sorry, its a very long post:
personally, i´d like to promote the solution i use nowadays. Works at least vs. newer Macs. (M1/M2) The base is: just use two GP instances / no aggregate device needed anylonger.
So, i run one GP instance as a plain audio hub, kind of thing.
it is set to autostart ! it opens now with the PC, when powering up.
this GP instance is the only Host / DAW in my PC that sends audio directly out to my (second / good) audio interface !
the audio input is set to “blackhole, 16CH”.
my main GP instance for music making is set to, Audio out: blackhole
cubase is set to audio, in-Out, blackhole.
My audio Editor Wavelab is also set to, in-out: “blackhole”
Multimedia,…Firefox with YT and Netflix is set to: System audio.
for these, i then use rogue amoebas “Loopback” to rewire my multimedia over to blackhole.
by chosing the respective in-out routings wisely on that second GP-audio routing- instance (important !!), is a very fluid, and completly disturbance free operation doable,
=> under all circumstances !
after years of dealing with hassle, i found my solution with this setup !
to notes is this:
when i running GP patches with a very high CPU count, and i would set Audio-IN and Audio-Out to different AI devices, like Blackhole + the actual AI, am i under the impression that “this” adds latency. I do not have this impression if the CPU load is very little.
This aspect is, what made me switch my thinking, and finally move over to “allways” use a second GP instance.
this 2nd GP has a buffer setting of 64 samples. works like a charm. it has the least latency in my opinion, vs. all other such methods i tested.
It is so little, that i use my 2nd GP instance now allways.
means, my first GP instance, the musik making one, goes now allways thru my 2nd GP instance.
so i use now for everything i am doing, EVERYTHING AUDIO +Multimedia, a second GP instance, just alone for the aspect of audio routing.
It is there also for all final volume controls, EQ + compresion for multimedia late at night, …just about everything.
i run a small HW midi controller just alone used for this GP-multimedia/Audio- instance.
its a dream for anything multimedia, since i create “one-knob” controlled morphs in GP, to tame multimedia vs. late night TV, incoming telephones etc.
for pro audio usage, its also a dream with this setup.
i never could really make friendship with aggregated devices myself. i tryed.
i find, that this solution, working with two GP instances is also the best solution vs. small Latency needs, assoon we want to take advantage of using virtual audio cables or dealing with two different AIs.
The stumbling block is only this:
you NEED to create a in-out routing pattern vs. all involved audio Apps, that creates no conflict.
You need to come up with a solution that works for ALL usecase scenarios !
Never switch it, do not deal with different thinking patterns !
Set ALL apps accordingly…its key, here.
then, things just work.
Its absolutely fantastic.
Remember: blackhole has 16 channels ( and could be altered by the user, if needed)
that audio routing usecase alone would allready justify the purchase of GigPerformer.
Gladly, “we” allready have it 