Elektron Digitakt Overbridge

Anaximander78 · January 28, 2021, 9:36pm

Hey people of zynthianplanet…

first of all thanks again to @jofemodo for sending me the presoldered pcb all those months back. After all these exhausting weeks of 2nd lockdown i slowly find my way back to the table, with these little devices wanting to be pressed and squeezed asking: “Stupid master didnt take of us…”

Well…

i have a working zynth right now. I connected it to a behringer umc404hd to route my microfreak, volca beats and drum through applying effects and to have the fourth output playing the synth engines of zynthian engines through this.

Since this is working like a small revelation to me (took me at least a week to understand i can hook my audio interface and can work with the in/outs without a hassle!!!).

Sooo my question is this: i have a pretty heavy used elektron digitakt on the way to centerbrain my setup. Since the behringer umc is working so fine, has anyone experience here with the digitakt and overbridge, so that the eight audio audiotracks will be recognized as ins/outs by the zynth over usb?

Rock on

riban · January 29, 2021, 9:06am

I don’t have any experience with the elektron digitak but I do use a Behringer multi-channel audio device with my Zynthian. You need to find out whether Linux supports the elektron digitak. Try this:

Plug in the elektron digitak to the Zynthian
From console (ssh or use webconf System->Terminal) type: aplay -L

This will list all the audio channels recognised for all the audio devices that ALSA (the linux audio device module) recognises.

Also get the output from:

aplay -l

which will list the audio devices. With this info we can see if the elektron digitak is recognised and supported by the Linux kernel and drivers installed on Zynthian and work out what configuration is required to enable it.

Baggypants · January 29, 2021, 9:25am

A quick search on the internet shows the digitak works with Linux but remember to put it into “usb audio mode”.

Anaximander78 · January 29, 2021, 9:47am

Thanks. I am so happy linux became really usable for Audio. Ardour recognizes almost everything i throw at it.

Anaximander78 · January 29, 2021, 9:48am

Very useful, thanks a bunch. The Digi will be here end of next week. Will report back

Anaximander78 · February 8, 2021, 5:06pm

Hey… so the Digi arrived today. It is recognised as follows:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: b1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1], device 0: bcm2835 HDMI 1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 2: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 3: Digitakt [Elektron Digitakt], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 4: U192k [UMC404HD 192k], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

and aplay -L

root@zynthian:~# aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=b1
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=b1
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Default Audio Device
dmix:CARD=b1,DEV=0
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=b1,DEV=0
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=b1,DEV=0
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=b1,DEV=0
bcm2835 HDMI 1, bcm2835 HDMI 1
Hardware device with all software conversions
default:CARD=Headphones
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Headphones
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Default Audio Device
dmix:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0
bcm2835 Headphones, bcm2835 Headphones
Hardware device with all software conversions
default:CARD=Digitakt
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Digitakt
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Front speakers
surround21:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Digitakt,DEV=0
Elektron Digitakt, USB Audio
Hardware device with all software conversions
default:CARD=U192k
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=U192k
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Front speakers
surround21:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=U192k,DEV=0
UMC404HD 192k, USB Audio
Hardware device with all software conversions

riban · February 8, 2021, 5:54pm

Okay try this:

Within webconf navigate to Hardware->Audio
SelectGeneric Usb Device
Enable Advanced view
Change Jackd Options to -P 70 -t 2000 -d alsa -d hw:Digitakt -r 44100 -p 256 -n 2 -s -S -X raw
Save
Reboot

This may give start with the first two audio inputs / outputs. It may offer more. After rebooting you could look in webcong Hardware->Audio at the Mixer Controls. Click the + and see if the other audio input / output are available.

You could use -r 48000 if you want 48000 samples per second.

Anaximander78 · February 9, 2021, 11:17am

Like you said. The two ins/outs. Nothing more (or less )

And by the way: Amazing work with zynseq. If you all continue like this my table will be empty of any hardware except the zynthbox very soon… if i only knew.

Anaximander78 · February 10, 2021, 12:00pm

So, i guess overbridge will stay kind of open territory for now. However over at Elektronauts some people kind of worked out a breakoutbox based for Raspberry:

A guy in this thread ( OB for Linux (sorta ;) - General Discussion - Elektronauts ) figured out a digitakt usb driver for linux; digitakt usb audio driver on RaspberryPi · GitHub

But how to implement this into zynthianos is beyond me.

For the meantime, if i hook up the umc404 and the Digitakt i can run “alsa_out -d hw:3” (Digitakt Device number as result of “cat /proc/asound/cards”) and have as a result 5 outs i can apply zynthian effects to.

riban · February 10, 2021, 5:26pm

What do you get if you configure your machine to use the digitakt and then click on the + button below Mixer Controls on http://zynthian.local/hw-audio? This should show the audio inputs and outputs of your card and allow you to add them to Zynthian.

I recommend avoiding using the card index, e.g. hw:3 and instead use the device name e.g. hw:Digitakt. This is because devices may be enumerated differently on each restart. It can depend on what is currently plugged in so hw:3 may point to a different card or nothing.

Anaximander78 · February 10, 2021, 8:57pm

Hi,

this:

icaria36 · December 10, 2022, 2:10pm

Hi, maybe this comes too late for this party, but the answer to many questions about Elektron devices and Linux is Overwitch.

No idea how applicable this is to Zynthian, though.

edgargoncalves · December 10, 2022, 2:32pm

Overbridge has been a game changer for me, Mac user, as it’s easy to get multitrack data directly via the plugin into a daw with just a usb cable, no fuss about combined audio interfaces. Not sure how easy it would be to get Zynthian to do something similar, but it would be yet another killer feature for sure. Though might not be the top priority for now, Dev wise, and that’s perfectly reasonable.

icaria36 · December 10, 2022, 3:17pm

I have used Overwitch with the Syntakt, Ubuntu, and Bitwig. Yes, having every audio channel independently available in the DAW is pretty impressive. You can even plug another synth to the Syntakt through the audio in jack, and that too will be available in the DAW on its own audio channel.

What Overwitch doesn’t provide is all the Overbridge UI to manipulate the synths and effects but well, as a Linux user you still have the actual machine to do that.

The Syntakt is not only a very interesting instrument, it is also a very capable audio interface.

edgargoncalves · December 10, 2022, 3:28pm

I have a syntakt as well, but still having fun with it on a performance level, didn’t feel the need to fiddle with overbridge to manipulate any sound yet. I know it’s coming but still not there yet (specially as they keep adding new features into the firmware!).

As for integrating it with Zynthian, my ideas (still on the whiteboard) are around getting some recording out of Syntakt maybe put them through a granular plugin. And/or to get some fancier midi effects coming out of Zynthian into Syntakt, as you can only get so much creativity with that machine (it’s a lot, don’t get me wrong. But there’s always more variety of styles with plugins!)

riban · December 10, 2022, 8:05pm

In theory it should be possible to integrate overwitch in Zynthian but it requires developer effort and testing. I don’t know if any of the developers have the hardware required to test this.

le51 · December 10, 2022, 10:33pm

Hello,

I wonder how these gears (like Kontakt) are seen by a Linux box using the USB interface.
What does

arecord -l

command tell ?

edgargoncalves · December 11, 2022, 1:27pm

Completely understandable - and like I said above, it makes perfect sense not to push this to the top of the pile, as the existent feature set in Zynthian has a lot going on already that warrants devs’ time in order to make it even more robust out of the box. Which I think it’s what in the end will set it apart from a ‘pet project’ for many end users (specially those that are terminal-phobic ).

Funkylsk · November 19, 2024, 8:14pm

Hi all! Sorry to up this thread, but maybe I have a chance if both projects has evolved ?

I’m not sure, but it’s actually possible to add usb input the the zynthian mixer ? even a stereo input for one gear ?

riban · November 19, 2024, 9:15pm

Hi @Funkylsk. Do you mean adding a USB audio interface in addition to the main audio interface? This is not currently possible. Zynthian uses jack as it’s audio and MIDI interface which requires exactly one audio device.

There is a development branch I have that adds hot-plug USB audio but it is not ready for test.