Cuemix and the magical invisible button

[graveleye]

Hi folks, first post here so go easy on me. I've been working with Pro Tools for over ten years, so I'm familiar with DAWs, but I just upgraded my studio to an i7 PC, PT10 and a MOTU 896mk3 hybrid and it's blowing my mind.

First off, I've never used anything like Cuemix before. With my old system, you turned it on, started Pro Tools, arm the track and record. Cuemix seems to be a lot more hoops to jump through, and I don't mind doing it if it makes my life easier. The problem is, despite reading the manual, I don't know what the heck I am doing!

1st issue is latency. One thing I notice is that when I turn on LLM in PT, I cannot hear my armed tracks. Turn LLM off and they come back, yet with latency. I've cut the sample rate to 64 so it's not too bad, but I thought that I would be able to use Cuemix for no latency monitoring.

The thing is, though I have Cuemix open, I can't figure out how to activate it for this zero latency monitoring. I know it's not complicated, but I am so birdbrained that I am missing something. I can't make the reverb/eq/compressor work on my tracks... nothing. Not that I really need them since I record dry anyway. I have been able to adjust levels and so forth, but I just feel like I am definitely missing something, between my feeble brain and my total unfamiliarity with virtual mixer/controller.

Also, I am trying to route a headphone amp out of outs 1 and 2. According to the manual, I am doing it right in Cuemix, except... it ain't working!

I can get by without Cuemix of course,since I am used to recording without things like that anyway, but why not take advantage of what it can do.

The manual is good, but it tends to tell what the device can do rather than how to do it. I need someone to take me to kindergarten, hold my hand and show me how to do this. I am missing the magical button and I feel totally stupid.

I'll appreciate any help I can get,

Thanks,

Kev

[4stripes]

CueMix is just a mixer. Think of it as having a Mackie, before and after your Pro Tools.

Your PT settings have nothing to do with CueMix (LLM, plugins, etc). Anything you do in PT doesn't affect CueMix--because it's a totally different mixer.

When you use CueMix for its zero latency monitoring, it's as if your PT is not even there. You normally would not use PT input monitoring if you're also using CueMix monitoring. You just bus an input back to an output in CueMix. This is what all the "Mixers" are for, when they refer to CueMix as a "stereo 8 bus mixer."

You have to turn the compressors and EQ on first before they will work on your inputs.

I suggest watching some videos and finding other resources: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CH ... use+CueMix

[graveleye]

I'll keep working with it. I've just never encountered anything like this before in a DAW so it's new and alien to me.

[bayswater]

But Cuemix is not a DAW. 4Stripes has it exactly right. Your 896 is a big mixer with converters stuck in a small box, and Cuemix is simply the knobs, switches and sliders. If you just think about the signal path of a standard hardware mixer with outputs and inputs to and from a tape deck, it will all make sense.

[graveleye]

so... basically if I have the Cuemix program open, it is on, right?
I guess that one thing that is throwing me is that one of the first thing I tried to do with it is hook up my headphone amp. Intuition tells me to make a mix and buss to 1-2 out to the headphone amp. That didn't work. I didn't get a signal. The only signal I got was the instruments I was playing at the time.... so I guess it is working, just not how I want it to. Any ideas how to get the rest of the mix to go to the amp as well?

I am still working on things that I started on with my old system, so I need to be able to have those tracks working. My wife and I also use all our previously recorded drum tracks to practice with when the drummer isn't around, and I haven't figured how to get those tracks into the amp... unless I run a stereo cord from the headphone jack in the front to the amp. I don't really like wires hanging from the front of my rack but if that works I guess it will have to do. At least I have two headphone jacks for now.... I will need more eventually though.

I appreciate your patience while I get my brain wrapped around this new concept. Been recording for over 25 years now and I should be used to new ways of doing things by now. Also, I am certainly not dissing my new MOTU unit. I love it so far!!

[bayswater]

so... basically if I have the Cuemix program open, it is on, right?

It might make more sense to say that if you have the 896 powered up, it is on, and configurable through the buttons on the front panel. If you are not too keen on using these buttons, you can use Cuemix instead. Think of Cuemix as a set of virtual controls for the 896.

As for headphone mixes, I'm not sure how the 896 handles things. On the 828 I can go to the Mixes Tab in Cuemix FX and select an output bus near the right end. One of the output busses is Phones. Set levels, effects, and pan for each physical input (in the Inputs Tab) on the 828, and that mix will go to the Phones output. Also check the Phones menu in Cuemix to make sure it mirrors the correct pair. You can also use this menu to mirror the main output to the Phones. For multiple phones mixes do the same thing but use additional busses in the Mixes tab.

That's what you'd do to "monitor through the mixer". If you want to monitor what's happening in PT, that's done entirely in PT. As mentioned above, the mixer in PT and the mixer represented in Cuemix are two different things.

[NazRat]

Use the track sends in PT to route the already recorded audio tracks to the monitor mix - i.e. send to Analog 1-2. It's basically a combination of PT and CueMix. CueMix just gives you no latency monitoring of what you are recording while PT gives you what you've already recorded. Create an new session in PT from one of the Record-Mix templates and set the output of the headphone Aux to analog 1-2. That should give you a better idea of how they work together.

[graveleye]

ok folks... now I'm getting somewhere. I really appreciate the tips and I can't wait to get home to try it out. I'm sure I will have more questions though:)
Cheers!

[graveleye]

BTW, I have been working Cuemix now and have a better understanding of it. One thing that is bugging me though is that I am still not experiencing the zero latency monitoring. It still has the chorusy sounding thing on my vocals. Keep in mind that I've had 10 years of working with a Digi 001, and there was ZERO latency, so that is what I am used to. I record dry, so I couldn't care less about plugins when I am laying down tracks. But I certainly do not like even the slightest amount of latency.
What am I doing wrong? Is there a PT 10 setting that I am missing somewhere?
I'm still working with older mixes that I have imported into PT10, so maybe changing horses mid-stream is causing problems. I would just like to hear my existing tracks along side of my new tracks with no unwelcome funk. I hope this isn't something I am supposed to get used to....

[NazRat]

Sounds like you're monitoring both signals - PT & CueMix. Mute either the record enabled track in PT (that would be no latency monitoring via CueMix) or the CueMix input on the mix bus if you are comfortable with buffer latency in PT. Avid really need to get this input monitoring thing straightened out for 3rd party interfaces to avoid confusion. LLM ala the old 001 is a whole other question and probably best fielded on the DUC.