Mixer and routing

Open Mixer from the top bar to see every audio, instrument, aux, output, and master channel in the project.

Live mixer fixture

Route from the real channel strip

This is the same mixer strip used by Heron. Change its Output, open the Send row, or move the fader and pan control; the route map reads that in-memory state.

CH 01Real mixer strip

S

+120−12−30−60−∞

0−6−12−24−48−∞

Try Output, the BUS 1 send row, Pan, or the fader. Nothing here touches audio hardware or a project file.

GRAPHDerived route map

Live state

Target

Output 1–2

Tap

post-fader

Level

−12.0 dB

Main routeThe channel targets Output 1–2 directly.

1. Track signalAudio 01
2. Output channelOutput 1–2
3. Final controlMaster

Send copy−12.0 dB post-fader copy to BUS 1 → Reverb

1. Track signalAudio 01
2. Bus slotBUS 1
3. Aux channelReverb
4. Output channelOutput 1–2
5. Final controlMaster

→The main signal has one destination: Output 1–2. A parallel −12.0 dB post-fader copy goes to BUS 1 → Reverb; it does not replace the main route.

Read a channel strip

Each strip follows the signal from top to bottom:

1. Input — hardware input, bus input, or VST® 3 instrument.
2. Audio FX — ordered VST 3 effect inserts.
3. Sends — copies of the signal routed elsewhere.
4. Output — a bus or hardware output destination.
5. Pan and Volume — channel placement and final level.

The strip also provides record enable where applicable, input monitoring, mute, solo, a level meter, and a channel menu.

Choose an input

Audio channels can receive:

• a mono hardware input;
• an adjacent linked stereo pair;
• a bus.

Instrument channels receive the output of their assigned VST 3 instrument. Auxes normally receive audio through a bus or sends.

Route to an output

Use the Output section to choose the next bus or a hardware-output channel. Hardware outputs map their left and right sides to channels exposed by the active output device.

Avoid creating routes that feed a signal back into itself. Heron keeps the audio graph legal and rejects invalid topology.

Add a send

Select an empty send slot and choose a destination bus or output. Adjust the Send level directly with the knob beside its destination on the channel strip.

Click the destination name to open the Send configuration. From there you can change the destination, choose Pre, Post, or Pan, enable or disable the Send, or delete it.

Use pre-fader sends for an independent monitor or effect level. Use post-fader sends when the send should follow channel volume, and post-pan sends when it should also follow pan. Pre places the blue knob before the destination; Post places it after the destination; Pan uses the same position with a green ring. A disabled Send appears dimmed and its level knob is disabled.

Buses and aux channels

An aux channel provides a place to process a shared return or submix. Route channels or sends to its bus, add effects on the aux, then route the aux onward to the master path or a hardware output.

Metering

Keep channel and master peaks below clipping. The meters transition from green through yellow to red as headroom runs out. Lower the source, plug-in output, or channel level when a stage clips; lowering only the final master may leave an earlier stage overloaded.

Bounce an Output

Each hardware Output strip has a Bnc button in its input-control row. Use it to export exactly the signal feeding that Output without changing the project. Choose WAV, FLAC, or MP3, then set the sample rate, stereo or mono output, encoding quality, normalization, and bar range.

The start and end bars are both included and bar numbers start at 1. For example, bars 3–8 begin at the bar line for bar 3 and stop at the bar line after bar 8. Mono exports combine left and right at −6 dB per channel.

Overload protection is the default: it lowers audio only when the sample peak exceeds 0 dBFS and never raises quiet audio. True peak normalization can raise or lower the result to a target from −12 to 0 dBTP; its default is −1 dBTP. Integer WAV and FLAC exports can apply TPDF dither.

Use Include plug-in tails to choose whether effects may decay beyond the selected end bar. It is enabled by default. When disabled, the export ends exactly at the bar line after the selected end bar.

Bounce is exclusive and faster than real time. Heron stops playback, disables hardware/application monitoring and the metronome, and restores the playhead and real-time engine afterward without resuming playback. When tails are included, unknown or infinite tails end after two continuous seconds below −90 dBFS and are capped at 30 seconds. You can cancel from the operation progress dialog; a cancelled or failed bounce leaves any existing destination file unchanged.