Laptop for Live Effects Rack

Want more effects options than your console has? Are you in LOVE with a certain plugin that you wish you could use live? In this video I’ll walk you through how I set up Live Professor to be an FX Rack Host for my PreSonus StudioLive Series iii console, with just a USB cable and a laptop.
Use code “attaway” for 20% off Live Professor: audiostrom.com/store/
Live Mixing Field Guide: www.livemixingfieldguide.com
Presonus Studio Live Series iii sweetwater.sjv.io/g1D279
Macbook Air M2 sweetwater.sjv.io/da9Azj
Waves plugins mentioned:
R EQ waves.alzt.net/Or9J7G
H Delay waves.alzt.net/Gmb2RV
Doubler waves.alzt.net/k0aXxv
P.S. Those links are affiliate links, so if you buy after clicking through, it generates a small commission for me at no additional charge for you. It's just a way you can help support the channel :)
00:00 Intro
00:22 Launch plugin host
1:35 Channel layout setup/digital patching
7:44 Adding the plugins
8:14 EQ
9:23 Reverb
11:16 Live Mixing Field Guide
11:41 Delay
12:57 Vocal pitch
14:56 Listen & try stuff!
18:25 Final thoughts

[@Fograys]

The best part for me is the fact you're using the same presonus mixer as me 🙂. I didn't realize you can send different fx to the built-in fx returns, which frees up some inputs for yet more returns from my daw

[@itownmusicians]

Welcome back James!! And thank you for the promo on live professor!

[@ybyap]

Great video, you explains it well! I am using MacBook Air M1 with Live Professor connect with USB, plugins with EQ, autotune, and compression, the latency is about 20ms with 4 vocals. Sounds great!!! Thanks for posting.

[@jeff92k7]

Glad to see others using LiveProfessor. It's such a great plugin host. It's been incredibly reliable, and the best part is that I can use ANY plugin I want from any vendor. I'm not locked into that one brand of plugin from that vendor that wanted to screw their customers with a subscription only thing even after forcing people to keep buying their plugins over and over with WUP. LiveProfessor has been very reliable for me and runs both VST and AU plugins together on my M1 Macbook Air without breaking a sweat. I run mine primarily on a Yamaha TF console where I take channel pre-DSP/fader direct outs into LiveProfessor, process them individually, and then return the individual channels to the second input layer. Layer one then runs my monitors and layer two is all my FOH channels with all the plugin magic.

[@AttawayAudio]

Great setup!

[@joaquinsantana6903]

That way you end up having only 16 channels right ?

[@jeff92k7]

@@joaquinsantana6903 If you do each channel 1:1, then yes, you halve your total channel count.

[@ermannobonifazi]

Amazing video man, thanks for posting.

[@murraywebster1228]

With Gig Performer you can record at the same time and if I remember correctly, both with and without plugins at the same time

[@JefferyVincentArthur-wb1xn]

Would be glad if you can do a video on setting studiolive series III and superRack performer

[@DavidLeo13]

is there a walkthrough for SQ7 ? thanks for the videos you make :)

[@amitkawle7649]

Hey, can you please make a detailed comparison video of Live Professor vs Super rack performer 🙏🏼

[@Binatone704]

I have Si 3 Expression - And an iPad ' Please Tell any Free effects i can install in my tab and path them with my Consol.

[@AlanJonesUK]

Great video James Could you make a video for X32 using Dante for: Using Live Professor Recording multitracks into a DAW, ie Reaper Using sends and returns for FX with LP Love the channel

[@aaronadams1630]

I just got on my system to test this out and found that on the 64s you cannot route the fx sends. However, in our 32sc you can. I hadnt really considered the possibility of routing those particular sends, so that's actually a very exciting possibility for the 32 channel models, and maybe for some of my extra flex mixes on the 64. You can even route them out of analog sends if you have some old school effects sitting in your church closet!

[@AttawayAudio]

Yeah i saw that in another comment too. I guess they figured with 32 flex mixes, that was enough

[@wileec5939]

Interesting video - and helpful, too. I find myself leaning toward SuperRack Performer, as it seems there is a lot more support for it, for use with the X32 - but Live Professor seems to have some great features, too - so it's been rough trying to choose between the two. It seems that Waves has emulations for most of the great analog gear that other makers have - but certainly not all. That said, I'm starting to think that, in terms of impact to the service - just being able to have some great DSP options will be a great asset, regardless of the platform. AND, from the myriad of things I've read and watched, Waves seems to have a pretty good selection of solid plugins to choose from at this point - and hopefully will add to that collection over time, some of the emulations they are currently missing.

[@DontMe__]

In terms of reliability, I'm not too sure about LiveProfessor. I've not seen many professional sound techs use/recommend it and have seen a few NOT recommending it for mission critical applications. While it _technically_ works, it may not be the most reliable. An "upside" of LiveProfessor is that you're able to run other plugins as well aside from Waves. However, most non-Waves plugins were intended for studio use and could potentially induce unexpected latency when run live. So in reality, this may be a fairly limited advantage. Also, SuperRack Performer is actually cheaper at $99 vs €99 for LiveProfessor.

[@wileec5939]

@@DontMe__ One of the things I have been considering is the fact that Waves has a master list of their plugins and the latency for each one. Most of the most used have 0 latency, so that for a high quality laptop, setup up right, in terms of cache, etc. the main latency will be from the USB roundtrip. That is valuable info. Also - all the software is DESIGNED to work together, and some of it for LIVE sound, not just studio work - and that is some of what is causing me to lean toward SuperRack Performer. And, the reality that in the long run, I expect to be getting into more serious consoles, many of which support Waves plugins either out of the box or with a card added. Decisions, decisions.

[@AttawayAudio]

Great discussion here. Note that Live Professor measures each plugin's latency as it loads, so you can find out which ones will work for live, even if it's not published like Waves' list. I found PLENTY of near-zero latency plugins from Plugin Alliance and others. And yes, USB roundtrip can be more of a factor than individual plugin latency. I haven't had any reliability issues with Live Professor, and I've installed it in several churches that use it each week as part of their workflow.

[@mrdali67]

I'm really interested in how much latency those 30% cpu usage adds to the effect host. Currently thinking of purchasing the Studio Live 32SC and a macbook for using AVB instead of USB for our band as It would also give me (keyboard) the ability to have sounds comming directly from the computer beside my keyboards, but I'm kinda VERY iffy with latency as I get extremely annoyed with latency when using soft synths (just 5ms is too much for me...) Don't know if the latency means so much for patching effects from the computer. Also, is it possible to link scenes from the Studio Live mixers with the settings from the effect host ? I so wish presonus would have put midi in the Studio Live boards like the older 16.02. I currently use a Studio 1824C interface at home and am primarily a PC user, but only Mac works native with AVB.

[@miltonbobe6274]

Always wanted to know what song is that you use and who sings it

[@mrdali67]

if it's a macbook, why not just use a cat 6 cable to the AVB connector ?

[@florinadiemer9936]

Do you have no problem with latency?

[@AundreHamilton]

This was a great video. I wish I could have heard what you did in actual stereo. It was in mono, but I got the gist! Thank you Attaway! Gonna try this on my Presonus 32R.

[@ckjjclan]

Any idea of the additional latency for out/processing/back in and over to the main L/R fader?

[@wileec5939]

In my *research* - as that is the stage I'm at - it really depends on you mixer - what interface you are going out - AND what plugins you are using to determine the latency AND IF, or how complicated it is to apply outboard DSP to buses or main LR. On X32 USB, it is a straight in/out only on the main 32 inputs - no matter how you are routing things internally (using the standard card with USB). Being able to use any of the outboard stuff on buses or main LR seems to be a manner of using a different option, via Aux buses which is more limiting and more latency. The pain of having to do dual channels - one for IEM/monitors and one for live/stream already cuts your inputs in half and adds a layer of complexity that getting volunteers to understand tougher - and we all need good volunteers. In my opinion, while some have been doing this awhile - most are knowledgeable only about what they have worked out - so not much general experience with all AND not much trial on the edges because there are so many variables. I don't know if the limitations are with the mixers, the I/O routing, or the software itself. At this point, my leaning is between the mixer and the USB, etc connection point. Once one is within the mixer OR within the software there is all kinds of routing flexibility - a part of why we love digital. From what I can try to learn from others, it feels like we are in the early days of this, so any one of us is in the wild wild west to a certain degree. The small number of videos talking about this are very specific to THEIR setup and current preference, so unless you are on the exact same page, in terms of mixer, connection port, and platform (SuperRack Performer or Live Professor - or older ones that use an outboard server instead of a good laptop), it's hard to find general info to try to learn from. I haven't found much in forums either, though some. What I have learned: bit rate and cache are critical. In terms of Waves (my opinion) - better to go with a subscription right up front, so you have access to the whole group, as there are great plugins not included in their smaller sub - AND realistically - this is pretty cheap for what is available. Sub assures of updates and especially for a church I think that is important. On paper, I get the appeal of Live Professor, and it would be my leaning if I could find more support for it - both from real users like James (here) and the company itself. I'm not a fan of having to support the biggest gorilla in the room, and I know PA has some great plugins (I own more than a dozen from them), but compatibility and reliability are more important to me, in a church scenario. Does it mean I might not get the absolute best EQ, compressor, etc. That's certainly possible - but I'll wager 95% of the people in the audience, if not more - would not hear the difference between some of the good free ones and the most expensive, so I think we can spend too much time overthinking this stuff. That and, by the time one has run things through 3-6 FX units, it may well be over-processed anyway - eliminating the benefits of the nuanced benefits of one EQ or compressor over another. Sorry for the long reply - I'm trying to learn along with everyone else.

[@Reeju]

Hi James, what am I doing wrong? I am hearing both my input and tuned output together! Tried waves plugin with Studio one and used one channel from my SL3 to test. Thanks

[@SaveManWoman]

I’m sure a good video but I was looking to simply use my MacBook Pro with logic for live performance without feedback and reprocessing which caused feedback and changes sound. This is a big too advance for me 😅

[@homeofpleng7501]

how to download plugin for liveprofessor ?

[@titov7823]

Hey James! We just got the Presonus studio live iii 😁 In your opinion, what is you favorite reverb for vocals?

[@aaronadams1630]

Plate Reverb. I use it for all of my vocal verbs. I find the others very difficult to manage. I also aggressively high pass, low pass, and compress the outputs to those verbs.

[@jesseleon-moss7187]

Hi James. I have the studiolive 64s and in the digital patching section in USB sends there is no FX A through to FX D. Is there a work around for this that you are aware of.

[@AttawayAudio]

On mine, they're between the Flex Mixes and the Subgroups on the list. Are you using all 32 flex mixes? That's what I would use as option #2

[@jesseleon-moss7187]

I got help from Presonus and they recommended using a Matrix setup which I managed to get working pretty well. I work in a Theatre and am lucky enough to use a Digico SD12 mixing professional touring bands, musicals and so on. I bought the StudioLive 64s to use for my home studio use and mixing local bands at small venues. I bought your eq cheat sheet and love watching your videos and have found them a great help. Thankyou and keep up the great work, it's very much appreciated.

[@wesleyjeanpierre5856]

Hi thanks for all the videos 😊is it possible to do this setting with an iPad Pro ?

[@AttawayAudio]

Haven't tried it! Though I do want one. I've really grown to love using a stylus on my ipad for note taking and drawing.

[@dudeinak5653]

Please try it and let us know. I have a buddy who’s church just bought an analog Yamaha MPG32X and while the preamps sound great, it’s still analog. I had this idea of using the channel inserts into an audio interface and then using an iPad Pro with logic for EQ, dynamics and effects.

[@acv2911]

How you did that virtual soundcheck while running professor live ?

[@AttawayAudio]

I have a hard disk recorder that plays back the tracks via XLR, so I can use the analog inputs on my console.

[@acv2911]

@@AttawayAudio there’s a way to rewire Logic Pro to supperrack and do it virtually?

[@romangaytanz6669]

I ordered online and have not received anything. How can I get in touch with someone?

[@AttawayAudio]

If it's one of my products, just reply to the email [e-mail] with your order information for customer service. Thanks!

[@abnerx.cruzrivera1772]

How about a board that does not have usb? We have an avantis, will getting a audio interface and using fx sends to send to laptop? Love the vid!

[@jakedoyle6523]

The problem with this could be additional latency from DAC

[@homeenforcer]

Did you get Dpack on your Avantis?

[@abnerx.cruzrivera1772]

@@homeenforcer yeah, I do have it, I just want to use the laptop for H-verb since the stock reverb is not the best (i am not saying is bad, it’s just ok), and maybe thinking about adding some color to the LR

[@efrainperezjr402]

Probably the best way to fix this is to add a Dante card to the Avantis (if it doesn't come with it already) and to the receiving computer to send and return the channels between them both that way. This would almost certainly be faster than any version of USB, and get all your channels in and out.

[@abnerx.cruzrivera1772]

@@efrainperezjr402 thanks! We do have dante, I’ll see about doing an experiment with this

[@thomasricks5737]

is there a way i can contact @attawayaudio