Analog channel inserts with Logic

Question

I continue to struggle with Logic Pro to get an efficient work flow when I use analog channel inserts during mixing. If I insert an analog compressor on a single channel we all know that there will be a delay in that channel with respect to the other channels. My solution is to nudge that channel to the left in anticipation of the delay. Supposedly, Nuendo and ProTools HD automatically compensate for that delay when an analog insert is used. I have hard time keeping track of which tracks are nudged to the left and which aren't as I am trying out various inserts.
I must be missing something. There has go to be an easier way. I vaguely recall someone mentioning something on a forum about a third party plugin that has the ability to correct for track latency.
I would appreciate comments from anybody using Logic with analog inserts. I am getting frustrated to the point that I am strongly considering picking up PTHD or Nuendo for this very purpose.

Answer 1

midnightsun wrote:
I continue to struggle with Logic Pro to get an efficient work flow when I use analog channel inserts during mixing. If I insert an analog compressor on a single channel we all know that there will be a delay in that channel with respect to the other channels. My solution is to nudge that channel to the left in anticipation of the delay. Supposedly, Nuendo and ProTools HD automatically compensate for that delay when an analog insert is used. I have hard time keeping track of which tracks are nudged to the left and which aren't as I am trying out various inserts.
This is NOT true. I have used both whilst using external compressors / reverbs / et al, and you still have to manually move the processed track afterwards. What I do, is process the track into a new recording, and then line it up. then use the compressor for something else, or remove it from the signal chain.
I must be missing something. There has go to be an easier way. I vaguely recall someone mentioning something on a forum about a third party plugin that has the ability to correct for track latency.
There is, you can use Logic's built in sample delay plug-in on all the OTHER tracks, the ones that are not going to the external device. Do a test where you find out the IO latency for the compressor or device, and set the sample delay accordingly. If your workflow demands it, that's the way to go.
I would appreciate comments from anybody using Logic with analog inserts. I am getting frustrated to the point that I am strongly considering picking up PTHD or Nuendo for this very purpose.
I do use them all the time, I have a bunch of outboard, which I use for tracking and mixing. I also have used PT HD and Nuendo in these very types of situations.
Again, you would be wasting your money. NO DAW can give you automatic delay compensation for UNKNOWN external devices. This cannot be, and this is why:
1. Once a signal has travelled to the physical output of the computer, there is NO WAY the computer can know where it goes, how long it takes to go there and come back. This is analogous to you throwing a rock around a corner, and knowing that it will go all around the building, WITHOUT LOOKING. And also, when a rock comes all the way around the building, it hits you, and you KNOW that's the same rock. This Physically Impossible. If you are skeptical, try it for yourself.
2. Likewise, a computer cannot possibly know that an incoming signal is the one you sent out previously. This is, because a computer cannot THINK. A computer COMPUTES. It does math for us, so we don't have to. We still have to tell the computer what we are inputting, and we also have to know what to do with what it outputs. One day, many years from now, we might have some AI in our computers. Yechhh. I like thinking for myself.
Cheers
Message was spellchecked by: comatose priests on a mission to get caffeine