Monitoring

Monitoring

“Monitoring” is the process of hearing the prerecorded tracks (and/or hearing yourself) while the transport is playing. There are several options that control how Mixbus will monitor the inputs of each track.

The top of each channel in the mixer, when clicked, toggles between two views: signal path (inputs, outputs, monitoring, etc) and redirects (plugins, sends, inserts). Monitoring is controlled from the signal path view. When the signal path is showing, you’ll find selection buttons for “In”, and “Disk” at the top of each channel:

If the “In” button is selected as in the leftmost channel above, then the input to the track will be heard. If the “Disk” button is selected as in the second channel, then you will only hear the playback of the track. If neither button is selected, then Mixbus will use automatic monitoring to switch between In (as shown in the 3rd channel) and Disk (as shown in the 4th, rightmost channel). Automatic monitoring is represented with an outline around the currently-selected option.

Monitoring preferences

Mixbus has 2 global preferences that control automatic monitoring. You select the mode with the pulldown tab in Preferences->Monitoring:

*Record Monitoring Handled by: Audio Hardware This option is best used with audio interfaces that have the ability to monitor the inputs to the interface. Some interfaces come with a software application to control this while others may have a knob or button on the interface to allow direct monitoring. Other interfaces may need to be configured using the operating system’s volume control application. In this case Mixbus will never automatically monitor the input, because you are going to use your hardware device to hear yourself. When Hardware monitoring is available, it is generally a better option because it provides lower-latency monitoring. However it does not allow you to hear the effect of Mixbus’s processing or plugins, because you are bypassing the computer in your monitor path.

*Record Monitoring Handled by: Mixbus This setting is also known as “software monitoring”. With this setting, when Mixbus is recording audio it will route the inputs of the record-enabled tracks through the tracks instead of playing back the previously recorded audio. This is best used on systems that work well with very low buffer sizes (128 at 44 or 48 kHz or 256 at 96 kHz). Very small buffer sizes are used to minimize the monitoring latency.

Automatic monitoring is also affected by the “Auto Input” mode, which is found in the Transport menu. “Auto Input” is enabled by default. When Auto-input is enabled, then Mixbus will monitor record-armed tracks any time that you are aren’t playing.

Auto Input

Auto Input changes the behavior of the monitoring system in the case where (a) the transport is rolling and (b) the master rec-arm is enabled. If Auto Input is disabled, then you will hear the Input being monitored whenever a track is armed, even if you aren’t actually recording. If Auto Input is enabled, then you will hear playback when the transport is rolling, and the tracks will only switch to Input when the master-record arm is engaged (so you are actually recording). Auto Input is most useful when you are “punching in” on an existing track … you want to hear playback up until you actually “punch in”, and then you want to hear yourself only.

Auto Input Does Talkback

Finally, there is an option to enable “Auto Input does Talkback”. If “Auto Input does Talkback” mode is enabled, then Mixbus will monitor the input of all tracks, even unarmed ones, during stop. In a multi-room setup, this feature allows easier setup of your instrument or communication among members of a band, because all the live mics are passed through to the master bus output so everyone can hear themselves through the monitoring system (which might consist of foldback buses). This option only takes effect when Auto Input is enabled in the Transport menu.

*Note: in versions prior to v6, the option was called “Tape Machine Mode” and it had the reverse effect as “Auto Input does Talkback”. The option was changed to (hopefully) make it less ambiguous, and to change the default value so that Auto Input does not monitor all tracks, only the rec-armed ones.

Mixbus Monitoring Modes Chart

The following chart shows how the monitoring interacts with various settings in Mixbus.

Monitor Mode	Is The Track Rec Enabled?	Is The Master Rec Enable On?	Auto Input Status	Transport Mode	Meter	Monitor
Normal	No	No	On	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Normal	No	No	Off	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Normal	No	No	On	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Normal	No	No	Off	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Normal	No	Yes	On	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Normal	No	Yes	Off	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Normal	No	Yes	On	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Normal	No	Yes	Off	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Normal	Yes	No	On	Stop	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	No	Off	Stop	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	No	On	Play	Input	Track (Audio)
Normal	Yes	No	Off	Play	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	Yes	On	Stop	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	Yes	Off	Stop	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	Yes	On	Play	Input	Input
Normal	Yes	Yes	Off	Play	Input	Input
Talkback	No	No	On	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	No	No	Off	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Talkback	No	No	On	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Talkback	No	No	Off	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Talkback	No	Yes	On	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	No	Yes	Off	Stop	Track (silence)	Track (silence)
Talkback	No	Yes	On	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Talkback	No	Yes	Off	Play	Track (Audio)	Track (Audio)
Talkback	Yes	No	On	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	No	Off	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	No	On	Play	Input	Track (Audio)
Talkback	Yes	No	Off	Play	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	Yes	On	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	Yes	Off	Stop	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	Yes	On	Play	Input	Input
Talkback	Yes	Yes	Off	Play	Input	Input

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