Mixer Configuration in Simian
Often Simian users need a way to automatically control audio signals as they “pass through” the automation system. Many professional grade audio cards will allow you to route your audio directly from an input to an output. In audio card parlance, we call this pass-through. If your audio card supports pass-through, and you can control the volume of the input via software, then Simian can effectively use your audio card like a mixing board.
To do this, you’ll want to open the Mixer Panel by clicking on the Mixer button in the lower right-hand corner of the Simian interface (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Simian’s Mixer panelSimian Pro has 16 on-screen mixers. Simian Lite has 1 on-screen mixer. You can assign up to four individual audio devices to each mixer (most consumer grade cards have one audio device, while professional cards may have many). You can then use the mixer slider on the Mixers Panel to directly control those devices. To assign an audio device to a mixer, just click the button under the slider. You’ll see the dialog box shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1: The Mixer Setup window appears after clicking on a mixer’s title button located below each mixer’s slider
Friendly Name: You can call the mixer anything that you want up to 5 characters. Whatever you type in this text box will display on the button under the mixer in the Mixers Panel.
Mixers: If you do not have the “ASIxxxx Mixer” option, then you will need to install or reinstall the ASI Combo driver and check the box to “include Legacy 32-bit WAVE driver” during the installation options process.
Lines: Chose the Line Out that carries the overall Simian broadcast with the Line In that carries the pass-through audio feed.
Faders: This should be chosen automatically based on the Lines selection and should match the same Line Out / Line In selection of the Lines setting with the “/ Volume” option appended to that.
Selected Controls: Once you have selected your fader, just click the “+” button next to one of the Selected Controls lines to add your configuration to the list. Typically only one fader is needed to control the pass-through of a single audio source, but up to four faders can be selected.
AutoMute controls during audio file playback:If you want to automatically mute this mixer whenever the playback devices become active, you can select this option. In only the simplest of program log setups that play a top-of-the hour legal ID with no fading of the pass-through feed should this be selected. When using MIXFADE and MIXVOLUME macros to control the pass-through feed, AutoMute should always be disabled.
NOTE: A common misunderstanding of the Mixer Setup window is when re-opening the Mixer Settings window for a mixer that has already been configured. You will notice that all the fields have defaulted back to the top option on each drop down menu. This is normal behavior since the settings previously made are stored in the selected controls boxes.
Conclusion: Now that we know how to configure the Mixers, we can easily assign a mixer to the input volume fader on our audio card. With this done, we can then use the MIXVOLUME and MIXFADE macros to automate what our mixer is doing.
To do this, you’ll want to open the Mixer Panel by clicking on the Mixer button in the lower right-hand corner of the Simian interface (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Simian’s Mixer panel
Figure 1: The Mixer Setup window appears after clicking on a mixer’s title button located below each mixer’s slider
Friendly Name: You can call the mixer anything that you want up to 5 characters. Whatever you type in this text box will display on the button under the mixer in the Mixers Panel.
Mixers: If you do not have the “ASIxxxx Mixer” option, then you will need to install or reinstall the ASI Combo driver and check the box to “include Legacy 32-bit WAVE driver” during the installation options process.
Lines: Chose the Line Out that carries the overall Simian broadcast with the Line In that carries the pass-through audio feed.
Faders: This should be chosen automatically based on the Lines selection and should match the same Line Out / Line In selection of the Lines setting with the “/ Volume” option appended to that.
Selected Controls: Once you have selected your fader, just click the “+” button next to one of the Selected Controls lines to add your configuration to the list. Typically only one fader is needed to control the pass-through of a single audio source, but up to four faders can be selected.
AutoMute controls during audio file playback:If you want to automatically mute this mixer whenever the playback devices become active, you can select this option. In only the simplest of program log setups that play a top-of-the hour legal ID with no fading of the pass-through feed should this be selected. When using MIXFADE and MIXVOLUME macros to control the pass-through feed, AutoMute should always be disabled.
NOTE: A common misunderstanding of the Mixer Setup window is when re-opening the Mixer Settings window for a mixer that has already been configured. You will notice that all the fields have defaulted back to the top option on each drop down menu. This is normal behavior since the settings previously made are stored in the selected controls boxes.
Conclusion: Now that we know how to configure the Mixers, we can easily assign a mixer to the input volume fader on our audio card. With this done, we can then use the MIXVOLUME and MIXFADE macros to automate what our mixer is doing.