filtering the entries by mixer preset (so that you don't have to scroll through all of the entries for others) is something that we do intend to add for a future version in the not-too-distant future.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 12:17 pm

Thanks again for a speedy and exhaustive reply.

Just let me say, Martin, before I continue, that UX design is not a subjective thing that someone may like or not like – it's nothing to do with aesthetics. It's entirely to do with functionality and giving the user the right kind of support in the interface itself, so that the operations handled by an interface are clear, distinct, logical and understandable. An example would be how much information is presented at a time. You, for instance, have a tendency to want to explain _everything_ a setting can do, to the point where all the explanations (both in the manual and on-screen) actually become hindrances to understanding rather than a help. Giving _all_ the information at once is not the best way of teaching something. UX design, like teaching, is a science, and there are university degrees in it. So it's not a question of liking or disliking the interface – as a professional, I've worked with horrendously ugly interfaces which still are crystal clear and easy to use. And so have you, you know what I mean.

The main error you do, in my opinion, is just that – you cram all functionality together in a small space, then pepper the dialogs with long, long instructional texts in boldface, italics and what have you, the idea being that giving all information at once somehow is easier for your customer than giving it piecemeal. Fancy learning how to drive a car that way – it's simply impossible. What you have to do is explain the _principles_ first, not give all the details of driving and all UK traffic rules before the learner turns on the ignition. When principles have been understood, details can be added. Almost all the dialogs in HW are intended to be "powerful", but they actually confuse the user. For _you_ as the designer, everything is of course crystal clear, so you overlook the fact that your customers are in a different space entirely, and this is your – and Hauptwerk's – greatest problem.

Unfortunately, as part of trying to get some kind of life into the weird zombie Hauptwerk has turned into, I did erase all settings in order to start over from the very beginning, as I didn't trust that any valuable information survived. It's easier to start from a known state, rather from a mixed one. But I might still contact François if redoing the setup proves impossible. But then I have done it before, at great pain.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I do think you live to a certain extent in a world of your own – try putting yourself in the shoes of your users when it comes to documentation, dialog and interface design. You know your product too well; another best UX practice is not to let brilliant developers such as yourself write their own documentation. But when they do, tell them to start with explaining basic principles, then add details. I also think you should have a couple more standard setups that can be activated straight out of the box, not just the one where everything is dumped by default into a two-speaker setup.

With the very best regards (believe me),
/ Peter
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 12:58 pm

Hello Peter,

Thanks for your thoughts.

PeterB wrote:But when they do, tell them to start with explaining basic principles, then add details


For the purposes of configuring your system again, I'd recommend reading through the 'Audio routing and impulse response reverb part 2 ...: Overview and key concepts for advanced use' section first (which starts on page 182 in the v5.0.1 version of the manual). That covers the core principles and how audio flows through the screens/entities. (The documentation could certainly be improved upon, but you should find the information you need there for now.)

PeterB wrote:I also think you should have a couple more standard setups that can be activated straight out of the box, not just the one where everything is dumped by default into a two-speaker setup.


Yes -- we do very much plan to add the ability to import/export audio routing set-ups (mixer presets), with a selection of pre-configured templates available for common situations (simple stereo, surround, 8-channel multi-channel, etc.). The aim had been to include that it in v5, but there wasn't time, and it's a high priority enhancement for the future.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 2:47 pm

Thanks, Martin. I know those sections well.
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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSat Jul 10, 2021 5:07 pm

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Re: Changing your sound card: best practices in v5?

PostSun Jul 11, 2021 9:07 am

For the record, I personally find the mixer in Hauptwerk V to be quite easy to understand and navigate. It’s true some GUI principals are universal, but there is also room for personal opinion and preference. The mixer screens, once you understand their basic functionality, work quite well, and it’s easy to do what you need to do. Personally I wouldn’t change anything.

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