The Main Mixer in energyXT2 shows mixer strips for all audio output connections, including the hidden outputs of Send effects, and the outputs from Audio Out components to the audio hardware.
In the Sequencer, the mixer strip for the selected track or instrument can be shown embedded in the Sequencer window.
Mixer Window
The Mixer window can be displayed at any time using the keyboard shortcut (F9 by default), or from the main menu (Window > Mixer). If the Mixer window is already open but not docked, these commands will instead close the window. When the Mixer is docked, these commands switch to the page it is docked to.
Titlebar / Toolbar
- Titlebar
- Dock, maximize, or close the mixer window.
- Mixer program selector
- Add, Rename, Remove, or select a Mixer view. This is not extremely useful currently; the only thing saved in the Mixer program is the state of the “+” menu checkboxes.
- “+” menu
- Show/hide mixer strip types (Inputs, Outputs, Sends, Groups, Components).
- Add Group
- Creates a new Group component with its output connected to the Audio Out.
Mixer strips are shown in the following order: Inputs, Outputs, Sends, Groups, Components. In this case, “Components” means anything visible in the Modular area that is not an Audio In, Audio Out, or Group. Use the “+” menu to select which types to display. You can rearrange the strips within each section by drag & drop.
The Mixer window can be resized freely. If the window is too small, scrollbars will appear. You can use the mousewheel to scroll horizontally, or vertically when the mouse is near the right edge of the window.
Mixer Strip
Each strip in the Main Mixer corresponds to an audio output of a component in the Modular area, or to a Send effect.
Signal Flow
The signal flow of a mixer strip is mostly from top (Trim) to bottom (Fader, VU Meter, output), with the exception of Send levels, which are post-fader.
For components with MIDI input, the original MIDI is sent to all Insert effects in parallel, so one Insert can't send MIDI to another. Most controls on the mixer strip (not Trim and Solo) can be automated through the MIDI input.
Signal flow diagram:
Header
This color-coded box at the top of the strip tells you the name of the component. Drag and drop this header to rearrange the Mixer strips. Right-click it to delete or rename the component. Double-click it to open/close the component's editor window.
In the Main Mixer (not the Sequencer Mixer strip), if the component has multiple outputs, the header will span all the Mixer strips, and will have a triangle on the right. Clicking on the triangle will hide/show any outputs that are not connected to anything.
Trim
Adjust the level of audio going into the mixer channel, before any other processing. The range is from -12 to +12dB. This control is not automatable. The idea is to get the gain for the channel roughly into the range you want it in, and then use the channel fader for further adjustments.
Effects
The effects section of the mixer strip has three parts: EQ, Inserts, and Sends. Each can be folded up to use less vertical space.
EQ
Each mixer channel has a built-in four-band parametric EQ. All bands are disabled by default. The EQ is processed after the Trim, and before the Insert effects. Below the EQ controls, there is a small display that visualizes the current EQ settings.
Each band can be set to one of five filter types:
- LSH - Low Shelving
- PEQ - Peaking EQ
- HSH - High Shelving
- LPF - Low Pass Filter
- HPF - High Pass Filter
Inserts
Inserts are processed after the EQ, but before Mute/Fader/Pan. Inserts are automatically disabled when idle (when the input and output is silent).
Power button: Turns off and bypasses the effect. Audio is sent through unaffected.
Wet amount: Controls the wet/dry mix. 0 = completely dry (no effect); 100 = completely wet.
Inserts receive MIDI (and can be automated) if you route an Instrument track to the audio track or instrument they are inserted into. If you don't want an insert to receive MIDI, set its channel (M.Ch in the plugin window's toolbar) to the "wrong" channel.
MIDI is not sent from one Insert to the next, but rather all Inserts receive the original MIDI input.
By dragging and dropping an Insert effect, you can change its position within the effect chain, move it to another mixer strip, or convert it to a send effect. Holding ctrl while dragging will make a copy of the effect instead of moving it.
Sends
Sends are post-fader / post-pan. You can send MIDI to a Send (or automate it) by routing an Instrument track to it. Mixer strips for Audio Inputs, Audio Outputs, and Sends do not have this section.
Send effects, once added, appear on every mixer strip (except Audio In, Audio Out, and Send strips). On each strip it has a Send amount, from 0 (default) to 100.
A Send effect will be automatically disabled when all its inputs (and and its output) are silent.
Double-click on a Send to open its editor window, or right-click for more options:
- Output routing menu
- Edit (same as double-click)
- Rename…
- Delete
By dragging and dropping a Send effect, you can change its position within the Send box, or convert it to an Insert effect. Holding Ctrl while dragging will make a copy of the effect instead of moving it.
Pre-fader Send Workaround
Route the channel to a group, but use the Send from the original channel.
Pan
The range is -64 (hard left) to +64 (hard right).
The mixer uses a -3.5dB compensated pan law. This means that a signal panned hard left (or right) will be 3.5dB louder than the left (or right) channel is when panned at the center. An "equal power" pan law is -3dB at the center, so energyXT2's is slightly more than equal power, but compensated so that the center is at 0dB. Here is a good article on pan laws: Panning Laws Revealed (by Craig Anderton).
When panning to the left, the left channel's amplitude is increased linearly to 150% (≈3.5dB), while the right channel amplitude is reduced linearly to zero.
Here is a plot of the gain of each channel versus the pan setting:
Mute / Solo
Mute (M button) stops the output of sound from the mixer strip.
Solo (S button) stops the output of sound from all other non-soloed mixer strips. Audio Ins, Audio Outs, Groups, and Send effects do not have a Solo button, and will not be muted by other Solo buttons. In other words, if something is soloed and routed to a Group, you don't also have to solo the Group to be able to hear it. Also note that Solo buttons cannot be automated.
Fader
The main volume control for the mixer strip. The current value is displayed below the fader, in dB.
VU Meter
This meter shows the level of audio going out of the mixer strip. Peaks are held until you click on the meter to clear them. Note that there are no clipping indicators.
Output Selector
Displays the name of the component that the output of this mixer strip is routed to. For Audio Out components, this shows the name of the audio device the audio is being sent to.
Click on it for a routing menu, with a list of all available outputs. Changing the routing here has the same effect as doing it visually in the Modular area.
Track Name
For most components, this text at the bottom of the Mixer strip simply repeats the name of the component. However, for Sequencers, this instead tells you the name of the Audio or Drum track that each strip is associated to.
Groups
Use this to group two or more audio outputs. Clicking the Add group button creates a Group, which can then be chosen as an output destination.
Groups have their own Mixer strips, with EQ, Inserts, Sends, and so on.
The classic usage example would be mixing a drum kit, where you would send the mix of the individual drums to a group, where you could control the overall level, or add effects to the kit as a whole.
Creating a Group in the Mixer is reflected in the Modular view, where you can visualize or change the routing.
Automation
Almost all the mixer controls can be automated using Envelopes in the Sequencer, or with MIDI CCs via the Controller Map. Only Trim and Solo can't be automated.