The QC and the digital mixing board are both recognized as audio interfaces by the computer they’re connected to. And they’re both moving audio to-and-through the computer. They can even be combined as an aggregate digital audio interface.
Is there no way to take the QC’s 8 channels of low-latency USB audio and make them available as inputs on a live performance digital mixing board that has even lower latency? If it’s not possible, can someone please give a detailed explanation why this is the case when so many audio interfaces are sending & routing audio through USB?
Now I can answer my own question. The founder of Metric Halo (can’t recommend them enough for personal, top-shelf tech support) said that sending QC USB audio to their digital mixing board would require “enabling USB host support” in the board so it can do what computers do when you plug in a USB interface – see & address the interface.
This is the great irony about digital audio interfaces – they don’t interface with each other, just a computer and DAW “middle-man” The reason this is a problem for live performance is the round-trip through the computer adds so much latency, it doesn’t work for live use.
Everyone knows that, and yet no one is adding USB host support to their interfaces so they can INTERFACE with other interfaces in a live setting. Metric Halo said they don’t have USB host support up and running yet.
Given that QC runs off same/similar sharc chips, QC could also work on enabling USB host support. This would open up huge send / route possibilities for live work, and QC could definitely capture a lot more of the live / touring market. Just FYI in case anyone reads this.
Thanks - that’s proprietary within Line 6 ecosystem. To clarify, I’m talking about cross-platform non-proprietary, that’s what USB host support is. If the nicer interfaces had that, they could all talk to each other, which was my point.