Headphone monitoring Sub channel without recording to Main

[Jovian Patrick]

Hi. Just got my model 12 and think I'll be happy with it.. But as I'm doing dubby soundscape work I'm struggling with how to use it as an instrument.
Setting MTR to Post EQ works great for real time tweaks on compressor and EQ, but I'd also like to capture the adjustments of the fader and the aux sends (both internal fx and outboard gear).
Here's the exact scenario:
I've got a synth plugged into channel 1.
So I can bounce the master mix (11/12) down to another channel pair, say 5/6, which works fine, but if I want to record another layer from channel 1 and listen to what's on 5/6, 11/12 will now contain the sum of both performances, which is not what I want. I want individually mixed stems.
There's a secondary bus (SUB), which would solve my problems if I could send the channels I only want to hear but not record there, but the only way I seem to be able to hear it is by routing SUB to Main, which ends up with the exact same result.

I see that some people use a headphone mixer or I could buy an extra pair of monitors, but I feel like I'm missing something simpler. Besides I lack space and I've maxed out my gear budget for a while after acquiring my new recording buddy

Any help for a confused newbie would be much appreciated

 

[Max Relic]

Welcome. After the first layer is recorded use SWAP to move the content of tracks 11/12 to another stereo track, say 7/8 or 9/10 (5 and 6 are mono). Attach your monitors to SUB output and use the SUB buttons to assign the channels you want to hear. Use the Main buttons to assign the channels you want to record. This leaves Aux busses available for additional fx processing.

Edit: For some reason I missed the "headphone" in the title and assumed you were monitoring with speakers. Ok, currently it's not possible to hear the SUB bus in your headphone but workarounds are possible:
1 - use the SOLO buttons, check menu option MIXER > SOLO MODE > PFL; it's pre-fader, so full level;
2 - use Aux1 as monitor send; check Aux Level knob (n. 39) and switch (n. 36);
3 - use the SUB bus to gather the channels to be monitored, connect the output to a free channel of the mixer and use the SOLO to send it to the headphones; its Main and SUB switches must be off, also the Assign SUB to Main should be off.
In all of the above you can use CH.1 insert jack (half-plugged!) as an additional effects send to outboard gear for parallel processing.

 

[-mjk-]

@Max Relic what would we do without you? Your technical expertise on the Model series is a treasure!

 

[Jovian Patrick]

Thanks so much Max. That was very useful. Hopefully Tascam adds a way to listen to the SUB bus on phones via firmware update.
Meanwhile, using the solo buttons has got me most of the way there.
To record a new layer while I monitor the other layers requires I turn AFL on for the FX and set the LIVE layer to send to both main and solo, leaving the prerecorded MTR layers with solo on only.
After bouncing the newly recorded layer down, before playback I turn everything back to default settings.
The only issue with this is that I can't hear any changes made to the fader or pan until playback... I'm guessing it solos in Mono and of course solo is output prefade so that makes sense.
This is where using the SUB would be preferable.. but it's enough to have some fun before I wrangle in the rest of my gear..

 

[Max Relic]

@Max Relic what would we do without you? Your technical expertise on the Model series is a treasure!

Nothing special: reading manuals and doing some experiment, anyone can make it Thanks to you and the great people here for sharing real world knowledge.