With all the different setups, systems and DAW combinations Overbridge can sometimes be a bit tricky to wrap your head around. Here we will collect FAQ, tips and tricks, and workflow and update this top post as we go. Feel free to contribute and discuss below.
FAQ
System Requirements
COMPUTER OS
macOS 10.12, 10.13, 10.14 or 10.15 (latest update)
Windows 10 (latest Service Pack)
COMPUTER HARDWARE
At least Intel Core i5 CPU. Ultra-Low Power CPUs like the Intel U-Series or Y-Series are generally not recommended
8GB of RAM
OpenGL 3.2 capable GPU
A 1280 x 768 pixels resolution monitor
At least 250 MB free hard drive space
A dedicated USB host port for each connected Overbridge supported Elektron device is preferable to minimize problems with both connectivity and performance. If you want to connect multiple Elektron instruments to a computer host with only one USB controller, a high-quality hub, such as the Elektron Overhub, should be used.
The specs are not the only thing necessary to have a smooth experience. Real-time performance of the system is equally important. This is affected by other running processes and by different manufacturers of computer hardware.
Recommended DAWs
Currently Overbridge works best in Ableton, Logic, Bitwig and Studio One. Cubase and Reaper are being worked on at the moment.
Selecting an Elektron device as a sound card: CoreAudio & Bit-Accurate
Bit-Accurate is a HAL driver; an old Apple audio technology. It is a thin layer close to the hardware and pretty similar to ASIO in how it works. The result is always bit accurate and the latency should also be very low. Typically, HAL is an exclusive mode (only one application can use the device).
CoreAudio is Apple’s later audio tech, and nowadays the only choice. It does not guarantee bit accuracy since the audio may or may not be resampled along the way. It may or may not add additional latency to the streams, depending on the rest of the audio setup (for example aggregate devices). CoreAudio is typically non-exclusive, allowing multiple apps to use the same interface.
We would recommend using CoreAudio since HAL seems to be deprecated in recent macOS updates.
If you already have a sound card, then the Overbridge plugin will allow you to access the individual audio streams, including the psychical inputs from the Elektron unit - while still using another sound card assigned in a DAW.
Using Overbridge with MKI & MKII devices
All MKI and MKII devices that host a high-speed 480Mbit/s USB port will stream at 32bit 48kHz on all channels at all times. It does not matter if the USB hub is MTT. All devices hosting a 12Mbit/s USB port will need to utilise the user-set channel config inside the Overbrige Control Panel app that determines which channels should stream and at what quality (16/24bit). Depending on hub setup and computer OS, the mileage may vary depending on how many channels you can run. This may change between computer OS versions as well. If you mix other USB devices with a 12Mbit/s device, it is important that you use an MTT hub such as Overhub.
Tips & Tricks
Record send FX on an individual track
Recording the send FX separately can only be done by isolating the FX output at the master output. To do this, change the track audio routings inside SETTINGS / AUDIO ROUTING on your machine. The tracks can be un-routed from the master output by pressing the Trig buttons on that menu. These tracks will need to be monitored via individual audio streams through Overbridge Stand Alone or VSTi & AU plugins inside a DAW. Check out the DAW templates to get you started.
Record parameter automation in DAW
Hit record on your DAW and change parameters on Overbridge connected device. The parameter changes will be recorded into the DAW - great for adding those subtle changes to your music.
Analog treatment of Digital DAW audio
Drag and drop the Analog Heat plugin into any DAW track, or route DAW tracks into Analog Four or Rytm to start adding that analog goodness. The analog systems always run in physical real-time. This means you cannot use the traditional non-realtime bounce functionality of your DAW to render down the audio. Instead, you have to rely on real-time resampling functionality (or if your DAW sports a real-time bounce functionality
Routing individual tracks inside a DAW
The plugins handle the multitrack audio streams. Individual tracks should be routed from the plugin to other tracks inside the DAW. Check out the Templates for basic setup styles.
Syncing Overbridge units to DAW
The plugins handle the sync, which can be toggled at the top of the plugin interface.
Multi-track recording template for Digitakt in Ableton. Note that, to get the Delay & Reverb signals separately, you will need to un-route the audio tracks from the master on the Digitakt. These settings can be found in Settings / Audio Routing. When this is done, the Digitakt Main channel on Ableton will only have wet FX. Digitakt Multitracking Template Project.zip (26.6 KB)
Ableton & Digitone Multitracking
Multi-track recording template for Digitone in Ableton. Note that, to get the Chorus & Delay & Reverb signals separately, you will need to un-route the audio tracks from the master on the Digitone. These settings can be found in Settings / Audio Routing. When this is done, the Digitone Main channel on Ableton will only have wet FX. Digitone Multitracking Template Project.zip (37.1 KB)
Ableton & Analog Four MK2 Multitracking
Multi-track recording template for Analog Four in Ableton. Note that, to get the Chorus & Delay & Reverb signals separately, you will need to un-route the audio tracks from the master on the Analog Four. These settings can be found in Settings / Audio Routing. When this is done, the Analog Four Main channel on Ableton will only have wet FX. Analog Four Multitracking Template Project.zip (26.4 KB)
Ableton & Analog Rytm MK2 Multitracking
Multi-track recording template for Analog Rytm in Ableton. Note that, to get the Delay & Reverb signals separately, you will need to un-route the audio tracks from the master on the Analog Rytm. These settings can be found in Settings / Audio Routing. When this is done, the Analog Rytm Main channel on Ableton will only have wet FX. Also, separated tracks won’t be affected by the analog distortion & compressor. Analog Rytm Multitracking Template Project.zip (33.4 KB)
Troubleshooting
Device is not recognized by the Overbridge Engine
Make sure your Elektron device is set to Overbridge mode.
If you are on macOS make sure that your driver is not blocked (via System Preferences - Security & Privacy).
If you are on Windows and have had a previous version installed. Make sure to uninstall then reboot, re-install and again reboot. It is very important to reboot both after uninstalling and installing.
Installing Overbridge on Win 7, Win 8.1
In some cases it is possible to install and run Overbridge in Windows 7 and 8.1 if you disable driver signature enforcement. This is unsupported and by doing this you are disabling important safety features in Windows. Use at your own risk.
Known Issues
Automation using Overbridge may cause sluggish GUI
Heavy automation using external MIDI CC or using Overbridge may slowdown the GUI on the unit.
Possible compatibility issues with MOTU audio interfaces
We are getting reports of possible compatibility issues with MOTU audio interfaces.
Logic 10.5 multi-out issue
Logic 10.5 has a reported bug affecting multi-out. We recommend updating to Logic 10.5.1 which fixes this issue.
Logic Pro X - 44.1kHz sample rate issues
Make sure to set your Logic Pro X project to 48kHz to avoid issues when running Overbridge as an audio interface.
Multiple modulation sources
When using aftertouch and pitch bend at the same time it may reset the active modulation amount. Please refrain from using multiple sources for the time being.
Samples not loading or showing up in plugin
This can occur if the sample list has samples that have been removed in the plugin, and the machine might not sync correctly. The solution is to simply fill those slots with other samples; they are not really occupied.
What makes you believe it’s not compatible? It’s been working great for a long time now. Have you tried it? The video linked is over a year old now, but he shows you how to set it up. Not all DAW’s behave the same way.
When using OB and an external USB audio interface in parallel, is it wiser to connect them to the same or different USB controllers?
Trying all permutations of connections and latency/buffer settings to find a stable OB setup. So far I ve experience many clicks n pops and an occasional complete OB dropout. Ableton, win10, AR2, Xone:96, high spec’ed i7 6-core laptop.
For those concerned with making OB2 fly on Win7 (64bit), I am pleased to report that it does infact work.
Stability may be another question (I only just got it working, will need some time to try it out.)
What made the difference for me (aside from the driver signing matter), was this post.
It strikes me as counter-intuitive to have the device (Digitakt in my case) on & attached ahead of installing the software.
In my experience this is directly counter to what generally works for installing new USB hardware.
No more crackles and glitches. Seems like my laptop’s power management was causing it, even though I ran it on its high performance mode with PSU plugged in.
Gotta do some more testing to understand whether running OB and audio interface on the same or different USB controllers makes any difference.
Even on my workstation I noticed a big difference when I switched to high performance power plan. The plan covers a range of settings. The one that had the most impact is the “Processor power management” “Minimum processor state”. It defaults to 5% in the normal power plan. Setting it to 100% is what did it for me.
When I did this I was concerned that my cpu would over heat or that fans would ramp up speed, so I was surprised that neither of those things happened. But now the bitwig dsp performance monitor has none of the spikes I saw previously - and that means no more crackles.
Current CPUs not only regulate frequency but also current/power. So your CPU can be running at full frequency but without high processing load it doesn t need to be fed full current/power and it will not heat up so much. This is expressed in the TDP value. (I m no expert but this is something i learned from tweaking my system with ThrottleStop)
Hey Patrik - thanks so much, can confirm it opens perfectly in Ableton Suite 10.1, on MacOS 10.13.6 with OB 2.0.39.10.
recording automation (in Arrangement view, using the physical hardware knobs to add the automation) works for a while, but eventually Ableton stops recognising the knob movement - I can hear the parameter changing, and it moves on the device display and in the Plugin window, but no automation is written and the red dotted line for that parameter doesn’t move in Ableton. I can still write in automation “by hand” by adding parameters in “configure” in the plugin device panel and adjusting with the mouse, but it is a pity it bombs out after a while doing it the quick, seamless way. Have you experienced this?
hi, sorry i hope it’s ok to post here - i am trying for the tenth time or so again to set up overbridge to work properly with my a4 mk1 in ableton. i believe what i want to achieve should be possible: to connect my a4 only with the usb to my macbook and sequence the tracks polyphonocally and individually and record either the main (to have a single polyphonic stereo track plus potentially the fx) or the individual channels (and the fx from the main). that while using the physical outputs of the a4 to monitor what comes out of my DAW (no interest in the direct signal here). got the plugin running, also loaded the template from here.
the main output does not put anything out but the mix as long as the channels are not routed to “main” or “fx” (which is good). as soon as they are though, i hear the voices (and i guess the fx too) also “direct” (and much louder than in the mix of course) on the physical outputs. that of course rules out recording anything from the main channel while accurately monitoring the full mix.
with the dt in ios (while of course not multichanneling) it was possible to mute the physical direct connections and stream audio into the (ios-)device, mix and effect it there and have only the mix signal on the physical outputs. i read in a 5 year old thread over here, that this might be an actual limitation with ob on the a4. or is it possible?
cheers all
Please add to the troubleshooting section of this guide that this knowledgebase article can help if you run into problems getting a device recognized:
Specifically, I had an issue where my mki AFour worked fine but my mki Rytm would fault or loop trying to initialize on one computer in particular ( it worked fine on the other computer! )
The instructions in this article seem to have fixed that.
Is there a way to lock latency for Overbridge. I’m on Windows and i have noticed that the Analog Heat as a inserts on a mix bus fluctuates in latency. Studio One and Reaper both have trouble to auto compensate the latency. What make things worse is that the active/non active and bypass settings have different latency’s too. That leaves the Heat to be usefull on the masterbus only.
I am having an issue since this month started. I can’t make OB see my Digitone and ARMKI (“The plugin’s protocol version (2) is incompatible with the Overbridge protocol version (5)”). I have the latest OS for each machine and the latest OB. My older projects, from January, work ok with the OB that is in them. If I make a new project, it doesnt work. How can this be???
There is a thing I would love to do on Overbridge but haven’t yet nailed how to go there. It might not be possible, I have check the manual but can’t really find it.
I know how to record in multitrack with every OB-enabled machine, and record automations on a bunch of parameters.
What I would love to do is recording the midi notes out of my Elektron machine, so that I can edit the midi track and replay the edited track on the machine.
This way, I would be able to simply capture the audio out with FX
gives an error trying to load VST2 plugin.