Using Plug-In Effects As Inserts - PRESONUS STUDIOLIVE 16.4.2 - V1.12 User Manual

3 Recording
3.3 Using Your StudioLive as an Audio Interface
Using Plug-Ins Effects as Inserts
3.3.2
The FireWire streaming on your StudioLive is continuously bidirectional. This means that the
StudioLive is always sending signals from the 16 direct FireWire sends on each input channel,
as well as from the auxiliary inputs and buses assigned to the second bank of 16 FireWire sends.
At the same time, it is receiving signals back from the 18 FireWire returns. Because the FireWire
returns always come back to their respective channels on the StudioLive, you can quickly insert a
plug-in from your recording application into any channel strip and monitor it in real time.
In this example, we will insert a Mono Delay
plug-in from Apple's Logic™ 8 application onto
Channel 16 of the StudioLive. To begin, create
a mono audio track. Assign its input to Channel
16 and its output to Output 16. (Note: because
Logic does not offer mono output buses, in this case we are routing this stream to channels 15-16
and panning the channel all the way to the right so that it will only be sent to output 16. Several
other applications use this type of bus routing, as well. Please consult your software's user manual
for specific instructions.)
Once you have the routing set up in Logic,
record-arm the track and insert the desired
plug-in. Press the FireWire Return Input button
on your StudioLive. You can now monitor your
analog signal with your inserted effect as you
record.
A Quick Note on Printing Fat Channel Dynamics and EQ:
Using the Fat Channel dynamics processing and EQ during post-production is obviously desirable.
The question is how to print these changes to your recording. An easy way to do this is through
the subgroup FireWire returns. Begin by routing a playback stream to an individual channel on the
StudioLive from within your recording application. With the FireWire return selected as the signal
source for that channel on your StudioLive, press its Select button and assign it to a subgroup bus,
ensuring that only that channel is routed to the subgroup. You can then process the playback stream
through the Fat Channel for both the individual channel and for the subgroup. In your recording
software, assign the subgroup as an input source for a new track and record it. The unprocessed
track can then either be removed from the session or used in tandem with the processed track as
an effect. The flexible routing and mixing capability of the StudioLive provides you with an arsenal
of tools previously unavailable to "in the box" mixes. Don't be afraid to test the limits of modern
mixing techniques and to create a few of your own.
Note: The Dig Out button does not function when you have a FireWire Return selected as an input source. If Dig Out is enabled, any
Aux, Subgroup, and the Main bus to which it is routed will not
receive the post Fat Channel signal. The unprocessed signal will
still be routed to these buses, as well as to the FireWire bus, but
the Fat Channel dynamics and EQ will not. If you wish to add Fat
Channel dynamics to a FireWire return, you must disable Dig Out.
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