Stereo bus channels

[Beermusic]

Is it possible to reroute the stereo buss to channels other than 17/18 for use from the DAW? I can overcome it by sending a channel from Logic to mono channel 17 etc but get the stereo mix through underneath unless those channels are muted in the DAW

in other words, how do you return DAW channels 1-16 back to the dm3200 channels 17-32 and send the LOgic stereo mix to the next layer ie 33-34?

 

[Peter Batah]

@Beermusic. You can route your DAW's stereo bus to almost any channel on your DM as far as I know. At the moment my stereo bus is routed back to channels 63-64 on my 4800. I have read that many 3200 users will route back to channels 31-32 (which is what I used to do when I owned a 3200). It is fairly simple once you wrap your head around the DM's routing capabilities.

You can route channels 1-16 to channels 17-32 in much the same way. I send channels 1-16 out from my DAW and have them return on channels 25-40 (and so on) It is all in the routing.

 

[Beermusic]

Thanks Peter just figuring out why nothing changing when altering the stereo output channel in Logic. Next thing will be to figure out how to send the DM mix back to The DAW

 

[Peter Batah]

@Beermusic If the routing is not setup correctly you will not get any signal at the DM. I am not in front of my gear at the moment. Later on I can send you a few screen shots showing you how my stereo bus leaves Logic and gets monitored at my 4800. If you get things working before then, please let me know. Best of luck!

 

[skier]

Peter is correct: you can route almost anything to any channel in the DM. You need to map channels 1-16 from Logic to whatever Firewire channels you want to use, let’s say 1-16 on Firewire. Then, in the DM, route Firewire channels 1-16 to DM channels 17-32. Similarly, map Logic’s stereo output to 2 additional Firewire channels, such as to Firewire 31-32; finally, route those Firewire channels in the DM to 33-34.

 

[Beermusic]

Skier thanks you are legend (and Peter) that was the missing link - rerouting within DM which I had not done. All good and as I needed ie 1-16 set with input sources, coming back 17-32. The only remaining thing is to get the mix back to Logic with all the channel processing done in the DM, but will try sending via 33/34.

 

[Beermusic]

@Beermusic If the routing is not setup correctly you will not get any signal at the DM. I am not in front of my gear at the moment. Later on I can send you a few screen shots showing you how my stereo bus leaves Logic and gets monitored at my 4800. If you get things working before then, please let me know. Best of luck!

@Peter Batah If its not a pain to do I would really appreciate seeing how you have things set up at your end just to check i'm doing things properly... this board presents a true Eureka moment each day, feels like progress..

 

[skier]

Glad to hear you’ve got it going. And you’re very welcome! The DM is a wonderful desk! At this time, mine is working great, but I’m concerned what I’ll have to do when it does start to give me problems, especially because Tascam doesn’t support it anymore and has not released a replacement desk.

I really love working with a capable mixer and it seems many today are content to work only in the box and with just a mouse or a small control surface. Perhaps I’m showing my age.

 

[Arjan P]

The only remaining thing is to get the mix back to Logic with all the channel processing done in the DM, but will try sending via 33/34.

For that you need to send the DM Stereo output to Logic, and that's not ch 33/34. Go to the Output Slot page in the DM, and select Stereo L/R for two of the FW channels in the left box. The left box shows groups of 8 that you can change through the middle selection, so the first page shows FW channels 1-8, second 9-16 etc so if you want to use FW channels 31/32 go to set 4 and assign Stereo L and R to the lower two channels.

 

[Beermusic]

@Arjan P Thank you I shall try this path

 

[Headroom]

I have 24 channels coming back from my DAW to ch 25/48 on my DM4800. The stereo output from the DM goes through FW ch25/26 back into the DAW, to a stereo track I call Mix. Nothing special so far.
The Mix output from the DAW goes back again to the DM through FW ch 27/28 and using input bypass once again back to the DAW through FW ch 27/28 to a stereo track I call Master. The master track finally goes to DM's ch 63/63 and can be monitored via two Aux's.
In this wayI can use plugins on my Mix track and record immediatly on my Master track.

 

[skier]

It’s interesting how we each use our equipment in different ways. In my case, I use a Focusrite pre-amp and the 24 mic/line inputs of my DM for all inputs into Pro Tools. I’ve removed all but one patch bay, but also use the DM as the primary routing hub of the studio. Even the Focusrite feeds its 8 channels into the ADAT input of the DM. While that gives me 32 simultaneous channels in, I’ve never needed that many at one time. In fact, more normal is one to a dozen channels at a time as I layer parts in my own compositions or of friends that I’m recording. So, all input comes into the DM and out to PT and my normal template is for 1-16 in and through to PT.

I then bring the output of 14 of those channels on channels 17-30 and the stereo mix on 33/34. Occasionally, I want to use the DM’s wonderful (at least to my ears) TC Works reverb or some other DM effect and it’s easy to add that to a specific channel(s). I also use the DM’s EQ on the stereo mix as it goes out to my monitors to “tweak” and compensate for the room a little.

So, signals go in through the DM to PT, are mixed and processed there, and then come back through the DM for any final processing. It even allows me to see the returns of the individual channels on the DM’s meter bridge which feels more natural to me than seeing them only on my monitor screens.

I guess what this actually shows as I consider my setup and those of other forum members is just how flexible the DM is.

 

[Beermusic]

@Arjan P thank you i now have this set up as required, 1-16 channels for instrument/mic inputs, with DAW channels 1-30 coming back on 17-46 and the daw stereo mix coming back to 47 and 48 on the DM.

I have output the DM stereo mix back to the DAW using slots 31 and 32 which sends signal fine, however I cannot hear this mix anymore within the board. Where is the DM Stereo mix routed to, or in other words, how would I be able to send the DM mix (ie to monitor what is going back to the DAW to be recorded to a track as a final mix) to say, channels 46 and 47?

Sorry to keep asking questions, but am presuming my setup would be quite common for many newbie users ie working as project/writing studio with only one or two musicians tracking into DAW and back.

 

[Peter Batah]

@Beermusic Sounds like things are finally looking up. Great to hear!

 

[Arjan P]

I have output the DM stereo mix back to the DAW using slots 31 and 32 which sends signal fine, however I cannot hear this mix anymore within the board. Where is the DM Stereo mix routed to, or in other words, how would I be able to send the DM mix (ie to monitor what is going back to the DAW to be recorded to a track as a final mix) to say, channels 46 and 47?

I don't quite see what you mean.. Your DM Stereo mix is output to the main XLR outputs and normally also to the monitor ouputs (including headphone out). The fact that you also send it out to FW 31/32 doesn't change this. You don't want to put the stereo mix on another set of channels since that would create major feedback - or I don't quite understand what you mean?

 

[Beermusic]

@Arjan P i mean that when I route the DM mix out to logic via the output slot as advised, I can no longer hear it. My routing set up is only basic as above, but I am unclear why I have lost monitoring of the dm stereo mix. In other words, does the DM STEREO mix sit on any particular channel or bus channel or have I simply made an error in the routing somewhere?

 

[Peter Batah]

@Beermusic It may be the way that you have monitoring routing setup in Logic. I would explore that a little deeper if I were you.

 

[skier]

Beermusic, I have to agree with Arjan that your question is not clear, at least to us. Any mixing you do in the DM results with that mix going onto the stereo bus, and that is always connected to the Stereo Output XLR jacks. The monitor mix can be sourced from several sources, though the default is from the Stereo Bus. But you can also monitor any 2 Aux Sends, any 2 busses, etc.

 

[skier]

Ahhh! I just re-read your question several times and realized something: you're trying to monitor the stereo signal from two other channels. (You say 46/47 in your example, and you could do that, but 47/48 would be more natural.) If that’s what you want to do, here’s how you do it:

You still have to map your stereo output in Logic to any two Firewire channels. Then route those two Firewire channels to the DM channels you want, such as 47/48. Now, you can further process the signal here with EQ, compression, or effects on these channels in any combination you want – this is how I perform some light EQ in my studio to compensate for my Control Room, namely, I boost the top end slightly and all my mixes benefit from that when I’m monitoring them for frequency balance.

So, if you did what I said above in my example and sent the two Firewire channels with your stereo signal from Logic to channels 47/48 in the DM, you now need to send them to a set of physical output jacks that will ultimately connect to your speakers - usually, that's through your DM's Monitor section. Your options here are as mentioned in my previous post: the Stereo Bus, the Aux Sends, or the Busses – these are sources you can select in the monitor section which drives your speakers.

I know one guy (using a different mixer) that doesn't like that mixer's monitor section, so he uses a Presonus Monitor Station I believe. In his case, he sends the stereo signal out a couple of sends to the monitor station and that feeds his speakers. But I think this gives you the idea that you can send any signal or pair of signals (stereo) to almost any output you desire.

As you can see, getting signals around your DAW and the DM is all about mapping. It’s important to first define your source (usually your DAW) and your destination (usually your speakers). Then, you map the path between those two. This path can be simple, short, and direct. Or you can map a longer path to allow you to monitor your mix or even send output to multiple sources, such as through sends for effects, the busses for some parallel processing, the monitor speakers for listening to it all, a recording device (CD, tape, etc.) and one or more cue sends to the talent.

I’m now suspecting that you haven’t “assembled” a complete path to your monitors and that is why you’re not getting any sound. If I’m totally wrong in my conclusion of your problem (wouldn’t be the first time nor the last), please try describing the problem again with as much detail as you can and we’ll try to help.

 

[Arjan P]

I'm lost here.. But I'm glad @skier gets it. Let us know how you go!