Audio Output

CuePoints > Settings… > Audio Output, or Cmd+Shift+, to open this pane directly

This pane decides where your sound comes out. You can use up to three audio devices at once, and say exactly what each socket on each device plays.

How It Works

Pick a device at the top. Tell each of its channels what to play in the list below. Everything on this pane is one of those two steps.

The Three Device Slots

Across the top are three chips; three slots for three audio devices. Most people only ever use one. You'd use more if, say, your show sound goes to a big interface and your timecode goes out of a small one at the same time.

Each chip does two separate jobs, and this trips people up:

• Click the body of the chip to select it. The list below changes to show that device's channels.

• Click the toggle band to turn that device on or off.

They're separate on purpose: it's completely normal to set up a device's routing before you switch it on.

Each chip also shows how it's doing:

• Connected · 8 output channels: the device is plugged in and working. This is what you want.

• Not connected · last seen with 8 channels: CuePoints remembers this device but can't find it right now. Your routing is safe; plug the device back in and it comes straight back.

• No device: nothing chosen for this slot yet.

Choosing The Device

With a slot selected, the Device dropdown under SELECTED DEVICE lists everything your computer can play sound through, built-in speakers, headphones, USB interfaces, whatever's plugged in.

Pick one and the channel rows below rebuild to match. A pair of headphones gives you 2 rows; a big interface can give you 64. The pane just gets taller and scrolls.

Routing The Channels

Below is one row per channel, Channel 1, Channel 2, and so on. Channel numbers match the sockets on the back of your interface.

Each row is set to one of five things:

• Mute: nothing comes out of this socket.

• Track Audio Left: the left side of your track's sound.

• Track Audio Right: the right side.

• Track Audio Mono: both sides mixed together into one. Use this for a single speaker or a mono feed.

• LTC: timecode, as an audio signal, for feeding a lighting desk or another machine that listens for timecode.

The Normal Setup

Channel 1 = Track Audio Left, Channel 2 = Track Audio Right. Done. That's stereo out of the first two sockets.

A Show Setup

On a bigger rig you might do:

• Channel 1, Track Audio Left

• Channel 2, Track Audio Right

• Channel 3, LTC (into the lighting desk)

• Channel 4, Track Audio Mono (a mono feed to the stage manager's speaker)

• Everything else, Mute

Anything you don't use should be Mute. It stops sound appearing somewhere you didn't expect.

Things That Go Wrong

No sound at all. Check the chip's toggle is on, and check at least one channel is set to something other than Mute. A device can be selected, routed, and still switched off.

"Device already in use." Another app has grabbed the interface exclusively. Quit it, or set it to share, then come back.

LTC comes out of the wrong socket, or in your speakers. LTC is a harsh buzzing noise and it's very obvious. Find the channel set to LTC and check its number matches the socket you meant.

You unplugged the interface mid-show. The slot goes to Not connected but keeps your routing. Plug it back in and it picks up where it was; you don't have to set it up again.