Specifications

IO Setup Improvements 23
Busses
Pro Tools 9.0 provides two types of busses:
• Internal Mix Busses
•Output Busses
Internal Mix Busses
Pro Tools 9.0 provides up to 256 internal mix
busses. Internal mix busses in Pro Tools 9.0 are
the same as those in lower versions of Pro Tools.
Use internal mix busses to route audio signal
from track outputs and sends to other track in-
puts. Common uses for internal mix busses in-
clude effects sends and returns (such as bussing
sends from audio tracks to an Auxiliary Input
track for plug-in effects processing) and bus re-
cording.
Output Busses
In addition to internal mix busses, Pro Tools 9.0
and higher provide output busses, which appear
along with internal busses on the Bus page of
the I/O Setup. When you create a new output
path on the Outputs page, an output buss is au-
tomatically created and routed (mapped) to the
corresponding output path. Output paths are as-
signed to the system’s physical audio outputs in
the I/O Setups Grid.
Because Bus settings are saved with and recalled
from the session, when moving sessions be-
tween Pro Tools systems, the output bus routing
from tracks and sends in the Pro Tools mixer is
maintained.
Creating and Mapping Busses to
Outputs
Any available bus can be mapped to any of the
available output paths of the same channel
width or greater. For example, a mono bus can
be mapped to a mono output path, a stereo bus
can be mapped to a stereo output path, and a 5.1
surround bus can be mapped to a 5.1 surround
output path.
To create a bus and map it to an output path:
1 On the Bus page of the I/O Setup, click New
Path.
2 In the New Paths dialog, specify the number
of new paths you want to create, the channel
width for each path, and the path name.
Internal mix busses can also be mapped to
any output path. Busses can be unmapped
at any time.
To better understand how output busses
work in I/O Setup, consider how an analog
console works. In Pro Tools, the output bus
is equivalent to a console's bus system. The
output bus as defined on the left side of the
Bus page in the Pro Tools I/O Setup is anal-
ogous to the outputs on a console's patch-
bay. The Mapping to Output selector is like
the patch cords used to patch into the stu-
dio’s various audio feeds, which in turn are
like the physical output paths in Pro Tools.
New Paths dialog