How Mixing Works

The mixer is designed to work well for the complete novice with very little knowledge, but also provides enough flexibility to allow more advanced users freedom in how they assign input and output channels.

The mixer operates in two modes: normal mode and pro mode. In pro mode features become available, such as per-channel control of output gain, plugins etc. Since this section is aimed at the more advanced user, this section assumes pro mode.

The mixer handles three types of mixes simultaneously:

• mixing the inputs for broadcast to other players in the session
• mixing streams from other players and (optionally) local inputs into an output stream
• mixing the inputs and (optionally) streams from other players into an recording stream

The Solocontutti device model

Solocontutti assumes that you have two inputs that are either stero or mono. If an input is stereo you can use it as two distinct channels and split the gain control to control each channel separately. You can therefore have up to 2 stereo input channels or 4 mono input channels in use. Solocontutti uses a single stereo channel for output and recording. In addition there are stereo inputs possible from the plugin module which can link to e.g. a DAW and from a backing track. The backing track has separate gain but the plugin does not as you are expected to control this at source. However in order to enable accessibility features you can optionally add a gain control for the plugin. From this point all inputs will be described generically.

Mixing inputs for broadcast

In principle Solocontutti just adds all the inputs together for each stereo channel after applying the input gain to them. The first channel of each stereo pair goes to the left channel and the second channel to the right. This also implies that if you have 4 mono inputs they will be mixed together in pairs into a stereo input. This is a design choice to conserve internet bandwidth on transmission. If the input gain controls are split the the gain for each control is applied separately, otherwise per stereo pair. In addition each stereo pair has a boost control which increases input gain by +8dB for weaker signals.

If an input signal is mono then Solocontutti by default copies the input signal to both stereo channels, unless the "mono" button is pressed on the input control. If the "mono" button is pressed it does nothing with the second channel, which allows you to assign the second input to the same channel as would otherwise be used for the right channel of the main input.

The up to 4 stereo input signals are mixed together and broadcast to other players. The gain controls on the input side controls what is broadcast. In pro mode there are also gain controls for these channels on the output side, see below.

Mixing streams into an output stream

Solocontutti will mix all the streams coming from the other players into two stereo channels - all left channels will be mixed to a single left channel and all right channels will be mixed into a single right channel. The output can be controlled by the gain controls and the plugins, as well as the pan controls. Similarly the backing track, metronome and plugin inputs will be mixed in. If the monitor control on the outputs is on, then the input will also be mixed to the output and the output gain etc. can be controlled seperately. Note that the input mixed to be broadcast is only affected by the input controls - the output controls for this channel only have a local effect.

Finally the master gain is applied before the channels are actually output. If the device supports software gain control, then you can select the master gain to control the device gain. Otherwise an extra attenuation is applied before output.

Mixing for recording

The mix for recording is identical to the mix for output when "record all" is selected. If "record local high quality" is selected then only the stereo mix of the local inputs, excluding metronome and backing track, is recorded. This allow high quality recordings to be made which can later be mixed into a demo or similar.

Final points

After the final gain control is applied, a limiter is used to cut the signal off if it exceeds a particular threshold. This can be configured via te console or the .cfg file. A final signal smoothing is applied to cut out any "rough edges". This can also be disabled via the console of .cfg file.