Circling back to posts in other threads, I am trying to get smart about how to patch out of an SBD digitally -- meaning being able to take all the multitrack files, or select what I want from the multitrack (say, 2-channel PA mix + room mics).
I have an Apogee Quartet, which has optical ADAT/SMUX inputs and can connect to a MacBook or iPad/iPhone.
There's a bunch I'd like to better understand about using those ADAT inputs and the software related to them. For example, my understanding is that some boards only work with ProTools (all the Avid-branded boards).
Assuming I have ProTools on the Mac, and connect the SBD to the ADAT input, how do I determine what channels I am getting? Does the ADAT somehow have "all the channels" coming through it, and then I select which to actually record? Is there some kind of cable needed beyond a normal optical digital cable?
Is it in fact the case that every board needs different software, or are there situations where I can just use the Apogee software and select board outputs on that? As the iPhone/iPad option doesn't allow Pro Tools as of yet, I'd of course rather use those than have to lug a laptop.
While I understand how to do multitrack stuff in post, I have zero experience actually recording them- I've always had the FOH simply export stuff from Pro Tools onto a USB drive, which frequently has resulted in mistakes (such as them not arming channels, starting record on time -- I get it, it's not their job to do that). I'd like to be able to control as much of the process myself so as to avoid that.
If someone could explain this to me as if I'm a complete novice, I'd appreciate it.