Setup guide

Appendix E: DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing 95
MIDI and Audio Processing Plug-ins
Some audio processing plug-ins (such as Digide-
sign’s Bruno and Reso) and many instrument
plug-ins let you process audio while allowing
MIDI data to control processing parameters.
When you record enable a MIDI or Instrument
track that is controlling an audio processing
plug-in, the track the plug-in is inserted on will
go into low-latency mode, effectively making
the processed audio play early. The steps to pre-
vent this and keep audio time-aligned depend
on the type of track on which the plug-in re-
sides.
To keep audio time-aligned when recording using a
MIDI controlled plug-in on an audio track:
 Start-Control-click (Windows) or Command-
Control-click (Mac) the Track Compensation in-
dicator for the audio track to apply Delay Com-
pensation.
To keep audio time-aligned when recording using a
MIDI controlled plug-in on an Auxiliary Input:
1 Start-Control-click (Windows) or Command-
Control-click (Mac) the Track Compensation in-
dicator for the Auxiliary Input to bypass Delay
Compensation.
2 Enter the total system delay into the User Off-
set field.
Configuring Cue Mixes with Delay
Compensation
If you already have a Pro Tools session that uses
various plug-in inserts and mixer routing, you
will most likely want to have Delay Compensa-
tion enabled. However, if you want to record
overdubs with a recording artist, “the talent,”
you will need to configure monitoring mixes
(headphone or “cue” mixes).
Use sends to bus cue mixes to audio output
paths for headphone monitoring by the talent.
In addition to the main mix, which will monitor
in the control room, route track sends to one or
more additional audio output paths tracks for
cue mix monitoring. Using sends lets you con-
figure different mixes from the main mix for cue
mix monitoring. For example, when recording a
guitarist, they may want to hear themselves
more in the cue mix than you will want to hear
in the main mix.
Example configuration using sends for cue mixes:
1 Assign each track’s main output to your main
mix outputs.
2 Assign a send (mono or stereo) for each track
and set the send outputs to output paths 3 and 4
on your audio interface.
3 Enable the FMP (Follow Main Pan) button on
all of the sends so that the cue mix has the same
panning as the main mix.
4 Set all of the sends to unity and to post-fader.
This lets you use the same mix for the talent, but
also lets you boost (or attenuate) the level of the
talent’s signal in the cue mix by adjusting the
send level as needed.
5 Choose Track > New.
6 Specify the track type (Main Fader) and format
(stereo), then click Create.
7 From the Master Fader track’s Output Path se-
lector, select output paths 3 and 4 for monitor-
ing the mix.