Steinert Control Room and Tracking Room Help Doc
STEINERT RECORDING STUDIO HELP DOC – Main Control Room and Tracking Room
NOTE: Please do not adjust the volume on the control room speakers. Instead, adjust the volume on the monitor controller.
Using control room computer
Make sure the MOTU interface is turned on and the MOTU audio setup software is running.
Recommended: Close all other applications, except MOTU Audio Setup, before you launch your audio program.
Audio Setup:
If you are using Pro Tools:
Make sure that the Playback Engine is set as “MOTU 828x”. You can check this in Setup > Playback Engine.
If you are using Logic:
In Logic, go to Logic Pro X > Preferences > Audio and check that “MOTU 828x” is selected as the Output Device and Input Device.
If you are using Ableton:
Go to Preferences > Audio and check that “MOTU 828x” is selected as the Output Device and Input Device.
If you are using another software, find the audio preferences and make sure that “MOTU 828x” is the device in use.
Monitoring and the MOTU.
There are a some controls to be aware of for monitoring from the MOTU.
Our typical stereo monitor out is the “Main Out” of the MOTU - which is the first 2 outputs in software.
In the MOTU audio setup app (see image below), make sure “default stereo output” and “Main Out Assign” are assigned to Main Out.
The main volume knob on the MOTU (next to the 1st headphone jack) controls the volume of the main output - and so the speaker volume. We recommend leaving this all the way up at or near “0” and using the PreSonus monitor station to control volume (see details on the monitor controller here).
We recommend switching “Enable Core Audio Volume Controls” off. It may seem convenient to use the keyboard control but it becomes one more hidden level control and gain stage.
Be aware of 'CueMix' settings that are controlled with the MOTU’s panel controls or with CueMix FX software on the computer. Common studio operations do not need to use CueMix, though It’s useful software that controls a variety of mixing, effects, analysis and metering tools. And it can also cause confusion if its settings have been edited. In CueMixFX you can go to the file menu to "load hardware preset" #1 - 'MEME Stereo'. Preset 1 is the default MOTU 828 configuration. If needed you can do a hardware reset on the interface.
MOTU Hardware reset option:
Press the Param/Setup knob until the LCD screen reads "828X SETUP" (or equivalent). The LCD screen will quickly flash to "LCD CONTRAST". Turn the Param/Setup knob all the way to the right. The LCD screen will read: "Factory Defaults Press [Value]". Push the Value knob. The LCD screen will display "Are you sure? Push [VALUE]". Push the Value knob again to confirm. The LCD screen will read:"Initializing...". The clock LED will flash when reset is complete.
Typical MOTU audio setup window (sample rate will update with session sample rate):
Inputs:
Recording "across the glass" from the tracking room to the control room: Use XLR inputs on panel below the studio glass. The channels on this panel connect directly to preamps in the control room. An 8 channel snake is available to bring connection out into the tracking room.
Recording in the control - 2 Mic/Instrument inputs are available on the MOTU interface. They are the inputs 1 and 2 in most software (some software picks up the MOTU audio setup names). There are also 6 XLR inputs above the patchbay for recording in the control room. These are connected to the labelled preamps, overlapping with the tracking room inputs. Make sure that you are not simultaneously recording signal into one of these control room inputs while also using a tracking room inputs.
Recording in the tracking room: The Soundcraft mixer in the tracking room is a 22 channel multitrack interface that users can use with their own computers (see this help page). There is also an M-Audio 8 channel interface available for portable use in the tracking room.
tracking room input panel
Control room preamp inputs
Control room preamp and interface rack
Mic Pre connections from tracking room:
Input 3, 4 to Grace Design M101 preamps.
Input 5-8 to Solid State Logic XLogic Alpha preamps,
Inputs 9 and 10 to the Joe Meek TwinQcs preamp (line input also available on patchbay - note line input switch on device).
Inputs 11-19 connect to the Behringer Ultragain Pro-8 Digital preamp - these show up as inputs 17-24 in software. (Because this preamp uses a built-in ADAT interface with optical outputs, it sends digital audio to the MOTU, the MOTU’s Adat inputs start at #17.
Preamp/MOTU inputs and outputs to software:
The MOTU inputs start with the MOTU front panel Mic/Instrument inputs, and continue with the 'analog inputs' our mic pre's are normalled to. Outputs start with “main out 1 and 2”, then analog 1-8, then digital outputs. This can cause a little confusion because ‘analog 1’ is actually the 3rd input/output of the system and will be called #3 by most software (some software, like ProTools, will pull the names provided by MOTU’s audio setup application). The screen shot below shows the default naming, and channel order, of the MOTU interface.
**Note that the “ADAT” outputs A1-A8 are available on the patchbay as analog outputs. The Behringer ‘Ultragain Digital’ provides the digital to analog conversion and must be on to use them.