Direct Monitoring On/Off
– To change the function of the momentary switch to “Direct
Monitoring On/Off,” open your FireWire Audiophile Control Panel and click the Hardware
tab. Clicking the “Direct Monitoring” radio button will change the momentary switch from
a Headphone Source Selector to a Direct Monitoring on/off switch.
Now, the momentary switch will mute or unmute your FireWire Audiophile’s input
channels. This is useful when you want to manually control the monitoring of your
hardware inputs. For this to work, you must have your inputs set up for direct monitoring
(see section, Monitoring Your Inputs For Recording), either manually or through ASIO
Direct Monitoring. Once you have done this, your Headphone Source A/B switch will
then turn Direct Monitoring “off” when it is in the A position (all input channels will be
muted), and turn Direct Monitoring “on” when it is in the B position (all input channels will
be unmuted).
If you have ASIO Direct Monitoring switched on (your music program must be capable of
ASIO Direct Monitoring), you can still use the A/B selector for manually turning Direct
Monitoring on and off. ASIO Direct Monitoring, however, will take control of muting or
unmuting your FireWire Audiophile inputs when you set up a track for recording, and use
the music program’s transport controls to stop, play, and punch-in or record. The A/B
switch and corresponding LEDs, in this case, becomes a handy indicator of your
record/monitor mode.
When ASIO Direct Monitoring is in use, you will be able to hear your FireWire Audiophile
inputs when the program’s “transport” is in stop mode (the “B” LED will light, and your
inputs will be unmuted). When the program is in play mode, you will hear the recorded
tracks but
not
the FireWire Audiophile inputs (the “A” LED will light, and your inputs will
be muted), and when the program is punched in to record mode, you will again hear the
FireWire Audiophile inputs (the “B” LED will light, and your inputs will be unmuted).
This is a highly accepted way of recording, and perhaps the most desirable. The
FireWire Audiophile’s Direct Monitoring On/Off switching makes it very convenient to use
this method of recording, and to turn it on or off it when it is convenient to do so.
Setting Up Your Record Levels
Using the Line Inputs
– Connect the line level output of your external audio device to
the FireWire Audiophile’s rear panel Line Inputs.
The signal level that you receive at the Line Inputs will be the signal level that you
record. Any adjustments to that signal level must be made at the source. If you have an
output level control on the device that you’ve connected to the FireWire Audiophile’s line
inputs, adjust that output level control to change the recording level. Most recording
software will allow you to add gain to a recording that is made at a level that is initially
too low, but be careful that the recording level is not reaching digital clipping (going into
the red) while recording.
You will then want to route the input signal to your DAW’s inputs. Refer to the section
below on monitoring your inputs, and your software’s documentation for more information.
