What am I actually monitoring?

[Neil Eckstein]

Geez. I've been digging into this board big time. This thing is awesome.

The current problem I've noticed has to do with monitoring.

I've got a couple of questions here.

1. I've noticed that when listening to the live signal, you can still hear the audio even when you don't have an outlined signal path. For instance, if I just turn off the Stereo shortcut, as well as the direct (in the output assign), I can still hear the mic. However, once I hit that Stereo button the signal increases quite a bit. The reason this troubles me is because I'm assuming it means I'm hearing the audio from more than one path which means I'm not necessarily monitoring what I am recording. So my question is: huh?

2. Maybe this is the same question, maybe not: Is everything in the board automatically routed to the Hard Monitor Outs?

Thanks for helping with my vast ignorance.

 

[Arjan P]

That can be tricky indeed and I think we've all been victim to multiple routings of a single source before. I always check all layers on the display (use meter/fader button). After checking signal coming in to more than one channel, go to the Routing page and check for the source of these channels.

Also, don't forget the signal could be sent through an effect send, which could also account for the 'same' signal being present on several channels.

And as an addition to your last question: Nothing in this board is automatically routed to hard monitor outs - unless you want everything to be so. It's the most flexibly routeable mixer I've ever come across.

 

[skier]

Arjan's response is spot on! And as you've realized, one of the most fantastic aspects of this board is the fact that anything can be routed to anything else. Now, that can be both a blessing or a curse.

As a blessing, you not only can route anything to anything, you can route to multiple destinations. So you can send an input, such as a guitar, into your DAW and also send it directly through a sound-effects chain and to an amp so the guitarist can hear the instrument with effects for inspiration, yet record it "clean" so as to be able to edit it in a product, such as Melodyne (you can't really edit a performance that has effects added), and also re-amp it later if necessary. Another great ability is that you can take a signal into the board in one protocol (e.g. mic level analog, and output it in a different protocol (toslink optical, or in as AES EBU and out as SPIDF, TRS line level, or TDIF, etc.)

As a curse, you can have what sounds like your possible current issue, that the same source is coming through multiple paths affecting levels, and potentially effects that you can't figure out how to turn off. You can even hurt your hearing or damage your monitors if levels are too high with feedback which can occur when we get the routing wrong. Therefore, you really want to delve into the nuances of understand routing; the implications are so vast and important.

FWIW, I think I understand routing in this board rather well, yet will occasionally re-read the routing section because the implications are so vast and important, and I usually learn something. (Of course, it could be just another of my many limited, mental shortcomings, but I don't want to discuss that).

I hope this helps.

 

[Gerk]

By default I believe that Bus 1&2 are routed to stereo and that all channels are set to send to bus 1&2, this one has made me scratch my head a few times as well. Hope this helps, that's where I would start in your situation.