896mk3 Bus Questions

[02R96]

I’m having trouble understanding bus routing in my 896mk3. I’ve used several consoles and I understand the concept of how buses work, but I’m missing something with how this device operates.

Here is my configuration: the 896 is the hub that all my equipment is tied to:
Analog 1/2 - PC Line In and Out
Analog 3/4 - Cassette Player
Analog 5/6 - Reel-2-Reel
S/PDIF - CD-Player
Mains to Outboard Amp.
Firewire back to PC.

I’m using Audacity as my recording platform. In the MOTU Console I have the Return set to Main 1-2. I can play the R2R, hear it through the mains, but Audacity records nothing. Is the return path thru the Firewire interface? If the return is supposed to mirror the assigned output, why doesn’t Audacity hear it even when it’s input is set to “Stereo Mix” or “What You Hear”? The only successful recording I can do is if the source is the PC.

The only Buss I have set in CueMix is Bus 1 = Main 1-2

I did RTFM and there is nothing that explains how set the destination of the bus. I can assign an output to a bus but then where does the buss go and how do you set it? Right now it seems like they are all summed to the main, which then I don’t see why I have to assign the main out to a buss!

So for $100,000 and the championship, what am I missing?

[mandobilly64]

Well, I know nothing of Audacity but in Cubase or Wavelab both of which I use with my 828 Mk3, you must set-up the inputs to correspond to the bus you've selected. So if as you said you're using Main Outs 1-2 for your bus, then somewhere in Audacity you must set those to be your inputs. Cuemix FX is merely a headphone/monitoring program for direct monitoring of your inputs and really has nothing to do with recording, except for the fact that whatever eq or compression you apply at the input stage will be recorded.
In Cubase, I had to go to VST connections and add a buss to the inputs tab, and also to the outputs tab if you want to listen back to what you've recorded. You can add as many inputs as your interface allows ( so long as your recording software allows). You then have to set-up what input 1 and input 2 are assigned to. For instance I have a preset for 20 tracks, inputs 1-8 go with the analog inputs on my motu, 9-10 are the mic/guitar inputs, 11-18 are ADAT inputs, 19-20 are SPDIF.
I hope this helps you.
Peace,
Billy