Soloing send returns (SOLVED)

[diminished]

Hey guys,

for soloing send returns, I usually select pre fader out, solo the channel and then turn down the fader. That way I can hear what my wet signal is doing and if it needs adjustments.

The problem is, when I'm done adjusting my send return signal, I have to manually put back the SSL fader into the position it has been before, therefore remember or write down the setting. This isn't the end of the world, because 80% of the time I re-mix my song anyway at a later stage in the process, but I just wanted to ask if I'm missing something here or if there's another more elegant way to solo your send returns and keep the fader the way it was.

Thanks in advance!

[bxbrkrz]

Hmm not sure if I understood. Maybe patching the FX outputs to mix channels, not using the FX return section at all? You could mute the original channels and solo the returns instead?

[diminished]

That's not a solution unfortunately, but thanks! Once you solo this new return mixer channel, you hear nothing. If you solo your source as well, you hear both.

[Zac]

On the back of the master section use the control room outs instead of master section outs. Then on the mixers master section you can select to listen listen to any of the sends or returns instead of the master out.

[diminished]

Woah. Amazing. Thanks so much. I didn't know this was a drop down menu!

[O1B]

The question makes an appearance once every Super Blood Wolf Moon:


Thanks for the Question, and the Answer! ..... slipped my mind....

[mjxl]

Instead of manually adjusting the fader level and remembering the value, create an automation lane, add a clip with value on 0.
This way it retains the original value, and all goes back to normal when you delete/mute the automation clip.

This applies to anything you can think of actually !

Sent from my OnePlus 6T using Tapatalk

[S1GNL]

There is a usable method, but you’d have to leave the bus compressor off.

Put a 14:2 mixer in the master insert slot.
Route the master signal into the mixer. Split the return signals, route each split signal into the master section return input and a 14:2 mixer channel input. Now you can solo the 14:2 channels and hear either the „original“ sum or one or several return signals. Because the mixer is inside the insert section (basically a Combinator device) you can program the knobs and switches of the master channel to eg listen to the return signals only.

Always keep in mind to solo the „original“ channel in the 14:2 mixer!!
Also, keep in mind that volume and pan adjustments in the return section are not effecting the second signal (14:2 mixer).

[selig]

The best way I can think of for this specific workflow is to route all mixer channels into a new Mix Bus that then feeds the master. Note that if you have bus channels already, such as for a drum bus, you would only route the final bus channel to this new "sub-mix" bus channel, leaving the individual drums to feed their own bus channel.

Lots of folks choose to use this setup to have a place to put FX pre-master, or to simply adjust the level before hitting the master section. So there are other possible advantages to doing this, and there is virtually no additional CPU hit with this approach.

Once you have all channels feeding a Bus Channel, use any utility such as a Line Mixer in the insert to mute the signal. Assign a button to this button in the programmer so you can mute it from the Big Mixer for simple operation.

Now your workflow for hearing an FX return without the direct signal is as follows: after soloing the channel(s) in question, to hear 100% wet you would ALSO mute the device in the Mix Bus insert using your newly created button.

The advantage here is that there is one global button that achieves this effect for ANY channel, and that you can easily compare between dry + wet and 100% wet with a single button.

Hope that helps!

[diminished]

Thanks to all of you for your great ideas! I'll definitely keep them in mind for other tricky situations in the future!

I adjusted my default template to (finally, should have done that anyways) use Control Room Out and I'm going with Zac's tip. It's super easy and quick and no distracting cable salad involved.
Here's a little screenshot on how to select those sends and returns. Might be helpful to anyone asking the same question in the future:

solosendreturn.jpg (53.78 KiB) Viewed 630 times