Set up a bus
A bus is an audio destination. It makes sound only once it is connected to an output, and you make that connection on Patch. The Audio buses pane sets how the bus sounds.
An output describes a device, an audio backend and a stereo pair. You create it once, in Configuration → Venue → Patch. See Add an output and Patch the show. The Audio buses pane does not connect outputs: its Patched to card shows them and links to Patch.
Connect a bus to an output
- Open Configuration.
- Under Show, select Audio buses.
- Select the bus in the list.
- In the Patched to card, select Open Patch →. If the bus has no output, select Connect in Patch.
- On Patch, connect the bus to the output. See Patch the show.
Back on Audio buses, Patched to lists the bus's outputs in the venue in use. Under OTHER VENUES, a short list shows its outputs in your other venues.
If a bus has no output in the venue in use, Patched to shows No output in this venue — this bus makes no sound, and the bus's meta text in the list turns amber.
A bus can go to more than one output. If two buses go to one output, the app sums them onto it.
Changes on Patch apply immediately. A playing bus keeps making sound while you change its cables.
Choose the clock source
Two audio devices playing the same show drift apart over time. On Patch, the Clock menu in the header picks the device whose clock the other audio follows. The setting belongs to the venue. See Clock source.
Add, rename and remove buses
- To create a bus, select New bus at the top of the list.
- To edit a bus, select it. The cards are on the right.
- To delete a bus, select Remove bus….
Name shows in every list where you pick a bus. Name each bus after the area it
feeds, for example Main PA, Concourse or Booth, rather than after the hardware.
Remove bus… opens a confirmation named after the bus. If hot buttons or other items use the bus, the box lists them, and they stay silent until you pick another bus. You cannot undo this. Select Remove to continue.
The Free plan plays one bus, the Audio and Club plans play three, and Pro has no limit. On Free, the list head shows Audio required and Free plays one bus, and the buses after the first show not playing on Free. A locked bus's header shows Audio required and not playing on Free, and its cards are read-only. To use it, upgrade the plan. See Plans and limits.
Find the bus number
The app gives each bus a number when you create it. The number shows at the start of its row in the list. You cannot change it. It stays the same when you rename or move the bus, and the app does not give it to a new bus after you remove the bus. OSC messages use the number. To get the address, use the Address finder in the OSC pane. See OSC control.
Set the level and mono
In the General card:
- Name is the name of the bus.
- Volume is the master output level of the bus, from −60 to +12 dB.
- Mono sums left and right to mono, for zones with one speaker and cabinets with one driver. Mono needs the Pro plan. On other plans it shows a Pro chip, and selecting it opens the upgrade.
- Preview and cue (PFL) sets the bus as a cue feed. See the next section.
The header summary shows the volume, ≈ X LUFS (the loudness of levelled tracks at this volume) and the number of outputs the bus has in the venue in use.
Changes apply when you leave a field. There is no Save button.
The master volume changes the volume of everything on the bus. See Loudness levelling.
Use several buses on one device
Create one output for each channel pair on the device, then connect one bus to each output on Patch. For example, an 8-channel interface can have three outputs:
| Output | Channel pair | Bus |
|---|---|---|
| Main PA | 1–2 | Main PA |
| Stage Monitor | 3–4 | Stage Monitor |
| Broadcast Feed | 5–6 | Broadcast Feed |
Audio on different interfaces can drift apart over time. For tight sync, use one multichannel interface, or combine the devices into an aggregate device in your operating system's audio settings.
Configure a PFL bus
Preview and cue (PFL) makes a bus a cue or headphone feed, so you can listen to a track without the house hearing it.
In the General card of the bus, turn on Preview and cue (PFL).
- You can set any number of buses as PFL. Preview and cue audio goes to all of them.
- A PFL bus shows a PFL tag in the list. The Outputs panel leaves it out, because it carries monitor audio rather than programme audio.
- If no bus is PFL, preview and cue audio has no destination. The pane shows No PFL bus — preview and cue are silent until you set a bus as PFL.
If you change a bus's PFL state while a preview plays, the app reroutes the preview immediately.
Shape the sound
Each bus has a 10-band equalizer. It applies to all audio on the bus, including audio from video clips and sequences. The equalizer needs the Pro plan. On other plans, the Equalizer card shows a Pro chip and its controls are dim.
- Select the bus.
- In the Equalizer card, turn on the switch.
- Drag a band handle:
- To increase that range, drag the handle above the center line.
- To decrease that range, drag the handle below the center line.
To set all bands back to 0 dB, select Reset to flat. When the switch is off, the bands keep their values but have no effect.
Keep all bands flat when you first set up a bus, and adjust them only once you can hear the speakers in the real room. A room with too much bass usually needs the lower bands turned down; a harsh room usually needs the upper bands turned down.
See what uses a bus
The Used by card lists the kinds of item that use the bus, with a count for each. Check it before you remove a bus.
Watch the output during a show
The Outputs panel at the bottom of the main screen shows one card for each bus that is not PFL.
The level meter runs from −60 dB to 0 dB. The filled bar is the average level: green at normal levels, amber above about −6 dB, and red near 0. The thin white tick is the peak, so it sits farther along than the bar and catches short transients the average misses. A bus with Mono shows one bar instead of two.
The meter shows all audio the app mixes into that output, including audio in video, so a card can show a level with no track title.
Playing tracks show as coloured bars below the meter, each in the colour of the hot button that fired it and with a countdown. A track that goes to several buses shows on each card, and if you change its routing live, its bar moves immediately.
When a sequence controls a bus, the card shows the sequence name. If a hot button takes that bus, the card border turns amber and the sequence name stays dim until the sequence resumes.