Mark of the Unicorn Track16 User's Guide

Download

Page 1

Track16

User Guide for Mac

™

1280 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02138

Business voice: (617) 576-2760

Business fax: (617) 576-3609

Web site: www.motu.com

Tech support: www.motu.com/support

Page 2

About the Mark of the Unicorn License Agreement and Limited Warranty on Software

TO PERSONS WHO PURCHASE OR USE THIS PRODUCT: carefully read all the terms and conditions of the “click-wrap” license agreement presented to you when you install the software. Using the software or this documentation indicates your acceptance of the terms and conditions of that license agreement.

Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. (“MOTU”) owns both this program and its documentation. Both the program and the documentation are protected under applicable copyright, trademark, and trade-secret laws. Your right to use the program and the documentation are limited to the terms and conditions described in the license agreement.

Reminder of the terms of your license

This summary is not your license agreement, just a reminder of its terms. The actual license can be read and printed by running the installation program for the software. That license agreement is a contract, and clicking “Accept” binds you and MOTU to all its terms and conditions. In the event anything contained in this summary is incomplete or in conﬂict with the actual click-wrap license agreement, the terms of the click-wrap agreement prevail.

YOU MAY: (a) use the enclosed program on a single computer; (b) physically transfer the program from one computer to another provided that the program is used on only one computer at a time and that you remove any copies of the program from the computer from which the program is being transferred; (c) make copies of the program solely for backup purposes. You must reproduce and include the copyright notice on a label on any backup copy.

YOU MAY NOT: (a) distribute copies of the program or the documentation to others; (b) rent, lease or grant sublicenses or other rights to the program; (c) provide use of the program in a computer service business, network, time-sharing, multiple CPU or multiple user arrangement without the prior written consent of MOTU; (d) translate, adapt, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise alter the program or related documentation without the prior written consent of MOTU.

MOTU warrants to the original licensee that the disk(s) on which the program is recorded be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase as evidenced by a copy of your receipt. If failure of the disk has resulted from accident, abuse or misapplication of the product, then MOTU shall have no responsibility to replace the disk(s) under this Limited Warranty.

THIS LIMITED WARRANTY AND RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT IS IN LIEU OF, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE, ANY AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, BOTH EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE LIABILITY OF MOTU PURSUANT TO THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE REPLACEMENT OF THE DEFECTIVE DISK(S), AND IN NO EVENT SHALL MOTU OR ITS SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE, OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY THIRD PARTIES EVEN IF MOTU HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Update Policy

In order to be eligible to obtain updates of the program, you must complete and return the attached Mark of the Unicorn Purchaser Registration Card to MOTU.

Copyright © 2012 by Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means whatsoever, without express written permission of Mark of the Unicorn, Inc., 1280 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, U.S.A.

Limited Warranty on Hardware

Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. and S&S Research (“MOTU/S&S”) warrant this equipment against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of TWO (2) YEARS from the date of original retail purchase. This warranty applies only to hardware products; MOTU software is licensed and warranted pursuant to separate written statements.

If you discover a defect, ﬁrst write or call Mark of the Unicorn at (617) 576-2760 to obtain a Return Merchandise Authorization Number. No service will be performed on any product returned without prior authorization. MOTU will, at its option, repair or replace the product at no charge to you, provided you return it during the warranty period, with transportation charges prepaid, to Mark of the Unicorn, Inc., 1280 Massachusetts Avenue, MA 02138. You must use the product’s original packing material for in shipment, and insure the shipment for the value of the product. Please include your name, address, telephone number, a description of the problem, and the original, dated bill of sale with the returned unit and print the Return Merchandise Authorization Number on the outside of the box below the shipping address.

This warranty does not apply if the equipment has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse, or misapplication; has been modiﬁed without the written permission of MOTU, or if the product serial number has been removed or defaced.

ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED IN DURATION TO TWO (2) YEARS FROM THE DATE OF THE ORIGINAL RETAIL PURCHASE OF THIS PRODUCT.

THE WARRANTY AND REMEDIES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHERS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. No MOTU/S&S dealer, agent, or employee is authorized to make any modiﬁcation, extension, or addition to this warranty.

MOTU/S&S ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY BREACH OF WARRANTY, OR UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, DOWNTIME, GOODWILL, DAMAGE OR REPLACEMENT OF EQUIPMENT AND PROPERTY AND COST OF RECOVERING REPROGRAMMING, OR REPRODUCING ANY PROGRAM OR DATA STORED IN OR USED WITH MOTU/S&S PRODUCTS.

Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you speciﬁc legal rights, and you may have other rights which vary from state to state.

MOTU, Digital Performer, AudioDesk, Mark of the Unicorn and the unicorn silhouette logo are trademarks of Mark of the Unicorn, Inc.

This equipment has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for a class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television equipment reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by any combination of the following measures:

• Relocate or reorient the receiving antenna

• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver

• Plug the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected

If necessary, you can consult a dealer or experienced radio/television technician for additional assistance.

PLEASE NOTE: only equipment certiﬁed to comply with Class B (computer input/output devices, terminals, printers, etc.) should be attached to this equipment, and it must have shielded interface cables in order to comply with the Class B FCC limits on RF emissions.

WARNING: changes or modiﬁcations to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

Page 3

Contents

Part 1: Getting Started

Quick Reference: Track16 Operation

Quick Reference: Track16 Connectors

Quick Reference: MOTU Audio Setup

About the Track16

Packing List and System Requirements

Installing the Track16 Software

Installing the Track16 Hardware

Part 2: Using Track16

MOTU Audio Setup

Hardware operation

Configuring Host Audio Software

Reducing Monitoring Latency

CueMix FX

MOTU SMPTE Setup

103

Part 3: Appendices

Audio I/O reference

111

Troubleshooting

113

Page 4

Page 5

Part 1

Getting Started

Page 6

Page 7

CHAPTER

Quick Reference: Track16 Operation

These 7-segment level meters have a range from -42 dB to

-1 dB. The top red LED illuminates when the signal reaches 1 dB below full scale — for even just one sample.

Push the METERS button below to toggle between the white labels and blue labels.

To toggle the -20dB pad (P) for a mic input, push the MIC 1 or MIC 2 button and then push the knob. To toggle 48V phantom power (V), push and hold the knob.

Level meters for the two mic inputs or the eighth-inch stereo mini jack on the front.

Level meters for the two guitar inputs or the phone jacks on the front.

Level meters for the line inputs or the line outputs.

Dedicated level meters for the main outs.

This multi-function knob controls the volume, trim, or bus level of the currently selected input or output channel (or pair). Use the buttons below to select the desired input or output. When an output is selected, push the knob to mute or unmute it. You can do the same when controlling an input’s CueMix bus volume (as explained below).

To control the trim level for an input, press its button to select it (the button turns green) and then use the knob to adjust input level.

Push the METERS button to toggle the meters between the channels labeled in white and those labeled in blue.

To control the volume for an output, press its button to select it (the button turns green) and then use the knob to adjust level.

To control an input’s CueMix bus volume (input fader), hold the desired output bus (MAIN, PHONES, or LINE OUT) while pressing the desired input here so that both buttons turn green. Then use the knob to adjust the CueMix input level. Push to mute/unmute.

Page 8

Quick Reference: Track16 Connectors

4321 5 6 7

Guitar 1Line In

3-4

Phones FireWire / USB2 DB25 Breakout cable Optical I/O

Mic inputs 1-2

1. This is one of two hi-Z guitar inputs. The second guitar input is on the breakout cable (10).

2. Line In 3-4 is a stereo eighth-inch “mini” jack for connecting an iPod or other mobile audio device.

3. From the factory, the headphone jack is a discrete output, but it can mirror any other output pair (digital or analog).

4. If your headphones have a stereo mini connector, connect them here. The signal on the two headphone jacks (TRS and stereo mini) is the same.

5. Connect the Track16 to the computer here via either FireWire or USB2, using either the standard 1394 FireWire B or USB cable provided with your Track16. There’s not much difference, except that FireWire offers bus-powered operation (without the DC power supply).

off the Track16 when plugging in the FireWire cable, as this avoids the possibility of static discharge, which can harm the electrical components in the Track16 or your computer

6. Connect the breakout cable supplied with your Track16 here.

only the supplied Track16 cable.

Important note: it is best to turn

For optimum performance, use

MIDI IN/OUT

Guitar 2

7. These optical digital I/O connectors can be connected either to an ADAT-compatible “lightpipe” device (such as a digital mixer) or to a S/PDIF optical (“TOSLINK”) compatible device, such as an effects processor. Be sure to set the format in the MOTU Audio Setup software. (See “Optical input/output” on page 38 for details.) ADAT optical supplies eight channels of 24-bit digital I/O per bank (4 channels per bank at 96kHz). TOSLINK is stereo at sample rates up to 96 kHz.

8. These XLR connectors accept a mic cable and are equipped with a preamp. 48V phantom power and 20 dB pad can be applied via the controls on the top panel. The knob provides 60 dB of gain.

9. Connect a MIDI device here using standard MIDI cables. Connect the Track16’s MIDI OUT port to the MIDI IN port on the other device. Conversely, connect the Track16’s MIDI IN port to the MIDI OUT port on the other device. You can connect different devices to each port, such as a controller device to the IN port and a sound module to the OUT port. You can also daisy-chain MIDI devices, but be sure to manage their MIDI channels (so that they don’t receive or transmit on the same channel).

10. This is the second of two hi-Z guitar inputs. The ﬁrst guitar input is on the front panel (1).

Line In 1-2

Main out 1-2

11. These two analog line-level inputs are balanced quarter-inch connectors. They do not have preamps, so they are best used for synthesizers, drum machines, effects processors, and other instruments with line level signals (either -10 dB or +4 dB). These inputs are also equipped with the Track16’s Precision Digital Trim™ feature: digitally controlled analog trims that let you adjust input level in 1/4 dB increments. The trim can be adjusted over a range of -96 to +22 dB.

12. These two balanced TRS jacks serve as the Track16’s main analog outputs. You can connect them to a set of powered studio monitors and then control the volume by pressing the MAIN button.

To hear disk tracks in your audio software on these main outs, assign the disk tracks (and master fader) to these main outs. Also make sure the Main Out Assign option is set to Assign” on page 38. You can also use CueMix FX to monitor live Track16 inputs here as well.

13. These two analog line outputs are unbalanced quarter-inch connectors referenced to +17 dBu.

14. This jack accepts any standard 9-18V DC power supply with either tip-positive or tip-negative polarity. Alternately, you can use FireWire bus power.

Line out 1-2

Main Out 1-2

DC Power (14V)

. See “Main Out

Page 9

Quick Reference: MOTU Audio Setup

CHAPTER

Determines the clock source for your Track16. If you’re just using the analog ins and outs, set this to ‘Internal’. The other settings are for digital transfers via the optical ports or for resolving the Track16 to other clock sources.

This menu lets you choose what you will hear from the PHONES jack. To mirror the main outs, choose Main Out 1-2. Or you can mirror any other output pair. To hear the phones as their own independent output, choose Phones 1-2.

The Track16 driver provides a stereo return back to the computer. This return feeds the signal on any Track16 output pair directly back to the computer, where you can record, process, monitor or otherwise use it. This is a great way to “bounce” full mixes, complete with live audio routed through the Track16 only, back into the computer.

Click the tabs to access general MOTU interface settings or settings speciﬁc to the Track16 (or other connected interface.)

Choose the global sample rate for the system here.

Speciﬁes the stereo input and output pair when the Track16 is chosen for Mac OS X audio I/O.

Each optical bank can be conﬁgured independently: ADAT or TOSLINK. Disable them when not in use to conserve DSP and FireWire/USB bus bandwidth.

Choose the output pair you would like the main outs to mirror, or choose Main Outs 1-2 to operate them as their own independent pair.

Click the General tab to access these settings.

Check this option if you would like the MOTU Audio Setup icon to appear in the application dock as soon as a MOTU interface is detected (switched on, plugged in, etc.)

This button opens another dialog that lets you assign your own customized names to each Track16 input and output. For example, if you have a lead vocal mic plugged into input 1, you could name it “Lead Vox”. Your customized names then appear in your host audio application (if it supports Core Audio input naming).

These foot switch settings are for other MOTU audio interfaces and don’t apply to the Track16.

In the standard Mac OS X fashion, the console appears in the dock when you launch it. If the Launch option is checked (as shown above), the icon appears as soon as you switch on your Track16 interface. If you click and hold on the dock icon (instead of clicking it) or control-click, a menu of hardware settings appears as shown to the right. You can view and conﬁgure any hardware settings from this menu, without opening the console window.

Page 10

Page 11

CHAPTER

About the Track16

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Track16 I/O connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Track16 Top panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

16-bit and 24-bit recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

CueMix FX 32-bit ﬂoating point mixing and effects . . 14

Included software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

AudioDesk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Digital Performer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Other Host audio software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

OVERVIEW

The Track16 is a hybrid FireWire USB2 audio interface for Mac and Windows that provides 16 inputs and 16 outputs (at 44.1 or 48kHz). Both analog and digital I/O are offered at sample rates up t o 96 k Hz, and ana log re cordi ng an d play back is offered at rates up to 192 kHz. All inputs and outputs can be accessed simultaneously. The Track16 consists of a rugged, aluminum alloy desktop unit that connects to a computer via a standard FireWire or USB cable.

The Track16 offers the following main features:

■

Universal computer connectivity via FireWire or

high-speed USB2

■

Two analog mic inputs equipped with

independent mic preamps

■

Two hi-Z analog guitar inputs

■

Two balanced analog line inputs on quarter-inch

connectors

■

Stereo unbalanced analog line input on an

1/8th-inch “mini” connector

■

Two analog main outputs on balanced quarter-

inch TRS connectors

■

Independent 48V phantom power and 20 dB

pad for each mic input

■

Independent Precision Digital Trim™ for each

input

■

24-bit operation on all analog I/O at standard

sample rates up to 192 kHz

■

One bank of optical digital I/O that provide 8 channels of ADAT optical at 48 kHz, 4 channels of S/MUX optical I/O at 96 kHz, or stereo TOSLINK at rates up to 96 kHz

■

On-board SMPTE synchronization via any analog input and output

■

Two phone jacks (quarter-inch and mini)

■

Programmable master volume knob

■

CueMix™ FX no-latency mixing, monitoring and effects processing

■

7-segment LED level meters for all analog inputs

■

Dedicated 7-segment level meters for main outs

■

External international power supply

■

FireWire bus powered operation

■

Stand-alone operation

■

Mac and Windows drivers for multi-channel operation and across-the-board compatibility w ith any audio software on current Mac and Windows systems

■

AudioDesk™, full-featured audio workstation software for Mac OS X that supports both 16-bit and 24-bit recording

■

Two analog line level outputs on unbalanced

quarter-inch connectors

Page 12

With a variety of I/O formats, mic preamps, nolatency mixing and processing of live input and synchronization capabilities, the Track16 is a complete, portable “studio in a box” when used with a Mac or Windows computer.

Mic inputs

Both mic inputs are equipped with a separate preamp. Individual 48V phantom power and 20 dB pad are supplied by the top panel switches. Each input can be trimmed with the volume knob.

THE TRACK16 I/O CONNECTIONS

The Track16 has the following I/O connections, supplied either on the base unit itself or on the included DB25 breakout cable. All Track16 inputs and outputs can be used simultaneously, for a total of 16 inputs and 16 outputs at 44.1/48kHz:

Connection Input Output

Mic 24-bit 192 kHz on XLR with preamp 2 -

Guitar 24-bit 192 kHz on hi-Z quarter-inch 2 -

Analog 24-bit 192 kHz on bal/unbal TRS 2 4

Analog 24-bit 192 kHz on unbal stereo “mini” 2 0

Headphone output* - 4

ADAT optical digital† 8 8

Total 16 16

* The two phone outputs (quarter-inch and mini) are hard-wired to mirror each other. Their signal can be an independent output stream, or it can mirror any other Track16 output pair, such as the main outs.

† The Track16 optical connectors support several standard optical I/O formats, which provide varying channel counts. See “Optical input/ output” on page 38 for details about optical bank operation.

With the exception of the phone jacks on the front panel, all inputs and outputs are discrete (independent).

Analog

All analog inputs and outputs are equipped with 24-bit 192 kHz A/D converters. All audio is carried to the computer in a 24-bit data stream.

Guitar inputs

Without proper impedance levels, direct “DI” guitar input won’t sound right when you run it through your guitar amp plug-ins and virtual stomp boxes. The Track16’s dedicated “hi-Z” guitar inputs provide high-impedance load characteristics suitable for passive and active pickups alike, to produce authentic guitar tone and feel with your guitar processing software.

Line inputs and outputs

All quarter-inch analog connectors are balanced, except for line outputs 3-4. Balanced connectors can accept either a balanced or unbalanced plug. Balanced output connections protect audio signals from RF interference, AC hum, and other noiseproducing environmental factors. The unbalanced line outputs are useful for home stereo components, consumer speakers, or other common unbalanced destinations.

The quarter-inch outputs are referenced to a +4 dBu line level output signal. The inputs have +22 dB of input gain and -96 dB of cut, allowing them to accommodate both -10 dBu and +4 dBu level signals.

Precision Digital Trim™

All of the Track16’s analog inputs are equipped with digitally controlled analog trims, adjustable in approximately 1/4 dB increments. All analog inputs can be trimmed with the Track16 knob or with the Track16’s included CueMix FX control software for Mac and Windows. This gives you ﬁnely-tuned control of trim settings for a wide variety of analog inputs for optimum levels. Different trim conﬁgurations can then be saved as preset conﬁgurations for instant recall.

ABOUT THE TRACK16

Page 13

Optical

The optical connectors provide 8 channels of ADAT optical at 44.1 or 48 kHz, 4 channels of S/MUX optical I/O at 96 kHz or stereo TOSLINK at rates up to 96 kHz. The banks operate independently, allowing you to mix and match any optical formats on input and output. For example, you could receive 4 channels of 96 kHz S/MUX input while at the same time sending 96 kHz stereo optical S/PDIF (“TOSLINK”) output.

MIDI I/O

The Track16’s standard MIDI IN and MIDI OUT jacks supply 16 channels of MIDI I/O to and from the computer. Timing accuracy can be sampleaccurate with host software that supports it.

On-board SMPTE synchronization

The Track16 can resolve directly to SMPTE time code via any analog line input, without a separate synchronizer. The Track16 can also generate SMPTE time code via any analog output. The Track16 provides a DSP-driven phase-lock engine with sophisticated ﬁltering that provides fast lockup times and sub-frame accuracy.

To fully support both formats, the Track16 audio interface is equipped with both FireWire B (400 Mbit/sec) connectors and a high-speed USB2 (480 Mbit/sec) connector, and you can use either port to connect the Track16 to your computer. This gives you maximum ﬂexibility and compatibility with today’s ever-expanding universe of Mac and Windows computers.

Bus-powered operation

When connecting to the computer with FireWire, the Track16 can draw power from the FireWire connection itself, without the Track16 power adapter. For more information about bus powered operation, see “Power options” on page 28.

THE TRACK16 TOP PANEL

Metering

The top panel of the Track16 displays four pairs of 7-segment ladder LEDs. Push the METERS button to toggle between the channels indicated by the white labels and channels indicated by the blue labels. The right-hand meters are dedicated to the main outs.

The included MOTU SMPTE Setup™ software provides a complete set of tools for generating and regenerating SMPTE time code, which allows you to slave other devices to the computer. Like CueMix FX, the synchronization features are cross-platform and compatible with all audio sequencer software that supports them.

Hybrid FireWire/USB2 connectivity

FireWire has long been recognized as a reliable, high-performance connectivity standard for professional MOTU audio interfaces. Meanwhile, high-speed USB2 has also developed into a widely adopted standard for connecting peripheral devices to personal computers.

ABOUT THE TRACK16

Multifunction volume knob with buttons

The multifunction volume knob controls the volume for the currently selected input or output, as chosen by the buttons below. Simply push the button for the input or output you wish to control.

The multifunction knob can also be pushed to mute and unmute the current channel. For the two mic inputs, it can toggle pad and 48V phantom power.

It is also possible to control input mix levels with the volume knob.

For a summary of all knob functions, see “Quick Reference: Track16 Operation” on page 7.

Page 14

16-BIT AND 24-BIT RECORDING

The Track16 system handles all data with a 24-bit signal path, regardless of the I/O format. You can record and play back 16-bit or 24-bit audio ﬁles at any supported sample rate via any of the Track16’s analog or digital inputs and outputs. 24-bit audio ﬁles can be recorded with any compatible host application that supports 24-bit recording.

CUEMIX FX 32-BIT FLOATING POINT MIXING AND EFFECTS

All Track16 inputs and outputs can be routed to the on-board CueMix FX 8-bus (4 stereo) digital mixer driven by hardware-based DSP with 32-bit ﬂoating point precision. The mixer allows you to apply no-latency effects processing to inputs, outputs or busses direct ly in the Track1 6 hardware, independent of the computer. Effects can even be applied when the Track16 is operating stand-alone (without a computer) as a complete rack-mounted mixer. Input signals to the computer can be recorded wet, dry, or dry with a wet monitor mix (for musicians during recording, for example).

Effects include reverb, parametric EQ and compression/limiting. The Track16’s Classic Reverb™ provides ﬁve different room types, three frequency bands with adjustable crossover points, shelf ﬁltering and reverb lengths up to 60-seconds.

with slopes that range from 6 to 36 dB. The EQ employs extremely high precision 64-bit ﬂoating point processing.

The Track16’s ﬂexible effects architecture allows you to apply EQ and compression on every input and output (a total of 30 channels), with enough DSP resources for at least one band of parametric EQ and compression on every channel at 48 kHz. However, DSP resources are allocated dynamically and a DSP meter in the CueMix FX software allows you to keep tabs on the Track16’s processing resources. Each input, output and mix bus provides a send to the Classic Reverb processor, which then feeds reverb returns to mix busses and outputs, with a selectable split point between them to prevent send/return feedback loops.

INCLUDED SOFTWARE

The Track16 software installer provides the following including cross-platform software applications for Mac and Windows.

MOTU Audio Setup

MOTU Audio Setup provides access to basic hardware settings, such as sample rate, optical I/O format selection, headphone output channel selection, foot switch input programming, and other settings.

Two forms of compression are supplied: a standard compressor with conventional threshold/ratio/ attack/release/gain controls and the Leveler™, an accurate model of the legendary LA-2A optical compressor, which provides vintage, musical automatic gain control.

CueMix FX also provides 7-band parametric EQ modeled after British analog console EQs, featuring 4 ﬁlter styles (gain/Q proﬁles) to effectively cover a wide range of audio material. Low-pass and high-pass ﬁlters are also supplied

MOTU SMPTE Setup

MOTU SMPTE Setup provides access to the Track16 system’s SMPTE time code synchronization features, including locking to time code, generating time code, displaying a time code readout, and so on.

CueMix FX

CueMix FX gives you complete control over the Track16’s CueMix FX on-board mixer, which provides no-latency monitoring, mixing and processing of live inputs through your Track16.

ABOUT THE TRACK16

Page 15

CueMix FX provides attractive graphic mixing, graphic editing of parametric EQ and a convenient tabbed interface for quick access to all mixing features, digitally controlled trims and other settings in your MOTU audio interface.

CueMix FX provides many advanced features, such as an accurate instrument tuner and an extensive arsenal of audio analysis tools, including a realtime FFT, spectrogram “waterfall” display, oscilloscope, and phase analysis tools.

AUDIODESK

AudioDesk is a full-featured, 24-bit audio workstation software package included with the Track16 system (for Mac OS X only). AudioDesk provides multi-channel waveform editing, automated virtual mixing, graphic editing of ramp automation, real-time effects plug-ins with 32-bit ﬂoating point processing, crossfades, support for many third-party audio plug-ins, background processing of ﬁle-based operations, sampleaccurate editing and placement of audio, and more.

DIGITAL PERFORMER

The Track16 system is fully integrated with MOTU’s award-winning Digital Performer audio sequencer software package.

OTHER HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

The Track16 system includes a standard Mac OS X Core Audio driver for multichannel I/O with any audio application that supports Core Audio.

ABOUT THE TRACK16

Page 16

ABOUT THE TRACK16

Page 17

CHAPTER

Packing List and

System Requirements

PACKING LIST

The Track16 ships with the items listed below. If any of these items are not present in your Track16 box when you ﬁrst open it, please immediately contact your dealer or MOTU.

■

One Track16

■

One Track16 DB25 I/O cable

■

One 9-pin to 9-pin IEEE 1394 “FireWire” B cable

■

One USB cable

■

One universal DC power adapter

■

One Track16 Mac/Windows manual

■

One cross-platform installer disc

■

Product registration card

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The Track16 system requires the following Mac system:

■

PowerPC G4 CPU 1 GHz or faster (including

PowerPC G5 CPUs and all Intel processor Macs)

■

1 GB RAM; 2 GB or more recommended

■

Mac OS X version 10.5, 10.6, or 10.7; v10.5.8 or

later required

PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

Please register your Track16 today. There are two ways to register.

■

Visit www.motu.com/register

■

Fill out and mail the included product registration card

As a registered user, you will be eligible to receive technical support and announcements about product enhancements as soon as they become available. Only registered users receive these special update notices, so please register today.

Be sure to do the same for the included AudioDesk software, which must be registered separately. You can do so online or by ﬁlling out and mailing the included software registration card found at the beginning of your AudioDesk manual. Please be sure to register AudioDesk as well, so that you will be eligible to receive technical support and announcements about AudioDesk software enhancements as soon as they become available.

Thank you for taking the time to register your new MOTU products!

■

Available FireWire or high-speed USB 2.0 port

■

A large hard drive (preferably at least 250 GB)

Page 18

PACKING LIST AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Page 19

Installing the Track16 Software

CHAPTER

OVERVIEW

Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

MOTU Audio driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

MOTU Audio Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Core MIDI and Audio MIDI Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

MOTU SMPTE Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

AudioDesk workstation software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

INSTALLATION

Before you connect the Track16 to your computer and power it on, run the Track16 software installer. This ensures that all the Track16 components are properly installed in your system.

Run the MOTU Audio installer

Install the Track16 software as follows:

Insert the MOTU Audio Installer disc; or, if you have downloaded the MOTU Audio installer, locate the folder containing the download.

Read the

Read Me

ﬁle for installation assistance

and other important information.

Open the

Follow the directions that the installer gives you.

MOTU Audio Installer

application.

Drivers are installed, along with MOTU Audio Setup, CueMix FX, and other components, summarized in the table below.

MOTU AUDIO DRIVER

Core Audio

technology built into Mac OS X that provides all of its standardized audio features. More speciﬁcally, we use audio driver model. The provides multi-channel audio input and output with any Mac OS X Core Audio-compatible software.

is a term that refers to the software

Core Audio

to refer to Mac OS X’s standard

MOTU Core Audio driver

Software component Purpose For more information

MOTU Audio and MIDI drivers Provides multi-channel audio input and output for MOTU

MOTU Audio Setup Provides access to all of the settings in the Track16 and other

CueMix FX Gives you complete control over the Track16’s CueMix FX on-

MOTU SMPTE Setup Provides access to the Track16 system’s SMPTE time code sync fea-

AudioDesk Provides complete multi-track recording, mixing and processing.

FireWire and USB Audio devices with host audio software.

MOTU interfaces. Required for Track16 operation.

board mixer, which provides no-latency monitoring, mixing and processing of live inputs through your Track16.

tures.

Optional.

“MOTU Audio driver” on page 19

chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup” (page 35)

chapter 9, “CueMix FX” (page 57)

chapter 10, “MOTU SMPTE Setup” (page 103)

AudioDesk User Guide

Page 20

For details about using the Track16 with Core Audio applications, see chapter 7, “Conﬁguring Host Audio Software” (page 43).

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

MOTU Audio Setup (available in the Applications folder) gives you access to all of the settings in the Track16, such as the clock source and sample rate. For complete details, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup” (page 35).

CORE MIDI AND AUDIO MIDI SETUP

Core MIDI

OS X that handles MIDI services for MIDI hardware and software. Core MIDI provides many universal MIDI system management features, including MIDI communication between your Track16 interface and all Core MIDI compatible software.

is the “under-the-hood” portion of Mac

This can usually be found in /Applications/ Utilities. If it has been moved, just search for

MIDI Setup

Conﬁrm that the MIDI interface is present in the

MIDI Devices

tab (or window) in Audio MIDI

Aud io

Setup.

If the interface does not appear, or if it is grayed out, check your cable connections and click

MIDI

Rescan

Audio MIDI Setup

is a utility included with Mac OS X that allows you to conﬁgure your Track16 interface for use with all Core MIDI compatible applications. Audio MIDI Setup provides:

■

A “virtual” studio on your Mac that graphically represents your MIDI hardware setup and that is shared by all Core MIDI-compatible programs

■

A simple, intuitive list of your MIDI devices whenever you need it in any Core MIDIcompatible program

Launching Audio MIDI Setup

Make sure your Track16 interface is connected

and turned on.

Launch the Audio MIDI Setup utility.

Figure 3-1: The Track16 interface as it appears in the MIDI tab of Audio MIDI Setup.

Connecting MIDI devices to the Track16

Once your Track16 interface appears in Audio MIDI Setup, you are ready to add devices, indicate how they are connected, and identify properties they may have for particular purposes. This information is shared with all Core MIDI compatible applications.

To add a device in Audio MIDI Setup:

Click

Add Device

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 SOFTWARE

Page 21

Figure 3-2: Adding a MIDI device.

2 Drag on its input and output arrows to draw connections to the Track16 that match its physical connection.

Figure 3-3: Connecting devices to the Track16. In this example, a controller keyboard is connected to the Track16’s MIDI IN, and a sound module is connected to the Track16 MIDI OUT.

3 Double-click the device to make settings, such as input and output channels, that further describe the device.

Figure 3-4: Device settings.

4 Repeat the above steps for each MIDI device connected to the interface.

5 When you are ﬁnished, quit Audio MIDI Setup.

Your conﬁguration is automatically saved as the default conﬁguration, and it is shared with all Core MIDI-compatible software.

CUEMIX FX

CueMix FX (available in the Applications folder) provides control over the Track16’s no-latency CueMix FX on-board mixing, effects processing, an instrument tuner, a full-featured oscilloscope, and other audio analysis tools. For details, see chapter 9, “CueMix FX” (page 57).

MOTU SMPTE SETUP

MOTU SMPTE Setup (available in the Applications folder) software provides a complete set of tools to resolve the Track16 to SMPTE time code, and to generate SMPTE for striping, regenerating or slaving other devices to the computer. For details, see chapter 10, “MOTU SMPTE Setup” (page 103).

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 SOFTWARE

Page 22

AUDIODESK WORKSTATION SOFTWARE

AudioDesk is an advanced workstation software package for the Track16 that lets you record, edit, mix, process, bounce and master multi-track digital audio recording projects. Advanced features include real-time 32-bit effects processing, 24-bit recording, and much more.

See the AudioDesk User Guide included with your Track16 system for details.

Figure 3-5: AudioDesk for Mac OS X.

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 SOFTWARE

Page 23

CHAPTER

4 Installing the Track16 Hardware

OVERVIEW

Here’s an overview for installing the Track16:

Connect the Track16 interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Connect the Track16 to the computer.

Connect audio inputs and outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Make optical and analog connections as desired.

Connect MIDI gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Connect a controller, synth or control surface.

Power options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Choose from among several convenient options.

A typical Track16 setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

An example setup for computer-based mixing/FX.

Connecting multiple MOTU FireWire interfaces . . . . . 31

CONNECT THE TRACK16 INTERFACE

Your Track16 audio interface is equipped with both FireWire B connectors (running at 400 Mbit/sec) and a high-speed USB2 connector (480 Mbit/sec), and you can use either port to connect the Track16 to your computer. This gives you maximum ﬂexibility and compatibility with today’s everexpanding universe of Mac and Windows computers.

Type B FireWire ports

The Track16 has a FireWire 9-pin Type B port, which provides the most reliable FireWire connection available. The port operates at 400 Mbit/s, and it can be connected to any available FireWire port on your computer: Type A (6-pin), Type A “mini” (4-pin), or Type B (9-pin). If your computer has FireWire Type B ports, use the included 9-pin-to-9-pin FireWire cable. If your computer has either standard Type A ports or

miniature Type A ports, use the appropriate 9-pinto-6-pin or 9-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable (sold separately).

Which should I use: FireWire or USB2?

If your computer does not have a FireWire port, then obviously you will need to connect the Track16 to one of its high-speed USB 2.0 ports.

If your computer has both FireWire and USB2, then it is your choice, and your decision may depend mostly on other peripherals you may also have, or bus power, as explained below.

Bus-powered operation requires FireWire

There is only one signiﬁcant difference between FireWire and USB2 operation: bus power. FireWire provides enough power on the FireWire bus that the Track16 can be powered solely by its FireWire connection to the computer. For complete information, see “Bus power requirements” on page 28.

If you use USB2, you must also use the DC power supply included with your Track16, as USB2 does not supply enough power by itself.

If you are connecting via FireWire

1 Before you b egin, make sure your computer and the Track16 are switched off.

2 Plug one end of the Track16 FireWire cable (included) into the FireWire socket on the computer.

☛ You can also connect the Track16 to a 400Mbit

“FireWire A” port using a 9-pin-to-6-pin FireWire B cable (not included). The Track16 will still operate at its speciﬁed 400Mbit (FireWire A) data rate.

Page 24

3 Plug the other end of the FireWire cable into the Track16.

☛ Make absolute sure to align the notched side

of the FireWire plug properly with the notched side of the FireWire socket on the Track16. If you attempt to force the plug into the socket the wrong way, you can damage the Track16.

High Speed USB 2.0 versus USB 1.1

There are primarily two types of USB host controllers widely available on current personal computers. USB 1.1 controllers support simple peripherals that don’t require a high speed connection, such as a computer keyboard, a mouse, or a printer. USB 2.0 controllers support high speed devices such as the Track16. Since the Track16 requires a high speed connection, it must be connected to a USB 2.0 host controller or hub.

For the most reliable connection, it is recommended that you connect the Track16 directly to one of your computer’s USB 2.0compatible ports. However, since USB 2.0 hubs are compatible with both types of devices, the Track16 can be connected to a USB 2.0 hub along with USB

1.1 devices if necessary. The Track16 will not operate properly if it is connected to a USB 1.1 hub.

Follow these instructions to determine whether your computer supports USB 1.1 or USB 2.0:

If you are connecting via high-speed USB 2.0

1 Before you b egin, make sure your computer and the Track16 are switched off.

2 Plug the ﬂat “type A” plug of the Track16 USB cable (included) into a USB2-equipped socket on the computer.

3 Plug the squared “type B” plug of the USB cable into the Track16 I/O.

Switching Between FireWire and USB

Most of the time, the Track16 can detect whether a FireWire or a USB cable is connected to it, and it will automatically switch to FireWire operation or USB operation accordingly. Some FireWire or USB ports that do not provide bus power cannot be automatically detected by the Track16, and you may need to switch the dev ice to FireWire mode or USB mode manually:

To switch to Do this

FireWire Hold down the MIC 1 button while powering up

USB Hold down the MIC 2 button while powering up

When the Track16 switches to FireWire operation, it displays F on its meter LEDs. When it switches to USB operation, it displays U on the meter LEDs.

1 In the Apple menu, choose About this Mac.

2 Click the More Info button to open System

Proﬁler.

3 In the Contents pane, select USB.

4 Look at the devices in the USB Device Tree. A

device named USB High-Speed Bus represents a USB 2.0 root hub. A device named USB Bus represents a USB 1.1 root hub.

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 25

CONNECT AUDIO INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

Track16 connectors are located on the front and rear of the base unit. The DB25 connector on the rear panel connects to the Track16’s included breakout cable, which provides further connections for audio, MIDI and power.

The base unit (Figure 4-1) provides the following connectors:

■ Guitar In 1

■ Line In 3-4 (1/8th-inch stereo mini)

■ Phones

Track16 breakout cable

The breakout cable included in the Track16 package (Figure 4-3) is a custom-engineered cable with special shielding, twisted pairs, and other characteristics designed to ensure the best possible audio quality and performance. Attach it to the DB25 connector on the Track16 base unit and fully tighten the screws to ensure a secure connection.

You can operate the Track16 without the breakout cable if both of these conditions are true:

■ The Track16 is connected to a computer with a

FireWire cable for bus-powered operation, and

■ Optical In and Out

■ FireWire

■ USB2

■ DB25

The breakout cable (Figure 4-3) provides the following connectors:

■ Mic In 1-2 (XLR with preamp, 48V and pad)

■ Guitar In 2 (hi-Z)

■ Main Out 1-2 (quarter-inch, balanced)

■ Line Out 3-4 (quarter-inch, unbalanced)

■ Line In 1-2 (quarter-inch, balanced)

■ MIDI In and Out

■ DC power (for the included DC power adapter)

Here are a few things you should keep in mind as you are making these connections to other devices.

■ you plan to use only the I/O connectors on the

base unit itself (guitar, phones, and/or optical).

Mic inputs 1-2

Using a standard mic cable, connect microphones to the female XLR connectors on the breakout cable labeled Mic In 1 and Mic In 2.

Phantom power

If you are connecting a condenser mic or other device that requires phantom power, you can enable (or disable) phantom power as follows:

1 Make sure the microphone is plugged in ﬁrst.

2 Power on the Track16.

3 Push the corresponding MIC 1 or MIC 2 button

on the Track16 to select the input (Figure 4-2).

4 Push and hold the main knob for a few seconds.

Figure 4-1: the Track16 front and rear panels.

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 26

5 The red “V” LED illuminates (Figure 4-2).

6 To disable phantom power, simply repeat this

procedure. The red “V” LED turns off.

Figure 4-2: The phantom power (V ) and pad (P) LEDs for the mic inputs

Tr i m

Each mic input is equipped with preamp that delivers 60 dB gain. Push the MIC 1 or 2 button and then turn the knob to adjust the input level as needed for each input. Use the mic level meters to monitor the current input level.

The Track16’s input trims are digitally controlled, so they allow you to make ﬁne-tuned adjustments in approximately 1 dB increments. You can also adjust trim in the MOTU CueMix FX software. See “Input trim” on page 63.

-20 dB pad

If the input signal is too hot with the trim turned all the way down, engage the -20dB pad for the input. To toggle the pad, push the appropriate mic button and then quickly push the knob. The amber “P” LED will turn on or off accordingly.

Muting mic inputs

Mic inputs without a mic or terminator connected can pick up nois e, so keep them muted when not in use. See “Muting/unmuting” on page 42.

Guitar inputs

The Track16’s dedicated “hi-Z” guitar inputs provide high-impedance load characteristics suitable for passive and active pickups alike, to produce authentic guitar tone and feel with your guitar processing software.

Line inputs

The Track16 provides two stereo line inputs:

■ Line In 1-2 (quarter-inch, balanced) on the

breakout cable

■ Line In 3-4 (1/8th-inch stereo mini) on the front

panel of the base unit

These inputs can be used with any line level source, such as a keyboard, drum machine, outboard processor, iPod, or iPad.

Power

Figure 4-3: the Track16 breakout cable.

Line out 1-2 Main out 1-2 Line In 1-2 MIDI IN / OUT Mic In 1-2Guitar

In 2

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 27

Line input trims

The line inputs are calibrated to accommodate either +4 dB or -10 dB signals and are equipped with digitally controlled analog trims that provide

-96 dB of cut and +22 dB of gain. You can use either the main volume knob or the included CueMix FX software to adjust the input trim. To adjust these trims using CueMix FX, see “Input trim” on page 63. To adjust the trims using the volume knob:

1 Push the corresponding input button.

8-channel ADAT optical input from your digital mixer and stereo TOSLink output to an effects processor.

Optical trim

The Track16 supplies +12dB of digital trim (boost) for the optical input, which can be adjusted from CueMix FX (“Input trim” on page 63).

Optical operation at 44.1 or 48 kHz

When conﬁgured for ADAT “lightpipe”, an optical connector provides 8 channels at 44.1 and 48 kHz.

2 Tur n t he v o lu me kno b .

Use the level meters to observe the current gain.

Main outs and line outs

The stereo quarter-inch main outputs are balanced line-level outputs that also accept an unbalanced plug. The line outputs are unbalanced. All four outputs are calibrated to produce a +4 dBu line level output signal, according to the EBU-R68 speciﬁcation, as follows:

EBU-R68 measurement dBVU dBu dBFS

Meter alignment 0 0 -18

Peak level +8 +8 -10

Headroom 10 dB typical peak to clip

In a standard studio conﬁguration, the main outs are intended for a pair of studio monitors, but they can also be used as additional outputs for any purpose.

Optical

The Track16 rear panel provides one set of ADAT optical (“lightpipe”) connectors (Figure 4-1). These optical in/out connectors can operate independently and offer two different optical formats: ADAT optical or TOSLink (optical S/PDIF). For example, you could connect

ADAT optical operation at 88.2 or 96 kHz

When conﬁgured for ADAT “lightpipe”, an optical con nec tor prov ide s four c hann els at 88 .2 or 96 kH z (2x sample rates) using the industry standard SMUX high-resolution optical format. If you are connecting a MOTU interface with optical ports to the Track16, use the Typ e I SMUX setting in the other MOTU interface. Refer to the documentation for your other MOTU interface for details on how to make this setting.

Below is a summary of optical formats:

Format 44.1 or 48 kHz 88.2 or 96 kHz

ADAT optical 8 channels 4 channels of SMUX

TOSLink stereo stereo

Choosing a clock source for optical connections

When connecting an optical device, make sure that its digital audio clock is phase-locked (in sync with) the Track16. There are two ways to do this:

1. Resolve the optical device to the Track16

2. Resolve the Track16 to the optical device

For 1), choose Internal (or any other clock source except ADAT optical) as the clock source for the Track16 in MOTU Audio Setup.

For 2), choose ADAT Optical as the Track16’s clock source.

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 28

For details about using the clock source setting and the MOTU Audio Setup software in general, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup” (page 35).

CONNECT MIDI GEAR

Connect your MIDI device’s MIDI IN jack to the Track16’s breakout cable MIDI OUT jack (Connection A below). Conversely, connect the MIDI device’s MIDI OUT jack to the Track16’s MIDI IN jack (Connection B).

Track16 I/O cable

MIDI Device

Connection A

MIDI

OUT

MIDI

cables

MIDI INMIDI

OUT

MIDI IN

Connection B

to do this with devices that receive on only one MIDI channel (such as effects modules) so their receive channels don’t conﬂict with one another.

Tra ck 16

I/O cable

MIDI

OUT

MIDI

MIDI Device

Figure 4-5: Connecting additional devices with MIDI THRU ports.

MIDI

THRU

MIDI IN

MIDI

cable

POWER OPTIONS

The Track16 can draw power from two possible sources:

Figure 4-4: Connecting a MIDI device to the Track16.

One-way MIDI connections

MIDI devices that do not receive MIDI data, such as a dedicated keyboard controller, guitar controller, or drum pad, only need Connection B shown in Figure 4-4. Similarly, devices that never send data, such as a sound module, only need Connection A. Make both connections for any device that needs to both send and receive MIDI data.

Connecting additional gear with MIDI THRUs

If you need to connect several pieces of MIDI gear, run a MIDI cable from the MIDI THRU of a dev ice already connected to the Track16 to the MIDI IN on the additional device as shown below in Figure 4-5. The two devices then share the Track16’s MIDI OUT port. This means that they share the same set of 16 MIDI channels, too, so try

1. a computer connected by FireWire, or

2. a DC power supply.

If you use USB to connect to your computer, you must also use the DC power supply included with your Track16.

Bus power requirements

The Track16 draws all the power it needs from the FireWire bus connection to the computer. However, the FireWire connection to the computer must meet all of the requirements discussed below.

9-pin and 6-pin FireWire connectors

The Track16 can only draw power over the FireWire bus from a 9-pin to 9-pin cable, or a 6-pin to 9-pin cable. It cannot draw power from a FireWire cable with a 4-pin connector, as shown below:

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 29

YES

✓

✗

6-pin FireWire

Figure 4-6: 4-pin FireWire connectors cannot be used for bus power.

When operating under bus power, daisy-chaining is not recommended

The Track16 can be daisy-chained with other FireWire devices from a single FireWire connection to the computer. However, if the Track16 is operating under bus power, this is not recommended. If you need to daisy chain the Track16 with other devices on the same FireWire bus, power the Track16 with the included power adapter. The other devices on the chain should also have their own power supply. In general, buspowered FireWire devices should not be daisychained.

FireWire adapter products must be powered

If you are using a FireWire adapter (a third-party product that supplies one or more FireWire ports to your computer), it must have direct access to a power supply:

■ PCI FireWire cards — If you plan to connect the

Track16 to a PCI card and run the Track16 under bus power, the PCI card must have a direct connection to the power supply harness inside your computer. This is the same power supply harness to which you connect internal hard drives, CD/DVD drives, etc.

■ PCMCIA or ExpressCard slot adapters — If you

plan to connect the Track16 to a card adapter (inserted in the card slot in your laptop), it must provide a 6-pin or 9-pin connection and it must also have its own power supply. Most commonly, these types of products have a DC power adapter.

4-pin FireWire

As you can see, however, this situation does not allow for remote battery operation, as the PC card adapter requires AC.

Examples of bus-powered operation

Here are a few typical examples of bus-powered Track16 operation:

Bus power from a desktop computer

Your desktop computer is running off of its usual AC power connection, and the Track16 draws power from the FireWire cable connected to the computer. There are no limits to running time.

Bus power from an AC-powered laptop

This scenario is identical to the desktop situation described above: the laptop is powered by AC, the Track16 is powered via the FireWire bus and there are no limits to running time.

Bus power from a battery-powered laptop

The laptop is being powered by its own battery, and the Track16 is being powered by its FireWire connection to the computer. So the laptop battery is supplying power to both the laptop and the Track16. This is the most compact and portable operating scenario. Running time is determined by the capacity of the laptop battery. For extended recording sessions, bring extra, fully charged laptop batteries.

DC power supply

If you do not want the Track16 to draw power from the computer, and AC power is available, you can power the Track16 from any standard 9-18 volt, 5 watt DC power supply with any polarity (tip positive or negative), and amperage as shown below.

Voltage Amperage

9 volts 1.33 amps

12 volts 1 amp

18 volts 0.66 amps

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 30

A TYPICAL TRACK16 SETUP

Here is a typical Track16 studio setup. This rig can be operated without a conventional mixer. All mixing and processing can be done either in the Track16, in the computer with audio software, or both. During recording, you can use the Track16’s

CueMix™ FX mixer to apply reverb, EQ and compression to what you are recording and monitor it via the main outs, headphone outs, or any other output pair. You can control everything from the included CueMix Console software.

Secondary

studio monitors

Guitar

Balanced

quarter-inch

analog outs

synthesizerMain

MIDI

OUT

Mic 2 Mic 1

Guitar

Phones

iPad

iPod

Figure 4-7: A typical Track16 studio setup.

Mac

2-channel

FireWire or U SB

MOTU 8pre

optical expander

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Breakout

cable

8-channel

ADAT

optical

Optical output

Home theater system

TOSL ink

Optical input

Page 31

CONNECTING MULTIPLE MOTU FIREWIRE INTERFACES

You can daisy-chain up to four MOTU FireWire interfaces on a single FireWire bus, but do not run the Track16 or other bus-powered interfaces under bus power when doing so.

To synchronize multiple devices via the MOTU FireWire/USB driver, choose one device (PCI, FireWire, USB or otherwise) as the master clock and then slave the Track16 and other devices to it. All interfaces will remain resolved to each other via the master interface.

When connecting multiple MOTU interfaces, MOTU Audio Setup displays the settings for one interface at a time. To view the settings for an interface, click its tab.

Resolving to other Core audio drivers

The MOTU FireWire/USB driver can resolve to other Core Audio drivers. This allows the Track16 and other MOTU interfaces to resolve to other audio interfaces running simultaneously on the same computer, such as the Mac’s built-in audio, a PCI-424 core system, or even 3rd-party interfaces, without the need for external word clock connections between the devices. Doing so ensures that audio tracks being played or recorded by your MOTU FireWire/USB interface will not drift apart from tracks on the other device during long playback or recording passes.

Make the Clock Source settings for each interface as follows:

■ For the master interface, click its tab in MOTU

Audio Setup and choose any clock source you wish (except any of the slave interfaces, of course).

■ For each slave interface, click its tab and choose

the master interface from the Clock Source menu. This causes the slave interfaces to resolve to the master interface.

Operating multiple FireWire interfaces at high sample rates

Four MOTU FireWire interfaces can operate at

44.1 or 48kHz on a single FireWire bus, although you may have to disable optical banks to conserve FireWire bus bandwidth. At the 2x samples rates (88.2 or 96kHz) and 4x sample rates (176.4 and 192kHz), you can operate no more than two interfaces on a single FireWire bus.

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 32

INSTALLING THE TRACK16 HARDWARE

Page 33

Part 2

Using Track16

Page 34

Page 35

CHAPTER

5 MOTU Audio Setup

OVERVIEW

MOTU Audio Setup gives you access to basic Track16 hardware settings, such as sample rate, clock source, optical format and more.

Accessing the Track16 settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

‘Track16’ tab settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Clock Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Default Stereo Input/Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Phones Assign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Optical input/output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Main Out Assign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Return Assign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

‘General’ tab settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Launch MOTU Audio Setup when hardware becomes

available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Edit Channel Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Enable Pedal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

ACCESSING THE TRACK16 SETTINGS

There are several ways to access Track16 settings:

■ Open MOTU Audio Setup from the

Applications folder.

■ Click the MOTU Audio Setup icon in the dock to

open the application’s window.

■ Right-click on the MOTU Audio Setup dock

icon to open the shortcut menu shown below.

■ From within your host audio software’s audio

driver preferences. For example, in Digital Performer or AudioDesk, choose Setup menu>

Conﬁgure Audio System> Conﬁgure Hardware Driver.

☛ Most applications provide access only to basic

settings such as sample rate and clock source. For access to all settings, open MOTU Audio Setup using one of the techniques above.

Page 36

Track16 tab settings

The Track16 tab (Figure 5-1) provides settings that apply to a speciﬁc Track16 interface. If you have several Track16 (or other MOTU) interfaces connected, you’ll see a separate tab for each one.

General tab settings

The General tab (Figure 5-1) provides settings that apply to all connected MOTU FireWire and USB Audio interfaces.

‘TRACK16’ TAB SETTINGS

Enable Core Audio Volume Controls

Under Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later, enabling this option allows you to use the Mac’s volume control, such as the Output volume slider shown in Figure 5-2 on page 38, or the volume keys on your Mac’s keyboard, to control the output level of the Track16 when it is being used as the audio output hardware for your Mac. The Default Stereo

Output setting (page 37) determines the stereo outputs to be controlled by the Mac’s volume controls.

Sample Rate

Choose the desired Sample Rate for recording and playback. The Track16 can operate at 44.1 (the standard rate for compact disc audio), 48, 88.2, 96,

176.4 or 192KHz. If you are operating at a sample rate between 44.1 and 96kHz, make absolutely sure that all of the devices connected digitally to the Track16’ optical connectors match the Track16’s sample rate. At the 4x sample rates (176.4 or 192kHz), optical I/O is disabled.

☛ Mismatched sample rates cause distortion and

crackling. If you hear this sort of thing, check the sample rate settings in your hardware and here in MOTU Audio Setup.

Figure 5-1: MOTU Audio Setup gives you access to all of the settings in the Track16 hardware.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Page 37

Clock Source

The Clock Source determines the digital audio clock that the Track16 will use as its time base. The following sections brieﬂy discuss each clock source setting.

Internal

Use the Internal setting when you want the Track16 to operate under its own digital audio clock. For example, you may be in a situation where all you are doing is playing tracks off hard disk in your digital audio software on the computer. In a situation like this, you most often don’t need to reference an external clock of any kind.

ADAT optical

The ADAT optical clock source setting refers to the clock provided by the Track16’s optical input, when it is connected to another optical device. This setting only appears in the Clock Source menu when the optical input bank is enabled and set to the ADAT Optical format, as explained in “Optical input/output” on page 38.

This setting can be used to resolve the Track16 directly to the optical input connection, allowing you to resolve the Track16 to the other device.

This setting is useful if you just need to make a simple, click-free digital transfer between the Track16 and another device.

For further details about this setting, see “Choosing a clock source for optical connections” on page 27.

TOSLINK

The TOSLINK clock source setting refers to the clock provided by the Track16’s optical input, when it is connected to another optical device. This setting only appears in the Clock Source menu when the optical input bank is enabled and set to the TOSLINK format, as explained in “Optical input/output” on page 38.

This setting can be used to resolve the Track16 directly to the optical input connection, allowing you to resolve the Track16 to the other device.

This setting is useful if you just need to make a simple, click-free digital transfer between the Track16 and another device.

For further details, see “Choosing a clock source for optical connections” on page 27.

SMPTE

Choose this setting to resolve the Track16 directly to SMPTE time code (LTC) being received via one of the Track16’s audio inputs. For details, see “Setup for SMPTE time code sync” on page 106 and chapter 10, “MOTU SMPTE Setup” (page 103).

Built-in Audio

Choose this setting to resolve the Track16 to your Mac’s built-in audio. Doing so will ensure that audio streams playing back from or recorded by the Track16 will not drift apart from audio streams simultaneously played or recorded by the Mac’s built-in mic, speakers or audio output.

Other audio devices (drivers)

The MOTU FireWire Audio Driver has the ability to resolve to other Core Audio drivers. Doing so wil l en sur e th at au dio st rea ms p lay ing ba ck f rom or recorded by the Track16 will not drift apart from audio streams simultaneously played or recorded by the other devices.

Default Stereo Input/Output

In the System Preferences window (Figure 5-2), Mac OS X lets you choose third-party hardware such as the Track16 for your Mac sound input and output. The system input and output can be used for alert sounds and general audio I/O for applications like iTunes, iMovie, etc.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Page 38

Figure 5-2: The Mac OS X sound preferences let you use the Track16 for general stereo audio input and output for your Mac.

The Default Stereo Input and Default Stereo Output settings in MOTU Audio Setup (Figure 5-1 on page 36) let you specify the stereo input and output on the Track16 to be used when it is chosen as the audio I/O device in the system preferences.

Under Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later, you can use the Mac’s volume control, such as the Output volume slider shown in Figure 5-2, or the volume keys on your Mac’s keyboard, to control the output level.

Phones Assign

The Phones Assign setting lets you choose what you will hear from the headphone jack. Choose Main Out 1-2 if you’d like the headphone output to match the main outs. Choose Phones 1-2 if you would like the headphones to serve as their own independent

output, which you can access as an independent output destinat ion in your host audio software and as an output destination for the four on-board CueMix FX mix busses.

Optical input/output

The Optical input and Optical output settings let you choose between 8-channel ADAT optical (‘lightpipe’) and stereo S/PDIF optical (‘TOSLINK’) as the format for the Track16’s optical input and output. Choose the format that matches the device connected. If you are not using the optical connections, it is recommended that you turn them off (by choosing Disabled from the menu) to reduce bandwidth and processing overhead. Note that you can operate each optical port independently. For example, you could use the ADAT optical format on the input (for a digital mixer) and optical S/PDIF on the output (for a DAT dec k).

Main Out Assign

Choose Main Outs from the Main Out Assign menu to treat the Main Outs as their own independent output pair. Choose any other output pair to cause the MAIN OUT jacks to mirror (duplicate) the output pair you choose.

Return Assign

The Return As sign men u le ts y ou cho ose any pair of Track16 audio outputs. The audio signal from this output pair is then sent back to the computer via the Stereo Return 1-2 bus. This stereo return bus from the Track16 appears in your host software alongside all other Track16 inputs, wherever your host software lists them.

The Track16 stereo return bus can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, you could use it to send a ﬁnal mix being played through the Track16 back to the computer, where you could record it for mastering or archiving purposes.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Page 39

As another example, you could use the stereo return bus to capture tracks played from your host software, along with live inputs being routed directly through the Track16 hardware via CueMix FX (with or without CueMix effects processing on the live inputs).

‘GENERAL’ TAB SETTINGS

Launch MOTU Audio Setup when hardware becomes available

Check this option if you would like the MOTU Audio Setup icon to appear in the application dock as soon as a MOTU interface is detected (powered on, plugged in, etc.)

Edit Channel Names

Click the Edit Channel Names button to open the Channel Names window (Figure 5-3). This window lets you edit the names of the Track16 inputs and outputs, as they appear in your host audio software. For example, when you click on a menu that displays the Track16 inputs (or outputs), you will see the names you specify in this window (e.g. “vocal mic”, “lead guitar”, etc.), instead of the default generic names (“Analog 1”, “Analog 2”, etc.)

☛ Not all Mac OS X audio software supports

channel names. If not, you’ll see generic port names in your host audio software. See Appendix A, “Audio I/O reference” page (111).

Figure 5-3: The Edit Channel Names window.

Figure 5-4: Track16 channel names as they appear in Digital Perfo rmer.

Enable Pedal

This setting applies to other MOTU audio interfaces, but it does not apply to the Track16.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Page 40

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Page 41

CHAPTER

6 Hardware operation

METERS

The ﬁrst time you switch on the Track16, its LED meters show signals indicated by the white labels be low t hem . Pu sh t he MET ERs button to to ggl e th e meters to display the signals indicated by the blue labels. The METERs button glows blue. Push it again to return to the white labels (dim blue).

KNOB

At any time, the knob controls one of three things:

1. output volume

2. input trim

3. input bus level

The buttons let you quickly choose what the knob does.

BUTTONS

The ﬁrst time you switch on the Track16, the state of the buttons is as follows:

Button LED color

METERS Off

POWER Blue

Currently selected input or output Green

Other inputs and outputs Amber

Phantom power (V) and Pad (P) LEDs Off

Figure 6-1: Use the knob and buttons to control basic Track16 functions.

Page 42

Output volume control

To control volume, push the desired output (MAIN, PHONES, or LINE OUT). The button illuminates green. Turn the knob to adjust the output volume.

Input trim

To control input trim, push the desired input (MIC, GUITAR, or LINE IN). The button illuminates green. Turn the knob to adjust the input trim.

Input bus volume

To control input bus level (CueMix input fader), push the output bus (MAIN, PHONES, LINE OUT) and the desired input (MIC, GUITAR, or LINE IN) at the same time. Both the input and output buttons illuminate green. The input button illuminates green. Turn the knob to adjust the bus volume.

Muting/unmuting

To mute or unmute an output, push the desired output (MAIN, PHONES, or LINE OUT) to select it. The button illuminates green. Push the knob to mute or unmute the output. While muted, the button blinks.

To mute or unmute input bus volume (CueMix input fader), push the output bus (MAIN, PHONES, LINE OUT) and the desired input (MIC, GUITAR, or LINE IN) at the same time. Both the input and output buttons illuminate green. Push the knob once to mute or unmute the input on that bus. When muted, the button blinks; unmuted it stops blinking.

Pad and 48V phantom power

To toggle a -20dB pad, push MIC 1 or MIC 2 and then push the knob once. The yellow pad (P) LED turns on or off.

To toggle 48V phantom power, push MIC 1 or MIC 2 and hold down the knob. The red phantom power (V) LED turns on or off.

Lockout mode

Hold the METERS button down for 2 seconds to enter Lockout mode. In this mode, the knob and buttons are temporarily disabled, to prevent unwanted changes to any Track16 settings. While in lockout mode, the METERS button blinks.

Hold the METERS button for 2 seconds again to exit lockout mode.

Button LED color schemes

The Track16 button LEDs have the ability to display several different color combinations. From the factory, the currently selected button is green and the others are amber. But you can choose other color combinations, if you like.

To change the button LED color scheme:

1 Hold the METERS button down for 2 seconds to enter Lockout mode.

The METERS button blinks.

2 Press the METERS button repeatedly to cycle among the different LED color schemes.

3 When you have chosen the desired scheme, hold the METERS button again for 2 seconds to exit Lockout mode.

You can change the LED color scheme at any time.

FACTORY SETTINGS

To restore these factory settings, hold down the MAIN and LINE OUT buttons for 2 seconds:

■ The MAIN button is active (green) and,

therefore, the knob controls main out volume.

■ The OUTPUT METERs button is inactive, and

therefore, the meters display levels for MIC IN, GUITAR IN, and LINE IN.

■ On the mic inputs, 48V phantom power and

-20 dB pad are off.

HARDWARE OPERATION

Page 43

CHAPTER

7 Conﬁguring Host Audio Software

OVERVIEW

The Track16 provides multi-channel audio input and output for Core Audio-compatible audio applications, including MOTU’s Digital Performer and AudioDesk, Apple’s Logic Pro, Logic Express, SoundTrack Pro, and GarageBand, and other third-party software applications such as Ableton Live, Avid Pro Tools, Cockos Reaper, Propellerhead Reason and Record, Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, and others.

AudioDesk is included with your Track16 system. For complete information about all of AudioDesk’s powerful workstation features, refer to the AudioDesk User Guide included with your Track16 system.

Digital Performer, MOTU’s state-of-the-art digital audio workstation software, is available separately; for details about upgrading from AudioDesk to Digital Performer, talk to your authorized MOTU dealer or visit MOTU.com.

Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Run MOTU Audio Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Choosing the MOTU Audio driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Reducing latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Working with Track16 inputs and outputs . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Processing live inputs with host plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Working with CueMix FX mixing and effects. . . . . . . . . 48

Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

PREPARATION

To make sure that everything is ready for your host audio software, install your host audio software ﬁrst (if you haven’t already done so), and then see these chapters before proceeding:

■ chapter 3, “Installing the Track16 Software”

(page 19)

chapter 4, “Installing the Track16 Hardware” (page 23).

RUN MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Before you run your host audio software, launch MOTU Audio Setup to conﬁgure your Track16 hardware.

MOTU Audio Setup provides settings to conﬁgure your audio interface and enable the desired inputs and outputs. Only enabled inputs and outputs will be available to your software, so this is an important step. For complete details see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup” (page 35).

Figure 7-1: MOTU Audio Setup.

For complete details about the Track16 settings, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup” (page 35). The following sections provide a brief explanation of each Track16 setting.

Sample rate

Choose the desired overall sample rate for the Track16 system and your host audio software. Newly recorded audio will have this sample rate.

Clock Source

This setting is very important because it determines which audio clock the Track16 will follow.

Page 44

If you do not have any digital audio connections to your Track16 (you are using the analog inputs and outputs only), and you will not be slaving your host software to external SMPTE time code, choose Inter nal.

If you have devices connected to the Track16 optical ports, see “Choosing a clock source for optical connections” on page 27.

If you are slaving the Track16 and your host software to SMPTE time code, follow the directions in chapter 10, “MOTU SMPTE Setup” (page 103).

Phones Assign

This Track16 setting lets you choose what you’ll hear from the headphone jack. For example, if you choose Main Out 1-2, the headphones w ill duplicate the main outs. Or you can choose any other output pair. If you choose Phones 1-2, this setting makes the headphone jack serve as its own independent output pair. As a result, you’ll see Phones 1-2 as an additional audio destination in your host’s audio output menus.

☛ The 1/8th-inch “mini” headphone jack always

mirrors the 1/4-inch jack.

Optical input and output

To m ake a Trac k16 optic al i nput or ou tput ava ilabl e in your host software, choose the appropriate format (ADAT optical or TOSLINK) from the optical input and/or output menu. If you won’t be using the optical connectors, turn them off.

Return Assign

In your host audio software audio input menus, you’ll see an Track16 input called Return 1-2. This is a stereo feed from the Track16 that matches the signal of one of its output pairs. Use the Return Assign menu in MOTU Audio Setup to choose which output pair you would like to hear on this return. This can be used, for example, to record back a ﬁnal stereo mix that includes effects processing from the Track16 DSP (such as the Leveler) for reference and archiving purposes.

☛ Warning: the Return inputs can cause

feedback loops! D track that shares the same Track16 output pair as the returns.

Reverb return

The Track16 also supplies a return to your host software that carries the output of its reverb processor. This return can be used for any purpose you wish.

CHOOSING THE MOTU AUDIO DRIVER

Once you’ve made the preparations described so far in this chapter, you’re ready to run your audio software and enable the MOTU Audio driver. Check the audio system or audio hardware conﬁguration window in your software. There will be a menu there that lets you choose among various drivers that may be in your system. Choose the MOTU Audio driver from this menu.

O NOT assign this input to a

Main Outs Assign

Use the Main Outs Assign setting to determine what audio you will hear on the main outs of the Track16. If you would like to treat them as their own separate output pair, choose Main Out 1-2.

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Page 45

Digital Performer and AudioDesk

In MOTU Digital Performer or AudioDesk, choose

Conﬁgure Audio System > Conﬁgure Hardware Driver from the Setup menu, as shown in

Figure 7-2. Choose the MOTU Track16 from the list of drivers.

Pro Tools

In Avid Pro Tools, go to the Setup menu and choose Playback Engine as shown in Figure 7-3. Choose the MOTU Track16 from the Current Engine menu. For information about the H/W Buffer Size setting, see “Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” on page 53.

☛ Pro Tools 9 or later is required for operation

with the Track16.

Figure 7-2: Enabling the Track16 in Digital Performer

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Figure 7-3: Enabling the Track16 in Pro Tools

Page 46

Logic Pro and Logic Express

In Logic Pro and Logic Express, go to the Preferences window, click the Aud io tab, click the Devices tab and click the Core Audio tab as shown in Figure 7-4. Choose the MOTU Track16 from the Output and Input device menus.

Figure 7-4: Enabling the Track16 in Logic

Soundtrack Pro

In Soundtrack Pro, access the preferences window, click the Recording tab and choose MOTU Track16 from the Input and Monitor menu as shown below in Figure 7-5.

Garage Band

In Garage Band, go to the Audio/MIDI preferences and choose MOTU Track16 from the Audio O utput and Audio Input menus as shown below in Figure 7-6.

Figure 7-6: Enabling the Track16 in Garage Band

Cubase and Nuendo

In Cubase or Nuendo, go to the Device Setup window. Click the VST Audio System item in the Devices list and choose MOTU Track16 from the ASIO Driver menu as shown below in Figure 7-7. Activate the inputs and outputs within Cubase or Nuendo as usual.

Figure 7-5: Enabling the Track16 in Soundtrack Pro

Figure 7-7: Enabling the Track16 in Cubase

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Page 47

Live

In Ableton Live, access the preferences window and click the Aud io tab. Choose Core Audio from the Driver Type menu. Choose the MOTU Track16 from the Input Audio Device and Output Audio Device menus as shown below in Figure 7-8. To enable or disable input or output channels, click the Input Conﬁg or Output Conﬁg buttons.

Figure 7-8: Enabling the Track16 in Live

Reason and Record

In Propellerhead Reason or Record, go to the Preferences window, choose Aud io preferences from the menu and choose MOTU Track16 from the Audio Output menu as shown below in Figure 7-9.

Reaper

In Cockos Reaper, access the Preferences and click

Devices under the Aud io preferences. Choose MOTU Track16 from the Audio Device menu as

shown below in Figure 7-10.

Figure 7-10: Enabling the Track16 in Reaper

Other audio software

For other audio applications, the procedure is similar to that shown above. Consult your owner’s manual for further information.

REDUCING LATENCY

On Mac OS X, audio I/O buffer size is handled by the host audio application rather than the Track16 Core Audio driver.

Most audio software applications provide an adjustable audio buffer setting that lets you control the amount of delay you’ll hear when monitoring live inputs through your host audio software or processing them with software plug-ins.

Figure 7-9: Enabling the Track16 in Reason

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

For information, see the “Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” section of chapter 8, “Reducing Monitoring Latency” (page 51).

WORKING WITH TRACK16 INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

Once you’ve enabled the Track16’s driver, Track16 audio inputs and outputs will appear in your host software wherever audio inputs and outputs are listed. If you don’t see the optical inputs and/or

Page 48

outputs, check MOTU Audio Setup to make sure they are enabled. If you don’t plan to use either optical bank, turn it off to conserve computer bandwidth.

Remember that the main outs and headphone out put c an be conﬁg ured in MOT U Audio Setup to mirror other outputs. In addition, the Track16 optical banks can be disabled or conﬁgured as either ADAT optical or TOSLink. This will affect how they appear (and if they appear at all) in your host software’s audio input lists. See “Optical input/ output” on page 38, “Phones Assign” on page 38 and “Main Out Assign” on page 38.

Number of channels

If your host audio software requires that you spec ify th e numb er of audio voi ces or cha nnels yo u wi ll be using , be sure to choose enough channels to cover the 16 inputs and 16 outputs provided by your Track16.

Mix1 1-2 return bus

In your host audio software audio input menus, you’ll see an Track16 input called Mix1 Return 1-2. This is a stereo feed from the Track16 that matches its main outs (Mix 1). This can be used, for example, to record a ﬁnal stereo mix for reference and archiving purposes.

☛ Warning: the Mix1 Return 1-2 return inputs

can cause feedback loops! DO NOT assign this input to a track assigned to the Track16 main outs.

For Mix1 Return 1-2, you can choose whether or not to include audio being sent to the main outs from the computer. See “Mix1 Return Includes Computer” on page 81.

(such as the main outs), the mirrored audio stream is mixed with the phones audio output. For further explanation, see “Phones Assign” on page 38.

Audio Input and output names

The Track16 audio driver supplies text string labels for its inputs and outputs to clearly identify each one, but some applications do not display these labels. For information on how you can identify each input and output in a numbered list like this, see Appendix A, “Audio I/O reference” page (111).

PROCESSING LIVE INPUTS WITH HOST PLUG-INS

If you patch a live input (such as a MIDI synthesizer) through a plug-in effect in your host software, you might hear a slight delay. There are several ways to reduce this delay. For details, see chapter 8, “Reducing Monitoring Latency” (page 51).

WORKING WITH CUEMIX FX MIXING AND EFFECTS

The Track16 provides powerful external mixing, EQ, compression and reverb, which you can operate hand-in-hand with your host’s mixing environment. For example, the Track16 can serve as a monitor mixer routing channels to musicians, or it can serve as an integrated extension of your host’s mixing environment. If you program an Track16 mixing and processing conﬁguration that goes hand in hand with your host project, be sure to use the ﬁle save features in CueMix FX to save the Track16 settings as a ﬁle in your host project folder for instant recall of all settings. See chapter 9, “CueMix FX” (page 57) for complete details.

The “Phones 1-2” output

Host audio tracks assigned to the Phones 1-2 output pair will be heard on the headphone jack only. If the Phones are set to mirror another output

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Page 49

SYNCHRONIZATION

You may encounter situations in which you need to synchronize your audio software and the Track16 to the other components of your system.

Synchronizing digital audio connections

If you have devices connected to the Track16 digital optical ports, you need to be concerned with the synchronization of the Track16’s digital audio clock with other devices connected to it digitally (if any). For example, if you have a digital mixer connected to the Track16 via an ADAT optical light pipe cable, you need to make sure that their audio clocks are phase-locked. For details, see “Choosing a clock source for optical connections” on page 27. If you don’t have any digital audio devices connected to the Track16, digital audio phase-lock does not apply to you.

Resolving directly to time code (with no synchronizer)

If your host audio software supports Core Audio’s sample-accurate positioning protocol, or if it can slave to MIDI Time Code, then it can resolve to the Track16’s built-in time code synchronization feature. To resolve your Track16 directly to SMPTE time code with no additional synchronization devices, use the setup shown in “Setup for SMPTE time code sync” on page 106.

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Page 50

CONFIGURING HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

Page 51

CHAPTER

8 Reducing Monitoring Latency

OVERVIEW

Monitoring latency is that slight delay you hear when you run an input signal through your host audio software. For example, you might hear it when you drive a live guitar input signal through an amp modeling plug-in running in your audio sequencer.

This delay is caused by the amount of time it takes for audio to make the entire round trip through you r compu ter, f rom w hen it ﬁrs t ent ers an Track 16 input, passes through the Track16 hardware into the computer, through your host audio software, and then back out to an Track16 output.

If you don’t need to process a live input with plug-ins, the easiest way to avoid monitoring latency is to use the Track16’s CueMix FX digital mixer to patch the input directly to your monitor outs via the Track16 audio hardware. The Track16 even provides effects processing (EQ, compression and reverb), which can be applied on input, output, or even at the bussing stage, just like a conventional mixer. For details, see “CueMix FX hardware monitoring” on page 55.

Monitoring live input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Adjusting the audio I/O buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Lower latency versus higher CPU overhead . . . . . . . . . . 54

Transport responsiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Effects processing and automated mixing . . . . . . . . . . . 55

CueMix FX hardware monitoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Two methods for controlling CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Using the CueMix FX app. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Controlling CueMix FX from your audio software . . . . 55

If you do need to process a live input with host software plug-ins, or if you are playing virtual instruments live through your Track16 audio hardware, you can signiﬁcantly reduce latency — and even make it completely inaudible, regardless of what host audio application software you use. This chapter explains how.

It is i mpor tant to note th at monitor ing delay has no effect on when audio data is recorded to disk or played back from disk. Actual recording and playback is extremely precise.

Page 52

MONITORING LIVE INPUT

There are two ways to monitor live audio input with an Track16: 1) through the computer or 2) via the Track16 CueMix FX hardware mixer. Figure 8-1 shows method 1, which allows you to apply host-based effects processing via plug-ins in your audio software. See the next section, “Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” for details about how to reduce — and possibly eliminate — the audible monitoring delay that the computer introduces.

Figure 8-2 shows how to use CueMix FX hardwarebased monitoring, which lets you hear what you are recording with no monitoring delay and no computer-based effects processing. Instead, input

is routed directly to an output, either with or without Track16-based effects processing (EQ, compression or reverb). See “CueMix FX hardware monitoring” later in this chapter for details on how to use CueMix FX with your audio software, or with the included CueMix FX software.

If the material you are recording is suitable, there is a third way to monitor live input: use both methods (Figure 8-1 and Figure 8-2) at the same time. For example, you could route guitar to both the computer (for an amp model effect) and mix that processed signal on the main outs with dry guitar from CueMix FX — or perhaps with a touch of Track16 Classic Reverb.

4. Mic signal (with plug-in processing, if any) is routed to the main outs (or other outputs that you’ve speciﬁed in the software).

1. Live input (from

Main

out

mic, guitar, etc.) enters the MOTU interface.

3. Mic signal is ‘patched thru’ back to

2. Mic signal goes immediately to the computer.

Figure 8-1: There are two ways to monitor live audio inputs with an Track16: 1) through the computer or 2) via CueMix FX hardware monitoring. This diagram shows method 1 (through the computer). When using this method, use your host software’s buffer setting to reduce the slight delay you hear when monitoring the live input, but don’t lower it too much, or your computer might get sluggish.

the audio interface with reverb or other plug-in effects, if any.

Mac

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

Page 53

ADJUSTING THE AUDIO I/O BUFFER

A buffer is a small amount of computer memory used to hold data. For audio interfaces like the Track16, buffers are used for the process of transferring audio data in and out of the computer. The size of the buffers determines how much delay you hear when monitoring live inputs through your audio software: larger buffers produce more delay; smaller buffers produce less.

Under Mac OS X, audio I/O buffer size is handled by the host audio application (not the Track16 Core Audio driver). Most audio software applications provide an adjustable audio buffer setting that lets you control the amount of delay you’ll hear when monitoring live inputs or processing them with software plug-ins. Below are a few examples.

Figure 8-3: In Digital Performer and AudioDesk, choose Setup menu> Conﬁgure Audio System> Conﬁgure Hardware Driver to open the dialog shown above and access the Buffer Size setting. Refer to your Digital Performer or AudioDesk manual for information about the Host Buffer Multiplier setting.

3. Mic signal is mixed with the main outs, and you can control the volume (relative to the rest of the mix) with the mic’s fader in CueMix FX.

Main

out

Figure 8-2: This diagram shows the signal ﬂow when using CueMix FX no-latency monitoring. Notice that this method does not process the live input with plug-ins in your audio software. Instead, you can apply Track16 effects, such as the reverb, EQ and/or compression.

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

1. Live input (from mic, guitar, etc.) enters the MOTU interface.

2. CueMix FX immediately patches the live mic signal directly to the main outs (or other output), completely bypassing the computer. This signal could be dry, or with Track16 effects processing, such as EQ, compression or Classic Reverb.

Page 54

Figure 8-4: In Cubase or Nuendo, choose Devices menu> Device Setup. Select MOTU Track16, then click the Control Panel button to access the window above and the Buffer Size setting.

■ How responsive the transport controls are in

AudioDesk, Digital Performer or other audio software

The buffer setting presents you with a trade-off between the processing power of your computer and the delay of live audio as it is being patched through your software. If you reduce the size, you reduce patch thru latency, but signiﬁcantly increase the overall processing load on your computer, leaving less CPU bandwidth for things like realtime effects processing. On the other hand, if you increase the buffer size, you reduce the load on your computer, freeing up bandwidth for effects, mixing and other real-time operations.

Figure 8-6: When adjusting the buffer size to reduce monitoring latency, watch the ‘processor’ meter in Digital Performer or AudioDesk’s Performance Monitor. If you hear distortion, or if the Performance meter is peaking, try raising the buffer size.

Figure 8-5: In Logic Pro or Logic Express, go to the Audio Devices preferences to access the Buffer Size option shown above.

Lower latency versus higher CPU overhead

The buffer setting has a large impact on the following things:

■ Patch thru latency

■ The load on your computer’s CPU

■ Possible distortion at the smallest settings

If you a re at a point i n you r rec ordi ng proj ect whe re you are not currently working with live, patchedthru material (e.g. you’re not recording vocals), or if you have a way of externally processing inputs, choose a higher buffer size. Depending on your computer’s CPU speed, you might ﬁnd that settings in the middle work best (256 to 1024).

Transport responsiveness

Buffer size also impacts how quickly your audio software will respond when you begin playback, although not by amounts that are very noticeable. Lowering the buffer size will make your software respond faster; raising the buffer size will make it a little bit slower, but barely enough to notice.

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

Page 55

Effects processing and automated mixing

Reducing latency with the buffer size setting has another beneﬁt: it lets you route live inputs through the real-time effects processing and mix automation of your audio software.

CUEMIX FX HARDWARE MONITORING

The Track16 has a more direct method of patching audio through the system: CueMix FX. CueMix FX is a digital mixer in the Track16 hardware itself. CueMix FX has two important beneﬁts:

■ First, it completely eliminates the patch thru

delay (reducing it to a small number of samples — the same amount as any digital mixer).

■ Secondly, CueMix FX imposes no strain on the

computer.

The trade-off, however, is that CueMix FX bypasses your host audio software. Instead, live audio inputs are patched directly through to outputs in the Track16 itself and are mixed with disk tracks playing back from your audio software. This means that you cannot apply host-based plug-ins, mix automation, or other real-time effects that your audio software provides. But for inputs that don’t need these types of features, CueMix FX is the way to go.

You can even use both methods simultaneously.

Using the CueMix FX app

If your host audio sof tware does not suppor t direc t hardware monitoring, you can run the CueMix FX so ft war e si de- by- sid e w ith you r au dio sof tw are and manage your monitor mix in CueMix FX.

CueMix FX allows you to create up to eight separate Track16 stereo mixes, or any other desired routing conﬁgurations. These routings are independent of your host audio software. For complete details, see chapter 9, “CueMix FX” (page 57).

Controlling CueMix FX from your audio software

Some audio applications allow you to control CueMix FX monitoring from within the application (without the need to use CueMix FX). In most cases, this support consists of patching an Track16 input directly to an output when you record-arm a track. Exactly how this is handled depends on the application.

The following applications are among those that support direct control over CueMix FX:

■ Digital Performer

On the other hand, if you really need to use the mixing and processing provided by your audio software, you should not use CueMix FX. Instead, reduce latency with the buffer setting (as explained earlier in this chapter).

TWO METHODS FOR CONTROLLING CUEMIX FX

There are two ways to control CueMix FX:

■ With the Track16’s CueMix FX software

■ From within your host audio software (if it

supports direct hardware monitoring)

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

■ Au dio De sk

CueMix FX routings that are made via host applications are made “under the hood”, which means that you won’t see them in CueMix FX. However, CueMix FX connections made inside your host audio software dovetail with any other mixes you’ve set up in CueMix FX. For example, if your host application routes audio to an output pair that is already being used in CueMix FX for an entirely separate mix bus, both audio streams will simply be merged to the output.

Page 56

Controlling CueMix FX from within AudioDesk or Digital Performer

To turn on CueMix FX in AudioDesk and Digital Per former :

1 From the Setup menu, choose Conﬁgure Audio System> Input Monitoring Mode.

2 Choose the Direct hardware playthrough option, as shown below in Figure 8-7.

3 From the Studio menu, choose Audio Patch Thru, and choose any monitoring mode except Off.

Figure 8-7: Enabling CueMix FX in AudioDesk or Digital Performer.

Once enabled, CueMix FX monitoring is tied with Digital Performer or AudioDesk’s Audio Patch Thru feature: when you record-enable a track, the track’s input is routed directly to its output (via CueMix FX in the Track16 hardware). For example, if you record-enable a track called guitar in your DP or AudioDesk project, and its audio input assignment is Analog in 2, and its audio output assignment is optical channels 7-8, CueMix FX no-latency hardware monitoring will automatically be set up from analog in 2 to optical outputs 7-8.

Controlling CueMix FX from within other software

Consult the manual for your software.

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

Page 57

CHAPTER

9 CueMix FX

OVERVIEW

CueMix FX is a cross-platform software application that provides graphic, on-screen control for the Track16’s ﬂexible CueMix FX on-board mixer and effects processing.

CueMix FX also provides many advanced audio analysis tools, including a tuner and oscilloscope.

CueMix FX can be used independently of host audio software, or together with it. CueMix dovetails with the direct monitoring features of your host audio software, allowing you to seemlessly mix in both environments.

A 16-bus mixer with EQ, compression and reverb. . . . 57

Advantages over host-based mixing and processing 58

Opening CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

CueMix FX basic operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

The Mixes tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

The Inputs tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

The Outputs tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

The channel settings section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Output volume controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

DSP meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Solo light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Talkback and listenback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

File menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Edit menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Devices menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

FFT and Spectrogram display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Oscilloscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

X-Y Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Phase Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Conﬁgurations menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Talkback menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Phones menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Control Surfaces menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

A 16-BUS MIXER WITH EQ, COMPRESSION AND REVERB

All Track16 inputs can be routed to the on-board CueMix FX 16-bus (8 stereo bus) digital mixer driven by hardware-based DSP with 32-bit ﬂoating point precision.

The CueMix FX mixer allows you to apply nolatency effects processing to inputs, outputs or busses directly in the Track16 hardware, independent of the computer. Effects can even be applied when the Track16 is operating stand-alone (without a computer). Input signals to the computer can be recorded wet, dry, or dry with a wet monitor mix (for musicians during recording, for example). Effects include:

■ Classic Reverb with tail lengths up to 60 seconds

■ 7-band parametric EQ modeled after British

analog console EQs

■ A standard compressor with conventional

threshold/ratio/attack/release/gain controls

■ The Leveler™, an accurate model of the

legendary LA-2A optical compressor, which provides vintage, musical automatic gain control

The Track16’s ﬂexible effects architecture allows you to apply EQ and compression on every input and output (a total of 32 channels), with enough DSP resources for at least one band of parametric EQ and compression on every channel at 48 kHz. DSP resources are allocated dynamically and a DSP meter in the CueMix FX software allows you to keep tabs on the Track16’s processing resources.

Each input, output and mix bus provides a send to the Classic Reverb processor, which then feeds reverb returns to mix busses and outputs.

Page 58

ADVANTAGES OVER HOST-BASED MIXING AND PROCESSING

CueMix FX provides several major advantages over mixing and processing in your host audio sof tware:

■ CueMix has no buffer latency. Thanks to the

Track16’s DSP chip, CueMix provides the same throughput performance as a digital mixer.

■ CueMix mixing and effects processing imposes

no processor drain on the computer’s CPU.

*If the Track16’s optical output is disabled in MOTU Audio Setup (Figure 5-1 on page 36), CueMix busses 4 through 7 are also disabled. If the optical output bank is set to TOSLink, bus 4 is enabled for TOSLink channels 1-2. If the optical output bank is set to ADAT, then busses 4 through 7 are enabled for the four optical bus pairs indicated in the table above. For details about conﬁguring the optical output, see “Optical input/ output” on page 38.

■ CueMix routing can be maintained

independently of individual software applications or projects.

■ CueMix routing can operate without the

computer, allowing the Track16 to operate as a portable, stand-alone mixer with effects.

OPENING CUEMIX FX

CueMix FX is an application installed with the rest of your Track16 software installer. It can be found in the Applications folder.

CUEMIX FX BASIC OPERATION

The CueMix FX application is simple to operate, once you know these basic concepts.

A separate mix bus for each output pair

The Track16 provides a separate mix bus for each of its output pairs, as follows:

Mix name Physical output

Bus 1 Main Out 1-2

Bus 2 Phones 1-2

Bus 3 Analog 1-2

Bus 4 ADAT 1-2, TOSLink 1-2, or disabled.

Bus 5 ADAT 3-4 or disabled.*

Bus 6 ADAT 5-6 or disabled.*

Bus 7 ADAT 7-8 or disabled.*

Bus 8 Mix Return 1-2

See note below.*

Many inputs to one output pair

It might be useful to think of each mix bus as some nu mbe r of input s al l mix ed d own to a ste reo outp ut pair. CueMix FX lets you choose which inputs to include in the mix, and it lets you specify the level, pan and other input-speciﬁc mix controls for each input being fed into the mix.

Viewing one mix bus at a time

CueMix FX displays one mix bus at a time in the Mixes tab (Figure 9-2 on page 60). To select which mix you are viewing, choose it from the mix bus menu (Figure 9-2). The mix name appears above the mix bus master fader (Figure 9-2), where you can click the name to change it.

Each mix bus is independent

Each mix bus has its own settings. Settings for one bus will not affect another. For example, if an input is used for one bus, it will still be available for other busses. In addition, inputs can have a different volume, pan, mute and solo setting in each bus.

Input channels

The Inputs tab (Figure 9-3 on page 62) gives you access to settings for individual Track16 inputs (or input pairs), such as phase, trim, EQ and dynamics processing. Each input also includes a send to the Track16’s global reverb processor. These settings are applied to the signal before it goes anywhere else (to a mix bus or the computer).

CUEMIX FX

Page 59

Output channels

The Outputs tab (Figure 9-6 on page 65) gives you access to settings for each Track16 output pair, including EQ, dynamics processing and send/ return controls for feeding and returning the output signal to/from the Track16’s global reverb processor. These settings are applied to the signal just before it is sent to the output.

Channel focus and settings

Click the focus button for a channel (Figure 9-1) to view channel-speciﬁc parameters in the Channel Settings section of the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-1). Separate tabs are provided for channel-speciﬁc settings (channel strip, EQ and dynamics), plus the global meter bridge and reverb processor.

Global reverb processor

The Track16 has a global reverb module (Figure 9-23 on page 77). Once it has been activated, you can feed signals to the reverb processor from various points in the Track16 mix matrix via input sends, bus sends and output sends. Stereo output from the reverb processor can then be fed back to mix busses or output pairs using reverb returns.

Other features

CueMix offers many additional features, discussed in this chapter, such as talkback/listenback, extensive metering, graphic editing of certain effects parameters, and more.

Widening the CueMix FX window

To view more input faders at once, resize the window.

Solo light

Inputs split

into mono

channels

Tabs for inputs, mix busses and

outputs

Tra ck 16

inputs

Inputs grouped as

stereo pairs

Mix bus

master

fader

Channel

focus

Channel scroll bar

DSP

meter

MIx bus

resources

Figure 9-1: CueMix FX is a virtual mixer that gives you control over the Track16’s on-board mixing features.

Channel

settings

Tabs for channel strip

settings, including EQ and

dynamics, as well as global

settings such as the meter

bridge and reverb processor.

Output volume controls

Monitoring/

talkback

section

Grow handle

CUEMIX FX

Page 60

THE MIXES TAB

Click the Mixes tab (Figure 9-2) to gain access to the Track16’s eight stereo mix busses. The Mixes tab displays one mix bus at a time.

Viewing a mix

Choose the mix you wish to view from the mix bus menu (in the Mixes tab itself, as shown in Figure 9-2). The menu shows all mixes by name, followed by the Track16 output pair to which each bus master fader is assigned. If the optical output bank is either disabled or set to TOSLink (see “Optical input/output” on page 38), then bus 5, 6 and 7 are disabled.

Naming a mix

Click the mix name at the top of the mix bus master fader (Figure 9-2) to edit the name.

Mix bus output

The bus output (Figure 9-2) indicates the Track16 stereo output pair to which the mix bus is routed.

Bus fader

The bus fader (Figure 9-2) controls the overall level of the mix (its volume on its stereo output). Use the individual input faders to the left to control individual input levels.

Bus mute

The bus mute button (Figure 9-2) disables (silences) the mix.

Bus level meter

The bus level meter, which is post-fader, shows you the output for the mix’s output.

Input name

Channel focus

Input pan section

Input fader

Input mute/solo

Input level meter

Scroll bar for input

channels

Mixes

tab

Inputs split into mono channels

Mix bus

Tra ck 16

inputs

Inputs grouped as

stereo pairs

Mix bus 1

master

fader

Bus name

Bus output

Bus Reverb

send/return

Bus fader

Bus mute

Bus level meter

Figure 9-2: The Mixes tab.

CUEMIX FX

Page 61

Bus reverb send/return

The bus reverb send (Figure 9-2) feeds the output of the mix bus, pre-fader, to the Track16’s global reverb processor, where it is merged with any other signals being fed to the reverb. The reverb’s output can then be fed back into the mixer at various return points, including the bus return (discussed below).

The bus reverb return (Figure 9-2) feeds the output of the Track16’s global reverb processor into the mix bus, pre-fader. This includes any other signals currently being fed to the reverb. The bus reverb return is disabled (grayed out) when the reverb Split Point is set to Output to eliminate the possibility for feedback loops created by reverb send/return loops. See “Split point” on page 78.

Input section

The horizontally scrolling area in the Mix tab to the left of the master fader (Figure 9-2) displays channel strips for all currently enabled Track16 inputs.

Naming an input

Click the input name at the top of the input channel strip (Figure 9-2) to edit the name. Input names are global across all mixes. This name also appears in host audio software on the computer (if the software supports channel names).

Input channel focus

Click the channel focus button (Figure 9-3) to view and edit parameters in the channel settings section of the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-7 on page 66). Clicking the mix bus master fader focus button brings the assigned output into focus, if there is one. Channel focus also determines which channels are being scoped by CueMix’s audio analysis tools, as explained in “Choosing channels for audio analysis” on page 82.

Input pan section

The input pan knob (Figure 9-2) pans the input across the bus stereo outputs. If the input itself is grouped as a stereo pair (in the Inputs tab), two forms of panning control are provided:

Balance

Balance works like the balance knob on some radios: turn it left and the right channel dims, turn it right and left channel dims. But the left channel always stays left and the right channel stays right.

Width

Widt h spreads the left and right channels across the stereo image, depending on the knob position. Maximum value (turning the pan knob all the way up) maintains the original stereo image: the left channel goes entirely left and right goes entirely right, without attenuation. The minimum value (turning the knob all the way down) creates a mono effect: equal amounts of left and right are combined and sent to both outputs. In between, the left out is a mixture of the left input and some of the right input (and vice-versa) with the effect of narrowing the ﬁeld.

Input fader and mute/solo

To add an input to a mix, or remove it, click its Mute button. To solo it, use its Solo button. Use the input fader (Figure 9-2) to adjust the level for the input in the mix. Note that an input can have different level, pan, mute and solo settings for different mixes. Input channel level meters are post-fader.

If any solo button on the current (active) bus is enabled, the Solo Light (Figure 9-1) will illuminate.

CUEMIX FX

Page 62

THE INPUTS TAB

The Track16 provides many features for managing analog and digital input signals. Some of these features, such as the Track16’s digitally controlled analog trims, are implemented in the analog domain; others are implemented in the digital domain as DSP applied to the digital signal (after the A/D converter on analog inputs). Click the Inputs tab (Figure 9-3) to access and control all of these input channel settings for each Track16 input or input pair.

Input tab settings are global

Except for the reverb send, all settings you make in the Input tab are applied to the input signal before it goes anywhere else (to a mix bus or the computer). For example, if you apply EQ and compression to the input signal, you will record the processed version of the signal in your host audio software running on the computer. If you need to

Inputs tab

Input name

Channel focus

Mono/stereo paring

Invert phase

Input trim

record a completely unprocessed input signal, do not apply any changes to it in the Input tab. The only exception to this is the reverb send, which simply splits the input signal and feeds a copy of it to the Track16’s reverb processor.

Signal ﬂows from top to bottom

Settings in each Input tab channel strip are generally applied to the signal in order from top to bottom. Input channel signal ﬂow is as follows: tr im, ove rload protection, phase , stereo vers us M/S deco ding , w idt h, L/R swap, EQ, dy namics and reverb send.

Input name

Click the input name at the top of the input channel strip (Figure 9-3) to edit the name. Input names are global across all mixes. This name also appears in host audio software on the computer (if the software supports channel names).

EQ/dynamics controls

EQ/dynamics graph

EQ/dynamics

enable/disable

Reverb send

Input scroll bar

Figure 9-3: The Inputs tab.

EQ band selectors

LP/HP ﬁlter selector Compressor selector

CUEMIX FX

Page 63

Input channel focus

Click the channel focus button (Figure 9-3) to view and edit parameters in the channel settings section of the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-7 on page 66).

Input EQ and dynamics

The Track16 lets you apply 7-band parametric EQ and dynamics processing (DSP) to any input, analog or digital.

Mono/stereo pairing

Click the Mono button (Figure 9-3) if you would li ke an inp ut to be treate d as a mono cha nnel . If you would like to work with it as one channel of a linked stereo pair, click the Stereo button. Inputs are grouped in odd/even pairs (mic 1-2, Analog 1-2, 3-4, etc.) Stereo pairs appear as a single channel strip in the CueMix FX mixer (in all tabs).

Invert phase

Click the Phase button (Figure 9-3) to invert the phase of the input signal. For stereo pairs, you can invert the phase for the left and right channels independently.

Input trim

All Track16 inputs, both analog and digital, offer continuously variable input trim. In all cases, trim level can be controlled digitally in 1 dB increments. This includes the digitally controlled analog trims on the eight analog inputs. Here is a summary of input trim ranges for each type of Track16 input:

Input

Mic inputs 0 dB +60 dB 60 dB

Guitar inputs 0 dB +22 dB 22 dB

Analog inputs -96 dB +22 dB 118 dB

ADAT optical 0 dB +12 dB 12 dB

S/PDIF (TOSLINK) 0 dB +12 dB 12 dB

Trim cut

Trim boost

Trim Range

Once you adjust the trim levels, you can save them as a ﬁle on disk for future instant recall. See “Saving and loading hardware presets” on page 81 and “Conﬁgurations menu” on page 99.

The controls in the EQ/Compression section of the Inputs tab (Figure 9-3) let you edit EQ and compression settings within the context of the channel strip. This is ideal when you are comparing settings among neighboring channels, or perhaps even applying the same setting across all inputs. However, for more detailed editing of EQ and compression settings for an input channel, you can click its Focus button and view the settings in the Channel Section of the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-1). This section even provides graphical editing of EQ curves and the compressor graph, allowing you to click and drag directly on the graphic. For details see “The channel settings section” on page 66.

The EQ/Dynamics graph

The EQ/Dynamics graph for each input channel strip (Figure 9-3) provides a thumbnail view of the EQ curves or Compressor graph for the channel. This graphic is for display purposes only; it cannot be edited directly. To change the EQ settings in this graph, use the two or three knobs below, as explained in the following sections. If, however, you would like to edit the EQ curves graphically, you can do so in the EQ tab (Figure 9-10 on page 68).

EQ/Dynamics selectors

The EQ/Dynamics selector buttons along the right-hand edge of the EQ/Dynamics section (Figure 9-3) allow you to choose what you are viewing and editing in the EQ/Dynamics section.

CUEMIX FX

Page 64

Orange Green Blue Red

Yellow White Black

Figure 9-4: The EQ/Dynamics selectors.

EQ band selectors

LP/HP ﬁlter selector Compressor selector

Colored knobs

Click the selector (Figure 9-4) for the desired EQ band, low-pass (LP) ﬁlter, high pass (HP) ﬁlter or compressor to view it across all channels.

Compressor

graph

Figure 9-5: The Compressor controls.

Compressor

meter

Compressor

selector

☛ Shortcut: hold down the Option/Alt key while

clicking an EQ selector button to show just that band of EQ in the graphs. Click any selector again to return to viewing all bands.

Using the EQ/Dynamics knobs

Once you have chosen the desired EQ band, or the compressor, you can modify its settings using the two or three knobs below the graph. The knobs match the color of the currently selected effect, to help remind you of which effect you are currently editing.

☛ Important: before you can modify the settings

of an EQ band using the three knobs below the graph, the EQ band must be enabled. This is done in the EQ tab (Figure 9-10), as explained in “Enabling EQ” on page 68.

EQ/Dynamics enable/disable buttons

Click the EQ or Dynamics button at the bottom of the input channel (Figure 9-3) to toggle the effect on or off. Note that you can program EQ and compressor settings, even when the effect is currently disabled. (You just won’t hear the result until you enable it.)

Reverb send

The input reverb send (Figure 9-3) feeds the input signal to the Track16’s global reverb processor, where it is merged with any other signals being fed to the reverb. The reverb’s output can then be fed back into a mix or output pair. The send occurs after all other settings in the input channel strip (phase invert, EQ, compression, etc.)

THE OUTPUTS TAB

The Outputs tab (Figure 9-6) lets you apply EQ, dynamics and reverb to any output pair, just before the signal leaves the Track16. This is processing that occurs at the very end of the signal ﬂow, after everything else (host based effects, Track16 input or bus processing, mixing, and so on). Processing is done in the digital domain, just before the signal goes analog through the D/A converter. Output tab processing is applied to the entire output mix (all signals being mixed to the output from various sources).

Signal ﬂows from top to bottom

Settings in each Output tab channel strip are applied to the signal in order from top to bottom. For example, EQ occurs before Dynamics, which is applied before the reverb send and return.

Output name

Click the output name at the top of the output channel strip (Figure 9-6) to edit the name. Output names are g lobal and will also app ear in host audio software on the computer (if the software supports channel names).

CUEMIX FX

Page 65

Output channel focus

Click the channel focus button (Figure 9-6) to view and edit parameters in the channel settings section of the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-7 on page 66). Channel focus also determines which channels are being scoped by CueMix’s audio analysis tools, as explained in “Choosing channels for audio analysis” on page 82.

Output EQ and Dynamics

The EQ/Dynamics section in the Outputs tab (Figure 9-6) works identically to the EQ/Dynamics section for the Inputs tab (Figure 9-3). See “Input EQ and dynamics” on page 63.

Output reverb send/return

The output reverb send (Figure 9-6) feeds the signal for the output to the Track16’s global reverb processor, where it is merged with any other signals being fed to the reverb. The reverb’s output can then be fed back into the mixer at various return points, including the same output from which it was sent (discussed below). The output reverb

Outputs tab

send is disabled (grayed out) when the reverb Split Point is set to Mix to eliminate the possibility for

feedback loops created by reverb send/return loops. See “Split point” on page 78.

The output reverb return (Figure 9-6) feeds the output of the Track16’s global reverb processor directly to the output. This includes any other signals currently being fed to the reverb.

Both the send and return occur after EQ and dynamics processing, but before listenback and talkback.

Talkback/Listenback

Click the Ta l k b a c k or Listenback buttons (Figure 9-6) to toggle whether the output pair is included in the Talkback or Listenback group. See “Talkback and listenback” on page 79.

Output name

Channel focus

EQ/Dynamics graph

EQ/Dynamics controls

EQ/Dynamics

enable/disable

Output reverb

send/return

Talkback/listenback

enable/disable

CUEMIX FX

Figure 9-6: The Outputs tab.

EQ band selectors

LP/HP ﬁlter selector Compressor selector

Page 66

THE CHANNEL SETTINGS SECTION

The channel settings section in the CueMix FX window (Figure 9-1) displays three tabs for Channel, EQ and Dynamics settings for the channel with the current focus. There are also two global tabs: the Meter Bridge and the Reverb Processor, as shown below.

The Channel tab

The Channel tab (Figure 9-8) displays settings for input channels. Click any focus button in the Inputs tab to view the Channel tab settings for the channel.

Tabs for the channel that

currently has the focus

Figure 9-7: The Channel Settings section.

Tabs for the global meter

bridge and reverb processor

Figure 9-8: The Channel tab.

Signal ﬂow

Settings in the Channel tab occur just before the EQ, dynamics and reverb sends in the Input tab channel strip (Figure 9-3 on page 62). Input channel signal ﬂow is as fol lows: tr im, phase, stereo versus M/S decoding, width, L/R swap, EQ, dynamics and reverb send.

Pad and phantom

The Pad and phantom settings become active (ungrayed) when the focus is on a mic input (or mic input pair). These are the same -20 dB pad and 48V phantom power settings that you can also control from the Track16 hardware itself. There are separate settings for each mic input.

CUEMIX FX

Page 67

Stereo settings

Inputs t hat have be en grou ped a s ste reo p airs in the Inputs tab (Figure 9-3) provide two stereo modes (Figure 9-8): Normal and M/S. M/S mode provides decoding for a mid-side microphone conﬁguration.

Input meter and bus activity LEDs

When the Channel tab is active (Figure 9-8), the display above the tab provides a horizontal level meter and eight bus activity LEDs (Figure 9-9).

The Width knob (Figure 9-8) provides control over the stereo imaging, going from a full stereo image to mono (both channels panned equally). See “Width” on page 61.

The Swap L/R button (Figure 9-8) lets you switch the left and right channels.

Ta l kb ac k s ec ti on

Click the Ta l k b a c k or Listenback button (Figure 9-8) to toggle whether the input is the Talkback or Listenback input. Only one input can be the talkback input, and only one input can be the listenback input. See “Talkback and listenback” on page 79.

Reverb section

The Send in the reverb section (Figure 9-8) is the same control as the reverb send in the Input tab channel strip (Figure 9-3). See “Reverb send” on page 64. If the input is currently not grouped as a stereo pair in the Input tab (it is operating as a mono input), use the reverb Pan knob (Figure 9-8) to pan the mono signal for the stereo reverb processor.

Bus activity LEDs

Figure 9-9: Input meter and bus activity LEDs.

The input level meter (Figure 9-9) is the same as the input meters in the Meters tab (Figure 9-22 on page 77) with the Pre FX button engaged, which shows the input level on the physical input itself, be fore any pro ce ssi ng of any ki nd o cc urs wi th in th e Track16. This meter gives you the most accurate reading of the actual signal level hitting the input, regardless of any other settings.

The Bus Activity LEDs (Figure 9-9) show you which mix busses the input signal is being fed to. For example, LED #6 will glow under the following conditions: the input is unmuted in mix bus 6, its fader is up, and there is signal activity from the input going into the mix bus.

CUEMIX FX

Page 68

The EQ tab

The EQ tab (Figure 9-10) displays the EQ settings for the input or output channel that currently has the focus. Click any focus button in the Inputs or Outputs tab to view the EQ tab settings for the channel.

Vintage EQ

Inspired by legendary British large console EQs, the Track16 Vintage EQ section (Figure 9-10) gives you the look, feel and sound of the most soughtafter classic equalizers. Five bands of center frequency parametric EQ ﬁltering are provided, each with four EQ types that provide current popular EQ styles and vintage analog EQ styles alike. Two bands include shelf ﬁltering. Two additional bands of variable slope low pass and high pass ﬁltering are provided. The ﬁlter response display provides comprehensive control and visual

Q handles

(red lines)

feedback of the EQ curve being applied. With 64-bit ﬂoating point processing, the Track16 Vintage EQ has been carefully crafted and meticulously engineered to produce musical results in a wide variety of applications.

Enabling EQ

Each input and output channel has a global EQ enable/disable button (Figure 9-3 and Figure 9-6).

This button enables or disables all bands of EQ for the channel. In addition, each individual band of EQ has a Filter enable/disable switch (Figure 9-10), allowing you to enable as few or as many bands as needed for each individual channel.

☛ Shortcut: hold down the Option/Alt key while

clicking anywhere in the EQ graph that’s not directly on an EQ ﬁlter handle to enable or bypass the EQ for that input or output.

Filter

handle

Composite

curve

(white line)

Individual

ﬁlter curve

(colored area)

Filter response display

Filter display options menu

Parameter display

EQ tab

EQ ﬁlter

EQ Filter types

Shelf ﬁlter

High-pass ﬁlter

Slope

High-pass frequency

Vertical scale

Filter enable/disable

Low-pass ﬁlter

Figure 9-10: The EQ tab.

CUEMIX FX

Page 69

Vintage EQ Quick reference

Filter response display: Shows the response curve

for the current settings.

Composite curve (white line): shows the overall

response curve of the current settings in the window.

Vertical scale: Lets you zoom the vertical scale of

the ﬁlter response display.

Parameter display: Shows the precise numbers of

the parameter you are adjusting (or hovering over with the arrow cursor). The labels (frequency, gain, etc.) match the color of the ﬁlter being displayed. When a ﬁlter handle is not selected and when the cursor is not hovering over the display, the parameter display shows the name of the current channel being edited (the channel that currently has the focus), as shown below:

The name of the channel being EQ’d.

Figure 9-11: When a ﬁlter handle is not selected and when the cursor is not hovering over the display, the parameter display shows the name of the current channel being edited (the channel that currently has the focus).

EQ ﬁlter: one of ﬁve center bands of EQ that can be

independently enabled and programmed.

Filter t ype: Le ts you choos e fr om on e of four o r ﬁve

EQ styles for each independent band of EQ.

Low/High Pass ﬁlter: Bot h a l ow p ass and hig h pas s

ﬁlter are supplied with six different slope settings.

Slope: Lets you choose the slope (fall off) charac-

teristics of the low pass and high pass ﬁlter.

Q handle: Drag the Q handle lines to graphically

adjust the Q setting for the currently selected ﬁlter. To select the ﬁlter, click its ﬁlter handle.

Individual ﬁlter curve: Each ﬁlter has a color

(indicated by its knobs). When ﬁlter curves are being displayed (the ﬁlter curve option is turned on), each individual ﬁlter’s response curve is displayed in the ﬁlter’s color.

Filter display options menu: Provides several

options for controlling the ﬁlter display.

Filter enable/disable: Turns the ﬁlter on or off.

How the vintage EQ works

The Vintage EQ operates like a standard EQ ﬁlter, but with much more sophisticated processing algorithms “under the hood”. There are ﬁve bands of EQ, each with their own unique knob color, plus additional low pass and high pass ﬁlters. Each ﬁlter can be set to any center frequency you wish.

Each ﬁlter can be independently turned on or off with the enable/disable button (Figure 9-10). Each ﬁlter can be set to one of four different ﬁlter types (I, II, III or IV). The two top-most ﬁlters (orange and green) provide an extra low and high shelf setting, in addition to the four standard band settings. The additional low pass and high pass ﬁlt ers (low er left ) have gray cutof f frequenc y knobs and six settings for slope (in octaves/dB).

Frequency response display

The frequency response display at the top of the window displays the response curve of the current settings in the window. The (horizontal) frequency range is from 10 hertz to 20 KHz. The (vertical) amplitude scale is in dB and is adjustable between 3 and 24 dB using the vertical scale buttons (Figure 9-10).

Filter handle: Drag this handle to graphically

adjust the ﬁlter’s boost/cut and/or frequency.

CUEMIX FX

Page 70

Showing and hiding ﬁlter curves

To view a ﬁlter in the display, turn on the ﬁlter. The shape of the ﬁlter, according to its current settings, is shaded in the same color as the ﬁlter’s knob(s). Use the ﬁlter display options menu (Figure 9-10) to show or hide them in the display.

Adjusting ﬁlters in the display

Each ﬁlter has a handle, displayed as shown below in Figure 9-12 (in the ﬁlter’s color), for adjusting its boost/cut and/or frequency:

actual Q value for the EQ curve being applied is dependent on three factors: the gain setting, the ﬁlter style, and the Q setting.

Filter types

Each ﬁlter can be independently set to one of four different ﬁlter types: I, II, III and IV. These, and the additional shelf ﬁlters for the LMF and HMF band, are discussed in the section “EQ ﬁlter styles”.

Returning to zero (or nominal frequency)

To return a knob to zero, or it’s nominal frequency, double-click it.

Filter handle

Filter Q (red line)

Figure 9-12: Drag the ﬁlter handle to adjust its frequency and/or boost/cut. Drag the Filter Q handles to adjust the Q.

For the EQ ﬁlters, when you click the handle, you’ll also see lines on either side for adjusting the Q parameter, as shown above.

☛ Shortcut: hold down the Option/Alt key while

cl ickin g an EQ ﬁlter handl e to enab le or bypa ss t hat EQ ﬁlter band.

EQ ﬁlters

The EQ ﬁlters have three parameters:

Control unit range

Gain dB -20.00 to +20.00

Frequency Hertz 20 Hz to 20 kHz

Q n/a - see note below 0.01 to 3.00

EQ ﬁlter styles

EQ is one of the most widely used processing tools and can be applied to many different situations, from minor corrective tasks to highly creative applications. Over the years, many EQs have been engineered for speciﬁc applications or to achieve a certain sound. The Vintage EQ has been designed to be ﬂexible enough to cover a broad range of applications. To that end, several different ﬁlter types are supplied, varying mostly in the way they handle the dynamic interaction between Gain and Q. This crucial relationship has been modeled to emulate the smooth and musical character of classic analog EQ circuits, in which the Gain/Q dependency was dictated by the actual circuit design and electrical components used. The following sections describe the character of each type of EQ ﬁlter and their suggested applications. In the three example illustrations (Figure 9-13 through Figure 9-16), the settings for the curves are the same for comparison purposes:

■ Frequency = 1.00 kHz

■ Q = 1

The Q setting does not have a unit of measurement. Rather, it is the ratio of the ﬁlter’s center frequency to the bandwidth of the ﬁlter. In addition, the

■ Gain = +3, +10 and +20 dB

CUEMIX FX

Page 71

Typ e I

Typ e II

Figure 9-13: Type I EQ ﬁlter style.

The Typ e I EQ ﬁlter has the least amount of Gain/Q interaction, providing the most precision and control of all the EQ ﬁlter types. Even small ad justm ent s in gain o r reduct ion pro duce rel ativ ely high Q. This EQ style is best for situations that call for precise EQ adjustments requiring the maximum amount of individual parameter control. For more general shaping (e.g. full mixes) or subtle control (e.g. vocals), the other styles discussed in the following sections might be more appropriate. This ﬁlter type is the most similar to a standard parametric EQ.

Figure 9-14: Type II EQ ﬁlter style.

The Typ e I I EQ ﬁlter produces constant Q response during boost or cut. The Type II style emulates several classic legacy EQs and produces good results for resonance control on drums and percussion because it provides relatively high Q values with more extreme gain or cut settings.

CUEMIX FX

Page 72

Type III

Typ e IV

Figure 9-15: Type III EQ ﬁlter style.

The Type III EQ ﬁlter increases Q as boost is applied. Therefore, lower amounts of boost provide a softer, “wider” EQ effect (since the affected frequency range widens), while higher boost tends to sound louder and more “up front”, due to the increase in Q as the gain is increased. The more gentle Q curve at lower settings is well suited for overall EQ ﬁlls and more subtle corrections in instrument and vocal sources. Boosting or cutting by small amounts will seem to produce the effect that your ear expects, without the need to adjust Q. As a result, this ﬁlter style, and similar EQs with this characteristic behavior, are often referred to as being more “musical”. More speciﬁcally, this style emulates the classic Neve EQs, their modern derivatives and later SSL G series EQs. Many current popular outboard “boutique” EQs exhibit this same gain/Q relationship.

Figure 9-16: Type IV EQ ﬁlter style.

The Typ e I V EQ ﬁlter is a more extreme for m of the Type III ﬁlter. It exhibits a high degree of interaction between Q and gain in order to maintain as closely as possible an equal amount of area under the response curve as gain is adjusted. Type IV is the most gentle of the four EQ st yles and is ideal for large scale EQ adjustments, especially on sub-mixes and complete mixes. This EQ style is also ideal for any applications where subtle changes in the overall character of the sound are desired. For example, it can be used for mastering applications, such as the overall adjustments that must often be applied to entire tracks to match other tracks on the album.

CUEMIX FX

Page 73

Shelf ﬁlters

response corresponds to a second order shelf, still with no overshoot. This is the same response as conventional parametric EQs. In some situations, this form of accurate, clean shelving can sound harsh, especially when compared to legacy analog EQs. To soften the results, the overshoot is increased as Q is increased, as shown Figure 9-17 for Q values of 1.00, 2.00 and 3.00. This overshoot region produces a boost in frequencies just above the cutoff, which compensates in a smooth, more pleasing fashion for the perceived drop in low frequencies being cut.

Conversely, when shelving boost is being applied, overshoot cuts frequencies just above the cutoff to again compensate in a smooth and pleasing fashion for the perceived boost in low frequencies:

Figure 9-17: Shelf ﬁlter Q parameter overshoot.

When two top-most bands in the EQ tab are set to their shelf ﬁlter setting (Figure 9-10), the Q parameter controls the amount of overshoot applied to the response curve, as illustrated in Figure 9-17. When Q = 0.01 (the lowest setting), normal shelving is applied with no overshoot. This produces the response provided by a ﬁrst order shelf. When Q = 1.0 (the default setting), the

CUEMIX FX

Figure 9-18: Overshoot when low shelf boost is applied.

Overshoot is also applied to high shelf boost and cut:

Figure 9-19: Overshoot when high shelf cut and boost is applied.

Page 74

Overshoot tends to produce more of what one would expect to hear when applying shelving and is therefore considered to be more musical than shelving without overshoot. This effect, which has gained tremendous popularity among audio engineers, was ﬁrst made popular in original Neve series EQs and later in the SSL G series.

At maximum the maximum Q setting of 3.00, the overshoot peaks at half the total boosted (or cut) gain. For example, with a maximum gain setting of +20dB, the loss in the overshoot region is -10 dB. Overshoot curves are symmetrical for both cut and boost.

Low pass and high pass ﬁlters

The Vintage EQ low and high pass ﬁlters are similar to those found in most conventional parametric EQs (which usually have a ﬁxed slope of 12 dB per octave), except that Vintage EQ provides six different slope (roll off) settings: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 dB per octave. This control over the shape of the “knee” gives you a great deal ﬂexibility and control for a wide variety of applications.

The Dynamics tab

The Dynamics tab (Figure 9-21) displays the Dynamics processing settings for the input or output channel that currently has the focus. Click any focus button in the Inputs or Outputs tab to view the Dynamics tab settings for the channel.

Input

Output

Gain

level

meter

level

meter

reduction

meter

Threshold

Tri m

Dynamics tab

Compressor enable/disable

Leveler enable/disable

Figure 9-20: The low pass ﬁlter with three example slope settings.

Slope = 6

Slope = 18

Slope = 36

Figure 9-21: The Dynamics tab.

Enabling Dynamics

Each input and output channel has a global Dynamics enable/disable button (Figure 9-3 and Figure 9-6). This button enables or disables all dynamics processing for the channel. In addition, the Dynamics tab has two different dynamics processors, the Compressor and Leveler, which can be individually enabled or disabled (Figure 9-21) for the channel.

CUEMIX FX

Page 75

Compressor

The Compressor (Figure 9-21) lowers the level of the input when it is above the threshold. The amount of attenuation is determined by the Ratio and the input level. If the input is 6 dB above the Threshold and the Ratio is 3:1, then the output will be 2 dB above the Threshold. When the input level goes above the threshold, the attenuation is added gradually to reduce distortion. The rate at which the attenuation is added is determined by the Attack parameter. Likewise, when the input level falls below the Threshold, the attenuation is removed gradually. The rate at which the attenuation is removed is determined by the Release parameter. Long Release times may cause the audio to drop out brieﬂy when a soft passage follows a loud passage. Short Release times may cause the attenuation to pump when the average input level quickly ﬂuctuates above and below the Threshold.

These sorts of issues can be addressed by applying the Leveler instead.

Graphic adjustment of the Threshold

The Threshold can be adjusted by turning the Threshold knob or by dragging the Threshold line directly in the compressor graph (Figure 9-21).

Input level meter

The Input Le vel meter (Figure 9-21) shows the level of the input signal before it enters the compressor. It shows either the peak level or the RMS level, depending on which mode is currently chosen.

Gain reduction (GR) meter

The Gain reduction (GR) level meter (Figure 9-21) displays the current amount of attenuation applied by the compressor.

Output level

The Output Level meter (Figure 9-21) displays the peaks of the output signal. Trim is applied before the Output Level meter.

Peak/RMS modes

In RMS mode the compressor uses RMS values (a computational method for determining overall loudness) to measure the input level. In Peak mode, the compressor uses signal peaks to determine the input level. RMS mode will let peaks through because the detector sidechain is only looking at the average signal level. Peak mode will react to br ief pea ks. Pea k mo de is gen erall y used for d rum s, percussion and other source material with strong transients, while RMS mode is mostly used for everything else.

The input meters show either the peak level or the RMS level, depending on the mode.

Leveler

The Leveler™ (Figure 9-21) provides an accurate model of the legendary Teletronix™ LA-2A® optical compressor, known for its unique and highly sought-after Automatic Gain Control (AGC) characteristics. The Track16 Leveler faithfully models the LA-2A using the on-board DSP with 32-bit ﬂoating point precision.

A model of an optical compressor

The simplest description of an optical leveling ampliﬁer device is a light shining on a photoresistor. The intensity of the light source is proportional to the audio signal, and the resistance of the photoresistor is in turn inversely proportional to the intensity of the light. Photoresistors respond quite quickly to increases in light intensity, yet return to their dark resistance very slowly. Thus, incorporation of the photoresistor into an attenuator followed by an ampliﬁer which provides make-up gain produces a signal which maintains a constant overall loudness.

Automatic gain control using light

The the Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit of the LA-2A uses a vintage opto-coupler known by its model number (T4). The T4 contains an electroluminescent panel (ELP) and photoresistor

CUEMIX FX

Page 76

mounted so that the emission of the panel modulates the resistance. An ELP consists of a thin layer of phosphorescent material sandwiched between two insulated electrodes to form a capacitor. Making one of the electrodes transparent allows the light to escape. These devices are essentially glow-in-the-dark paint on a piece of foil covered by metalized glass or plastic, and are the same devices used in low-power night lights. Unfortunately, these devices need high voltages to operate, and are best driven by tube circuits which can supply voltage swings of several hundred volts.

Response characteristics

Once the light has faded away, the photoresistor then decays back to its dark state. The shape of the decay curve varies depending on how bright the light was, and how long the light lasted. A general rule of thumb is that the louder the program, the slower the release. Typically, the release can take up to and over one minute. One thing to keep in mind when using these types of devices is that the typical concepts of compression ratio, attack, release, and threshold do not apply. The light intensity is determined by the highly non-linear interactions of the input signal, AGC circuit, and ELP, and thus exhibit a strong program dependence that is impossible to describe without the mind-numbing mathematics of statistical mechanics. The actual results, however, can be almost mystical: even when you feed the same material (a loop perhaps) through the Leveler twice, you’ll often see a new response the second time through a loop, complete with unique attack times, release times and compression ratios. Furthermore, two different input signals with the same RMS levels may be leveled in a drastically different manner.

It is precisely this self-adjusting behavior that makes optical compressors the tool of choice for smoothing out vocals, bass guitar and fullprogram mixes without destroying perceived dynamics.

Compressor/Limit buttons

The Comp and Limit buttons (Figure 9-21) model the original LA-2A Limit/Compress mode switch. The effect is very subtle, with the Limit option behaving only slightly more like a limiter than a compressor. The switch increases the level of the input to the AGC model and runs the attenuator at a slightly lower level. The Leveler then responds more strongly to transients, but otherwise still behaves like a leveling ampliﬁer.

Gain Reduction

Gain Reduction (Figure 9-21) sets the strength of the signal sent to the AGC model.

Makeup Gain

Makeup gain (Figure 9-21) ampliﬁes the output signal to make up for gain reduction.

Enabling or disabling the Leveler

The Leveler models the LA-2A so closely, it also models the time it takes for an actual LA-2A to “warm up” after it is turned on. Therefore, when you enable the Leveler, give it a moment to “settle” before you begin processing signals with it.

CUEMIX FX

Page 77

The Meters tab

The Meters tab (Figure 9-22) serves as a comprehensive meter bridge for all inputs, outputs and mix busses in the Track16. This tab gives you a “bird’s-eye” view of all signal activity in the Track16; it is ideal for conﬁrming your signal routing programming and for troubleshooting.

Bus activity LEDs (inputs only)

displaying an input meter). Click Pre to view levels before any input channel processing besides trim;

click Post to view levels after all channel processing (EQ, compression, M/S decoding, L/R swap, etc.)

The Reverb tab

The Reverb tab (Figure 9-23) provides access to the Track16’s single, global reverb processor, which provides high-ﬁdelity reverberation and graphic control over its parameters.

Channel meter display

Meters tab

Pre/post processing switch

Figure 9-22: The Meters tab.

Channel meter display

The channel meter display (Figure 9-22) provides a long-throw meter for the input or output that currently has the focus in the Input/Output tabs.

Low band

(yellow)

Figure 9-23: The Reverb tab.

Mid band reverb

time handle

High band

(purple)

Crossover handle

Reverb enable/disable

Bus activity LEDs (inputs only)

The Bus activity LEDs (Figure 9-22) are present only for inputs. See “Input meter and bus activity LEDs” on page 67.

Pre/post processing switch

The pre/post processing switch (Figure 9-22) affects all input meters (and the meter in the channel meter display above the tab, if this area is

CUEMIX FX

Enabling reverb

Use the enable/disable button (Figure 9-23) to turn the reverb processor on or off. Since reverb uses considerable DSP resources, it is best to leave it off when you are not using it.

Page 78

Routing inputs, busses and outputs to the reverb processor

The reverb processor is a single, independent unit that provides stereo reverb.You can route multiple signals to it from various points (sends) in the CueMix FX mixer, but all incoming signals to the reverb processor are merged and processed together. The resulting stereo output from the reverb can then be inserted into a mix bus or output using stereo returns.

Output

When the Split Point is set to Output, the sends in Output tab become active and the returns in the Mix bus tab gray out. This allows you to send from inputs, mixes and outputs and return to outputs.

Primary controls

The Primary Controls section (Figure 9-23) in the Reverb tab provides the following basic parameters for programming the reverb.

Reverb sends

The following signals can be sent to the reverb processor via their corresponding sends (discussed earlier in this chapter):

■ Mono or stereo inputs (Figure 9-3 on page 62)

■ Mix bus output (Figure 9-2 on page 60)

■ Outputs (Figure 9-6 on page 65)

Reverb returns

The stereo output from the reverb processor can be sent to the following destinations via their corresponding returns (discussed earlier in this chapter):

■ Mix bus outputs

■ Outputs

■ The computer (via the Reverb Return bus)

Split point

The Split Point (Figure 9-23) prevents feedback loops that would be caused by a sig nal be ing s ent to the reverb processor and then returned to the same signal path.

Mix

When the Split Point is set to Mix, the returns in the Mix bus tab become active and the sends in the Output tab gray out. This allows you to send from inputs and mixes and return to mixes and outputs.

Reverb Time

Reverb time determines the length of decay, or tail, of the reverb. This is a global setting for the reverb processor. You can further reﬁne the tails by independently setting the reverb time of three separate frequency bands, as discussed below in the Reverb Design section.

PreDelay

PreDelay is the amount of time before you hear the very ﬁrst reﬂections. If you are in a large room, it takes a while before the ﬁrst reﬂections return. PreDelay is useful for clarifying the original sound. For example, with vocals, the reﬂections won’t start until after the initial sound of a word has been sung.

Shelf Filter

The Shelf Filter is a low-pass ﬁlter that controls the high frequency characteristics of the overall effect. Frequency sets the cutoff frequency for the ﬁlter and Cut sets the amount of signal attenuation applied by the ﬁlter.

Early reﬂections

Initial reﬂections give a space its unique sound. The shape of the room, the angles of the walls, even furniture in the room will produce a series of Initial Reﬂections. Think of the early reﬂections and room type as the “ﬂavor” of the reverb. You can choose between several types of rooms. These are acoustic models for simulating these different

CUEMIX FX

Page 79

types of spaces. The Size and Level parameters let you control the size of the room and the strength of the initial reﬂections.

☛ Here’s a tip: try using initial reﬂections

without any subsequent reverb (turn the reverb time down as far as it will go). You’ll hear interesting and unusual effects.

Reverb design

The Reverb Design section allows you to independently control the reverb time for three separate frequency bands (Low, Mid and High) with adjustable cross-over points between them (Low and High). The reverb time for each band is speciﬁed in percent of the overall reverb time in the Primary Controls section at the top of the tab.

You can edit these parameters graphically by dragging the handles in the graphic display (Figure 9-23).

Widt h does what its name implies: if you turn this control all the way up, the result is maximum stereo imaging. A position of 12 o’clock produces essentially a mono image. Turning the control all the way down completely swaps the stereo image.

OUTPUT VOLUME CONTROLS

The Monitoring section (Figure 9-1) provides independent volume control for each of the Track16’s analog outputs.

EQ on a stereo channel requires approximately twice the DSP resources as the same EQ on a mono channel. The Compressor (2.5 x 1 EQ band) and Leveler (4 x 1 EQ band) require about the same DSP resources for a mono or stereo channel.

SOLO LIGHT

The Solo light (Figure 9-1) illuminates when any input in the current (active) mix bus is soloed (even if it is currently scrolled off-screen).

TALKBACK AND LISTENBACK

CueMix FX provides Ta l k b a c k and Listenback buttons (Figure 9-1). Talkback allows an engineer in the control room to temporarily dim all audio and talk to musicians in the live room. Conversely, Listenback allows musicians to talk to the control room.

Hardware setup

Figure 9-24 below shows a typical hardware setup for Talkback and Listenback. For Talkback, set up a dedicated mic in your control room and connect it to a mic input on your MOTU audio interface. For Listenback, set up a dedicated listenback mic in the live room for the musicians and connect it to another mic input (or just use one of the mics you are recording from). For talkback output, set up a headphone distribution amp or set of speakers in the live room, and connect it to any Track16 output, as demonstrated below in Figure 9-24.

DSP METER

The DSP meter (Figure 9-1) shows how much of the available DSP processing power is currently being used by the Track16 for effects processing. DSP resources are allocated in channel order from the ﬁrst input to the last output. If there aren’t enough DSP resources for all effects to be enabled on a channel, none of them are allocated on that channel or any following channel.

CUEMIX FX

Page 80

Control room

Main outs

Talkback mic

audio signals (besides the talkback/listenback signal) when Talkback and/or Listenback is engaged. To completely silence all other CueMix audio, turn them all the way down. attenuation only occurs when talkback or listenback is engaged. Audio playing back from disk (your host software) is not affected.

Line out 3-4

Live room

Headphone distribution amp

Figure 9-24: Typical hardware setup for Talkback and Listenback.

Talkback / Listenback Mic Input

To conﬁgure the talkback mic in CueMix FX, go to the Inputs tab (Figure 9-3 on page 62) and click the Focus button for the input that the talkback mic is connected to. Click the Channel tab (Figure 9-8 on page 66) and enable the Tal k button.

Repeat this procedure for the Listenback mic, except click the Listen button in the Channel tab.

Talk / Listen output

To conﬁgure the talkback and listen back outputs, go to the Outputs tab (Figure 9-6 on page 65) and enable the Ta l k button for any out put p air on whi ch you’d like to hear the talkback mic. Similarly, enable the Listen button for any output pair on which you’d like to hear the listenback mic.

Talkback / Listenback Monitor Dim

Use the knobs next to the Talk and Listen buttons (Figure 9-25) to determine the amount of attenuation you would like to apply to all other

Listenback mic

Tal k d im

Listen dim

Figure 9-25: The Talkback/Listenback controls.

Engaging/disengaging Talkback and Listenback

To engage Talk back or Listenback, press on the Talk or Listen buttons (Figure 9-25) and then release to disengage. Talkback and/or Listenback is engaged for as long as you hold down the mouse button. Option-click to make the buttons “sticky” (stay engaged until you click them again — so you don’t have to hold down the mouse). Or use the Ta l kb a ck m enu it ems .

If you would like to engage both Talkback and Listenb ack at t he sa me time, enab le th e Link button (Figure 9-25).

Controlling Talkback and Listenback volume

To control the volume of the Talkback and/or Listenback mics, adjust their input trim in CueMix FX.

CUEMIX FX

Page 81

SHORTCUTS

Hold down the following general modiﬁer keys as shortcuts:

Shortcut Result

Shift key Applies your action to all inputs or all out-

Command key Applies your action to the stereo input pair,

Option key Applies your action to all busses.

Shift-Option Applies your action to all inputs and mixes.

Double-click Returns the control to its default value (pan

Hold down the following modiﬁer keys as shortcuts for the EQ tab and controls:

Shortcut Result

Shift click Applies EQ button change to all input or out-

Option-click Applies EQ enable button changes to all

Shift-Optionclick

puts in the mix.

even when it is currently configured as mono.

center, unity gain, etc.)

puts.

bands in that input or output.

Applies EQ enable button changes to all bands and all inputs or outputs.

FILE MENU

Saving and loading hardware presets

The Track16 can store up to 16 presets in its onboard memory. A preset includes of all CueMix FX settings for all for mix busses, but it excludes global settings like clock source and sample rate.

The Load Hardware Preset and Save Hardware Preset commands in the CueMix FX ﬁle menu let you name, save and load presets in the Track16.

Peak/hold time

In CueMix FX, a peak indicator is a line (representing a virtual LED) displayed in a level meter that indicates the maximum signal level registered by the meter. The Peak/hold time setting (File menu) determines how long this indicator remains visible before it disappears (or begins to drop). To disable peak/hold indicators altogether, choose Off from this sub-menu.

Mix1 Return Includes Computer

The Mix1 return includes computer File menu item ap pli es t o ot her MOT U inter face s pr odu cts an d ha s no effect on the Track16.

CUEMIX FX

Hardware follows CueMix Stereo Settings

This File menu item applies to other MOTU interfaces products and has no effect on the Track16.

Show meter in dock icon

This CueMix FX File menu item applies to other MOTU interfaces and has no effect on the Track16.

Page 82

EDIT MENU

Undo/Redo

CueMix FX supports multiple undo/redo. This allows you to step backwards and forwards through your actions in the software.

Copying & pasting (duplicating) entire mixes

To copy and paste the settings from one mix to another:

1 Select the source mix (Figure 9-1) and choose Copy from the Edit menu (or press Command-C).

2 Choose the destination mix and choose Paste from the Edit menu (or press Command-V).

Clear Peaks

Choose Clear Peaks from the Edit menu to clear all peak indicators in all CueMix FX meters.

DEVICES MENU

If you are working with more than one MOTU audio interface product, this menu displays all interfaces that are currently online. Choose any device from the menu to edit its settings using the CueMix FX software.

Audio analysis tools

Below each device are its signal analysis tools. Choose one to open its window. For details on these features, see the following sections.

FFT and Spectrogram display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Oscilloscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

X-Y Plot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Phase Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Tuner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Figure 9-26: Opening the signal analysis windows.

Choosing channels for audio analysis

The audio analysis tools follow the currently focused audio input or output. (See “Channel focus and settings” on page 59.) If you focus a mono channel (e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will be displayed (Analog 3–4).

Scoping host software audio output

If you want to scope audio output from your host software, send your host’s output to an Track16 output pair, and then set the focus on that output pair.

CUEMIX FX

Page 83

FFT AND SPECTROGRAM DISPLAY

FFT and spectrogram information can be displayed in the Filter response display section in the EQ tab (Figure 9-10 on page 68) or as a separate window (Figure 9-28 on page 83) opened from the Devices menu (Figure 9-26).

Filter display options menu

Figure 9-27: Filter Display options menu

Filter display options

The Filter display options menu (Figure 9-27) provides several options for the EQ ﬁlter display:

Menu option What it does

Show no analysis Turns off both the FFT and

Show FFT Shows/hides a real time FFT analysis

Spectrogram in the Filter display.

of the current signal being EQ’d, post EQ filter.

FFT display

Choose Show FFT from the Filter display options menu (Figure 9-10) to superimpose a real-time Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) frequency measurement curve over the EQ ﬁlter display, as demonstrated in Figure 9-29:

FFT curve

Figure 9-29: FFT display.

The FFT curve is post-ﬁlter. Therefore, the FFT shows the results of the EQ ﬁlter(s) being applied. Use the global EQ button for the input or output channel (Figure 9-3 and Figure 9-6, respectively) to toggle between the EQ’d and non-EQ’d FFT display for an A/B comparison.

Show Spectrogram Shows/hides a real-time spectro-

Show Band Response Shows/hides the colored area below

Show/Hide Full Window Analysis

Y-axis labels for FFT display

Figure 9-28: Full window ﬁlter display.

CUEMIX FX

gram “waterfall” in the background of the filter display, post EQ filter.

EQ filter points.

Shows/hides the enlarged filter display in the CueMix FX window.

Spectrogram

Choose Show Spectrogram from the Filter display options menu (Figure 9-10) to superimpose a real-

time spectrogram “waterfall” display in the background of the EQ ﬁlter display, as demonstrated in Figure 9-30:

Y-axis labels for EQ controls

View controls

Horizontal controls

Ver tic al controls

Spectrogram controls

Grow handle

Page 84

Figure 9-30: FFT display.

The spectrogram scrolls from top to bottom, where the top edge of the display represents what you are hearing “now”. Color represents amplitude along the left/right frequency spectrum. The amplitude color scale runs from black (silence) to red (full scale) as follows:

Silence Full scale

Black Blue Green Yellow Orange Red

Figure 9-31: Spectrogram color-to-amplitude spectrum.

☛ “Show EQ Controls” will be available only if

the focused pair are a stereo input pair or stereo output pair.

Logarithmic or Linear X-Axis Scale

The x-axis defaults to a logarithmic scale, but can be changed to a linear scale if desired. In the View controls (Figure 9-32), click Logarithmic to access the x-axis scale options menu. With a linear scale selected, frequency is constant, but the width of each octave along the x-axis is different. With a logarithmic scale selected, octaves are displayed with a constant width, but frequency is displayed logarithmically within each octave.

Axes display

The Axes control (Figure 9-32) sets the opacity of the grid displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully visible) down to 0% (fully hidden).

Opening the FFT Analysis window

Choose FFT Analysis from the Devices menu (Figure 9-26) to open a new window with the ﬁlter EQ display for detailed inspection and adjustment of the EQ ﬁlter, as shown Figure 9-28.

View controls

You can show and hide the FFT display, spectrogram or EQ band response curves as desired using the Vie w controls (Figure 9-32).

Pause button

Display options

Figure 9-32: View controls

These settings are independent of the small graph display options (Figure 9-10 on page 68), so you have the ﬂexibility to display different combinations in each graph.

Pausing the display

The Pause button in the upper right corner of the View section (Figure 9-32) allows you to freeze the display at any time. To resume, click the button again.

Horizontal controls (frequency axis)

The Hori zontal controls (Figure 9-33) conﬁgure the value range of the x-axis (frequency). Click and drag the values up or down to set them, or doubleclick to return to the default value.

There are two modes for the controls: Zoom/Offset and Min/Max. To change the mode, use the Horizontal control menu (Figure 9-33).

Figure 9-33: Horizontal control menu

CUEMIX FX

Page 85

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom sets the display zoom from 1x to 100x, where the number represents the zoom factor relative to the entire frequency range. For example, when the horizontal zoom value is 1x, the entire frequency range from 10 to 24000 Hertz is displayed; when the horizontal zoom value is 2x, one half of the entire frequency range is displayed. Pos determines which frequency is displayed at the center of the graph.

In Min/Max mode, Min and Max set the lowest and highest displayed frequencies (in Hertz).

Vertical controls (amplitude axis)

The Ve r t i c a l controls (Figure 9-28) operate similarly to the Horizontal controls, except that they conﬁgure the y-axis (amplitude).

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom sets the display zoom from 1x to 100x, and Pos sets the center amplitude of the graph. In Min/Max mode, Min and Max set the smallest and largest displayed amplitude.

Spectrogram controls

The Floor control (Figure 9-28) sets the amplitude threshold for the spectrogram display, from -144 dB up to 0 dB.

The Alpha control (Figure 9-28) sets the opacity of the spectrogram information displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully visible) to 0% (hidden).

The info box

When any EQ ﬁlter point is selected or dragged in the full window graph, the info box is shown next to the point in the full graph display (Figure 9-35).

Figure 9-35: The Info Box.

The info box includes the industry standard scientiﬁc note (pitch) name when the control point is located at a frequency that resides within a prescribed note range, where C4 is middle C. The note number is accompanied by the number of cents (±50) above or below the exact frequency for the note. If the control point is dragged outside the note range, only the frequency is shown.

OSCILLOSCOPE

The Oscilloscope (Figure 9-34) graphs the amplitude of an audio signal over time.

Amplitude is displayed on the y-axis and time is displayed on the x-axis. A thick white vertical line marks where time equals zero; a thick white horizontal line marks where amplitude equals zero (Figure 9-34, below).

Figure 9-34: Oscilloscope

CUEMIX FX

Page 86

Level meters are displayed to the right of the graph. One or two meters are shown, depending on the current view mode (see “View controls”).

Opening the oscilloscope

Each Track16 has its own oscilloscope. To open an oscilloscope, choose the Oscilloscope item from the Devices menu under the desired interface.

Choosing a channel to display

The oscilloscope follows the currently focused audio input or output. If you focus a mono channel (e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will be displayed (Analog 3–4).

View controls

The View controls (Figure 9-36) provide several options for the oscilloscope display.

Display options

The Axes control (Figure 9-36) sets the opacity of the grid displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully visible) down to 0% (fully hidden). The Show Ruler option toggles the measurement items (see “Measurement information” on page 89).

Pausing the display

The Pause button in the upper right corner of the View section (Figure 9-36) allows you to freeze the display at any time. To resume, click the button again. The level meters will remain active while the display is paused.

Horizontal controls (time axis)

The Hori zontal controls (Figure 9-37) conﬁgure the value range of the x-axis (time). Click and drag the values up or down to set them, or double-click to return to the default value.

Pause button

View menu

Figure 9-36: View controls

View menu

The View menu (Figure 9-36) lets you choose how you wish to display the audio channel(s) being displayed.

View menu settingWhat it displays

Left Left channel only

Right Right channel only

Split screen Left channel on top; right channel on the bot-

tom

Shared Left and right on top of each other; left is

green, right is red

Add Left and right channels’ amplitudes are added

together

Subtract L-R The right channel’s amplitude is subtracted

from the left channel’s amplitude

There are two modes for the controls: Zoom/Offset and Min/Max. To change the mode, use the Horizontal control menu (Figure 9-37).

Figure 9-37: Horizontal control menu

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom sets the display zoom from 1/1000x to 10x, where the number represents the number of pixels per sample. For example, when the horizontal zoom value is 10x, 10 samples are displayed in 100 pixels; when the horizontal zoom value is 1/10x, 100 samples are displayed in 10 pixels. Offset moves the line marking time equals zero left or right.

In Min/Max mode, Min and Max set the earliest and most recent displayed time.

CUEMIX FX

Page 87

Time Units

The Time Units sub-menu (Figure 9-37) provides the option to view the X axis in Seconds or Samples.

Vertical controls (amplitude axis)

The Ve r t i c a l controls (Figure 9-37) operate similarly to the Horizontal controls, except that they conﬁgure the y-axis (amplitude).

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom sets the display zoom from 1/2 to 100x, and Offset moves the line marking amplitude equals zero line up or down.

In Min/Max mode, Min and Max set the smallest and largest displayed amplitude.

Waveform Recognition

The Waveform Recognition option searches through new audio data looking for a waveform which most resembles that which was previously displayed. The region where this takes place is a small window around the line marking time equals zero, denoted by the extra vertical graph lines surrounding it. There are two kinds of waveform recognition available: Type I and Type II.

Typ e II reco gni tio n is le ss res ist ant t o ch ange . It w ill include loud transients within the waveform recognition window. Type II is better for observing percussive music where the beat itself is to be centered within the waveform window.

Trigger

When the Tr i g g e r (Figure 9-39) is not enabled (the Trigger menu is set to None), the graph updates based on time: after every n samples of the monitored audio signal, the most recent samples are displayed. When the Trigger is enabled (set to any mode other than None), the graph updates in response to speciﬁc conditions in the signal. The Trigger section deﬁnes that criteria and how the graph will display the events that match.

Trigger indicator

Trigger menu

Criteria check boxes

Figure 9-39: Trigger settings

Criteria

The criteria checkboxes (Figure 9-39) determine the conditions that the trigger is looking for and where it will look for them.

Figure 9-38: Waveform Recognition menu

Type I recognition provides the most stable display of the waveform. It is the most resistant to change. Louder transients, such as those produced by a snare drum, are not displayed inside of the waveform window. Type I is best for observing the shape of a signal produced by a synthesizer or observing the tone of a guitar through a chain of pedals.

CUEMIX FX

The Left checkbox causes the condition to be looked for in the left channel of the signal; likewise, the Right checkbox looks for the condition in the right channel. One or both of these can be enabled simultaneously. If neither is enabled, the criteria will not be found because the trigger is not looking at any audio signal.

The Pos and Neg checkboxes determine the slope of the event. When the Pos checkbox is enabled, the trigger will look for an event where amplitude is increasing; likewise, enabling the Neg checkbox tells the trigger to look for an event where amplitude is decreasing. One or both of these can

Page 88

be enabled simultaneously. If neither is enabled, the criteria will not be found because the trigger is not looking for any particular kind of event.

Tri gg er mo de s

The Trigger menu (Figure 9-39 on page 87) provides four modes:

The Level setting deﬁnes the amplitude threshold that the trigger is looking for. The Level is indicated on the graph by a blue horizontal line (or two blue horizontal lines, if Magnitude is enabled). Events which cross this threshold using the enabled slope(s) in the enabled channel(s) will activate the trigger. The response of the trigger is set by the Trigger mode (see “Trigger modes”, below).

Enabling the Magnitude checkbox tells the trigger to look for both positive and negative Level values, regardless of whether the Level value is positive or negative. For example, if Level is set to +0.500 and Magnitude is enabled, the trigger will look for both +0.500 and -0.500. You will see a second blue line appear in the display when Magnitude is enabled to denote the second value.

Holdoff

Holdoff deﬁnes a time interval during which the os cil los cop e do es not trig ger. T he mos t re cent tra ce will be displayed during that period. When the period is over, the trigger is “re-armed’, i.e. it will begin looking for the criteria again.

Click and drag this value up or down to set it, or double-click to return to the default value.

Trigger modeWhat it does

None The Trigger is not active; this is the default mode.

Auto The display is always updating, but when the condi-

Normal The display updates only when the condition is met;

Single Sweep

The incoming audio signal will be displayed continuously as audio is received.

tion is met, the trigger event will be displayed centered around the line marking time equals zero.

the last trace will be displayed until the next matching event is found.

Similar to Normal mode, but the last trace will be displayed until you manually arm the trigger by clicking the Trigger indicator (Figure 9-39 on page 87) or by pressing the spacebar.

Tri gg er in di cator

The Trigger indicator (Figure 9-39 on page 87) displays the state of the trigger, and also provides a way to manually interact with it. The Trigger indicator always displays one of three colors:

Color Status

Green When the current Trigger criteria has been met (includ-

ing when the Trigger mode is None).

Yel-

When the Trigger is armed, but has not yet found an

low

event which matches its criteria. Yellow can also indicate that the graph has been manually paused using the Pause button in the View section (see “Pausing the display” on page 86).

Red When the Trigger is being held off, either because the

Trigger mode is set to Single Sweep or the Holdoff time is not set to zero.

You can also click on the Trigger indicator to force certain actions, depending on the Trigger mode. In Auto and Normal modes, clicking on the Trigger indicator causes the display to run freely; you may click & hold to force this to occur for as long as you’d like. In Single Sweep mode, clicking on the

CUEMIX FX

Page 89

Trigger indicator re-arms the trigger. When the Tri gg er mo de i s None, clicking on the Trigger indicator has no effect.

and the scientiﬁc note name. If the measured area is long enough, the approximate beats per minute (bpm) is displayed.

Measurement information

You can view detailed information about a particular time range by using the measurement bars.

Figure 9-40: Measurement information

To adjust the left and right edges of the measurement area, click and drag the blue bars in the graph, or click and drag the blue numbers in the upper left or right corners. To reset them to the default value, double-click the numbers.

Information about the measured area is displayed at the center of the top ruler: the duration (in seconds and samples), the approximate frequency,

Ideas for using the Oscilloscope

The Oscilloscope can be used in many useful ways during the routine operation of your recording studio. Here are just a few examples.

Analyzing and comparing harmonic content

The oscilloscope lets you “see” the nature of the harmonic proﬁle in any audio material. You can also view two signals side by side (in stereo mode) to compare their proﬁles and, if necessary, make adjustments to the source of each signal and view your changes in real time.

Viewing transients such as drum hits

If you loop a snare hit or other similar transient audio clip and feed it through the oscilloscope, you can more or less “freeze” the transient waveform in the oscilloscope frame. This can be useful, for example, for viewing the results of real-time compression that you are applying with an effects plug-in, as demonstrated in Figure 9-41. In this example, a snare hit is being compressed by Digital Performer’s Dynamics plug-in. As you make

Figure 9-41: Viewing transients in the Oscilloscope

CUEMIX FX

Page 90

adjustments to the compression plug-in’s settings, you can see the transient waveform change the next time the Oscilloscope triggers. For compression, this can be particularly useful for balancing the effect of the attack on the transient, relative to the decay portion of the waveform. Conversely, you can see the effect of the threshold setting directly on the decay portion, relative to the attack. In effect, you can see as well as hear the results of your compression adjustments.

To view a transient waveform in the Oscilloscope display, turn off Waveform Recognition and use the Normal Trigger mode. Adjust the level high enough to encompass the vertical amplitude of most of the transient. If the transient pulse sweeps across the screen, try raising the Holdoff level. Once the transient is settled in the display and fairly stable, you may need to adjust the horizontal position to center it in the display. These settings are depicted in the example in Figure 9-41.

You can also pause the display at any time and adjust the horizontal bounds to locate a transient.

Clip detection

You can use the Oscilloscope to detect clipping in a digital audio signal. To do so, enable all criteria (Figure 9-39 on page 87), choose Single Sweep from the trigger menu (Figure 9-39), set the level to

0.999 and click the trigger indicator (Figure 9-39) to arm it (yellow). As soon as the signal clips, the trigger indicator will turn red, and the display will show the offending clip at the line marking time equals zero.

Viewing timing pulses

If you have two audio signals with recognizable, timed pulses in them, and you wish to compare their timing with respect to each other, you can use Split Screen or Shared view to visually compare the timing of the two signals. You can zoom in to the sample level for sample accurate viewing.

Building synthesizer patches

If you are building a synth patch on a synthesizer (or forming similar highly periodic audio material), you can run the audio signal through the Oscilloscope as you adjust its sound to check in real time for undesirable (and possibly inaudible) characteristics, which are easily seen in the Oscilloscope display. A good example is DC offset. If a signal develops DC offset, the apparent ver tical center of its overall waveform will drift above or below the line marking amplitude equals zero. Try setting Waveform Recognition to Ty pe I and setting Tri gg er to None.

Another example is waveform polarity. If you are combining several raw waveforms, polarity is a critical, yet not always obvious, factor in determining the resulting sound. You can use the Oscilloscope to easily view and compare polarities to see if they are inverted from one another or not. The Add and Subtract L - R View menu settings are particularly useful here.

You can also use the Oscilloscope to help you apply waveform modulation and keep it “in bounds”. For example, you could easily see if pulse width modulation is collapsing in on itself to choke the sound, an effect that is readily seen in the Oscilloscope display but not necessarily easy to determine by ear when using multiple modulation sources.

Guitarists can also visually observe the effects of their pedals and processing, while playing. With the Trigger mode set to None and Waveform Recognition set to Ty pe I, the waveform will be tracks automatically.

When applying ﬁlters and ﬁlter resonance, the visual effect on the waveform can be invaluable in reinforcing what you are hearing as you make adjustments.

CUEMIX FX

Page 91

Monitoring control voltage output from Volta

MOTU’s Volta instrument plug-in for Mac OS X turns your audio interface into a control voltage interface, giving you precise digital control from your favorite audio workstation software of any hardware device with a control voltage (CV) input. The CV signals output from Volta can be monitored in the Oscilloscope, giving you visual feedback on LFOs, envelopes, ramps, step sequencers, and more.

Metering

Level meters are displayed above and to the right of the graph for the left (green) and right (red) channels, respectively. An additional Correlation meter (blue) is displayed on the right. This meter displays the correlation between the two channels.

The higher the meter, the higher the correlation between the two channels. Below are a few examples:

For more information on Volta, see www.motu.com.

X-Y PLOT

The X-Y Plot window (Figure 9-42) graphs the amplitude of a stereo audio signal on a twodimensional grid.

For each unit of time (i.e., each sample), the amplitude of the left channel is displayed on the xaxis and the amplitude of the right channel is displayed on the y-axis. A thick white vertical line marks where left channel amplitude equals zero; a thick white horizontal line marks where right channel amplitude equals zero (Figure 9-42, below). There are also thick white diagonal lines for y = x and y = -x.

Situation Meter level X-Y Plot graph Mathematical

Perfect correlation

Zero correlation 0 No discern-

Perfectly out of phase

+1 Diagonal line

going from lower left to upper right:

ible pattern

-1 Diagonal line going from upper left to lower right:

relationship

y = x

None

y = -x

CUEMIX FX

Figure 9-42: X-Y Plot

Page 92

Opening the X-Y Plot

Each Track16 interface has its own X-Y Plot window. Choose the X-Y Plot item from the Devices menu under the desired interface.

☛ Li ne m ode i s sig ni ﬁca ntl y mo re C PU inte nsiv e

than Scatter. You can reduce Line mode CPU overhead on the X-Y Plot by reducing the Length parameter (described below).

Choosing a channel pair to display

The X-Y Plot follows the currently focused audio input or output. If you focus a mono channel (e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will be displayed (Analog 3–4).

View controls

The View controls (Figure 9-43) provide several options for the X-Y Plot display.

Pause button

Figure 9-43: View controls

Pausing the display

The Pause button in the upper right corner of the View section (Figure 9-43) allows you to freeze the display at any time. To resume, click the button again. The level meters will remain active while the display is paused.

Line/Scatter

Choose either Line or Scatter from the menu in the View section (Figure 9-43) to plot each point (sample) as either a single pixel or as a continuous line that connects each plot point to the next, as shown below in Figure 9-44.

Color/Grayscale

In Color mode (Figure 9-43) the most recently displayed audio data is shown in red, which fades to yellow, green and then ﬁnally blue, before disappearing. In Grayscale mode, data is ﬁrst shown in white and then fades to gray. To adjust the scale of this color/brightness change, see “Decay” on page 93.

Axes

The Axes control (Figure 9-43) sets the opacity of the grid displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully visible) down to 0% (fully hidden).

Horizontal and vertical controls

The Hori zontal and Ve r t i c a l controls (Figure 9-45) conﬁgure the value range of the x-axis (left channel amplitude), and y-axis (right channel amplitude), respectively. Click and drag the values up or down to set them, or double-click to return to the default value.

There are two modes for the controls: Zoom/Offset and Min/Max. To change the mode, use the menu shown in Figure 9-45.

Figure 9-45: Setting the Horizontal or Vertical control modes.

Figure 9-44: The same X-Y Plot displayed in Line versus Scatter mode.

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom scales the axis. Pos moves the lines marking x = 0 left and right, or y = 0 up and down.

CUEMIX FX

Page 93

In Min/Max mode, Min and Max let you scale the

grid by moving the -1.0 and +1.0 points along the axis. Min/Max mode lets you control the graph boundaries directly.

Using the X-Y Plot

The X-Y Plot helps you “see” the width of the stereo ﬁeld of a mix. It also helps you determine if a mix has issues with polarity, as follows:

Persistence

The Pers istence controls (Figure 9-46) affect the appearance of data from when it is ﬁrst displayed until it disappears from the grid.

Figure 9-46: The Persistence controls.

Length

Length (Figure 9-46) sets the number of recent samples to show on the plot. For example, when Length is set to 10,000, the 10,000 most recent samples are shown.

Decay

The brightness (in Grayscale mode) or hue (in Color mode) of each sample on the plot is determined by a linear scale, with the most recent sample displayed at the maximum value and the oldest sample displayed at the minimum value. Decay (Figure 9-46 on page 93) determines the brightness or hue of the minimum value. When Decay is zero, the oldest sample is black. When Decay is +1.000, the oldest sample is fully opaque (in Grayscale mode) or red (in Color mode).

Activity on the X-Y Plot What it indicates

Signal activity occurs mostly along the x = y axis (lower left to upper right) and the Correlation meter reading is high

Signal activity occurs mostly along the y = -x axis (upper left to lower right) and the Correlation meter reading is low (near -1)

Signal activity occurs in a seemingly random fashion throughout the grid

Left and right channels are predominantly in polarity (the stereo field is relatively narrow)

Left and right channels are predominantly out of polarity (not in phase)

No phase relationship exists (i.e. it is probably a wide stereo field)

If a stereo signal is out of phase, it is not mono compatible because it can cancel itself out, either partially or nearly completely, when collapsed to mono.

n polarity

Figure 9-47: Checking polarity in a stereo signal with the X-Y Plot.

ut of polarity

o polarity

Wa r p

Wa r p (Figure 9-46) determines the position of data points after they are ﬁrst drawn. When warp is zero, data points remain in the same position. When warp is positive, they contract towards the origin (center of the grid). When warp is negative, they expand away from the origin. The further the warp value is from zero, the greater the effect.

CUEMIX FX

Page 94

PHASE ANALYSIS

The Phase Analysis window (Figure 9-48 on page 94) graphs frequency versus phase difference versus amplitude of a stereo signal on either rectangular or polar coordinates.

Choosing a channel pair to display

The Phase Analysis window follows the currently focused audio input or output. If you focus a mono channel (e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will be displayed (Analog 3–4).

In rectangular coordinates, the vertical axis represents frequency, and the horizontal axis represents the phase of the left channel minus the phase of the right channel (measured in radians).

In polar coordinates, the radius represents frequency and the angle (theta) from the +y vertical axis represents the phase difference of left channel minus the right channel.

Correlation Meter

The blue Correlation Meter to the right of the display shows the correlation between the two channels. The higher the meter, the higher the correlation between the two channels.

Opening the Phase Analysis

Each MOTU audio interface has its own Phase Analysis window. Choose the Phase Analysis item from the Devices menu under the desired interface (Figure 9-26 on page 82).

View controls

The View controls (Figure 9-49) provide several options for the Phase Analysis display.

Pause button

Figure 9-49: View controls

Pausing the display

The Pause button in the upper right corner of the View section (Figure 9-49) allows you to freeze the display at any time. To resume, click the button again. The correlation meter will remain active while the display is paused.

Figure 9-48: Phase Analysis

CUEMIX FX

Page 95

A/B (stereo audio channels)

The View section (Figure 9-49) displays the pair of input or output audio channels you are viewing. See “Choosing a channel pair to display” above.

Line/Scatter

Choose either Line or Scatter from the menu in the View section (Figure 9-49) to plot each data point as either a single pixel or as a continuous line that connects each frequency data point to the next, as shown below in Figure 9-44.

Figure 9-50: The same Phase Analysis displayed in Line versus Scatter mode.

☛ Li ne m ode i s sig ni ﬁca ntl y mo re C PU inte nsiv e

than Scatter. You can reduce Line mode CPU overhead for the Phase Analysis display by increasing the Floor ﬁlter and reducing the Max Delta Theta ﬁlters (see “Filters” on page 96).

Color/Grayscale

In Color mode (Figure 9-49) signal amplitude is indicated by color as follows: red is loud and blue is soft. In grayscale mode, white is loud and gray is soft.

Linear is better for viewing high frequencies; logarithmic is better for viewing low frequencies.

Rectangular/Polar

Choose either Rectangular or Polar from the menu in the View section (Figure 9-49) to control how audio is plotted on the Phase Analysis grid. Rectangular plots the audio on an X-Y grid, with frequency along the vertical axis and phase difference on the horizontal axis. Polar plots the data on a polar grid with zero Hertz at its center. The length of the radius (distance from the center) represents frequency, and the angle (theta) measured from the +y (vertical) axis represents the phase difference in degrees.

Figure 9-51: Rectangular versus Polar display (with a linear plot).

Above, Figure 9-51 shows Rectangular versus Polar display with a Linear plot. Below, Figure 9-52 show s the same displays (and the same data) with a Logarithmic plot:

Linear/Logarithmic

Choose either Linear or Logarithmic from the menu in the View section (Figure 9-49) to change the scale of the frequency axis. In rectangular coordinates, the vertical axis represents frequency, and in polar coordinates, the radius from the center is frequency. With a linear scale, frequencies are spaced evenly; in a logarithmic scale, each octave is spaced evenly (frequencies are scaled logarithmically within each octave).

CUEMIX FX

Figure 9-52: Rectangular versus Polar display with a logarithmic plot.

Axes

The Axes control (Figure 9-49) sets the opacity of the grid displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully visible) down to 0% (fully hidden).

Page 96

Horizontal and vertical controls

The Hori zontal and Ve r t i c a l controls (Figure 9-53) let you scale each axis of the grid and offset its zero point. Click and drag the values up or down to set them, or double-click to return to t he default va lue.

There are two modes for the controls: Zoom/Offset and Min/Max. To change the mode, use the menu shown in Figure 9-53.

Figure 9-53: Setting the Horizontal or Vertical control modes.

In Zoom/Offset mode, Zoom scales the axis. Pos moves the zero line.

In Min/Max mode, Min and Max let you scale the grid by moving the end points along the axis. Min/ Max mode lets you set the boundaries of the graph directly.

Filters

The Filters section (Figure 9-54) lets you control the density of the Phase Analysis display.

frequencies, if the distance (phase difference) between the two frequencies is greater than the Max delta theta, then the line is not drawn.

Using the Phase Analysis

In the polar display (top row of Figure 9-55 on page 97), stereo material that is predominantly phase-aligned (correlated) appears along the vertical axis, as demonstrated in the ﬁrst column (Perfectly in phase) in Figure 9-55. If the vertical line tilts left or right, this indicates general differences in phase; the more the tilt (delta theta), the more the phase difference. If the vertical line points downwards in the polar display, this indicates that the stereo image is predominantly out of polarity, as demonstrated by the fourth column (Inverted) in Figure 9-55. Delays appear as spirals in the polar display.

The rectangular display (bottom row of Figure 9-55) also shows a predominantly phasealigned stereo image along the vertical axis, and tilt (or left-right offset) from the center vertical axis represents differences in phase. If a signal is predominantly out of polarity, it appears along the theta = -1.0 or theta = +1.0 lines in the rectangular display, as demonstrated in the fourth column (Inver ted) in Figure 9-55 on page 97.

Figure 9-54: Filters

Floor

Floor (Figure 9-54) determines the amplitude threshold for the display. When the amplitude of both channels drops below this threshold, the signal is not shown.

Max delta theta

Max delta theta (Figure 9-54) only affects Line view (see “Line/Scatter” on page 95) and sets the maximum difference in frequency between plot points in the line plot. For two adjacent

Using Phase Analysis for multiple mic placement

The polar display can be very useful when recording drums or another instrument with multiple microphones. The slight delays caused by the differences in distance to the source can often create a comb ﬁltering (delay) effect between two mic signals, due to phase cancellation. These comb ﬁlter effects appear as spirals in the polar display. If you arrange the mics so that the null points (where the spiral pattern meets the negative y axis) are

CUEMIX FX

Page 97

outside the critical frequency range of the instrument being recorded, you can avoid phase problems among the mic signals.

Tun in g PA sys t em s

The Phase Analysis window can also be used to troubleshoot and tune PAs and sound reinforcement systems by placing microphones in strategic locations, comparing the two signals in the Phase Analysis grid and looking for phase issues at various locations.

Summing to mono

The Phase Analysis window is ideal for checking stereo audio that needs to be summed to mono. The Phase Analysis lets you see what frequencies will be canceled out when summed.

In the rectangular view, any lines in the signal that touch the +1.0 or -1.0 vertical lines in the grid will be canceled out at the frequency where they touch, when the signal is summed to mono.

In the polar view, any signal that falls on the negative y axis (below zero) in polar view will be canceled out when the signal is summed to mono.

Checking for phase issues in stereo tracks

You can use the Phase Analysis window to check the overall polarity of a stereo mix. Figure 9-56 is an example of a full stereo mix that has phase issues, as indicated by the majority of the signal’s energy, which is predominantly skewed to the left side of the rectangular view (left) and spread along the -y axis in the polar view (right).

Figure 9-56: A stereo mix with phase issues.

Polar view

Rectangular view

CUEMIX FX

Perfectly in phase One-sample delay Twenty-sample delay

Figure 9-55: Two identical audio streams in the Phase Analysis.

Inverted

Page 98

TUNER

The Tu n e r window is an accurate and easy to use tuner.

Meter valueMeter Detected frequency

Reference

ArrowDetected

note

frequency

Opening the Tuner

Each MOTU audio interface has its own Tuner window. Choose the Tun e r item from the Devices menu under the desired interface (Figure 9-26 on page 82).

Choosing a channel to tune

The Tuner window follows the currently focused audio input or output. If you focus a mono channel (e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will be displayed (Analog 3–4).

In the Tuner window, the displayed channel pair is shown in the lower left corner. Each channel has a checkbox to enable or disable its input to the tuner.

Tuner controls

Detected frequency: fundamental frequency of the

incoming signal, in Hertz (Hz).

Detected note: note name and octave that

correspond to the detected fundamental frequency.

greater number of illuminated segments represents greater uncertainty. The color of the segments changes gradually from green (in tune) to yellow, orange, and red (progressively further out of tune).

Meter value: difference between the detected note

and the detected frequency, in cents.

Arrows: the direction in which the detected

frequency needs to move to match the frequency of the detected note. The color of the arrows changes progressively in the same manner as the meter segments. When the detected fundamental frequency matches the detected note within three cents, both arrows will be illuminated.

Reference frequency: sets the frequency reference

for the pitch A4, between 400 and 480 Hz. The default frequency is 440 Hz.The reference frequency can be adjusted by dragging on the bar below the number, or by clicking the number and typing a value. To reset the tuner to the default frequency, double-click the slider, or click the number, press the Delete key, and press Enter.

Tuning stereo signals

When tuning a stereo signal, the tuner analyzes the sum of the two channels. If the channels are not phase coherent, the tuner may not be able to measure the frequency of the signal. To tune only one channel of the channel pair, disable one of the channels as described in “Choosing a channel to tune” on page 98.

Meter : representation of the pitch difference

between the detected note and the detected fundamental frequency. The horizontal position of the illuminated segments indicates how far the detected frequency is from the detected note. The number of illuminated segments indicates uncertainty or inharmonicity in the signal; a

CUEMIX FX

Page 99

CONFIGURATIONS MENU

A conﬁguration is just like a hardware preset (a “snapshot” of all settings in CueMix FX and therefore the Track16 hardware itself), except that it can be created and managed using the CueMix FX software on your computer, completely independently of the Track16 hardware. The commands in the Conﬁgurations menu let you create, save, load, import, export and otherwise manage as many conﬁgurations as you wish.

Here is a summary of Conﬁgurations menu operations:

Configurations Menu item What it does

Create New Lets you name and save a new configuration,

Save Overwrites the current configuration

Save To Same as Save above, except that it lets you first

Delete Lets you choose a configuration to perma-

Import Loads all configurations from a configuration

Export Saves all current configurations as a file on

Configuration list

Modifying a conﬁguration

The name of the current conﬁguration is displayed in the CueM ix F X wi ndow tit le b ar. If you make a ny changes to the settings in CueMix FX, an asterisk appears i n front of the name to remind you that the current state of CueMix FX doesn’t match the saved conﬁguration. If you wish to update the saved conﬁguration with the new changes, use the Save command. To save the current state of CueMix FX

which appears at the bottom of the Configurations menu.

(checked in the list at the bottom of the menu) with the current settings in CueMix FX.

choose the configuration you wish to save to (instead of the current one).

nently remove from the menu.

file on disk.

disk.

Choose any configuration to load it. The current (last loaded or saved) configuration has a check mark next to it.

to another conﬁguration, choose Save To. To save as a new, separate conﬁguration, choose Create New.

Saving a CueMix FX conﬁguration as a hardware preset

To save a CueMix FX conﬁguration as a hardware preset:

1 Choose the conﬁguration from the Conﬁgurations menu to make it the current active conﬁguration.

2 Choose File menu> Save Hardware Preset.

3 Type in a name, choose a preset slot and click

OK.

Saving a hardware preset as a CueMix FX conﬁguration

To save a hardware preset as a CueMix FX conﬁguration:

1 Choose File menu> Load Hardware Preset to make it the current active preset.

2 Choose Conﬁguration menu> Create New (or Save To) to save it as a conﬁguration.

TALKBACK MENU

Choose the commands in the Talkback menu to engage or disengage Talkback or Listenback.

PHONES MENU

The Phones menu allows you to choose what you will hear on the headphone output, just like the Phones setting in MOTU Audio Setup. However, this menu provides one extra option that is exclusive to CueMix FX: Follow Active Mix. This menu item, when checked, causes the headphone output to mirror the output of the current mix being viewed in CueMix FX. For example, if you are currently viewing mix bus 3, the headphones will mirror the mix bus 3 output (whatever it is assigned to).

CUEMIX FX

Page 100

CONTROL SURFACES MENU

CueMix FX can be controlled from an automated control surface such as the Mackie Control™. Use the commands in the Control Surfaces menu to enable and conﬁgure this feature.

Application follows control surface

When checked, the Application follows control surface menu command makes the CueMix FX

window scroll to the channel you are currently adjusting with the control surface, if the channel is not visible when you begin adjusting it. The same is true for the bus tabs: if you adjust a control in a bus that is not currently being displayed, CueMix FX will jump to the appropriate tab to display the control you are adjusting.

Share surfaces with other applications

When the Share surfaces with other applications menu command is checked, CueMix FX releases the control surface when you switch to another application. This allows you to control your other software with the control surface. Here’s a simple way to understand this mode: the control surface will always control the front-most application. Just bring the desired application to the front (make it the active application), and your control surface will control it. When you’d like to make changes to CueMix FX from the control surface, just bring CueMix FX to the front (make it the active application).

CueMix Control Surfaces

CueMix FX includes support for the following control surface products:

■ Mackie Control™

■ Mackie HUI™

■ Mackie Baby HUI™

Use the sub-menu commands in the CueMix Control Surfaces menu item to turn on and

conﬁgure control surface support, as described brieﬂy below.

Enabled

Check this menu item to turn on control surface operation of CueMix FX. Uncheck it to turn off control surface support.

Conﬁgure…

Choose this menu item to conﬁgure your control surface product. Open the help ﬁles for speciﬁc, detailed instructions on conﬁguring CueMix FX for operation with your control surface product.

When this menu item is unchecked, your control surface will affect CueMix FX all the time, even wh en Cu eMix F X is not t he front- most a ppli cation. In addition, you will not be able to control other host audio software with the control surface at any time (because CueMix FX retains control over it at all times). This mode is useful when you do not need to use the control surface with any other software.

100

Figure 9-57: Refer to the extensive on-line help for details about conﬁguring CueMix FX for operation with your control surface product.

CUEMIX FX

Mark of the Unicorn Track16 User's Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Quick Reference: Track16 Operation

Quick Reference: Track16 Connectors

Quick Reference: MOTU Audio Setup

About the Track16

OVERVIEW

Mic inputs

THE TRACK16 I/O CONNECTIONS

Analog

Guitar inputs

Line inputs and outputs

Precision Digital Trim™

Optical

MIDI I/O

On-board SMPTE synchronization

Bus-powered operation

THE TRACK16 TOP PANEL

Metering

Hybrid FireWire/USB2 connectivity

Multifunction volume knob with buttons

16-BIT AND 24-BIT RECORDING

CUEMIX FX 32-BIT FLOATING POINT MIXING AND EFFECTS

INCLUDED SOFTWARE

MOTU Audio Setup

MOTU SMPTE Setup

CueMix FX

AUDIODESK

DIGITAL PERFORMER

OTHER HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

PACKING LIST

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

Installing the Track16 Software

OVERVIEW

INSTALLATION

Run the MOTU Audio installer

MOTU AUDIO DRIVER

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

CORE MIDI AND AUDIO MIDI SETUP

Launching Audio MIDI Setup

Connecting MIDI devices to the Track16

CUEMIX FX

MOTU SMPTE SETUP

AUDIODESK WORKSTATION SOFTWARE

4 Installing the Track16 Hardware

OVERVIEW

CONNECT THE TRACK16 INTERFACE

Type B FireWire ports

Which should I use: FireWire or USB2?

Bus-powered operation requires FireWire

If you are connecting via FireWire

High Speed USB 2.0 versus USB 1.1

If you are connecting via high-speed USB 2.0

Switching Between FireWire and USB

CONNECT AUDIO INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

Track16 breakout cable

Mic inputs 1-2

Guitar inputs

Line inputs

Main outs and line outs

Optical

CONNECT MIDI GEAR

POWER OPTIONS

One-way MIDI connections

Connecting additional gear with MIDI THRUs

Bus power requirements

Examples of bus-powered operation

DC power supply

A TYPICAL TRACK16 SETUP

CONNECTING MULTIPLE MOTU FIREWIRE INTERFACES

Resolving to other Core audio drivers

Operating multiple FireWire interfaces at high sample rates

5 MOTU Audio Setup

OVERVIEW

ACCESSING THE TRACK16 SETTINGS

Track16 tab settings

General tab settings