Atomizer not working with Ableton Live

    Hi,


    I just recently purchased a new audio interface and I'm now enjoying the sweet analog I/O of my Virus TI, but for the life of me I cannot get the Atomizer to work at all. I'm running the new beta OS for the Virus but nothing worked in 4.0.5 either. I'm using Ableton Live 8 Suite, on an iMac running OS 10.5.8, with a TC Konnekt48 as my audio interface. I am using USB interface and Virus Control only for MIDI, automation and editing arpeggios; sending all audio entirely into and out of the Virus' analog I/O. I have tried pulling the USB connection to no avail. Using the Virus as a synth works absolutely fine, but when I try to use the Atomizer I get no sound at all. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

    It seems the Atomizer simply is not working in my Virus. I've tried using the TI as my soundcard and running iTunes through it - I get audio out of my speakers, but nothing changes when I hit any keys.

    I don't think you can use the atomizer when you use the TI as a soundcard.


    Obviously the below will only work if you've chosen the new interface you've mentioned as the audio device in preferences. You'll also need to dedicate an output for the Atomizer signal so if you've only got two outs on your interfcace you'll probably have to plug in headphones to the TI to hear the Atomizer.


    In Live, load VC, then create another midi channel and send its out put to the channel 1 on the TI. As you're only using USB for midi I believe you'll need to send the output to either Virus TI Midi or Virus TI Synth rather than the Virus TI channel itself.


    Create an audio channel, drop a sample on it, then send it's output to the input of the TI. Then in VC, on channel 1, go to the FX 1 tab and choose 'Dynamic' from the input menu, then choose 'On' from the Atomizer menu. If you're sending a stereo signal from the audio channel have 'L+R' selected otherwise choose either 'L' or 'R' depending on which input is receiving the signal.


    Then create another audio track to receive input from whichever analog output you're sending the Atomizer signal to (you can choose this on the Common page, I think). Set monitor to 'In'.


    Finally, enter or play some midi notes in the same region where the audio file is and you should hear the output of the Atomizer on your second audio track in Live.


    HTH...


    :)

    Thanks, this worked! ... Sort of.


    I'm going to have to create some awkward mappings to turn the thing on and off as a return, but so far I am getting audio through it in my template Live set. Thank you again! I just have a couple more questions:
    - Why do I have to use a new audio track to return the audio from the Virus, instead of, for example, an instance of External Audio Effect?
    - Why do I have to point whatever material I'm sending, directly at the track with VC on it (meaning, I assume, directly out the TI's USB)? I can return audio from the Atomizer out the analog outs and through my interface, but whenever I try to point the outgoing audio at the analog out corresponding to the Atomizer's input, I get no sound.
    - Why do the effects on the Atomizer not work properly? I can get reverbs out of it fine, but when I so much as touch the Distortion Type/Mix knob, I lose the ability to Atomize.
    - As a matter of fact, half of the time it just doesn't work! I have to hit stop/play again, sometimes several times, to hear the effects of the Atomizer.
    - What's with this crazy latency I can't get rid of? If I send audio directly from a track to the track with VC on it, there is none. But that's not what I want; I want to be able to use the Atomizer as a return, - to be able to turn it on or off for any track I want to work with. So I've sent a track to my B return, and pointed the B return's 'Audio Out' to my VC plugin track. This works, but like I said there's an unbearable latency that I can't seem to get rid of, even using MULTIPLES of my overall latency (i.e: latency is 7.44ms, so I've tried -7.44, -14.88, ~-29, etc.).


    Zitat

    In Live, load VC, then create another midi channel and send its out put to the channel 1 on the TI. As you're only using USB for midi I believe you'll need to send the output to either Virus TI Midi or Virus TI Synth rather than the Virus TI channel itself.


    As a related aside, I actually can't get MIDI signal into the TI if I use these options - even though I have enabled 'Track' and 'Sync' in the MIDI preferences for both ins/outs of both Virus TI (MIDI) and Virus TI (Synth), I still need to point external instrument devices at the channel with VC on it (I call it 'TI Control') to see MIDI data in the VC plugin. If I point the external instrument's MIDI output to 'Virus TI (MIDI)' or 'Virus TI (Synth)', I see nothing in VC.

    I was at my desk at work when I posted that so I was going off my sketchy memory, sorry...


    In response to your questions:


    - You can use an instance of External Audio Effect but you'll still need a track to put it on, yeah?


    - Silly me didn't say that you can only send MIDI to TI MIDI & TI Synth when the TI is in standalone mode, no VC. I find that the TI responds better to audio input signals when VC isn't involved, you can use VC but I tend to have a hard time with it. So you'll need to put the TI into sequencer mode when its hooked up to Live, without VC, and then setup your MIDI and audio tracks as I described, the only thing you'll need to change is the audio input mode. I said 'dynamic' but you'll need 'static' which passes through audio when you're not pushing a key on your controller or sending a MIDI note.


    - The effects section only works on Atomized sounds so whatever you dial in will only be heard on the Atomized signal. I think this is on both input modes too.


    - This is why it's better to Atomize when you're in standalone mode.


    - I'm still trying to figure out the latency bit myself, I've got exactly the same problem. Really sucks when you want to use an envelope in 'Dynamic' mode. If you figure it out let me know! I tried using multiples of the latency too, to no avail. :(


    - Your last point comes back to not running in standalone mode, as you're using VC and trying to use the TI MIDI & TI Synth ports.


    Let me know how you go...

    Hey, thanks again for all your help. I seem to have it running with VC at a bearable level of latency that so far hasn't really impacted the ability to Atomize creatively.


    I have my B return pointed at the track with VC on it, and set to pre-fader. I've created a MIDI track next to the VC track, pointed at it and set to channel 16, to control the Atomizer. I also have an audio track taking audio from my interface's 9/10 outputs, acting as the actual return for the Atomized audio. I had a lot of trouble turning the B send into one of those 'magic sends' (making the return act like an inline effect), so instead I used the crossfader on the APC40. All of the audio tracks are set to crossfade A, and the Atomizer return track (not the B return, the new track actually taking audio from the analog I/O) set to crossfade B. In this way, it allows me to simply arm the Atomizer MIDI channel (which I've mapped to a numpad key), turn up the B send on my chosen track, and snap the crossfader over to the right. There's a small gap/phasing in the middle of the crossfader but it's not really that noticeable. Maybe I should play around with crossfade settings.


    Now, I'm still incurring a little bit of latency. Actually it seems like it would normally be an unacceptable amount, but in the few minutes I've experimented so far I haven't really had a problem. The B return is set to -29.76ms of delay compensation. I have a 'resampling' track that I use for burning track parts etc., so I've experimented with that and it seems like the first little bit of the first bar is cut off, so I think the solution is to start resampling with the crossfader to the left, and slam it over to the Atomizer AFTER I hit record.


    But it's stable so far. One more question: Since I'm still technically using the USB, I guess I can pull the MIDI I/O from the Virus and free that up for another device, eh? Also, I guess I should learn how to use standalone mode in case I ever bring this thing onstage somewhere, lol.


    Thanks a million for your responses, Shesh! You've been really helpful!


    EDIT: Actually now it's acting up a little bit, things are coming out of time, etc. The Virus, for one thing, seems to be operating at a slightly higher tempo, meaning when I use the low octave to loop things by the 1/8th or 1/16th note, for example, their rate is faster than my track tempo. And I'm experiencing latency problems again, out of nowhere. Although, this could be my Live set, things have been acting up in that lately (right now my cue volume is going nuts, like there's some sort of LFO tied to it).