MOTU UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid User Manual

UltraLite

-

mk3 Hybrid

User Guide for Mac

™

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Contents

Quick Reference: UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Front Panel

5
6

Quick Reference: UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Rear Panel
Quick Reference: MOTU Audio Setup

7

About the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid

9

Packing List and Mac System Requirements

15
17

Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Hardware
Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Mac Software

29
33

MOTU Audio Setup
UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Front Panel Operation

39
47

Digital Performer
AudioDesk

51

Other Mac OS X Software

55
61

Reducing Monitoring Latency
CueMix FX

67

109

MOTU SMPTE Console
Troubleshooting

113

Index

115

III

IV

56

to choose the desired channel or bus. Use the PAGE,

PARAM and VALUE knobs to access the settings for the

chosen channel.

SETUP mode lets you access general settings. Use the

PARAMETER knob to browse settings, and use the VALUE

knob to adjust them.

From the factory, its output matches the main outs on

the rear panel. But it can be programmed to mirror any

other output pair (digital or analog). It can even be

programmed to serve as its own independent output.

Use the volume knob above to control its level.

independently for each mic input. Hold it in momen-

tarily to toggle 48V phantom power independently for

each mic input.

7. Push the TRIM rotary encoder to toggle the 20 dB pad

CUEMIX mode lets you program the UltraLite-mk3’s on-

board CueMix FX mixer. Use the CHANNEL knob to

choose the input, output or mix you wish to edit. Push it

to switch among inputs, outputs and busses, then turn it

of the UltraLite-mk3’s inputs and outputs. It also gives

you access to the UltraLite-mk3’s built-in mixer and

5. The multi-purpose backlit LCD provides metering for all

other settings. There are eight independent stereo mix

busses. Each mixes all inputs (or any subset you wish) to

6. This is a standard quarter-inch stereo headphone jack.

a stereo output of your choice. The four knobs to the right

of the LCD correspond directly to the four labeled

sections of the LCD. Push the PARAMETER knob repeat-

edly to cycle through the three main LCD display modes:

METER, CUEMIX and SETUP.

METER mode provides level meters for each input and

output. The labels above and below the LCD refer to all of

the UltraLite-mk3’ s inputs and outputs (both analog and

digital).

Quick Reference: UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid F ront P anel

4

3

LCD provides visual feedback for the headphone volume

setting as you turn the knob. Push the knob once to view

the current volume setting in the LCD display; push it

again to control the UltraLite-mk3’s MASTER VOLUME

setting. From the factory, MASTER VOLUME controls the

(TRS) MAIN OUTS 1-2 on the rear panel, but MASTER

VOLUME can be programmed t o control an y combination

of outputs. See “The Monitor Group” on page 90 for

details.

UltraLite-mk3; press and hold to turn it off. When

connected to the computer via FireWire, the

UltraLite-mk3 is powered by its FireWire connection to

the computer. When connected via USB, it must be

powered with the included DC power adapter.

7

1 2 5

3. Turn the VOL knob t o contr ol the headphone volume . The

cable with a quarter-inch plug. It is equipped with

approximately +60 dB of boost for the mic (XLR) input

and +32 dB of boost for the instrument (TRS) input.

Separate settings are maintained for the XLR and TRS

inputs for saving with presets. The XLR (mic) input can

also be supplied with 20 dB pad and 48V phantom

1. This XLR/TRS combo jack accepts either a mic cable or a

power.

2. These two Precision Digital Trim™ rotary encoders

provide +60 dB and +32 dB of boost, respectively, for

4. When power is off, push the VOL knob to power on the

the mic (XLR) and instrument (TRS) inputs on the front

and rear panel. Adjustment can be made in approxi-

mately 1 dB increments. Both have preamps, so you can

plug in just about anything: a microphone, a guitar or

even a synth. For +4 dB signals, use the rear panel TRS

inputs. Use the trim knob and input level meter in the

LCD to calibrate the input signal level. For the Mic (XLR)

input, P ush the TRIM encoder to t oggle a 20 dB pad; push

and hold to toggle 48V phantom power.

.

4

Important note: it is best to turn off

either FireWire or USB2, using either the standard 1394

FireWire A or USB cable provided with your

UltraLite-mk3. There’s not much difference, except that

FireWire offers bus-powered operation (without the DC

power supply).

the UltraLite-mk3 when plugging in the FireWire

cable, as this avoids the possibility of static

7. Connect the UltraLite-mk3 to the computer here via

57 6

6. Equipped with 24-bit 192 kHz converters, these six

analog inputs (3 through 8) are gold-plated, balanced

TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) quarter-inch connectors that can

also accept an unbalanced plug. They do not have micro-

phone preamps, so they are best used for synthesizers,

discharge, which can harm the electrical compo-

drum machines, effects processors, and other instru-

ments with line level signals (either -10 dB or +4 dB).

These inputs are also equipped with the UltraLite-mk3’s

Precision Digital Trim™ feature: digitally controlled

with either tip-positive or tip-negative polarity.

nents in the UltraLite-mk3 or your computer

8. This jack accepts any standard 10-24V DC power supply

analog trims that let you adjust input level in 1 dB incre-

ments from either front panel LCD or the included

CueMix FX software. The trim can be adjusted over a

range of -96 to +22 dB.

1 2 3

Quick Reference: UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Rear P anel

). You can also use CueMix FX to monitor

cable with a quarter-inch plug. Use the fr on t panel MIC 2

trim encoder to apply up to +60 dB or +32 dB of boost,

respectively, for the mic (XLR) or instrument (TRS) input.

To toggle the 20 dB pad for the mic (XLR) input , push the

front-panel Mic 2 trim encoder. To toggle 48V phantom

power for the XLR (mic) input, push and hold the front-

panel Mic 2 trim encoder.

UltraLite-mk3’ s main outputs. Y ou can connect them to a

set of powered studio monitors and then control the

4. This XLR/TRS combo jack accepts either a mic cable or a

8

Connect the UltraLite-mk3’ s MIDI OUT port to the MIDI IN

port on the other device. Conversely, connect the

UltraLite-mk3’ 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

1. Connect a MIDI device here using standard MIDI cables.

5. These two balanced, quarter-inch jacks serve as the

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).

2. These jacks provide stereo, 24-bit S/PDIF digital input

volume from the front panel volume knob. To hear disk

tracks in your audio software on these main outs, assign

the disk tracks (and master fader) to these main outs

and output at any sample rate up to 96kHz.

3. The UltraLite-mk3’s eight analog outputs are gold-

Main Out 1-2

(

live UltraLite-mk3 inputs here as well.

plated, balanced +4dB TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) quarter-

inch connectors that can also accept an unbalanced plug.

They are equipped with 24-bit, 128x oversampling

converters.

Quick Reference: MO TU Audio Setup

CHAPTER

Determines the clock source for your
UltraLite-mk3. If you’re just using the
analog ins and outs, set this to
other settings are for digital transfers via
S/PDIF or synchronization to time code or
other audio devices.

This menu lets you choose what you will hear
from the headphone jack. To mirror the main
outs, choose
any other output pair. To hear the phones as
their own independent output, choose

Phones 1-2 .

Main Out 1-2 . Or you can mirror

Internal. The

Click the tabs to access general
MOTU FireWire interface
settings or settings specific to
the UltraLite-mk3 (or other
connected interface).

Choose the sample rate for the
UltraLite-mk3 here.

Specifies the stereo input and
output pair when the
UltraLite-mk3 is chosen for Mac

Choose the output pair you would
like the main outs to mirror, or

Main Outs to operate them

choose
as their own independent pair.

The UltraLite-mk3 driver provides a
stereo return back to the computer.
This return feeds the signal on any
output pair directly back to the
computer, wher e you can record,
process, monitor or otherwise use
it. This is a great way to “bounce”
full mixes, complete with liv e audio
routed through the UltraLite-mk3
only, back into the computer.

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 FireWire interface is
detected (switched on, plugged in, etc.)

This button opens another dialog that lets
you assign your own customized names to
each UltraLite-mk3 input and output. For
example, if you ha ve 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 CoreAu­dio input naming).

In the standard Mac OS X fashion, the
setup software appears in the dock
when you launch it. If the

console automatically

checked (as shown above), the icon
appears as soon as you switch on your
UltraLite-mk3 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 setup
software window.

Launch

option is

7

8

CHAPTER

1

About the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

The UltraLite-mk3 Rear Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The UltraLite-mk3 Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

16-bit and 24-bit recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CueMix FX 32-bit floating point mixing and effects. . 12

AudioDesk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Digital Performer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Other Host Audio Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

OVERVIEW

The UltraLite-mk3 is a hybrid FireWire USB2
audio interface for Mac and Windows with on­board effects and mixing that offers 10 inputs and
14 outputs. Both analog and digital I/O are offered
at sample rates up to 96 kHz, and analog recording
and playback is offered at rates up to 192 kHz. All
inputs and o utputs can be acc essed simul taneously.
The UltraLite-mk3 is housed in a sturdy, compact
half-rack enclosure that connects directly to a
computer via a standard FireWire or USB cable.

The UltraLite-mk3 offers the following main
features:

RCA S/PDIF digital I/O at sample rates up to

■

96 kHz

■

MIDI I/O
On-board SMPTE synchronization

■

Headphone jack with volume control

■

■

Fron t pane l vol ume c on trol o f the Main Outs (o r

any programmable combination of outputs)

■

CueMix™ FX no-latency mixing, monitoring,

and effects processing

■

Classic Reverb™ with five different room types,
three frequency shelves w ith adjustable crossover
points, shelf filtering and reverb lengths up to 60
seconds.

■

Two forms of compression, including 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.

■

Uni versal com put er connectivity via FireWire o r

high-speed USB2

■

Bus-powered operation (FireWire only)

■

Six 24-bit analog quarter-inch (TRS) inputs

■

Ten 24-bit analog quarter-inch (TRS) outputs

■

Two combo XLR/TRS mic/guitar inputs with
preamps, 48V phantom power, 20 dB pad, and
Precision Digital Trim™ preamp gain adjustment

■

Operation on all analog I/O at standard sample
rates up to 192 kHz

■

Digitally controlled analog trim for all analog
inputs

■

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. LP and HP filters are also supplied with
slopes that range from 6 to 36 dB.

■

Front-panel LCD programming for the mixer
and all other settings

■

Extensive front panel metering and status LEDs

■

Stand-alone operation

■

Mac and Windows drivers for multi-channel
operation and acr oss-the-board com patibility with
any audio software on current Mac and Windows
systems

9

■

CueMix FX cross-pla tform mixing software with
attractive graphic mixing, graphic editing of
parametric EQ and a convenient tabbed interface
for quick access t o all features in one window. Also
provides full-screen real-time FFT display,
spectrogram “waterfall” display, oscilloscope, X-Y
plot and linear or polar phase analysis.

AudioDesk™, full-featured audio workstation

■

software for Mac OS that supports both 16-bit and
24-bit recording

With a variety of I/O formats, mic preamps and
no-latency mixing and processing of live input, the
UltraLite-mk3 is a complete, portable “studio in a
box” when used with a Mac or Windows computer.

THE ULTRALITE-MK3 REAR PANEL

The rear panel has the following connectors:

■

Ten gold-plated, balanced +4dB quarter-inch
(TRS) analog outputs (with 24-bit 192 kHz
converters)

10 inputs and 14 outputs

All UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs can be used
simultaneously, for a total of 10 inputs and 14
outputs when operating at sample rates up to
96 kHz:

Connection Input Output

Analog 24-bit 192 kHz on bal/unbal TRS 6 10
Mic preamps 24-bit 192 kHz on XLR/TRS

combo
SPDIF 24-bit 96kHz digital 2 2
Headphone output - 2

Total 10 14

2-

All inputs and outputs are discrete and can be
active simultaneously.

The headphone outputs can operate as an
independent output pair, or they can mirror any
other UltraLite-mk3 output pair, such as the main
outs.

■

Six gold-plated, balanced quarter-inch (TRS)
analog inputs (with 24-bit 192 kHz converters)

■

One combo XLR/TRS mic/instrument input

■ RCA S/PDIF in/out

■ MIDI IN and MIDI OUT jacks

■ One 1394 FireWire A connector

■ One high-speed USB2 connector

■ DC power jack

Mic/guitar inputs with preamps

The two mic/instrument inputs (front panel and
rear panel) are equipped with preamps and
“combo” XLR/TRS jacks, which accept XLR
microphone inputs or quarter-inch guitar/
instruments inputs. Individual 48 volt phantom
power and a 20 dB pad can be supplied
independently to each mic input. The Precision
Digital Trim™ knobs on the front panel for each
mic/instrument input provide 60 dB of boost for
the XLR mic input and 32 dB of boost for the TRS
instrument input in precise 1 dB increments.

Analog

All six quarter-inch analog inputs are equipped
with 24-bit 192 kHz A/D converters. All eight
analog outputs have 24-bit 192 kHz D/A
conv erters. All audio is carried to the co mpu ter in a
24-bit data stream.

10

ABOUT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID

All ten analog outputs and six quarter-inch analog
inputs are on balanced TRS +4dB quarter-inch
jacks. All of these jacks can also accept un balanc ed
plugs.

Precision Digital Trim™

All of the UltraLite-mk3’s analog inputs are
equipped with digitally controlled analog trims
that allow adjustments in 1 dB increments. The
mic/guita r i nput trims can be adjusted using fro nt­panel digital rotary encoders that pro vide feedback
in the front panel LCD with 60 dB of adjustment
for the mic input and 32 dB for the TRS input. All
analog inputs, including six rear-pan el TRS analog
inputs, can be trimmed using the front panel LCD
or using the UltraLite-mk3’s included CueMix FX
contro l software fo r Mac and W indo ws. This allows
you to fine-tune trim settings for synths, effects
modules and a wide variety of analog inputs for
optimum levels. Different trim configurations can
then be saved as files on disk for instant recall.

S/PDIF

The UltraLite-mk3 rear pane l pro vides RCA “ c oax”
S/PDIF input and output.

The included MOTU SMPTE Console™ 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 any audio
sequencer software that supports the ASIO2
sample-accurate sync protocol.

Hybrid FireWire/USB2 connectivity

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

To fully support both formats, your UltraLite-mk3
Hybrid audio interface is equipped with both a
FireWire A (400 Mbit/sec) connector and a hi­speed USB2 (480 Mbit/sec) co nnector , and y ou can
use either port to connect the UltraLite-mk3 to
your co mpu ter . This gives you maxim um flexibility
and compatibility with today’s ever-expanding
universe of Mac and Windows computers.

MIDI I/O

The UltraLite-mk3’s standard MIDI IN and MIDI
OUT jacks supply 16 channels of MIDI I/O to and
from the computer via the UltraLite-mk3’s
FireWire connection. Timing accuracy can be
sample-accurate with host software that supports
it.

On-board SMPTE synchronization

The UltraLite-mk3 can resolve directly to SMPTE
time code via any analog input, without a separate
synchronizer. It can also generate time code via any
analog output. The UltraLite-mk3 provides a
DSP-driven phase-lock engine with sophisticated
filtering that provides fast lockup times and sub­frame accuracy.

ABOUT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID

The UltraLite-mk3 has the ability to power itself
from its FireWire connection to the computer, for
convenient, mobile bus-powered operation.

Power supply

If you do not want the UltraLite-mk3 to draw
power from the computer, and AC power is
available, you can power the UltraLite-mk3 from
any standard 10-18V, 12 watt DC power supply
with any polarity (tip positive or negative).

THE ULTRALITE-MK3 FRONT PANEL

Mic/instrument input

See “Mic/guitar inputs with preamps” on page 10.

48V phantom power and pad

See “Mic/guitar inputs with preamps” on page 10.

11

Headphone output and main volume control

The UltraLite-mk3 front panel provides a quarter­inch stereo headphone output jack and volume
knob. The LCD display provides feedback as you
turn the knob. The VOL knob can be used to
contro l the vol ume of the main out jacks o n the rear
panel. It can alternately be configured to control
any combination of outputs.

Programmable backlit LCD display

Any UltraLite-mk3 setting, including the powerful
CueMix FX on-board 16-bus mixer with effects,
can be accessed directly from the front panel using
the four ro tary encoders and the 2x16 ba c klit LCD
display.

The LCD also provides activity metering for all
UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs.

16-BIT AND 24-BIT RECORDING

The UltraLite-mk3 system handles all data with a
24-bit signal path, r egardle ss of the I/O forma t. You
can record and play back 16-bit or 24-bit audio files
at any supported sample rate via any of the
UltraLite-mk3’s analog or digital inputs and
outputs. 24-bit audio files can be r ecor ded with any
compatible host application that supports 24-bit
recording.

CUEMIX FX 32-BIT FLOATING POINT
MIXING AND EFFECTS

All UltraLite-mk3 inputs and output s can be
routed to the on-board CueMix FX 16-bus (8
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 directly in
the UltraLite-mk3 hardware, independent of the
computer. Effects can even be applied when the
UltraLite-mk3 is operating stand-alone (withou t a
computer) as a complete portable 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
compr essio n/limiting. The U ltraLite-mk3’s Classic
Reverb™ provides five different room types, three
frequency bands with adjustable crossover points,
shelf filtering and rev e rb le n gths u p to 60-seconds.

Two forms of comp ressio n are su pp lied: a standar d
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
with slopes that range from 6 to 36 dB. The EQ
employs extremely high precision 64-bit floating
point processing.

The UltraLite-mk3’s flexible effects architecture
allows you to apply EQ and compression on every
input and output (a total of 24 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 (included) allows you to keep tabs on the
UltraLite-mk3’s processing resources. Each input,
output and mix bus provides a send to the Classic
Reverb processor, which then feeds re verb returns
to mix busses and outputs, with a selectable split
point between them to prevent send/return
feedback loops.

AUDIODESK

AudioDesk is a full-featured, 24-bit audio
workstation software package included with the
UltraLite-mk3 system (for Mac only). AudioDesk
provides multi-channel waveform editing,
auto ma t ed virtual mixing, graphi c editing o f ramp
automation, real-time effects plug-ins with 32-bit

12

ABOUT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID

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 UltraLite-mk3 system is fully integrated with
MOTU’s award-winning Digital Performer audio
sequencer software package.

OTHER HOST AUDIO SOFTWARE

The UltraLite-mk3 system includes a standard
Mac OS X Core Audio driver for multichannel I/O
with any audio application that supports Core
Audio.

ABOUT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID

13

14

ABOUT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID

CHAPTER

2 Packing List and Mac Sy stem

Requirements

PACKING LIST

The UltraLite-mk3 ships with the items listed
below. If any of these items are not present in your
UltraLite-mk3 box when you first open it, please
immediately contact your dealer or MOTU.

■ One UltraLite-mk3 I/O rack unit

■ One 6-pin to 6-pin IEEE 1394 “FireWire” cable

■ One USB cable

■ One set of removable rack ears

■ One UltraLite-mk3 Mac/Windows manual

■ One AudioDesk Manual

■ One cross-platform CD-ROM

■ Product registration card

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The UltraLite-mk3 system requires the following
Mac system:

■ A G4/500MHz Power Mac or faster equipped

with at least one FireWire port

■ At least 256 MB (megabytes) of RAM (512 MB

or more is recommended)

■ Mac OS X (version 10.4.9 or later)

■ A large hard drive (preferably at least 250 GB)

PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

Please register yo ur UltraLite-mk3 toda y. Ther e are
two ways to register.

■ Visit www.motu.com/registration to register on

line
OR

■ 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 f or th e inc l ud ed 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 online technical support email
and announcements about AudioDesk software
enhancements as soon as they become available.

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

15

16

PACKING LIST AND MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

CHAPTER

3 Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid

Hardware

OVERVIEW

Here’s an overview for installing the
UltraLite-mk3:

Important note before you begin! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Take these precautions to prevent damage to your
computer, the UltraLite-mk3 and other
equipment.

Connect the UltraLite-mk3 interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Connect the UltraLite-mk3 to the computer.

Connect audio inputs and outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Make analog and digital connections as desired.

Connect MIDI gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Connect a controller, synth or control surface.

Connecting and syncing S/PDIF devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Connect a DAT deck, effects processor or other
device with digital I/O, but be sure to make the
correct clock source settings.

IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU BEGIN!

Before you begin installing the UltraLite-mk3 (or
any bus-powered device), take these important
precautionary measures to avoid damaging the
sensitive electrical components in your computer,
the UltraLite-mk3 or other devices being
connected:

■ Turn off the computer.

■ Turn off the UltraLite-mk3 (push and hold the

VOL knob.

■ Turn off the power of any other devices.

■ Touch the metal casing of the UltraLite-mk3 to

discharge any static electricity that you may be
carrying just before the installation.

After you have made all of the necessary
connections, as described in this chapter, turn on
the devices in this sequence:

1. Turn on the computer.

Power options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Choos e from among several convenient options.

A typical UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

An example setup for computer-based mixing/FX.

Connecting multiple MOTU FireWire interfaces . . . . . 26

Connect additional UltraLites or other audio
interfaces.

2. Turn on the UltraLite-mk3.

3. Turn on other devices connected to the
UltraLite-mk3.

17

CONNECT THE ULTRALITE-MK3 INTERFACE

Your UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid audio interface is
equipped with both a FireWire A (400 Mbit/sec)
connector and a hi-speed USB2 (480 Mbit/sec)
connector, and you can use either port to connect
the UltraLite-mk3 to your computer. This gives
you maximum flexibility and compatibility with
today’s ever-expanding universe of Mac and
Windows computers.

Which should I use: FireWire or USB2?

If your computer does not have a FireWire port,
then obviously you will need to connect the
UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid to one of its hi-speed USB2
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 UltraLite can be pow ered solely by its FireWire
connection to the computer. For complete
information, see “Bus power requirements” on
page 23.

If you use USB2, you must also use the DC power
supply in cl ud ed with yo ur Ul traLite-mk3, as USB2
does not supply enough power by itself.

If you are connecting via FireWire

1 Before you begin, make sure your computer and
the UltraLite-mk3 are switched off.

☛ You can connect the UltraLite-mk3 to an

800Mbit “FireWire B” port using a 9-pin to 6-pin
FireWire B cable (not shown). However, the
UltraLite-mk3 will still operate at its specified
400Mbit (FireWire A) data rate.

3 Plug the other end o f the FireWire cable into th e
UltraLite-mk3 I/O as shown below in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Connecting the UltraLite-mk3 to the computer via
FireWire.

☛ Make absolute sure to align the flat side of the

FireWire plug properly with the flat side of the
FireWire socket on the UltraLite-mk3. If you
attemp t to force the plug into the socket the wrong
way, you can damage the UltraLite-mk3.

2 Plug one end of the UltraLite-mk3 FireWire
cable (included) into the FireWire socket on the
computer as shown below in Figure 3-1.

18

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

If you are connecting via USB2

Some USB ports on com pu ters ar e USB Version 1.1
ports, which support low-power, low-bandwidth
peripherals such as your computer’s mouse and
keyboard. USB 1 ports do not support the high­speed operation nec essary for the UltraLite-mk3. If
you are n ot sur e if the USB ports on yo ur com pu ter
are Hi-speed USB2 or not, check your computer’s
documentation. Or check your computer as
follows:

■ On the Mac, you can run System Profiler (Apple

menu> About This Mac> More Info...) to view the

specifications for each USB port on your Mac.
Look in the hardware list f or US B and clic k it. I f the
USB bus description on the right-hand side says
USB High Speed Bus, then your Mac has USB2.

■ On Windo ws, open Device M anager and e xpand

the Universal Serial Bus section. There should be
an “Enhanced” USB host controller present.

Figure 3-2: Connecting the UltraLite-mk3 to the computer via USB.

☛ Due to the way all USB 1.1 and USB 2.0

devices share bandwidth, you will achieve better
overall performance by placing 1.1 and 2.0 devices
on separate busses, if possible. For details, refer to
the tech support database at www.motu.com.

1 Before you begin, make sure your computer and
the UltraLite-mk3 are switched off.

2 Plug the flat “type A” plug of the UltraLite-mk3
USB cable (incl uded) in to a USB2-equi pped sock et
on the computer as shown below in Figure 3-1.

3 Plug the squared “type B” plug of the USB cable
into the UltraLite-mk3 I/O as shown below in
Figure 3-1.

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

19

CONNECT AUDIO INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

The UltraLite-mk3 audio interface has the
following audio input and output connectors:

■ 10 balanced quarter-inch analog outputs

■ 6 balanced quarter-inch analog inputs

■ 2 XLR/quarter-in c h “combo” analog inp u ts with

preamps

■ 1 pair of RCA S/PDIF in and out

Here are a few things you should keep in mind as
you are making th ese co nnection s to o ther d evices.

Mic/instrument inputs

Connect a microphone, guitar, instrument or other
analog input to the XLR/TRS combo jack with
either a standard mic cable o r a balanced cabl e with
a quarter-inch plug.

☛ Do not connect a +4 (line level) XLR cable to

the front-panel inputs (because of the preamps).
Use a rear-panel quarter-inch input instead.

20 dB pad

The mic input (XLR jac k) is eq uip ped with a 20 dB
pad, so “hot” signals are best connected via an XLR
cable so that you can use the pad. To toggle the
20 dB pad for a mic input, quickly push its TRIM
rotary encoder. The green LED below will turn on
or off accordingly.

Since the pad is not available on the TRS jack, hot
signals connected via the TRS jack will probably
overdrive the input.

Combo jack summary

Use these general guidelines for the 48V phantom
power, pad and trim settings on the two combo
input jacks:

Input 48V Pad Trim

Condenser mic On As needed As needed
Dynamic mic Off As needed As needed
Guitar Off n/a As needed

-10 dB Line level via TRS Off n/a As needed

Phantom power

If you are connecting a condenser microphone or
other device that requires phantom power, push
and hold the corresponding front-panel TRIM
rotary encoder for a few sec onds to t oggle phantom
power. The red LED below will turn on or off
accordingly.

Trim

The XLR mic input and the TRS instrument input
are equipped with 60 dB and 32 dB o f trim control,
respectively. Use the digital trim encoders on the
front panel to adjust the input level as needed for
each input. The LCD provides visual feedback as
you turn the trim knob. The UltraLite-mk3’s input
trims are digital controlled, so they allow you to
make fine-tuned adjustments in precise 1dB
increments. You can also adjust trim in the MOTU
CueMix FX software. See “Input trim” on page 73.

-10 dB Line level via XLR Off -20 dB +12dB
+4 dB line level (XLR only) Off -20 dB Zero

Quarter-inch analog

The quarter-inch analog inputs (3-8) and outputs
(1-8 plus main ou t) are balanced (TRS) co nnectors
that can also accept an unbalanced plug.

The quarter-inch o utpu ts are calib rat ed to pr oduce
a +4 dBu line level output signal.

Quarter-inch analog inpu t trims

The quarter-inch inputs are calibrated to
accommodat e ei ther +4 or -10 dBu signals and are
equipped with digitally controlled analog trims
that provide +22 dB of gain and -96 dB of cut. You
can use either the front panel LCD or the included
CueMix FX software to adjust the input trim. To

20

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

adjust these trims using CueMix FX, see “Input
trim” on page 73. To adjust the trims using the
front panel LCD:

1 Push the PARAM knob repeat edly until you see
CUEMIX in the LCD display.

2 Push the CHANNEL knob repeatedly until you
see “I:” (which stands for Input) in the CHANNEL
section of the LCD (Figure 3-3).

3 Turn the CHANNEL KNOB until you see the
desired analog input or input pair. For example,
analog inputs 1-2 appear as “I:An 1-2”
(Figure 3-3), which means Input analog 1-2.

4 From the factory, analog inputs are grouped in
stereo pairs (1-2, 3-4, etc.) If you need to spli t a pair
to program it as two individual mono inputs, turn
the PARAM knob until you see PAIR in the
parameter section of the LCD (Figure 3-3). Turn
the VALUE knob to choose MONO. Then turn the
CHANNEL knob again to select the desired input.

Separate main outs

The main outputs operate as an independent pair
(they don’t share signal with any other output
pair). I n a standard studio configuration, th e main
outs are in t en d ed f o r a pair o f studio moni t o rs, but
they can also be used as regular outputs for any
purpose. Their reference level is +4dB. Main out
volume is controlled by the VOL knob on the front
panel: push it repeatedly until you see MASTER
and then turn it to adjust the master volume
output. This knob can be programmed to cont rol
any combination of outputs you wish.

S/PDIF

If you make a S/PDIF digital audio connection to
another device, be sure to review the digital audio
clocking issues, as explained in “Connecting and
syncing S/PDIF devices” on page 22.

The UltraLite-mk3 on-board mixer also supplies
12dB of digital trim adjustment for the S/PDIF
input pair, which can be adj usted fr o m C ueMix FX
(“Input trim” on page 73) or th e fro nt panel (using
the same procedure as explained earlier for
“Quarter-inch analog input trims” on page 20.

CONNECT MIDI GEAR

Connect your MIDI device’s MIDI IN jack to the
UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI OUT jack (Connection A

Figure 3-3: The settings for analog inputs 1 and 2 (as a pair).

5 After splitting the stereo pair, if necessary, turn
the PARAM knob until you see the TRIM
parameter in the LCD (Figure 3-4):

Figure 3-4: Setting the input trim for a TRS analog input pair.

6 Turn the VALUE knob to adjust the trim.

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

below). Conversely, connect the MIDI device’s
MIDI OUT jack to the UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI IN
jack (Connection B).

Connection A

MIDI Device

Figure 3-5: Connecting a MIDI device to the UltraLite-mk3.

MIDI
OUT

UltraLite-mk3

rear panel

cables

MIDI INMIDI

MIDI

OUT

MIDI

IN

Connection B

21

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 3-5. 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 AND SYNCING S/PDIF
DEVICES

DAT decks and other devices with S/PDIF digital
I/O will sync to the UltraLite-mk3 in via the
S/PDIF connection itself. Just connect it to the
UltraLite-mk3 via the S/PDIF connectors. When
the device records a digital audio signal (from the
UltraLite-mk3), it will simply synchronize to the
clock provided by the digital audio input.

Connecting additional gear with MIDI THRUs

If you need to c o nn ect seve ral p iec es o f MIDI gear,
run a MIDI cable from the MIDI THRU of a device
already connected to the UltraLite-mk3 to the
MIDI IN on the additional device as shown below
in Figure 3-6. The two devices then share the
UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI OUT port. This means that
they share the same set of 16 MIDI channels, too,
so try 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.

UltraLite-mk3

rear panel

MIDI

OUT

MIDI

MIDI Device

IN

On the other hand, when you transfer audio from
the S/PDIF device into the UltraLite-mk3, you’ll
have to s la v e the Ul traLite-mk3 t o its S/PD IF in pu t.

UltraLite-mk3

S/PDIF

S/PDIF

S/PDIF device

UltraLite-mk3

Clock Source setting =

S/PDIF (when transferring from the

other device to the UltraLite-mk3)

Figure 3-7: The setup for synchronizing a S/PDIF device with the
UltraLite-mk3. Sync is achieved via the digital I/O connection itself. In
this case, you have to choose S/PDIF as the UltraLite-mk3’s clock
source when recording from the other device.

UltraLite-mk3

Clock Source setting =

Internal (when transferring from the

UltraLite-mk3 to the other device)

Figure 3-6: Connecting additional devices with MIDI THRU ports.

MIDI Thru when operating stand-alone

The UltraLite-mk3 has a MIDI Thru feature for
stand-alone operation. See “MIDI Thru in
standalone” on page 42.

22

MIDI

THRU

Additional device

MIDI

cable

MIDI IN

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

POWER OPTIONS

The UltraLite-mk3 can draw power from two
possible sources:

chain should also have their own power supply. In
general, bus-powered FireWire devices should not
be daisy-chained.

1. the computer via FireWire, or

2. a DC power supply.
If you use USB2 to connect to your computer, you

must also use the DC power supply included with
your UltraLite-mk3, as USB2 does not supply
enough power by itself.

Bus power requirements

The UltraLite-mk3 draws all the power it needs
from the FireWire bus connection to the computer.
How ever, the F ireWire connection to the co mp uter
must meet all of the requirements discussed below.

6-pin FireWire connectors

The UltraLite-mk3 can only draw power over the
FireW ir e bus from a 6-p in to 6-pin ca ble, o r a 6-pin
to 9-pin (FireWire B) cable. It cannot draw power
from a FireWire cable with a 4-pin connector, as
shown below:

YES

✓

NO

✗

6-pin FireWire

Figure 3-8: 4-pin FireWire connectors cannot be used for bus power.

When operating under bus po wer , daisy-chaining
is not recommended

The UltraLite-mk3 can be daisy-chained with
other FireWire devices from a single FireWire
connection to the computer. However, if the
UltraLite-mk3 is opera ting under bus po wer, this is
not recommended. If you need to daisy chain the
UltraLite-mk3 with other devices on the same
FireWire bus, power the UltraLite-mk3 with the
included power adapter. The other devices on the

4-pin FireWire

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

UltraLite-mk3 to a PCI card and run the
UltraLite-mk3 under bus po wer, the PCI card m ust
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 UltraLite-mk3 to a PC card
FireWire adapter (inserted in the PC card slot in
your laptop), it must provide a 6-pin connection
and it must also have its own power supply. Most
commonly, these types of products have a DC
power adapter. 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
UltraLite-mk3 operation:

Bus power from a desktop computer

Your desktop computer is running off of its usual
AC power connection, and the UltraLite-mk3
draws pow er fro m th e F ir eWire 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
UltraLite-mk3 is pow ered via the Fir eW ir e bus and
there are no limits to running time.

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

23

Bus power from a battery-powered laptop

The laptop is being po wered b y its o wn battery, and
the UltraLite-mk3 is being po wer ed by i ts Fir eW ir e
connection to the computer. So the laptop battery
is supplying power to both the laptop and the
UltraLite-mk3. 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.

does it use? The answer is: the source that is
currently supplying the greatest voltage. But in
practice, it doesn’t really matter because the only
situation in which y o u need t o be co nc erned abou t
the UltraLite-mk3’s power draw is when you are
operating it with a battery-power ed laptop. And in
this situation, the only available power is from
FireWire. In all other situations, the computer has
its own power, so it doesn’t matter if the
UltraLite-mk3 is drawing power from FireWire.

DC power supply

If you do not want the UltraLite-mk3 to draw
power from the computer, and AC power is
available, you can power the UltraLite-mk3 from
any standard 8-18 volt, 12 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

Bus power versus DC power

When you connect a DC power supply, the
UltraLite-mk3 could draw power from either
FireWire or the DC power supply. So which source

Turning off the UltraLite-mk3

To turn on the UltraLite-mk3, push the VOL knob.
To turn it off, push and hold the VOL knob. When
the UltraLite-mk3 is turned off, it is really in a sort
of “sleep” mode, where it still draws just enough
power to detect the power switch (a digital
encoder) when the UltraLite-mk3 is turned back
on. But the amount of power that the
UltraLite-mk3 draws when it is turned off is so
small that it has very little practical impact. If you
are running a laptop und er battery power, and you
are in a situation where you are not using the
UltraLite-mk3 and yo u need every last bit of laptop
battery power, unplug the UltraLite-mk3 entirely
from the computer.

24

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

A TYPICAL ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID SETUP

Here is a typical UltraLite-mk3 studio setup. This
rig can be operated without an external mixer. All
mixing and processing can be done in the
computer with audio software. During recording,
you can use the UltraLite-mk3’s CueMix™ FX no-

latency monitoring to listen to what you are
recording via the main outs, headphone outs, or
any other output pair. You can control monitoring
either from the front panel or from the included
CueMix FX software.

UltraLite-mk3

rear panel

MIDI IN

MIDI OUT

synthesizer

mic

quarter-inch

analog outs

headphones

guitars (with or
without an amp)

Analog outputs (sends, stage

monitors, surround monitors, etc.)

FireWire
or USB2

Mac

DAT deck

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

S/PDIF

Figure 3-9: A typical UltraLite-mk3 studio setup.

Compressor, reverb or other

analog outboard gear

Analog
returns

monitors

25

CONNECTING MULTIPLE MOTU FIREWIRE
INTERFACES

You can daisy-chain up to four MOTU FireWire
interfaces on a single FireWire bus, with the
restrictions described in the following sections.
Most computers have only one built-in FireWire
bus (even if it supplies multiple FireWire sockets).

Mac

FireWire

FireWire

FireWire

FireWire

828mk3 or other

FireWire device

with multiple
FireWire ports

Figure 3-11: To view the settings for an interface , click its tab.

Synchronizing multiple interfaces

Mac OS X provides an advanced, flexible driver
model that allows multiple Core Audio drivers to
be active at one time, accessed by multiple
applications simultaneously. For example, you can
run both FireWire and PCI audio interfaces at the
same time, ac cessing all o f their inpu ts and ou tpu ts
from your host audio application — or even
multiple applications — simultaneously. You can
even take ad vantage of Mac OS X ’ s aggrega te device
driver feature, which allows you to create a unified
“meta device” out of several different audio
interfaces. The aggregate device presents to your
host software all of the inputs and outputs of the
included devices.

Figure 3-10: Connecting multiple MOTU FireWire audio interfaces.

Multiple interfaces cannot be bus-powered

Do not run the UltraLite-mk3 under bus power
when connecting it with other devices to the same
FireW ir e bus. See “Pow er o ptions” and “Bus power
requirements” on page 23.

Multiple interfaces in MOTU Audio Setup

MOTU Audio Setup displays the settings for one
interface at a time. To view the settings for an
interface, click its tab as shown below in
Figure 3-11.

26

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

An important fea ture of this flexible driver m odel is
that multiple drivers can be synchronized to one
another in order to remain resolved to each
another. Without synchronization, the audio
streams being handled by each interface might
drift with respect to one another. For example, the
audio tracks playing back through the
UltraLite-mk3 might drift out of sync with the
audio tracks playing back through your 2408mk3
PCI interface. Synchronizing them to each other
ensures that they remain as tightly and
continuously phase-locked as if they were
operating as one unified interface.

Resolving to other Core audio drivers

So if you combine the UltraLite-mk3 with other
interfaces for the playback and/or recording of
multiple audio streams (that must remain

synchronized with each other), it is important to
synchronize the UltraLite-mk3 with the other
device(s).

The MOTU FireWire driver has the ability to
resolve t o other Cor e A u dio drivers. This allows the
UltraLite-mk3, and other MOTU FireWire
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 exte rnal w ord clock connections between
the devices. Doing so ensures that audio tracks
being play ed or recorded by your MOTU FireW ire
interface will not drift apart from tracks on the
other device during long playback or recording
passes.

To synchronize multiple devices via the MOTU
FireWire driver, choose one device (PCI, FireWire
or otherwise) as the master clock and then slav e the
UltraLite-mk3 and other F ir eWire devices to it. All
interfaces will remain resolv ed to each other via the
master interface.

Make the Clock Source settings for each interface
as follows:

■ For the master interface, click its tab in MOTU

Au dio Setu p and choo se an y cloc k so urc e y o u wish
(except any of the slave interfaces, of course).

■ For each slave interface, click its tab and choose

the master interface fro m the Clock Sour ce menu, as
demonstrated below in Figure 3-12. This causes
the slave interfaces to resolve to the master
interface.

Figure 3-12: To resolve a MOTU FireWire interface to another Core
Audio device, choose the other device from the Clock Source menu in
MOTU Audio Setup. In this example, the UltraLite-mk3 will slave to
the Traveler .

If you have multiple UltraLites, choose one as the
master, and set its Clock Source to Internal. Then,
click the tab of the other UltraLites and set their
Clock Source to the first UltraLite-mk3.

Connecting other MOTU FireWire interfaces

You can add an original MOTU 828 to the end of a
FireW ir e daisy chain (beca use the 828 has only o ne
FireW ir e po rt), or y o u can mix and ma t ch m ul tiple
UltraLites with other MOTU FireWire interfaces
using a standard FireWire hub. You can also add
828mkIIs, 828mk3s, 896HDs, 896mk3s, Travelers
and UltraLites, which have two FireWire ports
convenient for daisy-chaining. Up to four
interfaces can be combined on one FireWire bus.

Operating multiple FireWir e in terfaces 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 (on
interfaces that have them) to conserve FireWire bus
bandwidth. A t the 2x samp les rat es (88.2 or 96kHz)
and 4x sample rates (176.4 and 192kHz), you can
operate no mor e than two FireWire interfaces on a
single FireWire bus.

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

27

Adding additional interfaces with a second
FireWire bus

Third-party FireWire bus expansion products in
the form of a cardbus (“PC card”) adaptor,
ExpressCard ada p tor or PCI card allow you t o a d d
a second FireWire bus to your computer. In may be
possible to add additional MOTU FireWire
interfaces connected to such a third-party product,
depending on the performance of the prod u ct and
the performance of your host computer.

28

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID HARDWARE

CHAPTER

E

4 Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid

Mac Software

OVERVIEW

Software installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

MOTU SMPTE Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

AudioDesk workstation software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

Install the UltraLite-mk3 software as follows:
1 Insert the MOTU Audio Installer disc and

launch the installer.
2 Follow th e direction s tha t the installer giv es y o u.

What does the OS X installer do?

The installer checks the computer to make sure it
satisfies the minimum system requirements for
your MOTU interface. If so, the installer proceeds
with the OS X installation. Drivers are installed,
along with MOTU Audio Setup, CueMix FX, and
several other applications, summarized below:

The UltraLite-mk3 Core Audio driver

Core Audio is a term that refers to the software
technology built into Mac OS X that provides all of
its standardized audio features. More specifically,
we use Core Audio to refer to Mac OS X’s standard
audio driver model. A Core Audio driver allows the
UltraLite-mk3 to establish audio input and output
with any Mac OS X Core Audio-compatible
software.

Once the UltraLite-mk3’s Core Audio driver has
been successfully installed (by the installer), and
you have chosen it for use in your host audio
software, the Ul traLite-mk3 will appear as a cho ic e
for audio inputs and outputs in your software.

All MOTU audio hardware, including our PCI
systems and other FireWire interfaces, ship with
Core Audio drivers that allow them to operate
successfully with virtually all Mac OS X audio
software.

Software component Location Purpose For more information

MOTU FireWire Audio driver.kext /System/Library/

MOTU MIDI driver.kext /System/Library/

MOTU MIDI driver.plugin /System/Library/

MOTU Audio Setup Applications folder Provides access to all of the settings in the

CueMix FX Applications folder Gives you complete control over the

MOTU SMPTE Setup Applications folder Provides access to the UltraLite-mk3 system’s

AudioDesk Workstation Software Applications folder Provides complete multi-track recording, mixing

AudioDesk Demo Project Anywhere you want Provides a multi-track mix that you can open,

Extensions

Extensions

Audio/MIDI Drivers

Provides UltraLite-mk3 multi-channel audio
input and output with all Mac OS X audio software

Provides UltraLite-mk3 MIDI input and output
for all Mac OS X MIDI software

Provides UltraLite-mk3 MIDI input and output
for all Mac OS X MIDI software

UltraLite-mk3 and other MOTU FireWire inter­faces. Required for UltraLite-mk3 operation.

UltraLite-mk3’s CueMix DSP feature, which pro­vides no-latency monitoring and mixing of live
inputs through your UltraLite-mk3 system.

SMPTE time code sync features.

and processing. Optional.

play, and mix in AudioDesk. Optional.

“The UltraLite-mk3 Core
Audio driver” on page 29

“CoreMIDI and Audio
MIDI Setup” on page 30

“CoreMIDI and Audio
MIDI Setup” on page 30

chapter 5, “MOTU Audio
Setup” (page 33)

chapter 11, “CueMix FX”
(page 67)

chapter 12, “MOTU SMPT
Console” (page 109)

AudioDesk User Guide

AudioDesk User Guide

29

CoreMIDI and Audio MIDI Setup

CoreMIDI is the “under-the-hood” portion of Mac
OS X that handles MIDI services for MIDI
hardware and software. CoreMIDI provides many
universal MIDI system management features,
including MIDI communication between your
UltraLite-mk3 FireWire interface and all
CoreMIDI compatible software.

Audio MIDI Setup is a utility included with
Mac OS X that allows you to configure your
UltraLite-mk3 inte rface for use with all CoreMID I
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 CoreMIDI-compatible programs

■ A simple, intuitive list of your MIDI devices

whenever yo u need it in any Co reMIDI-co mpatibl e
program

Launching Audio MIDI Setup

1 Make sure your UltraLite-mk3 interface is
connected and turned on.

Figure 4-1: The UltraLite-mk3 interface as it appears in the MIDI tab
of Audio MIDI Setup.

Connecting MIDI devices to the UltraLite-mk3

Once your UltraLite-mk3 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 CoreMIDI
compatible applicat ions.

To add a device in Audio MIDI Setup:

1 Click Add Device.

2 Launch the Audio MIDI Setup utility.

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

3 Confirm that the MIDI in terface is presen t in the
MIDI Devices tab of Audio MIDI Setup.

If the interfaces does not appear, or if it is grayed
out, c heck y o ur cable c onn ections and cli ck Rescan
MIDI.

30

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID MAC SOFTWARE

Figure 4-2: Adding a MIDI device.

2 Drag on its input and output arrows to draw
connections to the UltraLite-mk3 that match its
physical connection.

Figure 4-3: Connecting devices to the UltraLite-mk3. In this example,
a controller keyboard is connected to the UltraLite-mk3’ s MIDI IN, and
a sound module is connected to the UltraLite-mk3 MIDI OUT.

CUEMIX FX

This program pro vides a mixing c o n sole that gives
you control over the UltraLite-mk3’s no-latency
CueMix FX features. For details, see chapter 11,
“CueMix FX” (page 67).

MOTU SMPTE CONSOLE

The MOTU SMPTE Console software provides a
complete set of tools to resolve the UltraLite-mk3
to SMPTE time code, and to generate SMPTE for
striping, regenerating or slaving other devices to
the computer. For details, see chapter 12, “MOTU
SMPTE Console” (page 109).

3 Double-click the device to make settings, such
as input and o u tpu t c hanne ls, that further describe
the device.

Figure 4-4: Device settings.

AUDIODESK WORKSTATION SOFTWARE

The MOTU Audio installer places AudioDesk in
your system’s Applications folder.

AudioDesk is an advanced workstation software
package for th e Ul traLite-mk3 tha t l ets y o u record,
edit, mix, process, bounce and master multi-track
digital audio recor ding pr ojects. A dvan ced fea tures
include real-time 32-bit effects processing, 24-bit
recording, and much more.

See the AudioDesk manual included with your
UltraLite-mk3 system for details.

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
CoreMIDI-compatible software.

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID MAC SOFTWARE

Figure 4-5: AudioDesk for Mac OS X.

31

32

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID MAC SOFTWARE

CHAPTER

5 MO TU Audio Setup

OVERVIEW

MOTU Audio Setup gives you access to basic
UltraLite-mk3 hardware settings, such as sample
rate, clock source and more.

Accessing the UltraLite-mk3 settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

‘UltraLite-mk3’ tab Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Clock Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Default Stereo Input/Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Main Out Assign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Return Assign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

‘General’ tab settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Launch MOTU Audio Setup when hardware becomes

available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Edit Channel Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Enable Pedal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

ACCESSING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 SETTINGS

There are several ways to access MOTU Audio
Setup settings:

■ Click the MOTU Audio Setup icon in the dock

■ Press on the MOTU Audio Setup dock icon to

open the menu shown below, or control-click it to
open the menu immediately

■ From within AudioDesk™ or Digital

Performer™, choose Setup menu>Configure Audio
System>Configure Hardware Driver. (Note: this

dialog only provides access to basic settings such as
sample rate and clock source. For access to all
settings, use one of the techniques above.)

■ In Cubase or Nuendo, open the Device Setup

window, click VST Audio System and choose
MO TU Audio ASIO from the Master ASIO Driver

menu. Then click the MO TU Audio ASI O item in
the list and click the Control Panel button.

■ From the front panel LCD (see chapter 6,

“UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Front Panel Operation”
(page 39)).

UltraLite-mk3 tab settings

The UltraLite-mk3 tab pr o vides settings that ap p ly
to a specific UltraLite-mk3 interface. If you have
several UltraLites (o r othe r MO TU F ir eWire audio
interfaces) connected, you’ll see a separate tab for
each one.

General tab settings

The General tab provides settings that apply
globally to all connected MOTU FireWire
interfaces.

33

‘ULTRALITE-MK3’ TAB SETTINGS

Sample Rate

Choose the desired Sample Rate for recording and
playback. The UltraLite-mk3 can operate at 44.1
(the standard rate for compact disc audio), 48,

88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192KHz. If you have a S/PDIF
device connected to the UltraLite-mk3, make sure
that it matches the UltraLite-mk3’s sample rate.

Internal

Use the Internal setting when you want the
UltraLite-mk3 to operate under its own digital
audio clock. For example, you may be in a situa tion
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.

☛ Mismatc hed sample ra tes cause disto rtion and

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

S/PDIF at 4x sample rates (176.4 or 192kHz)

At the 4x sam ple ra tes (176.4 or 192kHz), all analog
I/O remains active, but S/PDIF digital I/O is
disabled.

Clock Source

The Clock Source determines the digital audio
clock that the UltraLite-mk3 will use as its time
base. The following sections briefly discuss each
clock source setting.

Another example is transferring a mix to DAT. You
can operate the UltraLite-mk3 system on its
internal clock, and then slave the DAT deck to the
UltraLite-mk3 via the S/PDIF conn ection (us ually
DAT decks slave to their S/PDIF input when you
choose the S/PDIF input as their record source).

If you would like help determining if this is the
proper clock setting for your situation, see
“Connecting and syncing S/PDIF devices” on
page 22.

Figure 5-1: MOTU Audio Setup gives you access to all of the settings in the UltraLite-mk3 hardware.

34

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

S/PDIF

The S/PDIF clock source setting refers to the
S/PDIF RCA in pu t jack on the U ltraLite-mk3. This
setting allows the UltraLite-mk3 t o slav e to anoth er
S/PDIF device.

Use this setting whenever you are recording input
from a DAT deck or other S/PDIF device into the
UltraLite-mk3. It is not necessary in the opposite
direction (when you are transferring from the
UltraLite-mk3 to the DAT machine).

For further details about this setting, see
“Connecting and syncing S/PDIF devices” on
page 22.

SMPTE

Choose this setting to resolve the UltraLite-mk3
directly to SMPTE time code (LTC) being received
via the UltraLite-mk3’s quarter-inch SMPTE inpu t
jack. For details, see “Syncing to SMPTE time
code ” on page 112and chapter 12, “MOTU SMPTE
Console” (page 109).

Default Stereo Input/Output

In the System Preferences window, Mac OS X lets
you choose third-party hardware such as the
UltraLite-mk3 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.

Built-in Audio

Choose this setting to resolv e the Ul traLite-mk3 t o
your Mac’s built-in audio. Doing so will ensure that
audio streams playing back from or recorded by
the UltraLite-mk3 will not drift apart from audio
streams simultaneously played or recorded by the
Mac’s built-in mic, speakers or audio output. For
complete details, see “Resolving to other Core
audio drivers” on page 26.

Other audio devices (drivers)

The MOTU FireWire Audio Driver has the ability
to resolve to other Core Audio drivers. Doing so
will ensure that audio streams playing back from or
recorded by the UltraLite-mk3 will not drift apart
from audio streams simultaneously played or
recor ded by the o ther devices. F or co mp lete details,
see “Resolving to other Core audio drivers” on
page 26.

Figure 5-2: The Mac OS X sound preferences let you use the
UltraLite-mk3 for general stereo audio input and output for your
Mac.

The Default Stereo Inp ut and Default St e reo Output
settings in MOTU Audio Setup (Figure 5-1 on
page 34) let you specify the stereo inp ut and ou tput
on the UltraLite-mk3 to be used when it is chosen
as the audio I/O device in the system preferences.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

35

Phones

The Phones setting lets you choose what you will
hear from the headphone jack. Choose
Main Out 1-2 if you’d like the headpho ne o utp ut t o
match the main outs. Choose Phones if you would
like the headphones to serve as their own
independent output, which you can access as an
independent o utpu t destinatio n in yo ur host a udio
software and as an output destination for the eight
on-board CueMix FX mix busses.

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 Assign menu lets you choose any pair of
UltraLite-mk3 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 UltraLite-mk3 appears in your
host software alongside all other UltraLite-mk3
inputs, wherever your host software lists them.

‘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 FireWire interface is detected
(switched 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
UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs, as they appear
in your host audio software. For example, when
you click on a menu that displays the
UltraLite-mk3 inpu ts (o r o u tp u ts), 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.

The UltraLite-mk3 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
UltraLite-mk3 back to the computer, where you
could record it for mastering or archiving
purposes.

As another example, you could use the stereo
return bus to capture tracks pl ayed from your host
software, along with live inputs being routed
directly through the UltraLite-mk3 hardware via
CueMix FX (with or without CueMix effects
processing on the live inputs).

36

Figure 5-3: The Edit Channel Names window.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Figure 5-4: UltraLite-mk3 channel names as they appear in Digital
Performer.

Enable Pedal

This setting applies to oth er MOTU F ireW ire au dio
interfaces, but it does not apply to the
UltraLite-mk3.

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

37

38

MOTU AUDIO SETUP

CHAPTER

6 UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid

Fr ont Panel Oper ation

OVERVIEW

The UltraLite-mk3 offers complete front-panel
programming via four rotary encoders and a 2x16
backlit LCD display. All UltraLite-mk3 settings can
be accessed via these front-panel controls.

Push-button rotary encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Power switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Mic/guitar inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Main out volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Multi-function LCD display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

METER display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

AUDIO menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

SETUP menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

CUEMIX menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Inputs menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Outputs menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Mixes menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Reverb menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Stand-alone operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

PUSH-BUTTON ROTARY ENCODERS

All of the knobs on the UltraLite-mk3 front panel
are push-button digital rotary encoders. In many
cases, you can either push the knob, hold it in, or
turn it to make a setting or toggle the LCD display
(depending on the encoder and setting).

POWER SWITCH

Push the VOL knob to power on the
UltraLite-mk3. Push in and hold the VOL knob to
turn it off.

MIC/GUITAR INPUTS

The UltraLite-mk3 mic/guitar inpu ts ar e equip ped
with many features to handle a wide variety of
recording situations.

For information about connections and settings,
see “Mic/instrument inputs” on page 20 in the
installation chapter.

For information about the many settings available
for the mic/guitar inputs, see:

■ “The Inputs tab” on page 72

■ “The channel settings section” on page 76

■ “The Channel tab” on page 76

■ “The EQ tab” on page 78

■ “The Dynamics tab” on page 86

Figure 6-1: The UltraLite-mk3 front panel mic/guitar inputs and phone jack.

39

PHONES

From the fact o ry, the PHONES jack (F igur e 6-1) is
a discrete output at 44.1/48 kHz, but it can mirror
any other o utpu t pair (digital or analog) o r serve as
its own independent output.

When you turn the phone VOL knob, the LCD
display provides visual feedback:

Figure 6-2: The LCD provides feedback as you adjust Phone volume.

To view the current setting without changing it,
just push the knob (without turning it).

MAIN OUT VOLUME

Push the VOL knob twice to view and control the
volume of the main outs on the rear panel.

Figure 6-3: The LCD provides feedback as you adjust Phone volume.

The MASTER volume adjustment can be
programmed to control any combination of
outputs. See “The Monitor Group” on page 90 for
details.

40

The LCD is divided into four

sections that correspond to the

four knobs to the left.

Figure 6-4: The UltraLite-mk3 front panel controls.

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

When viewing CueMix settings

in the LCD, push the CHANNEL

knob to cycle among four main

mixer menus: MIX, IN (inputs),

OUT (outputs) and REVERB.
Turn it to choose a channel.

Turn the PAGE knob to view settings for

each channel. Push it to jump to the

next section or back to the beginning.

Push the PARAM knob to
cycle among three global

menus: METER, CUEMIX

(mixer) and SETUP.

Turn and/or push the
VALUE knob t o adjust

the current setting.

MULTI-FUNCTION LCD DISPLAY

The LCD provides access to the many
UltraLite-mk3 settings, as well as visual feedback
of the current parameter being modified.

Parameter “zooming ”

For many settings, the LCD temporarily “zooms
in” to display a long-throw meter and alpha­numeric display to give you precise, real-time
feedback as you adjust the setting. For example, if
you change the headphone volume, the LCD
displays a level meter and gain reduction reading
that updates as you turn the volume knob, as
shown in Figure 6-2 on page 40. After a brief time­out, the display returns to its previous state before
you turned the volume knob.

AUDIO MENU

To access the UltraLite-mk3 AUDIO menu, push
the PARAM knob until you see AUDIO displayed
in the LCD. This menu provides basic audio­related. Turn the PARAM knob to access each
setting. Each setting in the AUDIO menu has a
corresponding setting in the MOTU Audio Setup
software, as shown below:

Audio menu item Where to find more information

Clock Source* “Clock Source” on page 34
Sample rate* “Sample Rate” on page 34
Phones Assign “Phones” on page 36
Main Out Assign “Main Out Assign” on page 36
Return Assign “Return Assign” on page 36

Four global display modes

Push the PARAM knob to cycle the LCD among
four global display modes:

METER display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

AUDIO menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

SETUP menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

CUEMIX menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

METER DISPLAY

To access the METER display, push the PARAM
knob until you see METER displayed in the LCD.
The METER display (Figure 6-5) provides
comprehensive metering for each input and
output. The labels above and below the LCD
indicate the meters for each input and output pair,
including the S/PDIF input and output (labeled
DIG IN and DIG OUT, respectively).

Figure 6-5: METER mode.

* If the UltraLite-mk3 is currently connected to a computer, this
setting cannot be changed from the front-panel LCD. It must be
changed in MOTU Audio Setup instead. O r, you can disconnect the
UltraLite-mk3 from the computer to change the Clock Source from
the front panel.

SETUP MENU

To access the UltraLite-mk3 SETUP menu, push
the PARAM knob until you see SETUP disp layed in
the LCD. This menu provides basic features for
managing the UltraLite-mk3 hardware. Turn the
PARAM knob to access each setting. The first five
settings in the SETUP menu have corresponding
settings in the MOTU Audio Setup software, as
shown below:

LCD Contrast

Turn the VALUE knob to adjust the LCD contrast.

Save/Name Preset

An UltraLite-mk3 preset holds all current
CueMix FX mix settings (everything in the
CUEMIX menu). SE TUP menu parame ters are n ot
included. Turn the VALUE knob to move from
character to character in the preset name. Turn
PAGE to change the currently flashing letter. Once
you’ve named the preset, push VALUE to save it,
turn it again to choose the desired preset slot you

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

41

wish to save it to (1-16), and the push again to
confirm the save. To cancel the save operation at
any time, turn the PARAM knob.

Load Preset

Turn VALUE to choose the preset you wish to load
(1-16) and push VALUE to load it.

MIDI Thru in standalone

Turn VALUE to enable (Y) or disable (N) the
UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI Thru feature when the it is
being operated stand-alone (not connected to a
computer via FireWire). When MIDI Thru is
enabled, the MIDI IN jack passes MIDI data
directly to the MIDI OUT jack. This allows you, for
example, to play a sound module connected to the
MIDI OUT from a keyboard controller connected
to the MIDI IN, without a computer connected.

CUEMIX MENU

To access the CUEMIX menu, push the PARAM
knob until you see CUEMIX disp layed in the LCD.
This menu displays the settings for the
UltraLite-mk3 CueMix FX mixer.

CueMix mixer basics

It is much easier to navigate the CUEMIX menu in
the LCD if you ha v e a ge neral und erstandin g of the
CueMix FX mixer. We strongly recommend that
you review chapter 11, “CueMix FX” (page 67)
before learning the LCD, especially “CueMix FX
basic operation” on page 69.

CUEMIX menu organization

Mixer settings are divided into four sub-menus,
which correspond to the Inputs, Mixes, Outputs
and Reverb tabs in the CueMix FX software:

All Notes Off

The A ll N ot es Off setting sends a MIDI A ll N ote s Off
message, as well as a MIDI note-off message for
every note on every MIDI channel. This stops any
stuck notes that ar e curren tly pla ying. Push VAL UE
to send the All Notes Off MIDI data.

AutoSave Status

All of the parameters in the UltraLite-mk3 are
periodically saved automatically in its memory, so
that if you powe r down the unit, it will power back
up in the same state. AutoSave Status tells you the
current state of this process: Change Detected,
Saving… or Saved. If it says Saved, it is ready to be
powered dow n. If it says Change Detected or
Saving…, wait until it changes to Saved.

Factory Defaults

Push VALUE to restore the UltraLite-mk3
hardware to its factory default settings. Push
VALUE again to confirm, or turn PARAM to
cancel.

■ IN (inputs)

■ OUT (outputs)

■ MIX (Mixes)

■ REVERB (reverb processor)

Navigating the four main menus

To access the four main menus above, push the
CHANNEL knob repeatedly. Then turn the
CHANNEL knob to select the desired channel or
mix.

42

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

The IN (inputs) menu

Push the CHANNEL button repeatedly until you
see “I:” in the channel section of the LCD
(Figure 6-6). This is similar t o acc essin g the I nputs
tab in CueMix FX console (“The Inputs tab” on
page 72).

“ I: ” Indicates

the IN (inputs)

menu.

The current

channel.

Access individual parameters

here, such as the frequency

setting for a band of EQ.

channel strip in CueMix FX (Figure 11-3 on
page 72), as well as the settings in the Channel tab
(Figure 11-8 on page 76).

Turn the PARAMETER knob to scroll through
individual parameters, such as the frequency for
the current band of EQ. This is roughly equivalent
to the parameters in the EQ tab (Figure 11-10 on
page 78), Dynamics tab (Figure 11-26 on page 86)
and Reverb tab (Figure 11-28 on page 89) in the
CueMix FX software.

Adjusting the value of a parameter

Turn the VALUE knob to adjust the value of the
current PARAMETER. Some parameters have
default values. If so, p u sh th e VALUE knob to cycle
through them.

“Pages” are groups of

channel settings, such

as one band of EQ.

Figure 6-6: The IN (inputs) menu.

Change the value of the

current parameter here

Choosing a channel

Once you see the Inputs menu (Figure 6-6) in the
LCD, turn the CHANNEL knob to select the
desired input that you wish to edit. This is roughly
equivalent to specifying an input channel strip to
work with in the Inputs tab in CueMix FX software
(Figure 11-3 on page 72).

Choosing a setting to modify

Once you’ve selected an input channel, you can
access the various settings for that channel using
the PAGE knob and PARAMETER knobs.

Turn the PAGE knob to scroll through channel
settings such as individual bands of EQ, the
compressor, reverb sends, etc. Push the P A GE knob
to jump to the next “section” of parameters or to
jump back to the beginning of the list. This is
roughly the equivalent of moving through the
various channel controls in an individual input

Inactive items

If a menu item is inactive for some reason (perhaps
it doesn’t currently apply or it is disabled), it is
displayed in parentheses.

Copying and pasting

EQ, d ynamics and Mix A ssign settings allow you t o
copy and paste settings between EQ bands and/or
channels. Push the VALUE knob to copy, scroll to
the other item and then push again to paste.

Pad and phantom power

If a quarter-inch plug is inserted into the XLR/TRS
combo inp u t, the phantom po w er an d pad settings
are disabled. When disabled, their corresponding
setting in the LCD menu will read N/A (Not
Applicable). All current phantom power and pad
settings for the mic input are reactivated and
restored when the quarter-inch plug is removed
from the jack.

Summary of Inputs menu settings

For a summary of Inputs menu settings, see
“Inputs menu” on page 45.

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

43

The OUT (Outputs) menu

Push the CHANNEL button repeatedly until you
see “O:” in the channel section of the LCD
(Figure 6-7). This is similar to accessing the
Outputs tab in CueMix FX console (“The Outputs
tab” on page 74).

The MIX (Mixes) menu

Push the CHANNEL button repeatedly until you
see “MIX 1” (or “MIX 2”, etc.) in the channel
section of the LCD (Figure 6-8). This is similar to
accessing the Mixes tab in CueMix FX console
(“The Mixes tab” on page 70).

“ O: ” Indicates

the OUT

(outputs) menu.

“Pages” are groups of
channel settings, such

Figure 6-7: The OUT (outputs) menu.

The current

channel.

as one band of EQ.

Access individual parameters

here, such as the frequency

setting for a band of EQ.

Change the value of the

current parameter here

Choosing a channel

Once you see th e Outpu ts men u (Figure 6-7) in the
LCD, turn the CHANNEL knob to select the
desired output that you wish to edit. This is roughly
equivalent to specifying an output channel strip to
work with in the Outputs tab in CueMix FX
software (Figure 11-6 on page 75).

Working with outputs in the LCD

Once you’ve selected an output channel, you can
access the various settings for that channel using
the PAGE knob and PARAMETER knobs. The
knobs function the same as described for in p u ts in
“Choosing a setting to modify” on page 43 and
“Adjusting the value of a parameter” on page 43.

The current

mix bus.

Here, choose master fader

settings, reverb settings, and

individual input channels.

Figure 6-8: The MIX (Mixes) menu.

Access individual parameters

here, such as input channel

settings.

Change the value of the

current parameter here

Choosing a mix bus

Once you see the MIX menu (Figure 6-8) in the
LCD, turn the CHANNEL knob to select the
desired mix that you wish to edit. This is roughly
equivalent to choosing a mix in the Mixes tab in
CueMix FX software (Figure 11-2 on page 70).

Working with mix busses in the LCD

Once you’ve selected a mix, you can access the
various settings for that mix using the PAGE knob
and PARAMETER knobs. The knobs function the
same as described for inp uts in “ Choosing a setting
to modify” on page 43 and “Adjusting the value of a
parameter” on page 43. The PAGE knob scrolls
through the following mix bus settings:

Summary of Output menu settings

For a summary of Inputs menu settings, see
“Outputs menu” on page 46.

44

■ MASTER — these are master fader settings,

such as the master fader o utpu t assignment, mast er
mute on/off, and the master fader volume. Access
them with the PARAMETER knob.

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

■ REVERB — these are the reverb send and r eturn

contro ls f o r the b us mast er fad er. Access them with
the PARAMETER knob.

■ Individual channels — once you scroll past

MASTER and REVERB, the PAGE knob then
scrolls through all available inputs for the mix bus.
Once you choose an input, access its channel
settings using the PARAM knob and VALUE knob .

Summary of Mix menu settings

For a summary of Mix menu settings, see “Mixes
menu” on page 46.

The REVERB settings

Push the CHANNEL button repeatedly until you
see “REVERB” in the channel section of the LCD
(Figure 6-9). This is similar to accessing the Reverb
tab in CueMix FX (“The Reverb tab” on page 89).

☛ The REVERB processor is not available at

sample rates above 48 kHz. Therefore, when the
UltraLite-mk3 is operating at 88.2 kHz or higher,
the REVERB menu does not appear in the LCD.

Figure 6-9: The REVERB settings.

Once you’ve selected the REVERB menu, you can
access all settings using the PARAMETER and
VALUE knobs. The PAGE knob is not needed and
is therefore disabled when editing reverb settings.

Summary of Reverb menu settings

See “Reverb menu” on page 46 for a summary.

INPUTS MENU

CHANNEL PAGE PARAM

INPUTS
mic 1-2
Analog 1-2
Analog 3-4
etc.

INPUT PAIR

EQ
(global)

HPF
(High-pass)

LF
(Low w/shelf)

LMF
(Low-mid)

MF
(Mid)

HMF
(High-mid)

HF
(High w/shelf)

LPF
(Low-pass)

DYN
(Dynamics)

COMP
(Compressor)

LEVELER ENABLE

REVERB SEND

PHASE
L-R/M-S (stereo or M/S)
SWAP
WIDTH
TRIM
PAD
PHANTOM

ENABLE
COPY
PASTE
RESET

ENABLE
SLOPE
FREQ

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
SLOPE
FREQ

ENABLE
COPY
PASTE
RESET

ENABLE
MODE
THRESH
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
TRIM

MODE
REDUCE
MAKEUP

SEND PAN (mono only)

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

45

OUTPUTS MENU MIXES MENU

CHANNEL PAGE PARAM

OUTPUTS
Main
Analog 1-2
Analog 3-4, etc.

EQ
(global)

HPF
(High-pass)

LF
(Low w/shelf)

LMF
(Low-mid)

MF
(Mid)

HMF
(High-mid)

HF
(High w/shelf)

LPF
(Low-pass)

DYN
(Dynamics)

COMP
(Compressor)

LEVELER ENABLE

REVERB SEND

MASTER MONITOR

ENABLE
COPY
PASTE
RESET

ENABLE
SLOPE
FREQ

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
TYPE
FREQ
GAIN
WIDTH

ENABLE
SLOPE
FREQ

ENABLE
COPY
PASTE
RESET

ENABLE
MODE
THRESH
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
TRIM

MODE
REDUCE
MAKEUP

SEND PAN

TALKBACK
LSNBACK

CHANNEL PAGE PARAM

MIXES
Mix 1
Mix 2
etc.

MASTER ASSIGN

REVERB SEND

ANALOG 1
ANALOG 2
etc.
(if mono)

ANALOG 3-4
ANALOG 5-6
etc.
(if stereo)

SP (S/PDIF) MUTE

MUTE
FADER
COPY
PASTE
RESET

RETURN
MUTE

SOLO
(BAL/WID) - n/a
PAN
FADER

MUTE
SOLO
BAL/WID
BAL
FADER

SOLO
BAL/WID
BAL
FADER

REVERB MENU

CHANNEL PAGE PARAM

REVERB --- ENABLE

TIME
PREDELAY
WIDTH
CUT Hz
CUT dB
ROOM
REFSIZE
REF LEV
LO %
MID %
HI %
LO XOVR
HI XOVR
SPLIT

STAND-ALONE OPERATION

All settings, including all mix settings and global
settings, are saved in the UltraLite-mk3’s memory,
and they remain in effect even when the
UltraLite-mk3 is not connected to a computer.
This allows you to use the UltraLite-mk3 as a
stand-alone 8-bus mixer. You can make
adjustments to any setting at any time from the
front panel.

46

ULTRALITE-MK3 HYBRID FRONT PANEL OPERATION

CHAPTER

7 Digital Performer

OVERVIEW

This chapter provides a brief overview of Digital
Performer’s basic I/O and synchronization
operation with the UltraLite-mk3 hardware.

Setting up your system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The UltraLite-mk3 settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Working with UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs. . . . . 49

24-bit operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

MIDI I/O via the UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports. . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Processing live inputs with plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Working with CueMix FX mixing and effects. . . . . . . . . 49

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

Exchanging projects with AudioDesk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

SETTING UP YOUR SYSTEM

As described in chapter 4, “Installing the
UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Mac Software” (page 29),
the Digital Performer and MOTU UltraLite-mk3
software installers will properly install and update
everything for you.

THE ULTRALITE-MK3 SETTINGS

Choose the UltraLite-mk3 as your audio input
output device by choosing Configure A udio
System>Configure Hardware Driver from the Se tu p
menu. This window shows some of the
UltraLite-mk3 settings, such as sample rate and
clock source, but to access all of the UltraLite-mk3
settings, open MOTU Audio Setup, as shown in
Figure 5-1 on page 34.

Figure 7-1: Choose Setup menu> Configure Audio System> Configure
Hardware Driver to open the dialog shown above and access the
UltraLite-mk3 Core Audio driver. To access the rest of the
UltraLite-mk3 settings, open MOTU Audio Setup.

For complete details about the UltraLite-mk3
settings, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup”
(page 33). The following sections provide a brief
explanation of each UltraLite-mk3 setting for use
with Digital Performer.

Sample ra te

Choose the desired overall sample rate for the
UltraLite-mk3 system and Digital Performer.
Newly recorded audio in Digital Performer will
have this sample rate. Imported audio or

47

soundbites in existing files that do not match this
sample rate will be displayed in the Soundbites
window with a red ‘X’ on its move handle to
indicate that it cannot be played.

Clock Source

This setting is very important because it
determines which audio clock the UltraLite-mk3
will follow.

If you do not have any digital audio connections to
your UltraLite-mk3 (you are using the analog
inputs and outputs only), and you will not be
slaving your host software to external SMPTE time
code, choose Internal.

If you have a S/PDIF digital audio device
connected to the UltraLite-mk3, see “Connecting
and syncing S/PDIF devices” on page 22.

If you are slaving the UltraLite-mk3 and Digital
Performer to SMPTE time code via the
UltraLite-mk3 itself, c hoose SMPTE and follow the
directions in “Resolving DP or AudioDesk to
SMPTE time code” on page 111.

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
Digital Performer’s audio output menus.

Main Outs Assign

Use the Main Outs Assign setting to determine
what audio you will hear on the TRS main outs of
the UltraLite-mk3. If you would like to treat them
as their own separate output pair, choose Main
Outs.

Return Assign

In Digital Performer’s audio input menus and the
Bundles window, yo u’ll see an UltraLite-mk3 input
called Return 1-2 (Figure 7-2). This is a stereo feed
from the UltraLite-mk3 tha t ma t c hes the o u tpu t o f
one of its outp ut pairs. U se the R eturn A ssign menu
in MOTU A udio Setup to c hoose which ou tput 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
UltraLite-mk3 DSP (such as the Leveler) for
reference and archiving purposes.

Buffer Size

The Buffer Size setting can be used to reduce the
delay — or monitoring latency — that you hear
when live audio is patched through your
UltraLite-mk3 hardware and Digital Performer.
For example, you might have MIDI instruments,
samplers, microphones, and so on connected to
the analog inputs of the UltraLite-mk3. If so, you
will often be mixing their live input with audio
material recorded in Digital Performer. See
chapter 10, “Reducing Monitoring Latency”
(page 61) for complete details.

Phones

This UltraLite-mk3 setting lets you choose what
you’ll hear from the headphone jack. For example,
if you choose Main Out 1-2, the headphones will
duplicate the main outs. Or you can choose any

48

Figure 7-2: The stereo return and reverb return busses from the
UltraLite-mk3 in Digital Performer’s Bundles window.

☛ Warning: the Return inputs can cause

feedback loops! DO NOT assign this input to a
track that shares the same UltraLite-mk3 output
pair as the returns.

DIGITAL PERFORMER

Reverb return

The UltraLite-mk3 also sup plies a r eturn to Digital
Performer that carries the output of its reverb
processor (Figur e 7-2). This return can be used for
any purpose you wish.

WORKING WITH ULTRALITE-MK3 INPUTS
AND OUTPUTS

Once you’ve enabled the MOTU FireWire Audio
driver as explained earlier in “The UltraLite-mk3
settings” on page 47, UltraLite-mk3 audio inputs
and outputs will appear in Digital Performer’s
audio input and output menus, as well as the
Bundles window (Figure 7-2).

Phones 1-2

If you’ve chosen to treat the UltraLite-mk3
headphones as an independent output, you’ll see
Phones 1-2 in Digital Performer’s output menus.
Audio tracks assigned to this output pair will be
heard on the headphone jack only. For further
explanation, see “Phones” on page 36.

24-BIT OPERATION

Your UltraLite-mk3 hardware fully supports
Digital Performer’s 24-bit recording capabilities,
including both analog and digital 24-bi t rec or ding.
If you would like to record and play back 24-bit
audio files, go to the Setup menu, choose Configure
Audio System>Configure Sample Format, and
choose 24-bit recording as the sample format. This
setting is saved with the Digital Performer project.

MIDI I/O VIA THE ULTRALITE-MK3 MIDI
PORTS

Once you’ve followed the procedure for enabling
the UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI features as explained in
“Software installation” on page 29, the
UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports will appear as a input
source and output destination in Digital
Performer’s MIDI I/O menus.

PROCESSING LIVE INPUTS WITH PLUG-INS

If you pat ch a liv e inp ut (suc h as MIDI synthesizer)
through a plug-in effect in Digital Performer, you
might hear a slight delay. There are several ways to
reduce this delay. For details, see chapter 10,
“Reducing Monitoring Latency” (page 61).

WORKING WITH CUEMIX FX MIXING AND
EFFECTS

The UltraLite-mk3 provides powerful external
mixing, EQ, compression and reverb, which you
can operate han d-in-hand with Digital Perfo rmer’s
complete mixing environment. For example, the
UltraLite-mk3 can serve as a monitor mixer
routing channels to musicians, or it can serve as an
integrated extension of your Digital Performer
mixing environment. If you program an
UltraLite-mk3 mixing and processing
configuration that goes hand in hand with your DP
project, be sure to use the file save features in
CueMix FX to save the UltraLite-mk3 settings as a
file in your DP project folder for instant recall of all
settings. See ch apter 11, “CueM ix FX” (page 67) for
complete details. You can even set up your
UltraLite-mk3 configuration file as a DP startup
clipping so that it automatically loads when you
open the project. See your DP manual for details.

SYNCHRONIZATION

Together , Digital Performer and the UltraLite-mk3
have the ability to resolve direc tly to SMPTE time
code, without an additional time code
synchronizer. See “Syncing to SMPTE time code”
on page 112.

EXCHANGING PROJECTS WITH AUDIODESK

Digital Performer can exchange projects with
AudioDesk. To open an AudioDesk project in
Digital Performer, open it in same way you would a
DP project. To export a project to AudioDesk, use
DP’s Save A s comman d and ch oose the AudioDesk

2.0 file format.

DIGITAL PERFORMER

49

50

DIGITAL PERFORMER

CHAPTER

8 AudioDesk

OVERVIEW

This chapter provides a brief overview of
AudioDesk’s basic I/O and synchronization
operation with the UltraLite-mk3. For complete
information about all of AudioDesk’s powerful
workstation features, see the AudioDesk manual
included with your UltraLite-mk3.

Setting up your system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

The UltraLite-mk3 settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Working with UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs. . . . . 53

24-bit operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

MIDI I/O via the UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports. . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Processing live inputs through plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Working with CueMix FX mixing and effects. . . . . . . . . 53

Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Exchanging projects with Digital performer . . . . . . . . . 53

AudioDesk and MIDI sequencing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

SETTING UP YOUR SYSTEM

As described in chapter 4, “Installing the
UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Mac Software” (page 29),
the MOTU Audio software installer will properly
install everything for you, including AudioDesk.

THE ULTRALITE-MK3 SETTINGS

Choose the UltraLite-mk3 as your audio input
output device by choosing Configure A udio
System>Configure Hardware Driver from the Se tu p
menu. This window shows some of the
UltraLite-mk3 settings, such as sample rate and
clock source, but to access all of the UltraLite-mk3
settings, open MOTU Audio Setup, as shown in
Figure 5-1 on page 34.

Figure 8-1: Choose Setup menu> Configure Audio System> Configure
Hardware Driver to open the dialog shown above and access the
UltraLite-mk3 Core Audio driver. To access the rest of the
UltraLite-mk3 settings, open MOTU Audio Setup.

For complete details about the UltraLite-mk3
settings, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup”
(page 33). The following sections provide a brief
explanation of each UltraLite-mk3 setting for use
with Aud io D e sk .

51

Sample ra te

Choose the desired overall sample rate for the
UltraLite-mk3 system and AudioDesk. Newly
recorded a u dio in AudioDesk will have this sam p le
rate. Imported audio or soundbites in existing files
that do not match this sample rate will be displayed
in the Soundbites window with a red ‘X’ on its
move handle to indicate that it cannot be played.

Clock Source

This setting is very important because it
determines which audio clock the UltraLite-mk3
will follow.

If you do not have any digital audio connections to
your UltraLite-mk3 (you are using the analog
inputs and outputs only), and you will not be
slaving your host software to external SMPTE time
code, choose Internal.

If you have a S/PDIF digital audio device
connected to the UltraLite-mk3, see “Connecting
and syncing S/PDIF devices” on page 22.

If you are slaving the UltraLite-mk3 and
AudioDesk to SMPTE time code via the
UltraLite-mk3 itself, c hoose SMPTE and follow the
directions in “Resolving DP or AudioDesk to
SMPTE time code” on page 111.

Buffer Size

The Buffer Size setting can be used to reduce the
delay — or monitoring latency — that you hear
when live audio is patched through your
UltraLite-mk3 hardware and AudioDesk. For
example, you might have MIDI instruments,
samplers, microphones, and so on connected to
the analog inputs of the UltraLite-mk3. If so, you
will often be mixing their live input with audio
material recorded in AudioDesk. See chapter 10,
“Reducing Monitoring Latency” (page 61) for
complete details.

Phones

This UltraLite-mk3 setting lets you choose what
you’ll hear from the headphone jack. For example,
if you choose Main Out 1-2, the headphones will
duplicate the main outs. Or you can choose any
other outp ut pair. I f you choose Pho nes, 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
AudioDesk’s audio output menus.

Main Outs Assign

Use the Main Outs Assign setting to determine
what audio you will hear on the TRS main outs of
the UltraLite-mk3. If you would like to treat them
as their own separate output pair, choose Main
Outs.

Return Assign

In A udioDesk ’s audio inpu t menus an d the Bundles
window, you’ll see an UltraLite-mk3 input called
Return 1-2 (Figure 8-2). This is a stereo feed from
the UltraLite-mk3 that matches the output 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
UltraLite-mk3 DSP (such as the Leveler) for
reference and archiving purposes.

Figure 8-2: The stereo return and reverb return busses from the
UltraLite-mk3 in AudioDesk’s Bundles window.

52

AUDIODESK

☛ Warning: the Return inputs can cause

feedback loops! DO NOT assign this input to a
track that shares the same UltraLite-mk3 output
pair as the returns.

Reverb return

The UltraLite-mk3 also supplies a return to
AudioDesk that carries the output of its reverb
processor (Figur e 8-2). This return can be used for
any purpose you wish.

WORKING WITH ULTRALITE-MK3 INPUTS
AND OUTPUTS

Once you’ve enabled the MOTU FireWire Audio
driver as explained earlier in “The UltraLite-mk3
settings” on page 51, UltraLite-mk3 audio inputs
and outpu ts will appear in A udioDesk ’s audio inp ut
and output menus.

Phones 1-2

If you’ve chosen to treat the UltraLite-mk3
headphones as an independent output, you’ll see
Phones 1-2 in AudioDesk’s output menus. Audio
tracks assigned to this output pair will be heard on
the headphone jack only. For further explanation,
see “Phones” on page 52.

24-BIT OPERATION

Your UltraLite-mk3 hardware fully supports
AudioDesk’s 24-bit recording capabilities,
including both analog and digital 24-bi t rec or ding.
If you would like to record and play back 24-bit
audio files, go to the Setup menu, choose Configure
Audio System>Configure Sample Format, and
choose 24-bit recording as the sample format. This
setting is saved with the AudioDesk project.

MIDI I/O VIA THE ULTRALITE-MK3 MIDI
PORTS

Once you’ve followed the procedure for enabling
the UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI features as explained in
“Software installation” on page 29, the
UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports will appear as a input
source and output destination in AudioDesk’s
MIDI I/O menus.

PROCESSING LIVE INPUTS THROUGH
PLUG-INS

If you pat ch a liv e inp ut (suc h as MIDI synthesizer)
through a plug-in effect in AudioDesk, you might
hear a slight delay. There are several ways to reduce
this delay. For details, see chapter 10, “Reducing
Monitoring Latency” (page 61).

WORKING WITH CUEMIX FX MIXING AND
EFFECTS

The UltraLite-mk3 provides powerful external
mixing, EQ, compression and reverb, which you
can operate hand-in-hand with AudioDesk’s
complete mixing environment. For example, the
UltraLite-mk3 can serve as a monitor mixer
routing channels to musicians, or it can serve as an
integrated extension of your AudioDesk mixing
environment. If you program an UltraLite-mk3
mixing and processing configuration that goes
hand in hand with your A udioDesk project, be sure
to use the file save features in CueMix FX to save
the UltraLite-mk3 settings as a file in your
AudioDesk project folder for instant recall of all
settings. See ch apter 11, “CueM ix FX” (page 67) for
complete details.

SYNCHRONIZATION

Together, AudioDesk and the UltraLite-mk3 have
the ability to resolve directly to SMPTE time code,
without an additional time code synchronizer. See
“Syncing to SMPTE time code” on page 112.

EXCHANGING PROJECTS WITH DIGITAL
PERFORMER

To open AudioDesk Version 2 (or Version 1) files in
Digital Performer, just use DP’s Open command.
(No conversion is required beforehand in
Au dioDesk.) To export a Digital Performer pro ject
to AudioDesk, use Save As in Digital Performer’s
File menu and choose the AudioDesk 2.0 file
format. Then open the resulting AudioDesk 2.0
document in AudioDesk.

AUDIODESK

53

AUDIODESK AND MIDI SEQUENCING

AudioDesk can play audio as a background
application, allowing you to run a sequencer at the
same time in the foreground. However, there is no
way to co n tin uo us ly synchro nize — o r resolve — a
sequencer with AudioDesk, so the two programs
will eventually drift out of sync, even if you manage
to start them at the same time. If you’d like to do
integrated MIDI sequencing, your best bet is
Digital Performer, which offers pretty much all of
the same features as AudioDesk, along with
powerful, state-of-the-art MIDI sequencing. Talk
to your authorized MOTU dealer for details about
upgrading from AudioDesk to Digital Performer.

54

AUDIODESK

CHAPTER

9 Other Mac OS X Software

OVERVIEW

The UltraLite-mk3 provides multichannel audio
and MIDI inpu t and o u tpu t fo r all Ma c OS X a udio
applications, including Apple’s Logic Pro, Logic
Express, SoundTrack Pro and GarageBand. Other
third-party software applications are also
supported, such as Ableton Live, Propellerhead
Reason, Steinberg Cubase and others.

Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Mac OS X drivers. . . . . . . . 55

Preparing MIDI input and output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Run MOTU Audio Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Choosing the MOTU FireWire Core Audio driver . . . . . 56

Working with UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs. . . . . 58

Audio Input and output names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Number of channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

MIDI I/O via the UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports. . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Processing live inputs with host plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Working with CueMix FX mixing and effects. . . . . . . . . 59

Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

INSTALLING THE ULTRALITE-MK3 MAC OS X
DRIVERS

To install the UltraLite-mk3’s Mac OS X audio an d
MIDI drivers, just run the installer on the MOTU
Audio installer CD as detailed in chapter 4,
“Installing the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Mac
Software” (page 29).

PREPARING MIDI INPUT AND OUTPUT

If you will be using the UltraLite-mk3’ s MID I inpu t
and outpu t ports, be sure to f ollow the p roced ure in
“Preparing MIDI input and output” on page 55.

RUN MOTU AUDIO SETUP

Before you run your host audio software, launch
MOTU Audio Setup to configure your
UltraLite-mk3 hardware. MOTU Audio Setup lets
you configure your audio interface, and it lets you
enable the desired inputs and outputs. Only

enabled inpu ts and outp uts will be available to yo ur
software, so this is an important step. For complete
details see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup”
(page 33).

Figure 9-1: MOTU Audio Setup.

For complete details about the UltraLite-mk3
settings, see chapter 5, “MOTU Audio Setup”
(page 33). The following sections provide a brief
explanation of each UltraLite-mk3 setting for use
with Logic and other Mac OS X audio software.

Sample ra te

Choose the desired overall sample rate for the
UltraLite-mk3 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 UltraLite-mk3
will follow.

If you do not have any digital audio connections to
your UltraLite-mk3 (you are using the analog
inputs and outputs only), and you will not be
slaving your host software to external SMPTE time
code, choose Internal.

If you have a S/PDIF digital audio device
connected to the UltraLite-mk3, see “Connecting
and syncing S/PDIF devices” on page 22.

55

If you are slaving the UltraLite-mk3 and your host
software to SMPTE time code, follow the
directions in “Syncing to SMPTE time code” on
page 112.

Phones

This UltraLite-mk3 setting lets you choose what
you’ll hear from the headphone jack. For example,
if you choose Main Out 1-2, the headphones will
duplicate the main outs. Or you can choose any
other output pair. If you choose Phones 1-2, t his
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.

Main Outs Assign

Use the Main Outs Assign setting to determine
what audio you will hear on the XLR main outs of
the UltraLite-mk3. If you would like to treat them
as their own separate output pair, choose Main
Outs. Note that when operating at 176.4 or 192
kHz, the main outs must mirror one of the TRS
analog output pairs.

Return Assign

In your OS X host audio software audio input
menus, you’ll see an UltraLite-mk3 input cal led
Return 1-2. This is a stereo feed from the
UltraLite-mk3 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
UltraLite-mk3 DSP (such as the Leveler) for
reference and archiving purposes.

Reverb return

The UltraLite-mk3 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 FIREWIRE CORE
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 UltraLite-mk3
Core 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 UltraLite-mk3 from
this menu.

Logic Pro and Logic Express

In Logic Pro and Logic Express, go to the
Preferences window, click the Audio tab, click the
Drivers tab and click the Core A udio tab as shown
in Figure 9-2. Choose the MOTU UltraLite-mk3
from the Driver menu. For information about the
I/O Buffer Siz e setting, see “Adjusting the a udio I/O
buffer” on page 63.

☛ Warning: the Return inputs can cause

feedback loops! DO NOT assign this input to a
track that shares the same UltraLite-mk3 output
pair as the returns.

56

Figure 9-2: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 in Logic Pro or Logic Express.

OTHER MAC OS X SOFTWARE

Soundtrack Pro

In Soundtrack Pro, access the preferences window,
click the Recording tab and choose MOTU
UltraLite-mk3 from th e Input and Monitor menu as
shown below in Figure 9-3.

Figure 9-3: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 in Soundtrack Pro.

Garage Band

In Garage Band, go to the Audio/MIDI pr eferences
and choose MOTU UltraLite-mk3 from the Audio
Output and Audio Input menus as shown below in
Figure 9-4. For information abou t th e Optimize for
setting, see “Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” on
page 63.

Live

In Ableton Live, access the preferences window and
click the Audio tab. Choose CoreAudio from the

Driver Type menu. Choose the MOTU
UltraLite-mk3 from the Input Audio Device and
Output Audio Device menus as shown below in

Figure 9-5. For information about the Buffer Size
setting, see “Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” on
page 63.

Figure 9-4: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 in Garage Band.

OTHER MAC OS X SOFTWARE

Figure 9-5: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 in Live.

57

Reason

In Propellerhead Reason, go to the Preferences
window, choose Audio preferences from the menu
and choose MOTU UltraLite-mk3 from the Audio
Output menu as shown below in Figure 9-6. For
information about the Buffer Size setting, see
“Adjusting the audio I/O buffer” on page 63.

Figure 9-6: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 in Reason.

Other audio software

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

WORKING WITH ULTRALITE-MK3 INPUTS
AND OUTPUTS

Once you’ve enabled the UltraLite-mk3’s Core
Audio driver, UltraLite-mk3 audio inputs and
outputs will appear in your host software wherever
audio inputs and outputs are listed.

AUDIO INPUT AND OUTPUT NAMES

The UltraLite-mk3 Core Audio driver su p plies te xt
string labels for its inputs and outputs to clearly
identify each one, but some applications do not
display these labels. For example, in Cubase, the
UltraLite-mk3 outputs are numbered like this:

Cubase and Nuendo

Go to the Devices menu and choose Device Setup.
Click the VS T Audio System item in the Devices list
and choose MOTU UltraLite-mk3 from the Master
ASIO Driver menu as shown below in Figure 9-7.
Activate the inputs and outputs within Cubase or
Nuendo as usual. For information abou t th e Audio
Buffer Size setting, see “Adjusting the audio I/O
buffer” on page 63.

Figure 9-7: Enabling the UltraLite-mk3 audio driver in Cubase.

Figure 9-8: Some applications number the UltraLite-mk3 inputs and
outputs, but don’t display which outputs they refer to.

The following tables show how you can identify
each input and output in a numbered list like this.

Input

Analog 8 1-8 ­SPDIF 2 9-10 ­Stereo

return
Reverb

return

Number of
Channels

2 11-12 See “Return

2 13-14 See “Reverb return”

List
position Comment

Assign” on page 56.

on page 56.

58

OTHER MAC OS X SOFTWARE

Outputs are listed in this order:

Output Channels List position

Main 2 1-2
Analog 8 3-10
SPDIF 2 11-12
Phones 2 13-14

NUMBER OF CHANNELS

If your host audio software requires that you
specify the number of audio voices or channels you
will be using, be sure to choose enough channels to
cover the 10 inputs and 14 outputs provided by
your UltraLite-mk3.

MIDI I/O VIA THE ULTRALITE-MK3 MIDI
PORTS

Once you’ve followed the procedure for enabling
the UltraLite-mk3’s MIDI features as explained in
“Software installation” on page 29, the
UltraLite-mk3 MIDI ports will appear as an input
source and output destination in your host
software’s MIDI I/O menus.

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 10, “Reducing Monitoring Latency”
(page 61).

WORKING WITH CUEMIX FX MIXING AND
EFFECTS

The UltraLite-mk3 provides powerful external
mixing, EQ, compression and reverb, which you
can operate hand-in-h an d with y our host’s mixing
environment. For example, the UltraLite-mk3 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 UltraLite-mk3 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 UltraLite-mk3
settings as a file in your host project folder for
instant recall of all settings. See chapter 11,
“CueMix FX” (page 67) for complete details.

SYNCHRONIZATION

If your host audio software supports Core Audio’s
sample-accurate positioning protocol, then it can
resolve to the UltraLite-mk3’s built-in time code
synchronization feature. To resolve your
UltraLite-mk3 directly to SMPTE time code with
no additional synchronization devices, use the
setup shown in “Syncing to SMPTE time code” on
page 112.

OTHER MAC OS X SOFTWARE

59

60

OTHER MAC OS X SOFTWARE

CHAPTER

10 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 mic 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
your computer, from when it first enters an
UltraLite-mk3 input, passes through the
UltraLite-mk3 hardware into the computer,
through your host audio software, and then back
out to an UltraLite-mk3 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 UltraLite-mk3’s CueMix FX
digital mixer to patch the input directly to your
monitor outs via the UltraLite-mk3 audio
hardware. The UltraLite-mk3 even pro vides 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 65.

It is important to note that monitoring delay has no
effect on when audio data is recorded to disk or
played back from disk. Actual recording and
playback is extremely precise.

Monitoring live input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Adjusting the audio I/O buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Lower latency versus higher CPU overhead . . . . . . . . . . 64

Transport responsiveness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Effects processing and automated mixing . . . . . . . . . . . 65

CueMix FX hardware monitoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Two methods for controlling CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Using CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Controlling CueMix FX from your audio software . . . . 65

If you do need to process a liv e in p u t with plug-in s,
or if you are playing virtual instruments live
through your UltraLite-mk3 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.

61

MONITORING LIVE INPUT

There are two ways to monitor live audio input
with an UltraLite-mk3: 1) through the computer or

2) via the Ultralite-mk3’s CueMix FX hardware
mixer. Figure 10-1 below shows method 1, which
allows you to ad d effects processing suc h as reverb
and guitar amp effects via plug-ins in your audio
software. See the ne xt section, “Adj usting the a udio
I/O buffer” for details about how to reduce — and
possibly eliminat e — the a udib le mo nit oring delay
that the computer introduces.

Figure 10-2 shows how to use CueMix FX
hardware-based monitoring, which lets you hear
what you are recording with no monitoring delay
and no computer-based effects processing.
Instead, in p ut is r ou ted dir ectly to an ou tput, either
with or without UltraLite-mk3-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 ar e r eco rdin g is suitab le, there is
a third way to m onito r live in put: use both methods
(Figure 10-1 and Figure 10-2) 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
UltraLite-mk3 Classic Reverb.

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

3. Mic signal is
‘patched thru’ back to
the audio interface

2. Mic signal goes immedi­ately to the computer (dry,
with no effects processing).

Figure 10-1: There are t wo ways to monitor live audio inputs with an UltraLite-mk3: 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.

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

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).

Mac

62

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

ADJUSTING THE AUDIO I/O BUFFER

A buffer is a small amount of computer memory
used to hold data. For audio interfaces like the
UltraLite-mk3, buffers are used for the process of
transferring audio data in and ou t of the com p ut er.
The size of the buffers det ermines ho w 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
UltraLite-mk3 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 10-3: In D i gi ta l Pe rf o rm er an d Au di oD e sk , ch o os e S e tu p
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.

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

3. Mic signal is mix ed 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.

Figure 10-2: 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 UltraLite-mk3 effects, such as the reverb, EQ and/or compression.

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

2. CueMix FX immediately patches the live
mic signal directly to the main outs (or
other output), complet ely bypassing the
computer. This signal could be dry, or with
UltraLite-mk3 effects processing, such as
EQ, compression or Classic Reverb.

63

Figure 10-4: In Cubase SX or Nuendo, choose Devices menu> Device
Setup and click VST Audiobay to access the window above and the
Audio 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 pa tch thru lat ency , bu t significantly incr ease
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 10-5: In Logic Pro or Logic Express, go to the Audio Driver
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

Figure 10-6: 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.

If you are at a point in your recording project where
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
compu ter’s CPU speed, you might find tha t 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.

64

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

Effects processing and automated mixing

Reducing latency with the buffer size setting has
another benefit: i t lets yo u rou te live in puts thr ough
the real-time effects processing and mix
automat ion of your audio software.

CUEMIX FX HARDWARE MONITORING

The UltraLite-mk3 has a more direct method of
patching audio through the system. This method is
called CueMix FX. When enabled, CueMix
activates hardware patch-thru in the
UltraLite-mk3 itself. CueMix FX has two
important benefits:

■ First, it completely eliminates the patch thru

delay (r educing it to a small number of samples —
about the same amount as one of today’s digital
mixers).

■ 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 UltraLite-mk3 itself and are mixed
with disk tracks playing back from your audio
software. This means that you cannot apply
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 DSP is the way to go.

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 la ten cy with the buffer setting (as explain ed
earlier in this chapter).

TWO METHODS FOR CONTROLLING
CUEMIX FX

There are two ways to control CueMix FX:

■ With CueMix FX

■ From within your host audio software (if it

supports direct hardware monitoring)
You can even use both methods simultaneously.

Using CueMix FX

If your host audio software does not support direct
hardware monitoring, you run CueMix FX side­by-side with your a udio so ftware and manage y our
monitor mix in CueMix FX.

CueMix FX allows you to create up to eight
separate UltraLite-mk3 monitor mixes, or any
other desired routing configurations. These
routings are independent of your host audio
software. For complete details, see chapter 11,
“CueMix FX” (page 67).

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
UltraLite-mk3 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

■ AudioDesk

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.

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

65

Controlling CueMix FX from within AudioDesk
or Digital Performer

To turn on CueMix FX in AudioDesk and Digital
Performer:

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

2 Choose the Direct hardware playthrough option,
as shown below in Figure 10-7.

Figure 10-7: Enabling CueMix FX in AudioDesk or Digital Performer.
Note: the ‘O nly during recording...’ and ‘Always’ options are for
AudioDesk and DP only. Later versions of DP have expanded input
monitoring features. Consult your documentation.

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

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 UltraLite-mk3 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 channels 7-8, CueMix FX no­latency hardware monitoring will automatically be
set up from analog in 2 to outputs 7-8.

Controlling CueMix FX from within other
software

Consult the manual for your software.

66

REDUCING MONITORING LATENCY

CHAPTER

11 CueMix FX

OVERVIEW

CueMix FX is a cross-platform software
application that provides graphic, on-screen
contro l fo r the Ul traLite-mk3’s flexible CueMix FX
on-board mixer and effects processing.

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.

For information about programming the
UltraLite-mk3’s on-board mixing and effects using
the front panel LCD, see chapter 11, “CueMix FX”
(page 67).

A 16-bus mixer with EQ, compression and re verb. . . . 67

Advantages over host-based mixing and processing 68

CueMix FX installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

CueMix FX basic operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

The Mixes tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

The Inputs tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Outputs tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

The channel settings section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

The Monitor Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

DSP meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Solo light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Talkback and listenback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

File menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Edit menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Devices menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Oscilloscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

X-Y Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Phase Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Configurations menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Talkback menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Phones menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Control Surfaces menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

A 16-BUS MIXER WITH EQ, COMPRESSION
AND REVERB

All UltraLite-mk3 inputs and outputs can be
routed to the on-board CueMix FX 16-bus (8
stereo bus) digital mixer driven b y 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 UltraLite-mk3 hardware,
independent of the computer. Effects can even be
applied when the UltraLite-mk3 is operating
stand-alone (without a computer) as a complete
portable mixer. Input signals to the computer can
be recorded wet, dry, or dry with a wet monitor
mix (for musi cians d uring reco rdin g, fo r exam ple).

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 UltraLite-mk3’s flexible effects architecture
allows you to apply EQ and compression on every
input and output (a total of 58 channels), with
enough DSP resources for at least one band of
parametric EQ and compression on every channel
at 48 kHz. DSP r esourc es are allocat ed dynamically
and a DSP meter in the C ueMix FX so ftware allo ws
you to keep tabs on the UltraLite-mk3’ s processing
resources.

67

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.

■ CueMix mixing and effects processing imposes

no processor drain on the computer’s CPU.

■ CueMix routing can be maintained

independently of individual software applications
or projects.

ADVANTAGES OVER HOST-BASED MIXING
AND PROCESSING

CueMix FX pr ovides several ma jor advan tages over
mixing and processing in your host audio software:

■ CueMix has no buffer latency. Thanks to the

UltraLite-mk3’s DSP chip, CueMix provides the
same throughput performance as a digital mixer.

Solo
light

Tabs for inputs,
mix busses and

outputs

UltraLite-mk3

inputs

Channel

focus

DSP

resources

meter

Mix bus

menu

■ CueMix routing can operate without the

compu ter , allowing the Ul traLite-mk3 to opera te as
a portable, stand-alone mixer with effects.

CUEMIX FX INSTALLATION

CueMix FX is installed with the rest of your
UltraLite-mk3 software.

Mix bus

master

fader

Channel
settings

Monitoring/

talkback

section

Channel
scroll
bar

Mic inputs Inputs split

Figure 11-1: CueMix FX is a virtual mixer that gives you control over the UltraLite-mk3’s on-board mixing features.

68

into mono

channels

Inputs grouped as

stereo pairs

Tabs for channel strip settings,
including EQ and dynamics, as
well as global settings such as

the meter bridge and reverb

processor.

Grow
box

Monitor

group

metering

CUEMIX FX

CUEMIX FX BASIC OPERATION

Here is a brief overview of the CueMix FX mixer.

Eight stereo mix busses

CueMix provides eight stereo mix busses: Bus 1,
Bus 2, Bus 3, and so on. Each mix bus can take any
number of inputs and mix them down to any
UltraLite-mk3 output pair that you choose. For
example, Bus 1 could go to the headphones, Bus 2
could go to th e main ou ts, Bus 3 could go to a p iece
of outboard gear connected to analog outputs 7-8,
etc.

processor. These settings are applied to the signal
before it goes anywhere else (to a mix bus or the
computer).

Output channels

The Outputs tab (Figure 11-6 on page 75) gives y ou
access to settings for each UltraLite-mk3 output
pair, including EQ, dynamics processing and
send/return controls for feeding and returning the
output signal to/from the UltraLite-mk3’s global
reverb processor. These settings are applied to the
signal just before it is sent to the output.

Many inputs to one output pair

It might be useful to think of each mix bus as some
number of inputs all mixed down to a stereo output
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 11-2 on page 70). To select which
mix you are viewing, choose it from the mix bus
menu (Figure 11-2). The mix name appears above
the mix bus master fader (Figure 11-2), 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 b us, 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 11-3 on page 72) gives you
access to settings for individual UltraLite-mk3
inputs (o r inp ut pairs), such as phase, trim, EQ and
dynamics processing. Each input also includes a
send to the UltraLite-mk3’s global reverb

Channel focus and settings

Click the focus button for a channel (Figure 11-1)
to view channel-specific parameters in the Channel
Settings section of the CueMix FX window
(Figure 11-1). Separate tabs are provided for
channel-specific settings (channel strip, EQ and
dynamics), p lus the global m eter bridg e and rev erb
processor.

Global reverb processor

The UltraLite-mk3 has a global reverb module
(Figure 11-28 on page 89). Once it has been
activated, you can feed signals to the reverb
processor from various points in the
UltraLite-mk3 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 meter ing, graphic editing of certain
effects parameters , monitor g rouping and more.

Widening the CueMix FX window

To view more input faders at once, drag the grow
box (Figure 11-1) to the right.

CUEMIX FX

69

THE MIXES TAB

Click the Mixes tab (Figure 11-2) to gain access to
the UltraLite-mk3’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 b us
menu (in the Mixes tab itself, as shown in
Figure 11-2). The menu shows all mixes by name,
followed by the UltraLite-mk3 output pair to
which each bus master fader is currently assigned,
if any.

Naming a mix

Click the mix name at the t op o f the mix bus master
fader (Figure 11-2) to edit the name.

Assigning a mix bus output

Choose the desired output pair for the mix bus
from the bus output menu (Figure 11-2). The bus
output menu displays all current available
(enabled) UltraLite-mk3 output pairs. If a bus is
already assigned to an output pair, the bus name
appears next to the output pair name to indicate
that the output pair is already taken by a bus. Only
one bus can be assigned to an y giv en ou tpu t pair. If
you choose an output already assigned to another
bus, that bus output will become disabled.

Bus fader

The bus fader (Figure 11-2) controls the overall
level of the mix (its volume on its stereo output).
Use th e individual in pu t fader s to the left to c on trol
individual input levels.

Input name

Channel focus

Input pan section

Input fader

Input mute/solo

Input level meter

Scroll bar for input

channels

Mixes

tab

Mix bus

menu

UltraLite-mk3

inputs

Mix bus 1

master

fader

Bus name

Bus output
Bus Reverb

send/return

Bus fader

Bus mute

Bus level meter

Mic inputs Inputs grouped as

Figure 11-2: The Mixes tab.

70

stereo pairs

CUEMIX FX

Bus mute

The bus mute button (Figure 11-2) disables
(silences) the mix.

page 76). Clicking the mix bus master fader focus
button brings the assigned output into focus, if
there is one.

Bus level meter

The bus level met er, which is post-fad er, shows you
the output for the mix’s output.

Bus reverb send/return

The bus rev erb send (F igure 11-2) feeds the o utp ut
of the mix bus, pre-fader, to the UltraLite-mk3’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 in t o th e mix er
at various return points, including the bus return
(discussed below).

The bus reverb return (Figure 11-2) feeds the
output of the UltraLite-mk3’s global reverb
processor in to the mix bus, p re-fad er . This in clud es
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 possib ility for f eedback loo ps crea t ed
by reverb send/return loops. See “Split point” on
page 89.

Input section

The horizon tally scrolling area in th e Mix tab to the
left of the master fader (Figure 11-2) displays
channel strips for all currently enabled
UltraLite-mk3 inputs.

Naming an input

Click the inpu t name at th e top o f the input chann el
strip (Figure 11-2) 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 11-3) to
view and edit parameters in the channel settings
section of the CueMix FX window (Figur e 11-7 o n

Input pan section

The input pan knob (Figure 11-2) 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

Width spreads th e left and right channels acr oss the
stereo image, depending on the knob position.
Maximum val u e (turning the pan kno b 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 o f the left input and some o f
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
Mu t e b u tt on. To solo it, use its Solo button. Use the
input fader (Figure 11-2) 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 11-1) will
illuminate.

CUEMIX FX

71

THE INPUTS TAB

The UltraLite-mk3 provides many features for
managing analog and digital input signals. Some of
these featur es, such as the UltraLite-mk3’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 11-3) to access and control
all of these input channel settings for each
UltraLite-mk3 input or input pair.

Input tab settings are global

Except fo r th e r ev e rb 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
comp ressio n to the in put signal, y ou will reco rd the
processed vers ion of the signal in your host audio
software running on the computer. If you need to
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 UltraLite-mk3’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:
trim, phase, stereo versus M/S decoding, width,
L/R swap, EQ, dynamics and reverb send.

Naming an input

Click the inpu t name at th e top o f the input chann el
strip (Figure 11-3) 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).

Input channel focus

Click the channel focus button (Figure 11-3) to
view and edit parameters in the channel settings
section of the window (Figure 11-7 on page 76).

EQ/dynamics controls

72

Inputs tab

Input name

Channel focus

Mono/stereo paring

Invert phase

Input trim

EQ/dynamics graph

EQ/dynamics

enable/disable

Reverb send

Input scroll bar

EQ band selectors

LP/HP filter selector
Compressor selector

Figure 11-3: The Inputs tab.

CUEMIX FX

Mono/stereo pairing

Click the Mono button (Figure 11-3) if you would
like an input to be treated as a mono channel. 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

The Phase button (F igure 11-3) inverts the phase of
the input signal. For stereo pairs, you can inv ert the
phase for the le ft and right channels in depen den tly.

Input trim

All UltraLite-mk3 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 two mic/guitar inputs and the
six quarter-inch analog inputs on the back panel.
Here is a summary of input trim ranges for each
type of UltraLite-mk3 input:

settings among neighboring channels, or perhaps
even applying the same setting across all inputs.
However, for more detailed editing of EQ and
compr essi on settings f or an in p u t chann el, you can
click its Focus button and view the settings in the
Channel Section of the CueMix FX window
(Figure 11-1). This section even p rovides 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 76.

The EQ/Dynamics graph

The EQ/Dynamics graph for each input channel
strip (Figure 11-3) 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 11-10 on page 78).

Input

Mic/Guitar 0 dB 24 dB 24 dB
TRS analog inputs -96 dB +22 dB 118 dB
S/PDIF (RCA) 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 futur e instan t recall. See “ Sa ving
and loading hardware presets” on page 93 and
“Configurations menu” on page 106.

Input EQ and dynamics

The UltraLite-mk3 lets you apply 7-band
parametric EQ and dynamics processing (DSP) to
any input, analog or digital.

The contr ols in the EQ/Co mpr ession section o f the
Inputs tab (Figure 11-3) let you edit EQ and
compression settings within the context of the
channel strip. This is id eal when you ar e com paring

EQ/Dynamics selectors

The EQ/Dynamics selector buttons along the
right-hand edge of the EQ/Dynamics section
(Figure 11-3) allow you to choose what you are
viewing and editing in the EQ/Dynamics section.

Orange
Green
Blue
Red

Yellow
White
Black

Figure 11-4: The EQ/Dynamics selectors.

EQ band selectors

LP/HP filter selector
Compressor selector

Colored knobs

Click the selector (Figure 11-4) for the desired EQ
band, low-pass (LP) filter, high pass (HP) filter or
compressor to view it across all channels.

CUEMIX FX

73

Compressor

graph

Figure 11-5: The Compressor controls.

Compressor

meter

Compressor

selector

☛ Shortcut: hold down the option 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.

then be fed back int o a mix or outp ut pair . Th e send
occurs after all other settings in the input channel
strip (phase invert, EQ, compression, etc.)

THE OUTPUTS TAB

The Outputs tab (Figure 11-6) lets you apply EQ,
dynamics and reverb to an y outpu t pair , just before
the signal leaves the UltraLite-mk3. This is
processing that occurs at the very end of the signal
flow, after everything else (host based effects,
UltraLite-mk3 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 conver ter. Output tab processing is
applied to the entire output mix (all signals being
mixed to the output from various sources).

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: befo re y ou can m odify 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 11-10), as explained in
“Enabling EQ” on page 78.

EQ/Dynamics enable/disable buttons

Click the EQ or Dynamics button at the botto m of
the input c h ann e l (Figure 11-3) 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 r eve rb send (Figure 11-3) feeds the inp ut
signal to the UltraLite-mk3’s global reverb
processor , wher e it is merged with an y other signals
being fed to the reverb. The reverb’s output can

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 exam ple, EQ occurs before Dynamics, whic h is
applied before the reverb send and return.

Naming an output

Click the output name at the top of the output
channel strip (Figure 11-6) to edit the name.
Output names are global and will also appear in
host audio software on the computer (if the
software supports channel names).

Output channel focus

Click the channel focus button (Figure 11-6) to
view and edit parameters in the channel settings
section of the CueMix FX window (Figur e 11-7 o n
page 76).

Output EQ and Dynamics

The EQ/Dynamics section in the Outputs tab
(Figure 11-6) works identically to the EQ/
Dynamics section for the Inputs tab (Figure 11-3).
See “Input EQ and dynamics” on page 73.

74

CUEMIX FX

Output reverb send/return

The output reverb send (Figure 11-6) feeds the
signal for the output to the UltraLite-mk3’s global
reverb pr ocessor, where it is me rged with an y 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 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 89.

The output reverb return (Figure 11-6) feeds the
output of the UltraLite-mk3’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 Talkback or Listenback buttons
(Figure 11-6) to toggle whether the output pair is
included in the Talkback or Listenback group. See
“Talkback and listenback” on page 91.

Monitor group assign

Click the Monitor buttons (Figure 11-6) to toggle
whether the output pair is included in the Monitor
group. See “The Monitor Group” on page 90.

Output name

Channel focus

EQ/Dynamics graph

EQ/Dynamics controls

EQ/Dynamics

enable/disable

Output reverb

send/return

Talkback/listenback

enable/disable

Monitor group assign

Outputs tab

EQ band selectors

LP/HP filter selector
Compressor selector

Figure 11-6: The Outputs tab.

CUEMIX FX

75

THE CHANNEL SETTINGS SECTION

The channel settings section in the CueMix FX
window (Figure 11-1) 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 11-8) display s 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 11-7: The Channel Settings section.

76

Tabs for the global meter

bridge and reverb processor

Figure 11-8: 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 11-3 on page 72). Input
channel signal flow is as follows: trim, 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
both mic inputs). These are the same 20 dB pad
and 48V phant om power settings that you can also
control from the UltraLite-mk3 front panel TRIM
encoders. There are separate settings for each mic
input.

CUEMIX FX

Stereo settings

Inputs that have been grouped as stereo pairs in the
Inputs ta b (F igur e 11-3) pr ovide two ster eo m odes
(Figure 11-8): Normal and M/S. M/S mode
provides decoding for a mid-side microphone
configuration.

The Width knob (Figure 11-8) provides control
over the stereo imaging, going from a full stereo
image to mono (both channels panned equally).
See “Width” on page 71.

The Swap L/R button (Figure 11-8) lets you switch
the left and right channels.

mono input), use the reverb Pan knob
(Figure 11-8) to pan the mono signal f o r the ster eo
reverb processor.

Input meter and bus activity LEDs

When the Channel tab is active (Figure 11-8), the
display above the tab provides a horizontal level
meter and eight bus activity LEDs (Figure 11-9).

Bus
activity
LEDs

Talkback section

Click the Talkback or Listenback button
(Figure 11-8) 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 inp ut. See “T alkback an d listen back ”
on page 91.

Reverb section

The Send in the reverb section (Figure 11-8) is the
same control as the reverb send in the Input tab
channel strip (Figure 11-3). See “Reverb send” on
page 74. If the input is currently not grouped as a
stereo pair in the Input tab (it is operating as a

Figure 11-9: Input meter and bus activity LEDs.

The input level meter (Figure 11-9) is the same as
the input m eters in the M et ers tab (F igure 11-27 on
page 88) with the Pre FX button engaged, which
shows the input level on the physical input itself,
before any processing of any kind occurs within the
UltraLite-mk3. This meter gives you the most
accurate reading of the actual signal level hitting
the input, regardless of any other settings.

The Bus A cti vity LEDs (Figure 11-9) show you
which mix busses the input signal is being fed to.
For exam ple, LED #6 will glow unde r the f ollo wing
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.

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77

The EQ tab

The EQ tab (Figure 11-10) 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.

display pr o vides co m pr eh ensi v e co n tro l and visual
feedback of the EQ curve being applied. With
64-bit floating poin t pr ocessing, the Ul traLite-mk3
Vintage EQ has been carefully crafted and
meticulously engineered to produce musical
results in a wide variety of applications.

Vintage EQ

Inspired by legendary British large console EQs,
the UltraLite-mk3 Vintage EQ section
(Figure 11-10) gives you the loo k, feel and soun d of
the most sought-after classi c equalizers. F iv e 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 pro vided. The filter response

Q handles
(red lines)

Filter response
display

Filter display options menu

Parameter display

EQ tab

EQ filter

Enabling EQ

Each input and output channel has a global EQ
enable/disable button (Figure 11-3 and

Figure 11-6). 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 11-10), allowing you to enable as
few or as man y bands as needed f or each indi vidual
channel.

Filter

handle

Composite

curve

(white line)

Individual

filter curve

(colored area)

Vertical scale

Filter enable/disable

EQ Filter types

Shelf filter

High-pass filter

Slope

High-pass frequency

78

Low-pass filter

Figure 11-10: The EQ tab.

CUEMIX FX

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 11-11: 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 type: Lets you choose from one of four or five

EQ styles for each independent band of EQ.

Low/H igh P ass filt er: Both a low pass and high pass

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 fo r th e curr ently 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 11-10).
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 f our standard band
settings. The additional low pass and high pass
filters (lower left) have gray cutoff frequency 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 (horizon tal) frequ ency
range is from 10 hertz to 20 KHz. The (vertical)
amplitude scale is in dB an d is adjustabl e between 3
and 24 dB using the vertical scale buttons
(Figure 11-10).

Filter handle: Drag this handle to graphically

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

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79

Adjusting filters in the display

Each filter has a handle, displayed as shown below
in Figure 11-12 (in the filter’s color), for adjusting
its boost/cut and/or frequency:

Filter handle

Filter Q
(red line)

Figure 11-12: Drag the filter handle to adjust its frequency and/or
boost/cut. Drag the Filter Q handles to adjust the Q.

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

Filter display options

The Filter display options menu (Figure 11-10)
provides several options for the EQ filter display:

FFT curve

Figure 11-13: 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 11-3 and Figure 11-6,
respectively) to toggle between the EQ’d and non­EQ’d FFT display.

Spectrogram

Choose Show Spectrogram from the Filter display
options menu (Figure 11-10) to superimpose a

real-time spectrogram “waterfall” display in the
background of the EQ filter display, as
demonstrated in Figure 11-14:

Menu option What it does

Show no analysis Turns off both the FFT and

Show FFT Shows/hides a real time FFT analysis

Show Spectrogram Shows/hides a real-time spectro-

Show Band Response Shows/hides the colored area below

Show/Hide Full Window
Analysis

Spectrogram in the Filter display.

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

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

EQ filter points.
Shows/hides the enlarged filter dis-

play in the CueMix FX window.

FFT display

Choose Show FFT from the Filter dis play options
menu (Figure 11-10) to superimpose a real-time
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) frequency
measurement curve over the EQ filter display, as
demonstrated in Figure 11-13:

Figure 11-14: FFT display.

The spectrogram scrolls from to p to botto m, 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 11-15: Spectrogram color-to-amplitude spectrum.

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CUEMIX FX

Using the full window filter display

Choose Show Full Window Analysis from the Filter
display options menu (Figure 11-10) to fill the
entire CueMix FX window with the filter EQ
display for detailed inspection and adjustment of
the EQ filter, as shown in Figure 11-16.

You can show and hide the FFT display,
spectrogram or EQ band response curves as
desired using the Display Options menu options
(Figure 11-16). These settings are independent of
the small graph display options (Figure 11-10), so
you have the flexibility to display different
combinations in each graph.

Show X-Axis Linear Scale

Check the Show X-Axis Linear Scale option in the
Display Options menu (Figure 11-16) to display
frequency on a linear scale, instead of the default
logarithmic scale. With a linear scale (checked),
frequency is constant, but the width of each octave
along the x-axis is different. With a logarithmic
scale (unchecked), octaves are displayed with a
constant width, but frequency is displayed
logarithmically within each octave.

The info box

The Show Info Box item in the full graph display
options menu (Figure 11-16) lets you display the
coordinates of any EQ filter point as you drag it in
the graph (Figure 11-17):

Figure 11-17: The Info Box.

The info box includes the industry standard
scientific note (p itch) n ame when the co ntr ol poin t
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) abo v e o r belo w the e xact frequ ency fo r
the note. If the control point is dragged outside the
note range, only the frequency is shown.

Display
options
menu

Figure 11-16: Full window filter display.

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81

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

The following sections describe the character of
each type of EQ filter and their suggested
applica tion s. In the illustrations for eac h fil t er style
(Figure 11-18 through Figure 11-21), the settings
for the three example curves are the same for the
purpose of comparison:

Q n/a - see note below 0.01 to 3.00

Q

The Q setting does not hav e a unit of measuremen t.
Rather, it is the ratio of the filter’s center frequency
to the bandwidth of the filter. In addition, the
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 th e
additional shelf filters f o r the LMF and HMF ban d,
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.

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.

■ Frequency = 1.00 kHz

■ Q = 1

■ Gain = +3, +10 and +20 dB

Type I

Figure 11-18: Type I EQ filter style.

The Type 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
adjustments in gain or reduction produce relatively
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 filte r type is the most similar to a
standard parametric EQ.

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CUEMIX FX

Type II

Figure 11-19: Type II EQ filter style.

The Type II 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.

Type III

Figure 11-20: 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 resul t, this fil ter style, an d
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.

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83

Type IV

Shelf filters

Figure 11-21: Type IV EQ filter style.

The Type IV EQ filter is a more extreme form 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 styles and
is ideal for large scale EQ adjustments, especially
on sub-mixes and complete mixes. This EQ style is
also ideal for an y app lication s where subtle c hanges
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.

Figure 11-22: Shelf filter Q parameter overshoot.

When two top-most bands in the EQ tab are set to
their shelf filter setting (Figure 11-10), the Q
parameter controls the amount of overshoot
applied to the response curve, as illustrated in
Figure 11-22. 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

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CUEMIX FX

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 11-22
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.

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 o f
+20dB, the loss in the overshoot region is -10 dB.

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

Figure 11-23: Overshoot when low shelf boost is applied.

Overshoot is also applied to high shelf boost and
cut:

Overshoot curves are symmetrical for both cut and
boost.

Low pass and high pass filters

The Vin tage EQ lo w 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 Vint age 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.

Slope = 6

Slope = 18

Figure 11-24: Overshoot when high shelf cut and boost is applied.

CUEMIX FX

Slope = 36

Figure 11-25: The low pass filter with three example slope settings.

85

The Dynamics tab

The Dynamics tab (Figure 11-26) 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

level

meter

level

meter

Gain

reduction

meter

Threshold

Trim

Dynamics tab

Compressor
enable/disable

Compressor

The Compressor (Figure 11-26) 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.

Leveler
enable/disable

Figure 11-26: The Dynamics tab.

Enabling Dynamics

Each input and output channel has a global
Dynamics enable/disable button (Figure 11-3 and
Figure 11-6). This button enables or disables all
dynamics processing for the channel. In addition,
the Dynamics tab has two different dynamics
processors, the Compressor an d Level er , whic h can
be individually enabled or disabled (Figure 11-26)
for the channel.

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 11-26).

Input level meter

The Input Level meter (Figure 11-26) 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 11-26) displays the current amount of
attenuation applied by the compressor.

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CUEMIX FX

Output level

The Ou tput Level m eter (Figur e 11-26) 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 meas ure the in put lev el. 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
brief peaks. Peak mode is generally used for drums,
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 11-26) 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 UltraLite-mk3 Leveler
faithfully models the LA-2A using the on-board
DSP with 32-bit floating point precision.

A model of an optical com pressor

The simplest description of an optical leveling
amplifier device is a light shining on a photore­sistor. The intensity of the light source is
propo rtional to the a udio 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 usin g 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
mounted so that the emission of the panel
modulates the resistance. An ELP c o nsists o f 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 r elease . Typically, the r el ease can tak e up
to and over o ne minute. One thing to keep in mind
when using these types of devices is tha t 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 d escribe without th e mind-n um bin g
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 seco nd time thr ough 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.

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87

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 11-26) model
the original LA-2A Limit/Compress mode switch.
The effect is very subtle, w ith the Limit option
behaving only slightly more like a limiter than a
compressor. The switch increases the level of the
input t o th e 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 11-26) sets the strength of
the signal sent to the AGC model.

Makeup Gain

Makeup gain (Figure 11-26) amplifies the output
signal to make up for gain reduction.

The Meters tab

The Meters tab (Figure 11-27) serves as a
comp r e h en si ve meter bridge for all inp u ts, outputs
and mix busses in the UltraLite-mk3. This ta b gives
you a “bird’s-eye” view of all signal activity in the
UltraLite-mk3; it is i deal for c onfirming yo ur signal
routing programming and for troubleshooting.

Bus activity LEDs
(inputs only)

Channel meter
display

Meters tab

Pre/post
processing
switch

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.

88

Figure 11-27: The Meters tab.

Channel meter display

The channel meter display (Figure 11-27) provides
a long-throw meter for the input or output that
currently has the focus in the Input/Output tabs.

Bus activity LEDs (inputs only)

The Bus activity LEDs (Figure 11-27) are present
only for inputs. See “Input meter and bus activity
LEDs” on page 77.

Pre/post processing switch

The pre/post processing switch (Figure 11-27)
affects all input meters (and the meter in the
channel meter display above the tab, if this area is

CUEMIX FX

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 11-28) provides access to
the UltraLite-mk3’s single, global r ev erb pr ocessor,
which provides high-fidelity reverberation and
graphic control over its parameters.

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.

Low band

(yellow)

Figure 11-28: The Reverb tab.

Mid band reverb

time handle

High band

(purple)

Crossover
handle

Reverb
enable/disable

Enabling reverb

Use the enable/disable button (Figure 11-28) 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.

Reverb sends

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

■ Mono or stereo inputs (Figure 11-3 on page 72)

■ Mix bus output (Figure 11-2 on page 70)

■ Outputs (Figure 11-6 on page 75)

Reverb returns

The stereo ou tput fro m the rev erb processo r 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 11-28) prevents feedback
loops that would be caused by a signal being sent to
the reverb p rocessor and th en returned to the same
signal path.

Mix

When the Sp lit P oint i s set to Mix, the re turns 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.

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89

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 11-28) in the
Reverb tab p ro vides the follo wing basic parameters
for programming the reverb.

Reverb Time

Reverb time determines the length of decay, or ta il,
of the reverb. This is a global setting for the re verb
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.
PreDela y is useful fo r clarifying the original sound.
For exam ple, with vocals, the re flections wo n’t start
until after the initial sound of a word has been
sung.

types of spaces. The Size and Level parameters let
you co ntro l the size of the room and th e 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 11-28).

Width does what its name implies: if you turn this
contro l all the way u p, the r esult is maxim um ster eo
imaging. A position of 12 o’clock produces
essentially a mono image. Turning the cont rol all
the way down completely swaps the stereo image.

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 produc e 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

90

THE MONITOR GROUP

The monitor group is a set of UltraLite-mk3 o utputs
that can be controlled with the master Monitor
Level knob in up per right corner o f the CueMix FX
mixer window (Figure 11-29), as well as the
MASTER VOL knob on the UltraLite-mk3 front
panel.

Monitor
group
presets
menu

Figure 11-29: Monitor group volume control from CueMix FX and the
front panel MASTER VOL knob.

CUEMIX FX

Assigning outputs to the monitor group

Any com bina tion o f outpu ts can be assigned to the
monitor group. To include an output pair in the
monitor group, click its Monitor button in the
Outputs tab (Figure 11-6 on page 75).

EQ on a stereo channel requires approximately
twice the DSP resourc es as the same EQ o n a mon o
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.

Monitor group presets menu

The monitor group presets menu (Figure 11-29)
provides several presets for commonly used
monitor groups:

Monitor group preset Output assignment

Main Outs Main Out 1-2
Stereo Analog Out 1-2
Quad Analog Out 1-4

5.1 Analog Out 1-6

7.1 Analog Out 1-8

If you program your own monitor output group,
the presets menu displays the word Custom.

Monitor group meters

The monitor group meters (Figure 11-1 on
page 68) show levels for any/all output pairs that
are currently included in the monitor group. The
width of the meters scales proportionally so that all
current monitor group outputs will fit within the
prescribed space for the meters. If many outputs
are included, then the meters will look fairly thin,
but they will all be included in the meter.

SOLO LIGHT

The Solo light (Figure 11-1) illuminates w hen any
input in the current (active) mix bus is soloed
(even if it is currently scrolled off-screen).

TALKBACK AND LISTENBACK

CueMix FX provides Talkback and Listenback
buttons. T alkback allows an engineer in the control
room to temporari ly dim all audio and talk to
musicians in the live room. Conversely, Listenback
allows musicians to talk to the control room.

Hardware setup

Figure 11-30 below shows a typical hardwar e setup
for Talkback and Listenbac k. For Talkback, set up a
dedicated mic in your control room an d co nn ect it
to a mic input on your UltraLite-mk3. For
Listenback, set up a d edicat ed listenbac k mic in the
live room for the musicians and connect it to
another mic input. For talkback output, set up a
headphone distribution amp or set of speakers in
the live room, and connect it to a pair of outputs.
For example, you might connect a headphone
distribution amp to analog outputs 7-8 on your
UltraLite-mk3, as demonstrated below in
Figure 11-30.

DSP METER

The DSP meter (Figure 11-1) shows how much of
the available DSP processing power is currently
being used by the UltraLite-mk3 for effects
processing. DSP resources are alloca t ed in c hann e l
order fro m the first in p ut t o the last o utp ut. 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.

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91

Control room

Talkback
mic

Main

outs

only occurs when talkback or listenback is
engaged. Audio playing back from disk (your host
software) is not affected.

Outs

Live room

Headphone distribution amp

Figure 11-30: Typical hardware setup for Talkback and Listenback.

7-8

(front panel
mic input)

Listenback
mic

Talkback / Listenback Mic Input

To configure the talkback mic in CueMix FX, go to
the Inputs tab (Figure 11-3 on page 72) and click
the Focus butt on fo r the inpu t that the talkback mic
is connected to . Click the Channel tab (Figure 11-8
on page 76) and enable the Talk 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 Outpu ts tab (F igure 11-6 on page 75) and
enable the Talk button for any output pair on which
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 11-31) to determine the amount of
attenuation you would like to apply to all other
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

Talk dim

Listen dim

Figure 11-31: The Talkback/Listenback controls.

Engaging/disengaging T alkback and
Listenback

To engage Talk back or Listenback, press on the
Talk or Listen buttons (Figure 11-31) 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
Talkback menu items.

If you would like to engage both Talkback and
Listenback at the same time, enable the Link button
(Figure 11-31).

Controlling Talkback and Listenback volume

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

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CUEMIX FX

SHORTCUTS

Hold down the following general modifier keys as
shortcuts:

remains visible before it disappears (or begins to
drop). To disable peak/hold indicators altogether,
choose Off from this sub-menu.

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

puts in the mix.

even when it is currently configured as mono.

center, unity gain, etc.)

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.

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 UltraLite-mk3 can store up to 16 presets in its
on-board 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.

Mix1 Return Includes Computer

The Mix1 return includes computer File menu item
applies to other MOTU interfaces products and has
no effect on the UltraLite-mk3.

Hardware follows console stereo settings

This File menu item applies to other MOTU
interfaces products and has no effect on the
UltraLite-mk3.

Show meter in dock icon

This File menu item applies to other MOTU
interfaces and has no effect on the UltraLite-mk3.

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 11-1) 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).

The Load Hardware Preset and Save Hardware
Preset commands in the CueMix FX file menu let
you name, save and load presets in the
UltraLite-mk3.

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 b y the meter. The Peak/hold time setting
(File menu) determines how long this indicator

CUEMIX FX

Clear Peaks

Choose Clear P ea ks fro m the Edi t menu to clear all
peak indicators in all CueMix FX meters.

93

DEVICES MENU

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

Below each device are three signal analysis tools:
Oscilloscope, X-Y P lot and Ph ase Analysis. Choose
one to open its window. For details on these
features, see the following sections.

Oscilloscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

X-Y Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Phase Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Figure 11-32: Opening the oscilloscope, X-Y Plot and Phase Analysis
windows.

OSCILLOSCOPE

The Oscilloscope (Figure 11-33) 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 wher e amp litud e equals zer o
(Figure 11-33, below).

Level meters ar e displa y ed 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 mk3 series FireWire audio interface has its
own oscilloscope. To open an oscilloscope, choose
the Oscillo scope item from the Devices menu under
the desired interface (Figure 11-32).

Choosing a channel to display

The oscilloscope follows the currently focused
audio inp ut o r ou tput. If you focus a mono c hannel
(e.g. Analog 3), its corresponding stereo pair will
be displayed (Analog 3–4).

94

View controls

The View controls (Figure 11-34) provide several
options for the osci lloscope display.

Figure 11-33: Oscilloscope

CUEMIX FX

Pause button
View menu

Horizontal controls (time axis)

The Horizontal controls (Figure 11-35) configure
the value range o f the x-axis (time). Cli ck and drag
the values up or down to set them, or double-click
to return to the default value.

Figure 11-34: View controls

View menu

The View m enu (Figure 11-34) lets you c hoose how
you wish to display the audio channel(s) being
displayed.

View menu setting What it displays

Left Left channel only
Right Right channel only
Split screen Left channel on top; right channel on the

bottom

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 sub-

tracted from the left channel’s amplitude

Display options

The Axes control (Figure 11-34) sets the opacity of
the grid displayed in the graph, from 100% (fully
visible) down to 0% (fully hidden). The Show R uler
option toggles the measurement items (see
“Measurement information” on page 97).

Pausing the display

The Pause button in the upper right corner of the
View section (Figure 11-34) allows you to freeze
the display a t any time. To resume, click the button
again. The level meters will remain active while the
display is paused.

There are two modes for the controls: Zoom/Offset
and
Min/Max. To change the mode, use the Horizontal
control menu (Figure 11-35).

Figure 11-35: 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 horizont al 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.

Time Units

The Time Units sub-menu (Figure 11-35) provides
the option to view the X axis in Seconds or
Samples.

Vertical controls (amplitude axis)

The Vertical controls (Figure 11-35) operate
similarly to the Horizontal cont rols, except that
they configure the y-axis (amplitude).

CUEMIX FX

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.

95

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.

Figure 11-36: Waveform Recognition menu

T ype 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.

Type II recognition is less resistant to change. It will
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.

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 11-37: Trigger settings

Criteria

The criteria check boxes (Figure 11-37) determine
the conditions that the trigger is looking for and
where it will look for them.

The Left check box causes the condition to be
looked f or in the le ft channel of the signal; lik ewise,
the Right check box 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 check boxes determine the slope
of the event. When the Pos check box is enabled,
the trigger will look for an event where am plitude is
increasing; likewise, enabling the Neg check box
tells the trigger to look for an event where
amplitude is decreasing. 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 for any particular kind of event.

Trigger

When the Trigger (Figure 11-37) is not enabled
(the Trigger menu is set to None), the graph
updates based on time: after ev ery n samples o f 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

96

The Level setting defines the amplitude threshold
that the trigger is looking for. The Lev el is indica ted
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).

CUEMIX FX

Enabling the Magnitude check box tells the trigger
to look for both posi tive 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.

Trigger indicator

The Trigger indicator (Figure 11-37 on page 96)
displays the sta t e o f 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

(including when the Trigger mode is None).

Holdoff

Holdoff defines a time interval during which the
oscilloscope does not trigger. The most recent trace
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 modes

The Trigger menu (Figure 11-37 on page 96)
provides four modes:

Trigger mode What it does

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

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

Auto The display is always updating, but when the

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

Normal The display updates only when the condition is

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

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

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 95).

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, depen ding on th e Trigger mode. I n
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
Trigger indicator re-arms the trigger. When the
Trigger mode is None, clicking on the Trigger
indicator has no effect.

Measurement information

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

Single Sweep Similar to Normal mode, but the last trace will be

displayed until you manually arm the trigger by
clicking the Trigger indicator (Figure 11-37 on
page 96) or by pressing the spacebar.

CUEMIX FX

Figure 11-38: Measurement information

97

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,
and the scientific not e name. If the measured ar ea is
long enough, the approximate beats per minute
(bpm) is displayed.

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 f eed it thr o ugh the oscilloscope, you
can more or less “freeze” the transient wavef o rm 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 11-39. In this
example, a snare hit is being comp ressed b y Digital
Performer’s Dynamics plug-in. As you make
adjustments to the compression plug-in’s settings,
you can see the transien t wav eform chan ge 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 Rec ognition and use the
Normal T rigger mode. A djust the level high enough
to encom pass the v ertical ampli tude o f most of the
transient. If the transient pulse sweeps across the

Figure 11-39: Viewing transients in the Oscilloscope

98

CUEMIX FX

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 11-39.

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

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 fro m one another or not.
The Add and Subtract L - R View menu settings are
particularly useful here.

Clip detection

You can use the Oscilloscope to detect clipping in a
digital audio signal. To do so, enable all criteria
(Figure 11-37 on page 96), choose Single Sweep
from the trigger menu (Figure 11-37), set the level
to 0.999 and click the trigger indicator
(Figure 11-37) 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 o r Shar ed view to visually com pare th e
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), y ou can run the a udio signal thro ugh 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 vertical
center of its overall waveform will drift above or
below the line marking amplitude equals zero. Try
setting Waveform Recognition t o Type I and setting
Trigger to None.

You can also use the Oscilloscope to help y o u ap ply
wavef orm modula tion and k eep it “in bounds”. F or
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 modulatio n
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 Type 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.

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 con tro l vo ltage (CV) in p ut.
The CV signals output from Volta can be
monitored in the Oscilloscope, giving you visual
feedback on LFOs, envelopes, ramps, step
sequencers, and more.

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

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99

X-Y PLOT

The X-Y Plot window (Figure 11-40) 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 11-40,
below). There are also thick white diagonal lines
for y = x and y = -x.

Metering

Level meters ar e displa yed abo ve and t o 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:

Situation Meter

Perfect
correlation

Zero
correlation

Perfectly out
of phase

level

+1 Diagonal line going

0 No discernible pat-

-1 Diagonal line going

X-Y Plot graph Mathematical

relationship

y = x
from lower left to
upper right:

None
tern

y = -x
from upper left to
lower right:

Opening the X-Y Plot

Each mk3 series FireWire audio interface has its
own X-Y Plot window. Choose the X-Y Plot item
from the Devices menu und er the de sired in te rface
(Figure 11-32 on page 94).

Figure 11-40: X-Y Plot

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