Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

							161
The Mixer
•The EQ section, either with value sliders (“EQs”) or as 
numerical settings with a curve display (“EQs curve”).
These two views have exactly the same controls but different graphic lay-
outs. The EQ section is also available in the Channel Settings window. 
For EQ parameter descriptions, see 
“Making EQ settings” on page 164.
•The Sends section, with 8 effect pop-up menus and 
send level value sliders.
The sends can also be found in the Inspector and the Channel Settings 
window, see 
“Using Channel Settings” on page 163.
•You also have the option of displaying four sends at a 
time (the Sends 1–4 and 5–8 menu items). 
These modes offer the additional benefit of displaying send levels as dB 
values.
•The Panner section (where applicable).
If the channel is routed to a surround bus, you can view a compact ver-
sion of the SurroundPanner in the extended panel. Double-click on it to 
open the full SurroundPanner panel. If the Mixconvert plug-in is inserted 
and active, its controls are displayed in this section instead.
•The Meter section.
Select the Meter option to view large level meters in the extended panel. 
These operate exactly like the regular meters.
•The Overview section.
Select the Overview option if you want to know which insert effects, EQ 
modules, and send effects are activated for the channel. You can click 
the On/Off buttons to activate and deactivate the corresponding insert 
effect, EQ module, or send effect.
•The User Panel section.
Select the User Panel option to view the available device panels for the 
audio track, including panels for inserted VST effects, see “Audio tracks” 
on page 43. You can access the available panels via the User pop-up 
menu in the extended Mixer panel.For information on device panels, see the separate PDF document “MIDI 
Devices”.
•The Studio Sends section.
Select the Studio Sends option if you want to view the available studio 
sends. This section is only available if the Control Room is enabled, see 
the chapter 
“Control Room” on page 179.
•The Direct Routing section.
Select the Direct Routing option to view 7 additional output destination 
slots. For more information, see 
“Direct Routing” on page 171.
•The Wave Meters display.
Select the Wave Meters option to display a vertically scrolling waveform 
in the extended Mixer panel. The scrolling speed depends on the disk 
preload time set in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audio System page). 
With preload times under 4 seconds, the scrolling speed increases.
ÖIn narrow mode, only the Channel Overview, the Meter, 
and the Direct Routing sections can be shown in the ex
-
tended channel strip. If you have selected any of the other 
options, the Channel Overview is displayed in narrow 
mode. When you switch back to wide mode, the corre
-
sponding settings become available again.
Listen mode
Additionally to the Solo/Mute functions, which affect the 
actual mix, Nuendo features a Listen function. It allows you 
to quickly check the signal coming from selected channels 
without interrupting and interfering with the actual mix.
For example, during a recording session this allows the 
sound engineer in the control room to attenuate the signal 
coming from one of the musicians while the recording 
continues undisturbed.
In the Control Room Mixer you can enable/disable the Lis-
ten function for the Phones and Control Room channels, 
decide whether the signal is read pre-fader or post-fader, 
and hear the signals from the listen-enabled channels in 
context by adding a dimmed version of the mix signal. For 
more information about the functions available in the Con
-
trol Room Mixer, see “The Control Room Mixer” on page 
184.
In the Mixer you can listen-enable any track by activating 
the corresponding Listen button:
•Clicking the Listen button for a channel routes that 
channel to the Control Room without interrupting the nor
-
mal signal flow. 
A listen-enabled channel is indicated by a lit Listen button, and also by 
the lit global Listen button on the common panel. 
The Listen button for a channel strip and the global Listen button on the 
common panel
•Click the Listen button again to turn off Listen mode.
You can also turn off Listen mode for all listen-enabled tracks at the 
same time by clicking the global Listen button on the common panel.
ÖIn the Key Commands dialog (Mixer category) you can 
also set up a key command to enable/disable Listen for a 
channel (see 
“Key commands” on page 580). 
						

							162
The Mixer
Setting pan in the Mixer
For each audio-related channel with at least a stereo out-
put configuration you will find a miniature pan control at 
the top of the channel strip. This control is different for 
stereo and surround configurations.
Panning channels with a stereo output configuration
The pan control at the top of stereo audio channel strips is 
used to position a channel in the stereo spectrum.
The stereo pan control
The following applies when using the pan control: 
•To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when 
you move the pan control.
•To select the (default) center pan position, hold down 
[Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the pan control.
•To view the pan settings in a separate window, where 
you can change the settings using sliders, double-click on 
the pan control.
About the three stereo pan modes
By default, stereo pan controls the balance between the 
left and right channels. However, if you want to set pan in
-
dependently for the left and right channel, you can select a 
different pan mode.
If you right-click in the pan control field for a stereo audio 
channel, you can select one of three pan modes:
•Stereo Balance Panner controls the balance between 
the left and right channels.
This is the default mode.
•If Stereo Dual Panner is selected, there will be two pan 
controls with the upper controlling pan for the left channel, 
and the lower controlling pan for the right channel.
This allows you to set pan independently for the left and right channels. 
Note that it is possible to reverse the left and right channels, i. e. the left 
channel can be panned to the right and vice versa. You can also “sum” 
two channels by setting them to the same pan position (i.
 e. mono). How-ever, this will increase the volume of the signal.
•If Stereo Combined Panner is selected, the left and 
right pan positions are shown as two lines with a blue/gray 
area between them.
In this mode, the left and right pan controls are linked, and can be moved 
left and right like a single pan control (keeping their relative distance).
In Stereo Combined mode you can also set the pan inde-
pendently for the left and right channels. This is done by 
holding down [Alt]/[Option] and dragging the correspond
-
ing pan control.
ÖIf you reverse the left and right channels, the area be-
tween the pan controls is red instead of blue/gray.
When moving combined pan controls so that the left or 
right pan control reaches its maximum pan value, it natu
-
rally cannot go any further. If you continue to move further 
in the same direction, only the other pan control will move, 
thus altering the set relative pan range until both channels 
are panned fully to one side. If you move the pan controls 
in the opposite direction without releasing the mouse, the 
previously set pan range will be restored.
ÖThe pan settings made with the Dual Panner are re-
flected in the Combined Panner and vice versa.
ÖYou can specify the default pan mode for inserted au-
dio tracks in the Preferences dialog (VST page). 
						

							163
The Mixer
About the “Stereo Pan Law” setting
In the Project Setup dialog you will find a pop-up menu 
named “Stereo Pan Law”, which allows you to select one 
of several pan modes. These modes are required for power 
compensation. Without power compensation, the power of 
the sum of the left and right side is higher (louder) if a 
channel is panned center than if it is panned left or right. 
To remedy this, the Stereo Pan Law setting allows you to 
attenuate signals panned center, by -6, -4.5 or -3
 dB (de-
fault). Selecting the 0 dB option effectively turns off con-
stant-power panning. Experiment with the modes to see 
which fits best in a given situation. You can also select 
“Equal Power” on this pop-up menu, which means that the 
power of the signal will remain the same regardless of the 
pan setting.
Panning multi-channel audio
Channels with a multi-channel output configuration fea-
ture a miniature SurroundPanner control at the top of the 
channel strip. For further information on multi-channel au
-
dio and the SurroundPanner V5, see the chapter “Sur-
round sound” on page 226.
Panning Bypass
You can bypass the panning for all audio-related track 
types. To do this, press [Shift]–[Alt]/[Option] and click on 
the pan setting for the respective channel (on the fader 
panel or in the extended Mixer view). The Panning Bypass 
state is reflected in all the different pan setting sections, 
e.
 g. if you bypass a channel in the Mixer, this is automati-
cally reflected in the Inspector for the respective track.
When panning is bypassed for a channel, the following 
happens:
• Mono channels are panned center.
• Stereo channels are panned left and right.
• Surround channels are panned center.
ÖTo deactivate Panning Bypass, simply press [Shift]-
[Alt]/[Option] and click again.
Using Channel Settings 
For each audio channel strip in the Mixer and in the In-
spector and track list for each audio track, there is an Edit 
button (“e”).
Clicking this opens the VST Audio Channel Settings win-
dow. By default, this window contains:
• A section with eight insert effect slots (see “Audio effects” on 
page 195).
• Four EQ modules and an associated EQ curve display (see 
“Making EQ settings” on page 164).
• A section with eight sends (see “Audio effects” on page 195).
• A duplicate of the Mixer channel strip (without the extended 
panel but with the input and output settings panel).
You can customize the Channel Settings window, by 
showing/hiding the different panels and/or by changing 
their order:
• To specify which panels are shown or hidden, right-click in the 
Channel Settings window, and activate/deactivate the corre
-
sponding options on the Customize View submenu of the 
context menu.
• To change the order of the panels, select “Setup…” on the 
Customize View pop-up menu and use the “Move up” and 
“Move Down” buttons.
ÖFor further information, see the chapter “Customizing” 
on page 570.
Every channel has its own Channel Settings window (al-
though you can view each in the same window if you like – 
see below).
Click the Edit button to open the Channel Settings 
window. 
						

							164
The Mixer
The Channel Settings window in its default configuration 
is used for the following operations:
• Apply equalization, see “Making EQ settings” on page 164.
• Apply send effects, see “Audio effects” on page 195.
• Apply insert effects, see “Audio effects” on page 195.
• Copy channel settings and apply them to another channel, see 
“Copying settings between audio channels” on page 166.
Changing channels in the Channel Settings window
You can view any channel’s settings from a single win-
dow. 
If the “Sync Project and Mixer Selection” option is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Project & Mixer 
page), this can be done “automatically”:
•Open the Channel Settings window for a track and po-
sition it so that you can see both the Project window and 
the Channel Settings window.
Selecting a track in the Project window automatically 
selects the corresponding channel in the Mixer (and vice 
versa). If a Channel Settings window is open, this will im
-
mediately switch to show the settings for the selected 
channel. This allows you to have a single Channel Settings 
window open in a convenient position on the screen, and 
use it for all your EQ and channel effect settings.
You can also select a channel manually (thereby changing 
what is shown in the open Channel Settings window). 
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Channel Settings window for any channel.
2.Open the “Choose Edit Channel” pop-up menu by 
clicking the arrow button to the left of the channel number 
at the top of the Fader view.
3.Select a channel from the pop-up menu to show the 
settings for that channel in the open Channel Settings 
window.
•Alternatively, you can select a channel in the Mixer by 
clicking its channel strip (make sure not to click on a con
-
trol as this will change the respective parameter setting 
instead).
This selects the channel, and the Channel Settings window is updated.
•To open several Channel Settings windows at the same 
time, press [Alt]/[Option] and click the Edit buttons for the 
respective channels.
Making EQ settings
Each audio channel in Nuendo has a built-in parametric 
equalizer with up to four bands. There are several ways to 
view and adjust the EQs:
•By selecting one of the EQ display modes (“Show All 
Equalizers” or “Show All Equalizers with Curve”) for the 
extended channel strip in the Mixer. These modes contain 
the same settings but present them in different ways:
•By selecting the Equalizers or Equalizer Curve tab in the 
Inspector.
The Equalizers section is similar to the EQs mode in the extended Mixer or 
the Equalizers section in the Channel Settings window, while the Equalizer 
Curve section shows a display in which you can “draw” an EQ curve. Set
-ting EQ in the Inspector is only possible for track-based audio channels.
ÖBy default, only the Equalizers tab is shown. To display 
the Equalizer Curve tab, right-click on an Inspector tab 
(not in the empty area below the Inspector) and activate 
the Equalizer Curve option.
•By using the Channel Settings window.
This offers both parameter sliders and a clickable curve display (the 
Equalizer + Curve pane) and also lets you store and recall EQ presets.
!All channel settings are applied to both sides of a 
stereo channel.
In “Show All Equalizers” mode, the top value slider 
controls the gain, the middle controls frequency and 
the lower sets the filter type and the Q parameter for 
each EQ band.
In “Show All Equalizers with Curve” mode, EQ 
settings are shown as a curve. Parameters are set 
by clicking on the value and adjusting with the 
fader that appears. 
						

							165
The Mixer
Below we describe how to set up EQ in the Channel Set-
tings window, but the parameters are the same in the Mixer 
and Inspector (apart from the presets and reset function, 
which are not available in the Mixer).
The Equalizers + Curve pane in the Channel Settings win-
dow consists of four EQ modules with parameter sliders, 
an EQ curve display and some additional functions at the 
top.
Using the parameter controls
1.Activate an EQ module by clicking its On/Off button.
Although the modules have different default frequency values and differ-
ent Q names, they all have the same frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz). 
The only difference between the modules is that you can specify different 
filter types for each individual module (see below).
2.Set the amount of cut or boost with the gain control – 
the upper slider.
The range is ± 24 dB.
3.Set the desired frequency with the frequency slider.
This is the center frequency of the frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz) to 
be cut or boosted.
4.Click on the filter name above the bottom slider and 
select a filter type from the pop-up menu.
The “eq1” and “eq4” bands can act as parametric, shelving, or high/low-
pass filters, while “eq2” and “eq3” will always be parametric filters.
5.Set the Q value with the bottom slider.
This determines the width of the affected frequency range. Higher values 
give narrower frequency ranges.
6.To invert an EQ band (i. e. reflect the curve along the x 
axis), click the Inverse button to the right of its On/Off but
-
ton. This button is hidden when the EQ module is deacti-
vated.
This is very useful if you want to filter out unwanted noise. While looking 
for the frequency to omit, it sometimes helps to boost it in the first place 
(set the filter to positive gain). After you have found it, you can use the In
-
verse button to cancel it out.
7.If needed, you can activate and make settings for up to 
four modules.
•Note that you can edit the values numerically as well, by 
clicking in a value field and entering the desired gain, fre
-
quency, or Q value.
Using the curve display
When you activate EQ modules and make settings, you 
will see that your settings are automatically reflected in the 
curve display above. You can also make settings directly 
in the curve (or combine the two methods any way you 
like):
1.To activate an EQ module, click in the curve display.
This adds a curve point and one of the modules below is activated.
2.Make EQ settings by dragging the curve point in the 
display.
This allows you to adjust gain (drag up or down) and frequency (drag left 
or right).
3.To set the Q parameter, press [Shift] and drag the 
mouse up or down.
You will see the EQ curve become wider or narrower as you drag.
•You can also restrict the editing by pressing [Ctrl]/
[Command] (sets gain only) or [Alt]/[Option] (sets fre
-
quency only) while you drag the curve point.
4.To activate another EQ module, click somewhere else 
in the display and proceed as above.
5.To turn off an EQ module, double-click its curve point 
or drag it outside the display.
6.To invert the EQ curve (i. e. reflect it along the x axis), 
click the Inverse Equalizers button to the right of the curve 
display. 
						

							166
The Mixer
EQ bypass
Whenever one or several EQ modules are activated for a 
channel, the EQ button lights up in green in the Mixer 
channel strip, Inspector (Equalizer and Channel sections), 
track list, and Channel Settings window (top right corner 
of the EQ section).
You can also bypass all EQ modules. This is useful, as it 
allows you to compare the sound with and without EQ. 
Proceed as follows:
•In the Mixer, the track list and in the Channel section in 
the Inspector, click the EQs state button so that it turns 
yellow.
To deactivate EQ bypass, click the button again, so that it turns green 
again.
•In the Inspector (Equalizers tab) and in the Channel 
Settings window, click the Bypass button (next to the EQ 
button) so that it turns yellow.
Click again to deactivate EQ bypass mode.
Left: EQ bypass in the Mixer; Right: EQ bypass in the Channel Settings 
window or the Inspector
EQ reset
On the Presets pop-up menu in the Channel Settings win-
dow and in the Inspector, you will find the Reset command. 
Select this to turn off all EQ modules and reset all EQ pa
-
rameters to their default values.
Using EQ presets
Some useful basic presets are included with the program. 
You can use them as they are, or as a starting point for fur
-
ther “tweaking”. 
•To call up a preset, pull down the presets pop-up menu 
in the Channel Settings window or in the Inspector and 
select one of the available presets.
•To store the current EQ settings as a preset, select 
“Save Preset…” from the Presets pop-up menu and enter 
the desired name for the preset in the dialog that opens.
•To rename the selected preset, select “Rename Preset” 
on the pop-up menu and enter a new name.
•To delete the selected preset, select “Remove Preset” 
on the pop-up menu.
ÖYou can also apply EQ (and Inserts) settings from 
track presets, see 
“Applying inserts and EQ settings from 
track presets” on page 359.
EQ in the channel overview
If the Channel section is selected in the Inspector or if the 
Overview section is displayed in the extended Mixer view, 
you will get an overview of which EQ modules, insert ef
-
fects and sends are activated for the channel.
By clicking on any of the module numbers (1 to 4), you 
can turn the corresponding EQ module on or off.
The channel overview in the extended Mixer view
Copying settings between audio channels
It is possible to copy all channel settings for an audio 
channel and paste them to one or several other channels. 
This applies to all audio-based channel types. For exam
-
ple, you can copy EQ settings from an audio track and ap-
ply these to a group or VST instrument channel, if you 
want them to have the same sound.  
						

							167
The Mixer
Proceed as follows:
1.In the Mixer, select the channel you want to copy set-
tings from.
2.On the common panel, click the “Copy First Selected 
Channel’s Settings” button.
3.Select the channel(s) you want to copy the settings to 
and click the “Paste Settings to Selected Channels” but
-
ton (below the “Copy First Selected Channel Settings” 
button).
The settings are applied to the selected channel(s).
You can copy channel settings between different types of 
channels, but only those channels will be used for which 
corresponding settings are available in the target channel:
• For example, since input/output channels do not have send ef-
fects, copying from them will leave the sends settings in the 
target channel unaffected.
• Also, in case of surround sound, any insert effects routed to 
surround speaker channels become muted when the settings 
are pasted to a mono or stereo channel.
Initialize Channel and Reset Mixer
The Initialize Channel button can be found in the lower 
part of the Control Strip section in the Channel Settings 
window. (If this section is not shown in the Channel Set
-
tings window, open the context menu and select “Control 
Strip” on the Customize View submenu.) Initialize Channel 
resets the selected channel to the default settings. 
Similarly, the Mixer common panel holds a Reset Mixer/
Reset Channels button. When you click this, you will be 
asked whether you want to reset all channels or just the 
selected channels.
The default settings are:
• All EQ, insert and send effect settings are deactivated and 
reset.
• Solo/Mute is deactivated.
• The fader is set to 0 dB.
• Pan is set to center position.
Changing the meter characteristics 
On the Mixer context menu, there is a submenu named 
“Global Meter Settings”. Here you can make settings for 
the preferred meter characteristics, with the following op
-
tions:
•If Hold Peaks is activated, the highest registered levels 
are “held” and are shown as static horizontal lines in the 
meter.
Note that you can turn this on or off by clicking in any audio level meter in 
the Mixer.
•If Hold Forever is activated, the peak levels are shown 
until meters are reset (by clicking the numerical peak dis
-
play below the meter).
If Hold Forever is off, you can use the parameter “Meters’ Peak Hold 
Time” in the Preferences dialog (VST–Metering page) to specify for how 
long the peak levels will be held. The peak hold time can be between 
500 and 30000
 ms.
•If Meter Input is activated, meters show input levels for 
all audio channels and input/output channels. 
Note that the input meters are post input gain.
•If “Meter Post-Fader” is activated, meters show post-
fader levels.
This is the default setting for channels in the Mixer.
•There is also a “Meter Post-Panner” mode.
This is similar to “Meter Post-Fader”, but the meters will reflect pan set-
tings as well.
•If Fast Release is activated, the meters respond very 
quickly to level peaks. If Fast Release is deactivated, the 
meters respond more like standard meters.
You can set the time it takes for the meters to “fall back” in the Prefer-
ences dialog (VST–Metering page).
Hold Peaks is activated. The 
highest registered level is 
displayed in the meter. 
						

							168
The Mixer
Saving and loading Mixer settings
It is possible to save complete Mixer settings for all or all se-
lected audio-related channels in the Mixer. These can later 
be loaded into any project. Channel settings are saved as 
Mixer settings files. These have the file extension “.vmx”. 
Saving selected channels or all Mixer settings
Right-clicking somewhere in the Mixer panel or in the 
Channel Settings window brings up the context menu 
where the following Save options can be found:
•“Save Selected Channels” will save all channel settings 
for the selected channels.
Input/output routing is not saved.
•“Save All Mixer Settings” saves all channel settings for 
all channels.
When you select any of the above options, a standard file 
dialog opens where you can select a name and storage lo
-
cation on your disk for the file.
Loading selected channels
To load Mixer settings saved for selected channels, pro-
ceed as follows:
1.Select the same number of channels as when you 
saved your Mixer settings.
•The Mixer settings are applied in the same order as they 
were saved.
For example, if you save the settings for channels 4, 6 and 8, and apply 
these settings to channels 1, 2 and 3, the settings saved for channel 4 
are applied to channel 1, the settings saved for channel 6 to channel 2, 
and so on.
2.Open the Mixer context menu and select “Load Se-
lected Channels”.
A standard file dialog opens, allowing you to locate the saved file.
3.Select the file and click Open.
The channel settings are applied to the selected channels.
Loading all Mixer settings
Selecting “Load All Mixer Settings” from the context menu 
allows you to open a saved Mixer settings file, and have 
the stored settings applied to all channels for which infor
-
mation is included in the file. All channels, output settings, 
VST instruments, sends and “master” effects will be af
-
fected.
Routing
When you play back an audio track (or any other audio-re-
lated channel), you route it to an output bus. In the same 
way, when you record on an audio track you select from 
which input bus the audio is received.
The input and output routing for a channel can be set up 
via the Inspector or the Mixer. For large projects, it is con
-
venient to use the Mixer for this, since it allows you to set 
inputs and outputs for multiple channels at the same time. 
In postproduction projects it might even be necessary to 
send signals to several outputs at once. This can easily be 
achieved using the Direct Routing features, see 
“Direct 
Routing” on page 171.
!When applying Mixer settings to fewer channels than 
Mixer settings available in the saved file, some of the 
saved settings are not needed and will be “left over”. 
Since the saved settings are applied from “left to 
right” (as shown in the Mixer), the settings for the 
channels furthest to the right are the ones that are 
not applied to any channels.
!This function does not automatically add channels! 
For example, if the saved Mixer settings are for 24 
channels, and the Mixer you apply it to contains 16 
channels, only the settings for channels 1 to 16 are 
applied. 
						

							169
The Mixer
•In the Inspector, you can select input and output busses 
using the Input and Output Routing pop-up menus.
•In the Mixer, you can select busses in the routing panel 
at the top of each channel strip.
For more information about the routing panel, see “Normal vs. extended channel strips” on page 154.
•If you press [Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] and select an input or 
output bus in the track list or the routing panel in the Mixer, 
it will be chosen for all selected channels.
This makes it easy to quickly set several channels to use the same input 
or output. Similarly, if you press [Shift] and select a bus, the following se-
lected channels will be set to use incrementing busses – the second se-
lected channel will use the second bus, the third will use the third bus 
and so on.
ÖFor audio-related channel types other than audio track 
channels (i.
 e. VST instrument channels, ReWire channels, 
group channels, and FX channels), only the Output Rout
-
ing pop-up menu is available.
When selecting an input bus for a track you can only se-
lect busses that correspond to the track’s channel config-
uration. Here are the details for input busses:
• Mono tracks can be routed to mono input busses or individual 
channels within a stereo or surround input bus.
• Mono tracks can be routed to External Inputs configured on 
the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. These can be 
mono or individual channels within a stereo or surround bus. 
They can also be routed to the Talkback input.
• Mono tracks can also be routed to mono output busses, mono 
group output busses or mono FX channel output busses, pro
-
vided that these will not lead to feedback.
• Stereo tracks can be routed to mono input busses, stereo in-
put busses or stereo child busses within a surround bus.
• Stereo tracks can be routed to External Inputs that are config-
ured in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. These 
can be mono input busses or stereo input busses. They can 
also be routed to the Talkback input.
• Stereo tracks can also be routed to mono or stereo output 
busses, mono or stereo group output busses and mono or 
stereo FX channel output busses, provided that these will not 
lead to feedback.
• Surround tracks can be routed to surround input busses.
• Surround tracks can be routed to External Inputs that are con-
figured in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window, 
provided that these have the same input configuration. 
• Surround tracks can also be routed to output busses, pro-
vided that these have the same input configuration or will not 
lead to feedback.
For output busses any assignment is possible.
To disconnect input or output bus assignments, select 
“No Bus” from the corresponding pop-up menu.
Routing audio to output busses in the Mixer
Output busses let you route audio from the program to the 
outputs on your audio hardware. To route the output of an 
audio channel to one of the active busses, proceed as fol
-
lows:
1.Make sure that the routing panel is visible (see “Nor-
mal vs. extended channel strips” on page 154).
2.Pull down the Output Routing pop-up menu at the top 
of the channel strip and select one of the busses.
This pop-up menu contains the output busses configured in the VST 
Connections window, as well as available group channels (provided that 
the busses and groups are compatible with the speaker configuration for 
the channel – see 
“Routing” on page 168).
For details on routing surround channels, see “Routing” 
on page 229.
!Assignments that will lead to feedback are not avail-
able in the pop-up menu. This is also indicated by a 
one-way symbol. 
						

							170
The Mixer
ÖYou can also create sends that can be routed to other 
output channels. This can be useful when creating quick 
headphone mixes from the current monitor mix or to create 
a downmix of a surround mix. This is done by creating a 
send from the current monitor output bus, assigned to an
-
other output bus connected to a headphone amplifier.
Using group channels
You can route the outputs from multiple audio channels to 
a group. This enables you to control the channel levels us
-
ing one fader, apply the same effects and equalization to 
all the channels, etc.
For example, group channels can be used as “effect 
racks” (see the chapter 
“Audio effects” on page 195) or 
for pre-mixing purposes (i. e. stems) in a postproduction 
scenario (see 
“Direct Routing” on page 171).
To set up a group channel, proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the Project menu, open the Add Track sub-
menu and select the “Group Channel…” option.
2.Select the desired channel configuration and click the 
Add Track button.
A group channel track is added to the track list and a corresponding 
group channel strip is added to the Mixer. By default, the first group 
channel strip is labeled “Group 1”, but you can rename it just like any 
channel in the Mixer.
3.Pull down the Output Routing pop-up menu for a 
channel you want to route to the group channel, and se
-
lect the group channel.
The output of the audio channel is now redirected to the selected group.
4.Do the same for the other channels you wish to route 
to the group.
Settings for group channels
The group channel strips are almost identical to audio 
channel strips in the Mixer. The descriptions of the Mixer 
features earlier in this chapter apply to group channels as 
well. Some things to note:
•You can route the output of a group to an audio channel 
(see 
“Recording from busses” on page 95), to an output 
bus or to another group.
You cannot route a group to itself.
•There are no Input Routing pop-up menus, Monitor but-
tons or Record Enable buttons for group channels.
•Solo functionality is automatically linked for channels 
routed to a group and the group channel itself.
This means that if you solo a group channel, all channels routed to the 
group are automatically soloed as well. Similarly, soloing a channel 
routed to a group will automatically solo the group channel.
•Mute functionality depends on the “Group Channels: 
Mute Sources as well” setting in the Preferences dialog 
(VST page).
By default, when you mute a group channel, no audio will 
pass through the group. However, other channels that are 
routed directly to that group channel will remain unmuted. 
If any of those channels have aux sends routed to other 
group channels, FX channels or output busses, those will 
still be heard.
If the “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” option is 
activated in the Preferences dialog (VST page), muting a 
group channel will cause all other channels directly routed 
to it to be muted as well. Clicking the Mute button again 
will unmute the group channel and all other channels di
-
rectly routed to it. Channels that were muted prior to the 
group channel being muted will not remember their mute 
state and become unmuted with the group channel.
!You can select a group channel as input for an audio 
track, e.
 g. to record a downmix of separate tracks 
(see 
“Recording from busses” on page 95).!The “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” option 
does not affect how mute automation is written. Writ
-
ing mute automation for a group channel only affects 
the group channel and not the channels routed to it. 
When writing automation, you will see the other 
channels being muted as well upon muting a group 
channel. However, during playback, only the group 
channel will respond to the automation.