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Superrack Native v13

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
46 views109 pages

Superrack Native v13

Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 109

Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5
Part 1: Getting Started ...................................................................................................... 6
Install Software ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Connect the Hardware ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Configuring the Sound Card ................................................................................................................................. 10
Routing I/O Channels to Racks ............................................................................................................................. 12
Inserting Plugins ................................................................................................................................................... 14
Floating Panels ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
System Requirements .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Part 2: Top Bar ................................................................................................................ 18
Left Panel: Rack Controls...................................................................................................................................... 19
Rack Name ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Racks Menu ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Current Preset................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Link Group Assignment..................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Latency Group Assignment............................................................................................................................................................... 24
Center Section: Window Selection Tabs .............................................................................................................. 25
Tearing Off Windows for Multiple Displays ..................................................................................................................................... 27
Right Panel: Snapshots and Utilities ..................................................................................................................... 28
Snapshot Menu ................................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Status Panel ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
CPU Display ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Session Menu.................................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Utilities ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 31
Part 3: Setup Window ..................................................................................................... 33
Audio Setup Page: Assigning a Sound Card .......................................................................................................... 34
Settings Page ........................................................................................................................................................ 36

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Part 4: Patch Window ..................................................................................................... 42
Link Groups .......................................................................................................................................................... 42
Latency Groups .................................................................................................................................................... 45
Managing Latency in SuperRack ...................................................................................................................................................... 45
Latency Groups ................................................................................................................................................................................. 47
Latency Group Alignment ................................................................................................................................................................. 48
Part 5: Rack Window....................................................................................................... 49
Selecting a Rack .................................................................................................................................................... 50
Rack Input Section ................................................................................................................................................ 50
Rack Output Section ............................................................................................................................................. 52
Routing Racks Automatically ................................................................................................................................ 54
Inserting a Plugin .................................................................................................................................................. 55
Plugins Chainer ................................................................................................................................................................................. 56
Plugins Can Change the Rack Size .................................................................................................................................................... 57
Plugin Pane ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Managing Plugins ................................................................................................................................................. 59
The Plugin Menu............................................................................................................................................................................... 59
External Inserts ................................................................................................................................................................................. 64
Recall-Safe Plugin ............................................................................................................................................................................. 65
Plugin Position in the Rack ............................................................................................................................................................... 65
Touch and Slide Control .................................................................................................................................................................... 66
Rack Presets ......................................................................................................................................................... 67
Part 6: Overview Windows ............................................................................................. 68
Layers ................................................................................................................................................................... 71
Factory Layers .................................................................................................................................................................................. 71
Custom Layers .................................................................................................................................................................................. 71
Wide View Layer ............................................................................................................................................................................... 73
Modes .................................................................................................................................................................. 74

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Racks .................................................................................................................................................................... 75
Selecting Rack Input ......................................................................................................................................................................... 76
Plugin Chainer .................................................................................................................................................................................. 79
Inserting a Plugin.............................................................................................................................................................................. 79
Other Plugin Menu Items ................................................................................................................................................................. 80
Managing Plugin Icons in the Overview Window ............................................................................................................................ 81
Output Section .................................................................................................................................................................................. 83
Dugan Automixer: ................................................................................................................................................ 84
Part 7: Show Window ..................................................................................................... 86
Sessions Page ....................................................................................................................................................... 87
Sessions List ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 89
Saving a Session ............................................................................................................................................................................... 89
Loading a Session ............................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Resolving Load Errors ....................................................................................................................................................................... 91
Templates ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 92
Auto-Save Sessions (History) ............................................................................................................................................................ 92
Snapshots Page .................................................................................................................................................... 94
Snapshots List ................................................................................................................................................................................... 96
Hot Snapshots .................................................................................................................................................................................. 98
MIDI Control Changes for Snapshots ............................................................................................................................................... 99
Assigning Remote IDs to Snapshots ................................................................................................................................................. 99
Scope Page ......................................................................................................................................................... 100
Scope Parameters........................................................................................................................................................................... 101
Recall Safe Page ............................................................................................................................................................................. 102
Supplementary Material ............................................................................................... 104
Controlling SuperRack Remotely ........................................................................................................................ 104
Assigning Controls .......................................................................................................................................................................... 104
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers..................................................................................................................... 109

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Introduction
SuperRack Native is a software host platform from Waves that lets live sound engineers run
multiple, simultaneous instances of the same award-winning Waves plugins used in recording
studios and mixing rooms the world over. It provides a software equivalent of outboard hardware
processing racks. SuperRack Native can be configured with up to 64 racks, and each rack can
host up to eight plugins. You can view and control one plugin, or one rack, or up to 64 racks at a
time.

SuperRack Native uses the power of your host computer for plugins processing and overhead.
This means that the number and kind of plugins you use are, as well as overall system latency,
depend on the host computer’s CPU sound driver capabilities

This user guide is organized just like the SuperRack, by different pages that control different parts
of the application. The first chapter of this user guide is about getting started: installation,
configuration, and the basics of using SuperRack. Read it; it may be all you need. The rest of this
guide provides detailed descriptions and about every section of the product.

USEFUL WAVES CONTACTS


www.waves.com
Download the Waves Central application, used to install Waves
https://www.waves.com/downloads/central
software products and activate licenses.
https://www.waves.com/support/tag/troubleshooting FAQs and troubleshooting

https://www.waves.com/contact-us How to reach us

Learn about compatible SoundGrid hardware: servers, I/Os,


https://www.waves.com/hardware
and switches.

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Part 1: Getting Started
Follow these steps to get up and running. This is more of a checklist than a detailed recipe—refer to the chapters
that follow for more information.
• Download and install all software and licenses
• Connect hardware
• Assign devices
• Configure racks
• Insert plugins

Install the Software


1. Use the Waves Central application to download and install all Waves software and manage
licenses. If you don’t have Waves Central, you can download it here:
https://www.waves.com/downloads. You’ll need a free Waves User Account to log on to Waves
Central. If you don’t already have a Waves account, click the “Sign Up” button on the Waves home
page.

2. Launch Waves Central. On the left side of the interface, select Install Products and then go to My
Products. This shows a list of all of your Waves purchased products. If you don’t see SuperRack or
your plugins in this list, go to your Waves account and register the products. You can also select
the All Products tab, which shows you a list of the entire Waves catalogue. This is an easy way to
choose plugins for purchase or demo.

3. Select the SuperRack application and the plugins that you want to install. Products selected for
installation and/or license activation are shown in a list on the right side. Click the “Install” button,
or “Install & Activate” if you are activating licenses. The SuperRack application and your plugins
will be installed on your computer. By default, licenses are activated to your computer.

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You can install the SuperRack Native and your plugins on more than one computer (e.g., your studio computer,
along with a few live venue setups). Follow the instructions above to install SuperRack and your plugins on as many
computers as you like, and then activate your licenses to a USB flash drive rather than to your computer. When you
move from one computer to another, insert the flash drive, scan for plugins, and you’re ready to go. You cannot use
one license simultaneously on more than one system.

SuperRack Native systems require Waves Native plugins.

If your production computer is not connected to the internet, you can use Waves Central to create an offline
installer. An offline installer must be created on a computer that’s connected to the internet. It includes the
SuperRack application and your plugins. Save this installer on a USB flash drive and use it to install
SuperRack on your production computer (that is not connected to the internet). Activate your licenses
separately on a USB flash drive.

Please refer to the Waves Central User Guide for details

SuperRack runs on Windows and Mac.

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Connect the Hardware
Connect an ASIO / Core Audio interface to your host computer. Use MADI, AES/EBU, or analog
cables, depending on your console and audio interface. See the examples below.

ANALOG CONNECTIONS

When a console does not have a digital I/O device,


Analog
you can connect the console sends and returns or
other analog inputs and outputs to an analog
interface. Connect the interface to the host computer
Analog
interface
via USB or Firewire.

Firewire or USB

Console with analog connectors

Host computer with


SuperRack Native

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BEHRINGER NATIVE CONNECTIONS

To use SuperRack Native with a


Behringer X-32 Series console simply
Firewire or USB
connect the two with Firewire or USB
cables.

Host computer with Behringer X-32 Series console


SuperRack Native

To learn more about assigning devices, please refer to the Setup Window part of this user guide.

Display Resolutions
Full Screen (default) fits the SuperRack window to 100% of the resolution set for the display. Aspect ratio is
maintained.
Scaled (Full Screen off) scales the window of each display to 90% of the resolution set for the display. When more
than one display is present, this behavior is independent per display.
Click Full Screen again or tap ESC to exit Full Screen mode.

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Configuring the Sound Card
Turn on your sound card and then launch the SuperRack Native application. If SuperRack does not launch, go to
Waves Central and confirm that the correct license has been activated. Follow these steps for basic setup.
At the top of the interface, click the Setup tab. The Setup window is where you select and configure the sound
card. It’s also where most of the system preferences are set.

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Click on the Audio Setup tab. The SuperRack Native Audio Setup page is used to assign and configure
the sound card or console extension card.
Open the Device drop-down menu. This is a list of the ASIO/Core Audio device drivers for the available sound
cards or interfaces. Select the driver for your device.
Open the control panel of the selected driver and configure the device, if needed.
View or set the system Sample Rate. If your ASIO/Core Audio device allows for its sample rate to be set
externally (in this case by SuperRack), use this drop-down menu to set system sample rate. If the sample
rate of the device cannot be set externally, then this value box will display the device’s sample rate as set
externally.
Set the device’s Buffer Size. Larger buffers will result in more stability but greater latency.
CPU indicates the CPU load of the host processor, expressed as a percentage of CPU available to the
application.

The device is now configured.

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Routing I/O Channels to Racks
A rack must be routed to an input and output I/O, whether channels from an ASIO/Core Audio driver, a
console expansion card, or an additional hardware device. Rack input and output routing is done in the
Rack or Overview windows. In the following example, we will route rack input and output to a single rack
in the rack window.

Routing Racks Manually

Use the tab at the top to open the Rack window.


Select a rack.
Click on the Input arrow. This
opens the Input Device Assignment
menu.

Select an input format.

Select an input device.

Select input I/O channels.

Rack outputs are routed in the same manner.

A rack’s input and output do not necessarily need to have the same number of tracks. A stereo rack
input can, for example, coexist with a 5.1 output. The rack’s L/R signal will output only from the L
and R channels of the 5.1 I/O stream. The position of the L and R channels in the 5.1 output will
vary depending on the 5.1 format. If rack output is unassigned when the input is routed, SuperRack
will attempt to patch the same input and output I/O channels.

An I/O can be patched to several rack inputs. Only one rack can patch to an output I/O.

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Routing Racks Automatically
SuperRack can automatically route input and output I/O channels to each rack in a session. Routing
is applied to a pre-configured session with no existing I/O patches. Patching continues until all racks
are routed or all I/O channels have been assigned.

Routing Asymmetrical Racks

If the channel formats for the rack’s input and output are the same
(e.g., mono-to-mono, stereo-to-stereo, 5.1-to-5.1, etc.), the I/O
channel numbers for a rack’s in and out will increment together.
Here, inputs and outputs are mono:
Rack 5: input MADI 25, output MADI 25
Rack 6: input MADI 26, output MADI 26
Rack 7: input MADI 27, output MADI 27, etc.

If, on the other hand, the rack input has fewer channels than
output channels (or vice versa), certain channels will go
unused so that each rack begins with the same input and
output channel number. In this example, rack input is mono,
and output is 5.1. The resulting patching looks like this:
Rack 1: input MADI 1, output MADI 1–6
Rack 2: input MADI 7, output MADI 7–12
Rack 3: input MADI 13, output MADI 11–18, etc.

To learn more about routing in SuperRack, please refer to Part 5: Rack Window.

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Inserting Plugins
Each plugin rack has eight slots. Rack signal flow is from top to bottom.

1. To insert a plugin in a slot, click on the down arrow (Rack


window) or plus symbol (Overview window). This opens the
drop-down Plugin menu.
2. Choose a plugin from the list. The input/output structure of the
rack determines if a plugin can be inserted in the rack. If a
plugin cannot provide a component that is compatible with the
rack input/output structure, it will not appear in the menu (e.g.,
a 5.1 rack will not let you insert a stereo component). Also,
certain plugins (e.g., mono-to-stereo) change the channel
structure of the rack.
3. You can insert a plugin into any slot. The plugin’s icon will
appear in the slot. Click a plugin icon to open the plugin’s
interface in the plugin pane.
A plugin’s rack position determines its place in the signal flow.
You can change a plugin’s position by dragging an icon up and
down in the rack.

In this example, Abbey Road Chambers slides upward (blue


path) to displace Doubler (red path).

Changing plugin order may result in a short audio drop. Wait for
a convenient time to rearrange the rack.

Learn more about adding plugins to a rack in Part 5: Rack


Window

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Floating Panels
Certain panels can be detached from their docked locations and floated anywhere on the displays. This provides
quick access to critical plugins and the controls you want to access regularly.
The following panels can be detached and floated:
• User Keys
• Hot Plugins
• Plugin control panes
• Snapshots notes
• Window tear-offs (Setup, Patch, Show, Rack, Overview 1 and 2)

DETACHING A PANEL
Each detachable panel has a Float symbol at the top of its frame. Click this button to detach
the panel from its dock. It can now be positioned anywhere on the SuperRack interface. When
a panel has been detached from its original position, the Float symbol is blue.

Click anywhere else on the display and the floated panel will move backward and disappear. To keep a panel in the
foreground, click the Pin button. Click the Float symbol again to return the panel to its dock.

The Floating Panels drop-down menu on the right side of the Top Bar is a list of all detached
panels. Select a panel or window and it will move to the front.

The name of the current session is shown at the top of the list.

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DETACHED PLUGIN PANES
To float a plugin’s control interface, click on the Detach symbol at the upper-right corner of the of
the plugin pane.

At the top of a floating plugin is a control bar. There are three control buttons:
Deselect the IN button to bypass the plugin.
Click the Pin button to keep the detached plugin visible when other plugins are detached. A pinned plugin
remains visible in all SuperRack views.
Close the window and the floating plugin panel will return to the plugin pane. You can also close a window by
clicking on the Detach symbol.

HOT PLUGINS PANEL


The Hot Plugins panel provides instant access to selected plugin control panels. Up
to twelve plugins can be assigned to the Hot Plugins panel.
• Any plugin in any rack can be assigned to the Hot Plugin panel.
• Hot plugin assignments are made in the plugin’s drop-down menu.
• Hot Plugins can be within the scope of a snapshot, so you can have a different panel for each snapshot.
Scope and Recall Safe are set in the Show window.
• Click on a Hot Plugin icon to display its complete plugin control panel.
• Right-click on a hot plugin to remove it from the current snapshot or from all snapshots.
• The Hot Plugins panel can show plugins as either icons or meters. To change between view modes, click the
blue meter icon on the right side of the panel.
• A detached Hot Plugin panel can be displayed in a horizontal or vertical orientation. Click the ladder icon on
the left side of the panel to toggle between these views.
• The plugin’s name and rack number are shown above the icon.

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TEAR-OFF WINDOWS
There are five SuperRack windows: Setup, Patch, Show, Rack, and two Overviews. You can “tear off” one or more
windows to spread SuperRack control over several displays. Click/drag downward, away from the Top Bar. A new
window will appear. It can be positioned on any of your displays.

The original Window Selection Panel. All window tabs are available. In this
example we will separate the Rack window from the other windows to create
its own screen.

This creates a new screen containing only the torn-off window. Move this
separated window to another display.

The main display can access any window except the secondary view. Repeat
the procedure for additional displays.

The name of the panel will appear in the Floating Panels drop-down menu. Click on the window
name and it will move to the front. Close the torn off window to return it to the default location in
the Top Bar.

System Requirements
Specifications for host computers, cables and connections, servers, display resolutions, and controllers can be found
at Waves Support.

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Part 2: Top Bar
At the top of the interface is a control ribbon called the Top Bar. It plays an important role in controlling SuperRack.

We suggest that you read this chapter before moving on.


Rack Controls Window Select Snapshots and Utilities

The Top Bar is visible from every SuperRack window. It includes the menus, information boxes, system feedback,
and navigation tools that you need all the time.

The Top Bar is used to:


• Navigate to and select a rack
• Assign a rack to link groups
• Assign a rack to a latency alignment group
• Save, load, and manage rack presets
• Save and load sessions
• Switch between windows
• Load and store snapshots
• Indicate Audio, sample rate, remote control (e.g., MIDI)
• Set and monitor BPM
• Verify MIDI input
• Lock the interface and access on-screen keyboard
• and other functions

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Left Panel: Rack Controls
Use this section of the Top Bar to select a rack, assign it to a link
group and a latency group, manage rack presets, and open and
save sessions and templates.

Rack Name
The Rack Name box displays the name of the selected rack. Left and right arrows move the selection to the previous or
next rack. You can move directly to a rack using the Racks menu on the right. To rename a rack, double-click on the
Name box and then type. If the rack is set to Recall Safe, the word “SAFE” appears.

Racks Menu

The Racks menu is used to load, save, import and export, and copy and paste the presets
for the selected rack. A Rack Preset is a complete description of a rack (i.e., I/O patching,
rack structure, and plugin settings).
A rack’s settings can be copied from one rack to another. Factory presets can be loaded,
modified, and then saved as new user presets. Presets can also be copied and exported
as files, which can then be imported to another SuperRack host. This enables moving
individual racks between sessions.

The Racks Menu is divided into five sections, indicated here with letters.

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RACK SELECT
Navigate directly to a rack using this submenu.

RACKS MENU: IMPORT AND EXPORT PRESETS


FACTORY PRESETS (LOAD)
Displays a list of presets supplied by Waves. These provide starting points for many setups. Factory presets cannot
be saved. Instead, modify the preset and save it as a user preset. Empty removes all plugins from the rack.
USER PRESETS (LOAD)
Loads a user-created rack preset that has been saved in the current session or imported from another. To delete a
user preset, hold Ctrl/Alt before opening the Preset menu. Select the preset and it will be deleted. This cannot be
undone.

IMPORT PRESET FROM FILE


Loads a single preset that has been saved as a file, not as part of the session. Imported presets are added to the
User Presets menu and then saved as part of the session.

EXPORT USER PRESETS


Creates a file with all user presets for the entire session, not just those of the selected rack. These are stored as one
xps file that can be saved to other media.

EXPORT ALL PRESETS


Exports a file that contains the presets—not just the user presets—of all channels in the session.

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RACKS MENU: SAVE AND COPY PRESETS
SAVE
Saves the current condition to the loaded preset, overwriting it.

SAVE TO USER PRESETS


Creates a new user preset. These presets are saved as part of the current session. Consider this a “Save As”
function.

SAVE PRESET TO FILE


Copies the current rack condition and creates a file that is saved at a user-defined location. This preset file can be
imported to any session (the extension is xps). Unlike user presets, these are not embedded in the session.

RENAME PRESET
Changes the name of the current rack preset.

RACKS MENU: COPY/PASTE PRESETS


COPY PRESET
Copies the current rack condition to the clipboard. A copied rack preset can be pasted to any other rack in the
current session.

PASTE PRESET
Pastes the copied rack preset from the clipboard to another rack. A dialog box lets you choose what rack information
will be replaced in the target rack and what will be left unchanged.

Note: Before you paste a rack preset to another rack, make certain that the plugins and their sequence is the same
on the source and target racks. Loading a preset to a rack that uses a plugin chainer order that’s different from that
of the current rack will apply the new preset to all scenes. This action cannot be undone.

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RACKS MENU: RACK RECALL AND AUTO ROUTE
UPDATE RACK STATUS TO SNAPSHOT(S)
Updates the current rack settings to selected snapshots in
the current session. A dialog lets you to select the
snapshot(s) you want to update.

RACK RECALL SAFE OFF


Sets the recall safe condition of the rack. When the rack is in a Recall Safe condition, a small SAFE icon is shown
below the Rack name in the Top Bar.
AUTO-ROUTE ALL RACKS
Automatically creates routing for all racks in a session.

Current Preset
Displays the rack preset if one is loaded. An asterisk (*) indicates that the preset has been modified since it was
loaded.

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Link Group Assignment
Use the Link Group Assignment menu to assign the selected rack to one of sixteen link groups. When racks are linked
together, the identical parameter controls of all members of the group move together. Variable controls are linked
relatively: if controls are set to different values before they are linked, they will move together, and their offsets will be
preserved.

Controls that are linked together:

• A/B input and output selection


• Input and output gain
• Plugin In/Out
• Mute
Plugin parameter controls are not linked.

The Link Group Assignment box displays the name of the link group that the rack is
assigned to. A link group can include up to 64 racks, but a single rack can be a
member of only one link group. The Patch window provides an overview of all link
patches in the session and allows you to make many assignments simultaneously.

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Latency Group Assignment

Use the Latency Group Assignment drop-down menu to assign the


selected rack to a latency group. Latency groups are used to align
the delays of several racks and to set the delay of a group of racks.

To establish latency groups, the Latency Group setting in the


Settings page (Setup>Settings) must be set to “Align by Latency
Groups.” Setting “Align All Racks Automatically” aligns all racks to
match the rack with the greatest latency. Latency is explained in
detail in the Patch Window section of this user guide.

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Center Section: Window Selection Tabs
Use these tabs to select one of
the six SuperRack windows.

OVERVIEW 1 AND OVERVIEW 2 WINDOWS


The two Overview windows provide a broad look at
your session. Most rack functions can be controlled
here. Plugins are added, removed, disabled, and
bypassed in the small plugin rack. Click a plugin’s icon
to access its full interface. Drag any plugin icon to
move it from rack to rack or within its own rack.

There are five Overview layers: four layers with 16 racks


and one layer that displays the inputs and outputs of all 64
racks.

RACK WINDOW
The Rack window is a detailed view of the selected rack.
It’s used to control plugins, assign I/Os, set input and
output levels, and recall hot plugins and user-assigned
keys. When a plugin in the plugin rack is selected, its
complete interface is displayed in the middle of the
screen.

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SHOW WINDOW

The Show window is SuperRack’s filing center, where


snapshots and sessions are managed.
The window consists of three pages:
• Sessions
• Snapshots
• Recall Safe

PATCH WINDOW

This is a patch bay for managing latency groups and


overseeing link groups. Latency group and Link Group
assignments are made on a rack -by-rack basis from
the Top Bar. In the Patch window, however, you can
view and control the groups on all the racks.

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SETUP WINDOW

The Setup widow is where you select a sound card,


assign drivers and control protocols, and set preferences.

Tearing Off Windows for Multiple Displays


SuperRack can be controlled with up to four displays. This enables you to manage several parts of a session
simultaneously. Create additional display views by “tearing off” tabs from the original screen display. Click and drag
downward, away from the Top Bar. A new window will appear.
This is demonstrated in the Floating Panels section.

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Right Panel: Snapshots and Utilities

Snapshot Menu
The Snapshot menu is used to store and recall snapshots for all current parameters. The
name of the current snapshot and its index number are displayed in the box. If a scene
has been modified since it was recalled, its name is followed by an asterisk (*). A session
can hold up to 1024 snapshots.

Snapshots are discussed at length in the Snapshots section of the Show chapter.

STORE NEW SNAPSHOT


Creates a new user-named snapshot based on the current SuperRack condition.
STORE SNAPSHOT
Overwrites the current snapshot with the current SuperRack condition.
RECALL SNAPSHOT
Directly recalls a snapshot based on its place in the snapshot list. Type an index number and the corresponding
snapshot will be recalled.

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HOT SNAPSHOTS
Provides immediate access to up to eight “Hot” (i.e., high priority) snapshots.
SNAPSHOTS LIST (1–32; 33–64;…968–1024)
Shows all snapshots associated with the session, in banks of 32 snapshots. Maximum number of snapshots per
session is 1024.
Learn more about how SuperRack handles snapshots in Part 7: Show Window.

Status Panel
PROVIDES CRITICAL SYSTEM FEEDBACK:
Sample Rate Shown in Green
Audio Gray indicates that audio throughput is valid
Red indicates that dropouts are occurring
Remote Green SuperRack is being controlled externally
Orange SuperRack is being controlled externally and console Touch and Turn is engaged
Red Something is wrong with the remote (e.g., disconnected)

MIDI Activity LED


Flashes when incoming MIDI is present.

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CPU Display
The CPU indicator bar displays average CPU. The small line shows peak load. The color of the
bar indicates CPU status. CPU values are shown numerically in the Inventory page.

METER INDICATION

GREEN BAR CPU load is less than 85%. It is likely that more plugins can be added.

YELLOW BAR CPU load is 85%–95%. To avoid potential overloads, you should try to
redistribute your processing load by moving or disabling certain plugins.

RED BAR The bar turns red when CPU exceeds 95%.

ORANGE VERTICAL LINE Displays peak CPU.

A high CPU warning indicates that SuperRack is requesting data at a rate that the host currently provide. Here are
two common CPU overload conditions and suggested solutions.

PROCESSING OVERLOAD POSSIBLE SOLUTION: DISABLE SOME PLUGINS


(momentary or constant) This is the most common cause of CPU overload. First remove some
CPU-heavy plugins. If this helps, try to restructure you racks so that
you can manage with fewer of these plugins.
HIGH AUDIO THROUGHPUT POSSIBLE SOLUTION: INCREASE BUFFER SIZE
(channels over the audio Larger buffers will result in more stability but greater latency.
Interface)

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Session Menu
Used to open and save sessions and templates:
Session: Displays the name of the current session.
Open Session: Opens a session from a file.
Open Template: Opens a session template, which you will save as a regular session.
Save Session: Saves the current session, overwriting the previous save to that file (in other words, a regular
save).
Save Session As: Saves the current session to a new file.
Save Template: Creates a new SuperRack template from the current session.

Utilities
CLOCK
The clock displays the current time on the host computer. When MIDI Control is used, this box can display MIDI
timecode.
FULL SCREEN MODE
Full Screen On: Fits the SuperRack window to 100% of the resolution set for the display (screen space), while
maintaining the aspect ratio. Click again or tap ESC to exit Full Screen mode.
Full Screen Off: Window behavior follows the Scaling selection in the Settings window.
ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD
Accesses the operating system’s touchscreen keyboard. Use this to enter text information on a touchscreen display
when a hardware keyboard is not available.
LOCK BUTTON
Click the Lock button to prevent unintended changes to the session during a show. The scope of Lock is established
in the Settings page.

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GLOBAL TEMPO SECTION
This section sets the tempo for all relevant plugins. By default, tempo-based Waves plugins are in a “tempo listen”
state. Their tempo rates will fix to this value. Alternatively, click a rhythm on the Tap button. These taps are
averaged to create a tempo value. You can also enter a numeric value in the box below. The tempo light flashes at
the designated tempo.
FLOATING PANELS LIST
This is a list of currently detached panels (e.g., hot plugins, user keys, plugins, windows). Select a panel from the
drop-down menu to navigate directly to it. The name of the session is shown at the top of the list. Click on this name
to return to the main view.
Refer to the Floating Panels section to learn more
GET INFO PANEL (CLICK ON SUPERRACK LOGO)
Click this button to open the SuperRack information panel. This view includes the version of SuperRack Native that
you’re running, as well as a link to the user guide.

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Part 3: Setup Window
The Setup window is used to monitor the network, set preferences, and assign devices. There are two pages.

Settings Page (left)


Use to set the number of racks in the session,
set preferences, and assign user keys.

Audio Settings Page


Assign and configure I/O

Use the buttons on the left sidebar to move between Setup pages.

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Audio Setup Page
The Audio Setup page is about assigning a sound card to SuperRack and then setting a few variables that determine
how they will behave together. This is also where you can assign external controllers to SuperRack.

All available ASIO/Core Audio drivers


are displayed in the Device drop-
down menu. Device selection is stored
with the SuperRack preferences, not
with a session, so if a session
requires a different device than the
one currently in use, the device must
be changed manually.

Once a device is selected, you can open its Control Panel to access
driver settings (left).
If the device can reset its Sample Rate from an external command
(i.e., SuperRack Native), the Control Panel Sample Rate indicator will
reflect that value. If the device cannot be reset externally, then it must
be set here.

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Use the Buffer menu indicator shows the how much of the selected buffer is being used. When this value
becomes excessive, or if you are experiencing audio drops, you may need to remove some heavy plugins or
increase the buffer size. When many channels are going in/out of the driver to several destinations, the driver
buffer size may need to be increased.
The CPU value box indicates the CPU load of the host processor, expressed as a percentage of CPU available
to the application.

CONTROLLERS
The Controllers slots at the bottom of the System Inventory page are used to assign up to five control devices.
These devices can be used to control SuperRack functions. Click on a controller slot to open the drop-down
menu and select a controller protocol. All installed controller drivers appear in the list, whether the device is present
or not.

Controller device status is displayed on the device icon.


N/A: Device corresponding to selected protocol is not present or not functioning properly.
On: Device is present and operational.

Once a controller is selected and functioning properly, click on the Gear button to open its control panel.Using
SuperRack with controllers is discussed in detail at the end of this user guide.

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Settings Page
Use the Settings page to set overall system preferences and to assign user keys that can be recalled in the Rack
and Overview windows.

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SETTINGS PAGE SECTIONS

SuperRack Configuration
Sets the number of racks in the session. Limiting the number of racks in a session to no more than needed makes
for a cleaner display.

Configuration is normally established when a session is created, but you can change the number of racks in an
existing session. However, if you reduce the number of racks in a session, the settings in racks that are no longer
part of the session will be discarded. Save a session under a revised name before you reduce its size.

Range: 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 racks

GUI Scaling
SuperRack’s native display resolution is 1920x1080 (HD). The Scaling control sets how the SuperRack window
relates to displays.
Non-Scaled (default): SuperRack maintains its native size, regardless of the resolution of the display or
displays.
Scaled: Scales SuperRack’s interface to occupy 90% of the screen of each connected display. Aspect ratio is
maintained.
Startup Session
Determines the SuperRack Native startup condition.
Previous Session Loads the most recent session to the last user save.
Last State Loads the most recent session to its last state before quitting.
Empty Session Mixer opens with a blank session.
Lock
Determines what controls will not be altered when the Lock button in the top bar is engaged. Any combination of
these controls can be locked: routing, plugins, remote, and snapshots. In addition, the entire interface (GUI) can
be locked. All selections can be protected with a password.

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Meter Clip Settings
Clip Threshold determines the level at which the clip light turns red. When Clip Threshold is set below 0 dBFS, a
warning appears before clipping actually occurs.
Range: 0 dBFS to -18 dBFS,
Clip Hold: 0 seconds–5 seconds

Plugins
Rescans the plugins folder. This is useful, for example, if you download a demo plugin and you don’t want to
restart SuperRack. Use this as well when you configure a session offline.

A/B Inputs & Outputs (Link A/B Inputs and Outputs)


Each rack has inputs A and B, and outputs A and B. Linking between them means that switching from input A to
input B will switch the outputs correspondingly. When not selected, inputs and outputs act independently of each
other.
History
Establishes preferences for auto-saving.
Autosave Every xx Minutes: Makes a complete copy the current SuperRack condition at defined intervals
Range: 3 minutes–30 minutes
On Snapshot Update: Auto-save each time a snapshot is stored, recalled, or modified.
Save History Files To: Each time SuperRack does an auto-save, a new History file is created. Auto-saved files
are not deleted; new saves do not replace old saves. SuperRack provides a default location for history files:
Mac: Users/Shared/Waves Audio/SuperRack/history
Windows: Users\Public\Waves\SuperRack\history
Use the Browse button to select a new location. This path is saved in the session preferences.
User-saved session files are saved in the adjacent Sessions folder. Delete history files and session files
using the host computer, not the SuperRack application.

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Latency Group Settings
Align All Racks Automatically:
All racks are time-aligned to one delay value, which can be the main output of the mixing desk or another
buss. The rack with the greatest latency sets the latency for the entire session. In this mode, individual latency
groups cannot be delayed.

Align by Latency Group


All of the racks within each rack will be aligned together, but the latency groups will not be aligned

Latency values are set in the Patch window.


Speed of Sound
User-determined speed of sound measurement for use in delay-related calculations. Display is in
meters/second.
Default: 340 meters/second

Troubleshooting
Warn Before Deleting Snapshots
Presents a prompt before deleting any snapshot.
Show Patch Warnings
Displays a warning when attempting to change a patch.
Enable Logging
Creates a troubleshooting log that is placed on the desktop. This log is useful when communicating with
Waves technical support.
Logs
Opens the most recent log file.

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User Keys
In the Overview windows and the Rack window, there is a panel with 16 programmable
buttons that can be assigned to important or often-used commands. This, among other
things, lets you issue commands that are in a different window, without leaving your
current view. It also lets you immediately access certain menu items that are deep
inside multi-level, drop-down menus.

The User Keys panel can be torn off and floated to any location on the display. Click
the arrow in the top left corner of the panel to tear it off and to reattach it. User-
assignable keys can also be recalled with keyboard Function Keys.

Refer to the Floating Panels section for details about undocking panels.

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ASSIGNING USER KEYS

User Keys are assigned in the User Key Assignments panel on the right side
of the Settings page. Select one of the 16 buttons, open the drop-down
menu, and choose a function or command.

Use the buttons at the bottom of the panel to import and export user-assignable keys. Clear All removes all User Key
assignments.

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Part 4: Patch Window
The Rack Window is a grid that lets you quickly view and patch assignments for link groups and latency groups.
Racks can be assigned to link groups and latency groups on a rack-by-rack basis in the Top Bar, but the Patch
window provides an overview of all assignments.
PATCH VIEW SELECTION
Use the buttons on the left side of the Patch Window to choose between Link Groups or Latency Groups patching.

Link Groups

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When racks are linked, the identical controls of all members of the group move together. Variable controls are linked
relatively. If controls are set to different values before they are linked, they will move together, and their offsets will be
preserved.
Controls that are linked:
• A/B input and output selection
• Input and output gain
• Plugin In/Out
• Mute
Plugin controls are not linked.
Assign a rack to a link group by clicking on the intersection of the Link and the Rack. Click again to cancel the link.
There are 16 link groups, shown on the
left. Any link group can include up to 64
racks (top), depending on the size of the
session, but a single rack can be a
member of only one link group. The Patch
window is an easy way to assign racks to
link groups and to gain an overview of all
link patches in the session.

Use the ON button on the left to engage


or disengage a link group.

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You can also use the Link Groups Assignment drop-down menu in the Top Bar to
assign the selected rack to one of sixteen link groups. This assignment is reflected
in the Link Groups patch.

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Latency Groups
The Latency Groups page provides an overview of assignments between racks and latency groups. This is also
where you assign group latency.

Managing Latency in SuperRack


Latency is the delay imposed by the rack’s processing chain. Plugin processing is the most common cause of latency.
Many plugins have zero latency, others a moderate amount, and some have a great deal. These signals must be
time-aligned at the rack’s output, otherwise the signals will be out of sync with each other.

Use the Latency Groups framework in the Patch window to assign racks to latency groups, define the group’s
behavior, and assign delay values per rack. You can also assign a rack to a latency group in the Top Bar.
RACK NUMBER
RACK NAME
LATENCY GROUP ON/OFF
Turning off a latency group
suspends it from latency
compensation calculations.
LATENCY GROUP NAME
Double-click to rename the group
ASSIGNMENT MODE
Auto: Group latency group is
calculated automatically. It varies
depending on the latency of plugins
in the group.
Manual: In this mode, you can
assign a latency value to the
latency group.

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LATENCY GROUP VALUE
In the Manual Assignment mode, this setting provides a fixed group latency. Group latency will never be less or
more than this value. This value box is disabled in the Auto Assignment Mode.
DELAY CALCULATION UNIT
Unit of measurement used for displaying the delay of a latency group. This selection does not affect the value, only
the display. The delay value can be entered in samples, milliseconds, feet, or meters.
LATENCY COMPENSATION
Latency compensation assures that signals are time-aligned, regardless of how they are processed or routed.
Depending on settings, SuperRack can compensate for latency differences in three different ways:
• Align the plugins within a rack
• Align the racks in a latency group
• Align every rack and plugin to one delay group

ALIGNING PLUGINS IN A RACK


The diagram below illustrates one rack with three plugins. Each plugin has a different latency, so the plugins are not
time-aligned in the rack. Latency compensation delays the plugins with the least latencies (in this case, plugin #2
and plugin #3) to match the plugin with the greatest latency (plugin #1). In this example, plugin #2 was delayed by
an additional 55 samples and plugin #2 an additional 97 samples. The three plugins in the rack are now aligned with
each other. The rack reports a latency of 100 samples.

Align Plugins in a Rack

Plugin #1 100 samples


100 samples 100samples
100 samples +0 samples

Plugin #2 45 samples 45 samples +55 samples


45 samples 45 samples

Plugin #3 3 samples 3 +97 samples


3

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You can remove individual plugins from the rack’s latency compensation calculations.
This is done in the plugin’s drop-down menu. Turning off a plugin’s latency
compensation does not affect its actual latency: it merely takes it out of latency
calculations. If, in the example above, plugin #1 is removed from latency compensation,
the rack will report a latency of only 45 samples. Plugin #1 will still have a latency of 100
samples, but it will not affect the latencies of the other plugins in the rack.

Latency Groups
A latency group is a collection of racks whose delays are controlled together, whether for latency compensation or
group delay. Assign racks to latency groups using the Latency Groups drop-down menu in the Top Bar or the Patch
Window, Latency Group page.

Plugins and racks can be aligned to one common latency or assigned to latency groups. This is selected in the
Settings page.

Align all Racks Automatically Latency compensation is calculated across the entire session;
all racks are time-aligned together. Latency for the entire session is calculated based on the
rack with the greatest latency.

Align by Latency Groups Several racks can be combined to form up to 16 latency groups. All
of the racks in a latency group are time aligned with each other, so that when their signals
return to the sound card or interface, they are all in sync. There are, in addition, two modes within the Align by
Latency Groups setting. Latency groups can be delayed so that racks to specific I/Os and their delays controlled.

Align by Latency Groups offers two modes for managing each latency group. Choose between these modes in the
Patch window (Patch>Latency Groups).
Auto mode calculates latency compensation dynamically. Rack latency
adjusts to match the delay of the plugin in the group with the highest latency.

Manual mode lets you set a specific delay for the group. Latency will never
go above or below the specified value. You cannot insert a plugin if it will
result in this latency value being exceeded.

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To manually set a group’s latency value, toggle the Auto/Manual button to Manual. Double-click on the value box to
enter a number.

Latency Group Alignment


In the earlier example, three plugins in a rack were time aligned so that all were in sync at the rack output. In the
following example, three racks are assigned to a latency group. All of the racks are latency corrected internally, but
each rack has its own latency, so they must be time aligned.

This latency group consists to three racks. Rack #1 has a latency of 100 samples. This is the rack that we aligned in
the previous example. Rack #13 and Rack #27 have lower latencies.

Align Racks in a Latency Group

Rack #1 100 samples 100 samples +32 samples

Rack #13 132 samples 132 samples +0 samples

Rack #27 8 samples 8 +124 samples

Delay was added to Rack #1 and Rack #27 to align with rack #13, the rack with the greatest latency. The resulting
Latency Group delay is 132 samples.
Plugin and system latency values depend on the host computer CPU.

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Part 5: Rack Window
The Rack window is used to control all the settings of a rack. It presents the complete interface of any plugin in the
rack (up to eight altogether). This enables convenient assignment of input and output I/Os; and it provides for
rearranging plugin sequence in a rack, thus altering processing signal flow.

There’s a lot of overlap between the Rack window and the Overview windows, but they are used differently. The
Overview windows show a condensed view of an entire layer of racks so that you can quickly interpret and manage
several racks at once. The Rack window, on the other hand, presents you with everything you need to set up and
control one rack. Use it to set every detail of a rack

The window is divided into four sections.

Input Section
Select input set A or B, assign
I/O channels, and adjust input
level. Rack input format is
established here.
Plugins Rack
Add up to eight plugins and
external inserts. Control latency
compensation and recall safe.
Plugin Pane
The complete plugin interface.
Output section
Control rack output routing to
I/Os; Control output gain.

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Selecting a Rack
The Rack window is all about controlling a specific selected rack, so you need to be able to get to it quickly. There
are three ways to do this:
• Use the Racks drop-down menu to navigate directly to a Rack (Top Bar).
• Use the arrows next to the Rack Name box to move up and down the rack, one rack at a time (Top Bar).
• Select a rack in the Overview window. Touch the plugin icon to open the complete interface.

Rack Input Section


The Input Strip on the left side of the interface is used to select inputs, choose device I/O device channel, control
input gain, and bypass the rack.

Input I/O source: shows your assigned ASIO / Core Audio interface

Latency Value Box: shows the total latency of the rack.


Input Set Select: lets you select between two input sets: A and B. This is useful, for example, in a situation
where two mixers share the same SuperRack, or when different songs use different channels on the main
consoles (e.g., singer has moved to another mic). It is also a convenient way to switch between a virtual
soundcheck and the show.

The full-scale Input Meter displays post-input-trim gain. The number of meter bars reflects the format of
the input I/O device. The meter turns red when the input level is clipping. Adjust clip threshold in the
Settings page.

The Input Gain Knob controls the rack input level. The position of the input knob is shown in the value box.
Range: -18 dB to +18 dB.

The In button bypasses the rack’s plugin processing. The rack still passes audio. Green: rack on; Gray: rack off.

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ASSIGNING RACK INPUTS
Rack input is assigned at the top of the rack. The number and format of I/O device channels routed to the rack
determines its configuration and define which plugins can be used.

To assign I/O device channels to a rack:


Use the Input A/B Select button to choose between the two input sets for each rack. Inputs A and B can patch to
different device channels, but they must have the same channel formats.
Click on the down arrow to open the drop-down Input Menu.
Select the input format (e.g., mono, stereo, 5.1, 7.1). This sets the number of device I/O channels patched to the
rack input and establishes the format of the rack. Some plugins do not have components for all rack chainer
formats. Test your plugins with the formats you want to use before you configure lots of tracks. If the plugin does
not have a component with the desired format, select another track format or choose another plugin to resolve the
problem.
The name of the sound card will appear.

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Select the range of I/O device channels for the input patch.
Set the channel format (L-C-R-S, L-CL-C-CR-LS-RS-LFE, etc.). This defines how channels are arranged in the
stream. For example, the 5.0 channel stream as shown above can be formatted as L-C-R-Ls-Rs, L-R-C-Ls-Rs, or
L-R-Ls-Rs-C. This sequence is displayed at the top of the meter.
Rack input and output do not need to be the same format, but they must be compatible. Some plugins do not have
components for all rack formats, so check to see if the plugin has the component you want before committing to a
rack format. If you attempt to patch a device channel that is patched elsewhere, you will be prompted. You can
accept the new configuration (which will remove the current patches) or select Cancel and try patching to different
I/O channels.
The input is now set, as is the structure of the rack. You can later change the number of input channels in the rack,
but this will disable plugins that do not have components that support the new channel configuration and may alter
the output format.

Rack Output Section


The output section controls rack output level and assigns I/O devices to the rack output.

I/O Channel Select


Choose from any assigned I/O device, anywhere on the SoundGrid network.
Output A/B
A rack output can be patched to two separate I/O channels. This is useful, for example, in a festival
environment where there are two console sets and you need to quickly switch from one to the other.
Device I/O patching must be identical for both rack output sets.
Output Meter
Full-scale output meters. The number of meter bars reflects the format of the output I/O (e.g., stereo,
5.1, 7.0, etc.); range: -INF to 0 dBFS

Adjustable peak and clip indicators. Peak and clip behavior set in the Settings menu. Click on the meter
to clear indicators manually.
Rack Output Control: Range: -18 dB to +18 dB
Mute: mutes the rack.
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ASSIGNING RACK OUTPUTS
Rack outputs are assigned in the same manner as rack inputs. A single rack output can patch to several device I/Os.

Use the Output A/B Select button to choose between the two input sets for each rack. Inputs A and B can patch
to different device channels, but they must have the same channel formats.
Open the Output Device drop-down menu.

Select an output format. Choosing an output format incompatible with the input will change the input to a format
compatible with the new output format setting.

The name of the sound card will appear.


Select the output device I/O channels. If you select device channels that are already patched to another rack, you will be
prompted to change the routing or cancel the rerouting.

Set the channel format (e.g., L-C-R-S, L-CL-C-CR-LS-RS-LFE, etc.) if applicable.

Repeat this procedure for all I/O channels. Rack input and output do not need to be the same format, but they must
be compatible. Many plugins do not have components for all rack formats, so test plugin compatibility before
committing to a rack format.

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Routing Racks Automatically
SuperRack can automatically route input and output I/O channels to each rack in a session. Routing
begins at the first rack, which will be patched to the first available I/O device channel. Patching
continues until all racks in the session are routed or all I/O channels have been assigned.

I/O channels are patched into existing rack configurations, so you need to set the number of input
and output channels before you start the auto-route routine.
1. Select a SuperRack template that loads the desired framework, void of patches—just the rack
structure. If you don’t have a template that matches your needs, follow these steps to create an
auto-route template:
a. Create a session with the desired rack input/output configuration and number of tracks.
If your hardware I/O devices are not are not assigned in your SuperRack Inventory, use
offline devices to build a framework. Make sure that your plugins have components that
will support a rack’s configuration.
b. Once you’ve routed I/O channels to provide the framework you want, select “None” in
the input and output drop-down menus.
c. Save the session as a template.
d. Load the template.
2. Click Auto Route in the Rack menu to patch the session automatically.
If you want to create a blank session in which all racks are mono-in and mono-out, select “New” in the
Sessions page of the Show window.

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Inserting a Plugin
1. Click the arrow on a rack slot to open the Plugins menu. Use this menu to add, remove, and manage
plugins.
2. Choose a plugin from the Plugin List; its icon will appear in the slot. The list of available plugins is
organized by category. Long category lists are divided into groups of about 20 plugins.

The format of the Input I/O sets the input format of the rack, and hence the plugins that you can use. If, for
example, the format of the Input I/O is 5.1, then only the plugins that support this channel input format will be
displayed in the plugins list.

If you change the rack’s input format while plugins are


installed in the chainer, the plugins will seek a way to
remain active. If the plugin has a component that can suit
the new rack format, that component will load.
If an appropriate component is not available, the plugin will be
disabled.

Note: Adding, removing, disabling, or moving a plugin changes the structure of the rack, which can result in a
brief audio mute. Do not make these changes when an audio interruption is unacceptable. Wait until there is
a pause in the performance. Bypassing a plugin or changing its parameters can be done at any time.

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Plugins Chainer
You can insert plugins in any slot, in any order. Plugin chainer signal flow is from top to bottom, so plugin sequence
determines processing order. Drag a plugin up or down the rack to change its place in the signal flow. Plugin status
is indicated directly on the plugin and on the rack slot frame, as shown here:

Plugin Name Name is abbreviated if necessary.


Displays thumbnail of plugin interface. Click on the icon to open the
Plugin Icon
plugin.

Open Plugin Menu Use the menu to access all plugin management items.
Displays plugin latency. Total rack latency is displayed above the
Plugin Latency Indicator
input meter.
Includes clipping indicator. Number of meters indicates the number
Plugin Output Meter
of rack output channels.
Indicates that the plugin is receiving a sidechain signal and its
Sidechain Enabled
sidechain is active.
Plugin Recall Safe The plugin is in a snapshot-safe mode.
Inserting a plugin that has a different number of inputs than outputs
Mono-to-Stereo Plugin changes the channel format on all subsequent plugins (see next
page).
Turns the plugin on or off. It does not remove it from the processing
Plugin In/Out
chain.

Hot Plugin is Assigned Indicates that the plugin has been assigned to a hot plugin position.

External Insert Provides up to 32 insert points for external processors.

Plugin is removed from CPU. Plugin settings are restored when the
Disabled Plugin
plugin is reenabled.

Empty Plugin Slot Click on the down arrow to assign a plugin to the slot.

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Plugins Can Change the Rack Size
While it’s true that the number of channels in a rack is defined by its input, certain plugins increase the channel
count of the chainer. In a rack that is configured as stereo, stereo plugins will be used to populate the chainer—
simple. Certain plugins, however, allow you to increase or decrease the number of rack channels. The most common
examples are mono-to-stereo reverb plugins, but there are also larger-format up-mixing and down-mixing plugins. In
the example below, a stereo-to-5.1 plugin is inserted in the middle of the chainer. All plugins earlier in the signal flow
(above) will remain stereo. Plugins later in the chain are 5.1, and the rack output is in one of the 5.1 formats.

Moving an up-mixing or down-mixing plugin up or down the


chain will affect the plugins that are inserted after it. If, for
Stereo plugins example, you move a stereo-to-5.1 plugin to a slot above
an existing stereo plugin, the stereo plugin will become
disabled.

Stereo-to-5.1 plugin

All plugins in the


chainer after the
stereo-to-5.1
plugin can only
be 5.1 format.

Stereo rack meters

Rack output is 5.1.

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Plugin Pane
Click on a plugin icon to open its plugin pane. This view shows a plugin’s entire user
interface, from which you can control all plugin settings.

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Managing Plugins
The Plugin Menu
The Plugin menu is used to insert, remove, assign, and manage a selected plugin. It is also used to copy plugins
and plugin settings between racks and between rack slots. Plugin menu settings affect only the selected plugin slot.
To manage presets for an entire rack, use the Racks menu in the Top Bar. Refer to Part 2: The Top Bar.

The Plugin menu is accessed with the arrow at the top of a rack slot.

BASIC PLUGIN MENU


If a plugin slot is empty, the Plugin menu looks like this. It’s used for four things:
Insert a plugin from the Plugin List

Paste a copied plugin and its preset

Learn current latency for the entire rack


Add external inserts to the rack

All other menu items are grayed out.

PLUGIN LIST
The Plugin List is a drop-down menu that lists all available plugins. Only plugins that have components compatible
with the current rack format are displayed. If, for example, the rack is 5.0 channels, you will not be given the choice
of loading a Q10 or WNS or similar plugins, since they do not have 5.0 components.

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PASTE [PLUGIN NAME]
Pastes a copied plugin and its settings to an empty slot or replaces the plugin that occupies the slot. In certain
circumstances it is possible to paste a preset into an existing plugin (see Paste [plugin name] Preset below).
RACK LATENCY
Indicates the total latency of all plugins and external inserts in the rack. If no latency is declared, the text is grayed
out.

EXTERNAL INSERT
Add external inserts to a plugin rack.

EXPANDED PLUGIN MENU


Once a plugin has been inserted in a rack slot, an expanded menu replaces the basic menu.

Plugin List

Plugin Section

Presets Section

Latency Section

External Inserts, Recall-Safe,


and Set Hot Plugin Section

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Plugin Section
BYPASS
Bypasses the plugin while keeping it in the processing chain. This serves the same function as the IN button on the
rack slot.

ENABLE/DISABLE PLUGIN
Removes the plugin from the processing chain without deleting it from the rack. Disabling a plugin removes its
latency from the rack. It also frees up processing power. You can re-enable the plugin without losing its settings,
controls, or automation assignments. When a plugin is disabled, its name will remain visible above the slot and its
icon will be replaced with DISABLED. You can also disable and enable a plugin by clicking its rack slot while holding
down the Ctrl key.

REMOVE PLUGIN
Deletes the plugin from the rack slot. All settings and control assignments are lost. You can also remove a plugin by
dragging it off the plugin pane.

COPY
Copies the plugin and its settings. This enables pasting the plugin and its current settings to another rack slot. There
are two paste options: Paste [plugin name] and Paste [plugin name] Preset.

PASTE [PLUGIN NAME]


Pastes the copied plugin and its settings to an empty slot or replaces the plugin that occupies the slot. In certain
circumstances it is possible to paste a preset into an existing plugin (see Paste [plugin name] Preset below).

ENABLE SIDECHAIN
Enables or disables the plugin’s sidechain key input when an active sidechain is patched to an appropriate plugin.
Sidechain sources are established at the top of the Plugin Pane. Plugins with an active sidechain have a drop-down
menu (S/C) that patches the sidechain source.

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Plugin Presets
PASTE [PLUGIN NAME] PRESET
Pastes presets from a copied plugin to another plugin in the same family (e.g., Q10 to Q6, or L1 Ultramaximizer to L1
Limiter, etc.). This does not replace the plugin, only the presets.
You cannot copy and paste presets between plugins that are not in the same family of plugins. You can, for example,
paste a preset from L3 Multimaximizer to L3LL Multimaximizer, but you can’t paste that L3 Multimaximizer preset to L1
Limiter or SSL G Channel. If it’s not possible to paste a preset to a plugin, the Paste [plugin name] Preset menu item will
not be available.
UPDATE PLUGIN STATE TO SNAPSHOT(S)
Updates the current plugin’s settings in selected snapshots
in the current session. A dialog lets you to select the
snapshot(s) you want to update.

Latency Section

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LATENCY
Indicates the delay introduced by the plugin or external insert, displayed in samples and milliseconds.
RACK LATENCY
Indicates the total latency of all plugins and inserts in the rack. If no latency is declared by any of the plugins in the
rack, both latency menu items will be grayed out.

LATENCY COMPENSATION ON/OFF


Removes the highlighted plugin from the rack’s latency compensation calculations. This is useful if you have one or
more plugins with unusually large latencies and you don’t want to delay the entire rack to match these “slow”
plugins. Turning off latency compensation does not eliminate the plugin’s delay, so it may become out of sync with
the rest of the rack.

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External Inserts
You can add external inserts to a plugin rack. An external insert follows the same routing path as plugins and can be
moved up and down the rack to change its position in the processing chain.

Using an External Insert

Choose a plugin slot in the rack.

Select External Inserts from the Plugin Menu.

Choose an available insert from the menu.

Click on the External Insert icon to open the control page.

Select the physical send and return I/Os using the drop-down menus.
I/Os must be compatible with the rack configuration.

Use the Device cell to rename the insert, if needed. Use the Insert drop-
down menu to move between inserts. If no send is assigned, the insert
will be bypassed. It remains in the rack and its place in the processing
chain is unchanged.

A multi-channel full-scale meter indicates the level of the return signal.

The Latency knob is used to adjust the amount of delay added to the signal returning from the external device.
Unlike a plugin, an external insert does not declare its delay to the latency compensation engine, so this must be
done manually.

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Recall-Safe Plugin
Recall-Safe Plugin prevents plugin parameter changes during snapshot changes. In this mode,
the plugin is unaffected by snapshot changes, even if the plugin is within the scope of a snapshot
change and has not been set as recall-safe in the Show window (see Show window > Recall
Safe).

Recall Safe is indicated with a green Safe indicator beneath the plugin icon.

Plugin Position in the Rack


Drag a plugin or external insert icon up or down the rack to change its position in
the processing chain.

In this example, an API-560 EQ is in slot #3. Slide its icon to slot #1 and the
other plugins will ripple downward. This will alter the plugin’s place in the signal
flow and will likely alter its relationship with the other plugins in the rack.

Note: Repositioning a plugin requires the rack to re-clock, which may result in a click or dropout. Do not move
plugins at times when this is not acceptable. Bypassing a plugin or changing its parameters can be done at any time.

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Touch and Slide Control
Any control can be adjusted with the Touch and Slide control, which is right of the plugin pane. This includes
SuperRack controls such as Input Gain, as well as plugin controls.

Touch a controller to assign it to the Touch and Slide controller.


The name of the control being moved by the controller is shown in the bottom value box. The control’s
value is shown at the top.

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Rack Presets
Presets for one entire rack—input, plugins chainer, plugins settings, and output—are managed from the Racks drop-
down menu, which is in the Top Bar. Functions include:
• Load factory presets
• Create, load, and export user presets
• Save presets
• Copy, paste, and rename presets
• Update rack to preset
• Turn rack recall-safe on or off
The Racks menu is described in Part 2: Top Bar.

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Part 6: Overview Windows
The Overview Windows provide a side-by-side view of every rack in a session. From here you can easily see the
condition of all of your racks and control them. All rack functions, except plugin settings and input and output A/B
selections, can be controlled directly from the Overview window. Complete plugin interfaces can be accessed with
one click.
Two Overview windows
There are two identical Overview windows: Overview 1 and Overview 2. Having two windows lets you view and
control two different modes or two different layers at the same time. You can, for example, set one view on Rack
mode, Layer 17–32, and the other to Dugan mode, Layer 1–16. This is a fast and efficient way to control your racks.
Rack controls
• Rack input and output routing
• Input and output level adjust
• Rack In/Out (bypass)
• Plugins: insert, remove, bypass, disable, load, save, copy, and paste presets
Click on a plugin’s icon to open its plugin pane for complete control. This also opens that rack’s Rack window.
• Mute rack
Rack displays
• Input and output meters. The number of bars in the input and output meters reflects the number of channels in
the rack’s I/O device patching.
• Plugins chainer
• Rack latency
• Rack link group and latency group assignments
Rack signal flow is from top to bottom.

NOTE: Racks in the Overview Window are controlled in the same way as in the Racks view—only their layouts
are different. With that in mind, this chapter provides only what is required to patch audio through a rack,
control levels, and insert and access plugins. To learn more about controlling a rack and its plugins, refer to
Part 5: Rack Window of this user guide.

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Overview Window—Sections
The Overview window is divided into three logical sections: One determines which racks are displayed and available
for control, another section sets what kind of action will be applied to the racks, and then there are the racks
themselves, where processing is done.

Layers

A SuperRack Native session can have up to 64 racks. These racks are organized into four layers of racks, each with
16 visible racks. This organization is typical of digital mixing consoles. There are three types of layers:
• Four 16-rack Factory layers. These provide complete control of each visible rack.
• A Wide View in which you can view and control all of the racks at once, up to 64 racks. This affords complete
oversight, but it offers less controls per rack.

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• A multi-page Custom layer that enables you to create a layer consisting of any combination of racks, in any
order.

Modes

A mode determines what sort of processing is currently being controlled on the racks: Plugin (Rack) processing or
Dugan Speech automixer processing. Mode selection affects only the center section. It does not affect Input or
Output settings, cue, mute, or meters. The Rack mode presents an eight-plugin chainer for each rack.

The Dugan Speech automixer is a processor used to control several microphones in situations where many people
are talking, possibly several at the same time. It’s described at the end of this chapter.

Racks

These are the chainers where plugins are inserted and controlled.

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Layers
Factory Layers

Use the Layers buttons to choose one of the four factory layers. A factory layer can have up to 16 racks.
The number of racks in a session, and therefore the number of layers, is configured in the Settings page.
Inactive layers or parts of layers are empty.

We suggest that you create a session whose size approximately matches the number racks you will be
using. Unnecessary layers don’t do you any good and can be distracting.

Active layer buttons have small output meters with peak indicators for each rack. Click on the
button to clear the indicator.

The sequence of racks in a factory layer is fixed.

Custom Layers
To re-sequence rack order or combine racks from several layers in one view, create Custom layers. Each of the four
custom layer pages can house up to 16 racks. Racks from any factory layer can be combined in custom layers. This
lets you change the sequence of racks in a layer or combine racks from several layers into one custom view.
Double-click on a custom layer page to rename it.

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USING CUSTOM LAYERS
To assign racks to a Custom Layer:

• Chose “Custom Layers.”

• Click on an empty strip. Use the drop-down menu to assign a rack to the strip.
• Racks can be added in any order.
• Racks can be added from any layer.
• Click and drag on the channel name at the top of a strip to re-arrange the channel strip
sequence.

If there is already a rack in a slot, you will need to hold Ctrl


while clicking on the rack to access the menu.

There are other options available in the Custom layer drop-down menu:
None Removes the selected rack from the custom layer page.
Clear Page Removes all racks from the current custom layer page.
Lock Strips Prevents rack strips in the current page from being repositioned.
Copy from Factory Layer Copies all of the racks of a factory layer and pastes them to the current page of the
custom layer.
Optimize Layer Layout Removes blank slots and moves all populated rack strips to the left.
Insert Empty Strip Inserts a blank strip to the left of the selected populated strip.

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Wide View Layer
The button “1–64” opens a wide view that displays all of the racks in the current session. Each rack shows its name,
input and output I/O device assignment menu, output metering, rack latency, and In and Mute buttons.

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Modes
The Mode setting determines what is displayed in the Overview window.

In the Racks mode, the plugin chainer racks are displayed. Each rack can host up to eight plugins.

In the Dugan mode, plugin chainers are replaced with the controls for the Dugan Speech
Automixer. This processor is used to control a group of live microphones in multi-speaker
environments. It turns up mics where someone is talking and turns them down where people are
quiet. It’s commonly used in situations such as roundtable discussions, talk shows, debates, and
the like, and is based on the hardware Dugan Automatic Microphone Mixer.

The Dugan Speech Automixer requires a separate license. When a license is not present, the Dugan button is
grayed out. For more information, refer to the section at the end of this user chapter, “Using the Dugan Speech
Automixer.”

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Racks
Rack Name
Link Group
In the Overview widow, each rack is a condensed
view of the controls, meters and plugins you see in
Input I/O Channel
the Rack window. Its organization closely resembles
Rack Latency
I/O Bank Select that of a mixing console channel strip. Click on a
plugin button to open the complete interface of the
Input Meter plugin.
Input Level A selected rack is shaded light gray and is outlined in
white. Its name is displayed in the Name box in the
Top Bar. To view the Rack view of the selected rack,
Rack In/Out
click on the Rack tab in the Top Bar.

Click on a populated plugin slot to jump to its


complete plugin pane in the Rack window.
Plugins Chainer

One rack at a time can be selected.

Output I/O Channel

Output Meter

Output Level

Mute On/Off

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Selecting Rack Input
Assigning rack inputs in the Overview window is the same as in the Rack menu.

Choose an Input Set

Each rack has two inputs: Input I/O Banks A and B. A rack’s inputs can patch to different device
channels, but they must have the same channel format. The I/O bank selector is immediately
above the input meter.

Once the I/O Bank is set, you are ready to route the input channels.

Route Inputs

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Open the drop-down Input menu.

Select the format of the rack you are building (e.g., mono, stereo, 5.1, 7.1). The Input Format selector
determines the devices, I/O channels, and formats that can be selected. It also determines which plugins you
can use, since a plugin must have a component that is compatible with the rack format.

The name of the sound card is shown here.

Select the range of device channels. If there are not enough free I/O channels on this device, you’ll be
presented with a list of patches that must be removed in order to make the new assignments. You can accept
the new configuration (removing certain patches) or select Cancel, which allows you to reconsider your
patching with a different device.

Set the channel format (e.g., L-C-R-S, L-CL-C-CR-LS-RS-LFE, etc.). This sets how channels in the stream
are arranged. For example, as shown above, a 5.0 channel stream can be formatted as L-C-R-Ls-Rs or L-R-C-
Ls-Rs or L-R-Ls-Rs-C.

In the example above, this is the rack’s input patching:


• Channel size: 5.1
• Fireface UCX. This is the soundcard you selected in the Audio Setup page.
• I/O channels: Mic/Line 2–Analogue 7 (six I/O channels are allotted to the 5.1 channel
size)
• Format: L-R-Ls-Rs-C (DTS format).

The selected I/O device and I/O channels are shown in the input cell.

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If your I/O selection includes I/O channels that are currently in use, you will
see this prompt. Select OK to make the new assignment and un-assign the
indicated I/O channels. Click Cancel to maintain the existing assignments.
Choose different I/O channels for the new assignment.

Input meter

Each rack has a full-scale Input meter. The number of meter bars reflects the
format of the I/O device. The meter on the far left indicates a stereo input, and
therefore a stereo rack.

Meters turn red (middle image) when the input signal is clipping. Behavior for
clip level and clip hold are controlled in the Settings page. On the right is a
5.1-channel input.

Input gain is controlled with the knob below the meter. Alt+Click on the knob
to reset.

Input Gain and Bypass


Use the Input Gain knob to adjust input gain to the rack. Knob position is indicated in the value box.
Range: -18 dB to +18 dB
The IN switch serves as the rack’s bypass.
IN Normal rack operation
Not IN Rack bypass
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Plugin Chainer
The Plugin Chainer provides an overview of all the plugins in a rack. Use it to add, delete, bypass,
deactivate, and move/copy plugins.

Click on a plugin button to access the plugin’s complete control interface in the Rack window

Inserting a Plugin

Inserted plugin
in a chainer slot

TO ADD A PLUGIN TO A PLUGIN CHAINER:


Click the + (plus) symbol on an empty slot. This opens the Plugin menu (note: in the Rack window, click on the down-
arrow to open this menu). If the plugin slot is already populated, right-click on the icon. Open the Plugin List sub-menu
and choose from among the available plugins. Its name then appears in the chainer slot. Only plugins that are
compatible with the rack’s channel type will be shown.

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Other Plugin Menu Items
Once a plugin has been instantiated in a plugin slot, more menu
items are available in the Plugins menu. These options are
used to copy and paste plugin presets, set plugin mode, monitor
latency, and more.

Plugins are managed through the Plugins drop-down menu in both the Rack window and the Overview window.
These menu items are explained in Part 5: Rack Window.
In the current section we cover only the essential Plugins menu items.

Bypass
Bypasses the plugin while keeping it in the processing chain. Bypassing a plugin does not alter its DSP load. A
bypassed plugin button appears white in the Plugin Chainer (to shortcut, hold Ctrl+ALT+click).

Disable Plugin
Removes the plugin from the processing chain without deleting it from the rack. Disabling plugins may reduce rack
latency and DSP load. You can re-enable a disabled plugin without losing its settings, controls, or automation
assignments. When a plugin is disabled, its name will remain visible, but the slot will be solid gray.

Remove Plugin
Deletes the plugin from the slot. All settings and control assignments are lost. You can also remove a plugin by
dragging it left or right, off the chainer rack.

Note: Holding the ALT key while selecting Insert, Remove, or Disable extends the action across an entire row.
This affects ALL layers, not just the visible one.

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Latency Compensation On/Off
Removes the plugin from plugin latency compensation calculations. The plugin remains active, and its latency does
not change, but its latency is no longer reported to the delay compensation engine.

Latency
Indicates the delay introduced by the plugin or external insert. Displayed in samples and milliseconds.

Rack Latency
Indicates the total latency of all plugins and inserts in the rack.

Managing Plugin Icons in the Overview Window


Opening, disabling, and removing plugins directly from the Plugin Chainer
• Single click: Opens the plugin pane of the plugin or external insert.
• Right click: Opens the plugins menu.
• Ctrl + click: Disables the plugin and removes it from the DSP processor.
• Drag an icon outside the chainer area: Removes the plugin (this cannot be undone).
Moving and copying plugins
• Drag a plugin icon vertically from its position in the same rack. Presets are moved with the plugin.
• Drag a plugin horizontally to move it to another rack.
• Alt + drag an icon to copy it to another rack.
• Move a mono plugin module to a stereo rack and the plugin becomes a stereo module. The mono plugin’s
settings will be applied to both sides of the stereo module. If a stereo plugin is moved to a mono channel, the
settings of the left stereo channel are applied to the mono.

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Plugin icon indicators

Plugin status is indicated by its icon’s shading.

Plugin enabled and not bypassed

Plugin enabled and bypassed

Plugin disabled.

Note: Adding, removing, disabling, or moving a plugin changes the structure of the plugin chainer, which can
result in a brief interruption. Do not make these changes when a dropout is not acceptable.
Bypassing a plugin or changing its parameters can be done at any time.

Latency Indicator

The latency box displays the total latency of the rack.

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Output Section

The output section patches the rack to an output device. Rack output gain can also be controlled here.

Output routing
Use this drop-down menu to select the output I/O device and the rack output type.

Output Gain and Meter


Output gain control, -18 dB to +18 dB. Full-scale output meters match the I/O device format. The meter is red when
rack output level clips. Clip threshold and clip hold are controlled in the Settings page.

Mute
Mutes the rack.

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Dugan Automixer:
The Dugan Speech automixer is a way to control a group of live microphones in multi-speaker environments. It turns
up mics where someone is talking and turns them down where people are quiet. It’s commonly used in situations such
as roundtable discussions, talk shows, debates (and the like) and is based on the hardware Dugan Automatic
Microphone Mixer.
Dugan Mode Selector Select Dugan mode to access the Dugan Speech
Automixer

Dugan Engine ON/Off Turns the Dugan processor on or off

Recall Safe Sets this rack’s Dugan Speech Automixer to


recall safe
Reset Sets this rack’s Dugan Speech Automixer to
default settings
Mute Channel Group Selects rack mute groups.

Override Channel Mutes all microphones, except for one (usually


Group the host or chairperson).

Weight Control Assigns a priority to designated speakers. This


governs sensitivity, not level.

Global Mute When Global Mute is selected, all members of the


selected Dugan Speech automix group are
muted.
Global Override Overrides channel mute for specified channels in
a group

Operation Mode When this switch is off, the automix process is


ignored and the signal passes through the
processor at unity gain.

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BASIC OPERATION
Automixer’s position in the signal flow of a rack is after processing and after fader. It works on mono or stereo racks.

1. Click the Dugan Engine On button in the Global Control panel (left side).
2. Use the Dugan Speech Plugin button at the top of each panel to enable the automixer on all racks for which
Dugan Speech automixing is desired. Disable all non-live-talking racks where automixing will not be used.
Disabled racks are grayed out.
3. Click the Auto button to turn on the automixer for that rack. Effective automixing depends on correct input gains
for each rack. Adjust each rack’s input gain so that the level display is green.
4. Set the Weight controls to balance the rack’s automix gain and establish the priority of one speaker over others.
Weight levels can be changed by dragging the faders up or down.
5. Assign racks to Dugan groups. A group functions as a separate and independent automatic mixer. Each rack
can be assigned to one of three groups: a, b, or c.

For detailed instructions, please refer to the Waves Dugan Automixer User Guide on the Waves download page.

Dugan Speech requires a separate license. If a license is not found, the Dugan mode selector button will be grayed out.

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Part 7: Show Window
Use the Show Window to set up and manage your sessions, snapshots, and recall safe settings. The Show Window
is divided into three pages; select them using the sidebar buttons:

Sessions Page
Create, save, and open
sessions. Import rack
presets from a session file.
Open History files.

Snapshots Page
Create, store, and recall
snapshots. Set snapshot
scope.

Recall Safe
Define recall safe
parameters for racks,
plugins, hot plugins, and
more.

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Sessions Page
All of these settings load with a session:
• Inventory • Plugin presets • Settings
• External patching • System preferences • User keys and hot plugins
• Channel presets and rack configuration • All user settings

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If a session has not been saved previously, Save will create a new file. Otherwise, it replaces the
existing file. A session is normally saved in the default folder:
Mac: /Users/Shared/Waves/SuperRack SoundGrid/Sessions
Save
Windows: Users\Public\Waves\ SuperRack SoundGrid/Sessions
A navigation window enables you to place the session anywhere you prefer. See File
Organization, later in this chapter.
Save As Saves a copy of the current session.
New Creates a new session.

Open Navigates to a session file that is not displayed in the Sessions list.
Load Loads the selected session displayed in the Sessions list.

History Opens a browser that shows all auto-saved session files.


Clears the Sessions List. This does not delete the sessions. Sessions can be returned to the
Clear
Sessions List using the Open button.
Sessions List Shows all available sessions created since the last Clear.

Save Template Saves current session as a template. Templates are stored in the Templates folder.
Loads a factory or user-made template. Templates are used to create new sessions based on
Load Template previous sessions.
User Session This large notepad is used for notes about the session, the venue, or anything else you want to
Notes write.

Session File
Displays session file name, creation time, and size, as reported by the operating system.
Details

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Sessions List
The Sessions list shows the sessions that have been created or modified in the
Sessions window. It is used to select, copy, and load sessions.
A selected session is highlighted in blue and the currently loaded one is
highlighted in green. Notes associated with the selected session are shown in
the Notes section.

Saving a Session
Sessions can be saved at any user-defined location, but a centralized Sessions folder is provided for convenience.
Mac: /Users/Shared/Waves/SuperRack/Sessions
Windows: Users\Public\Waves\SuperRack/Sessions
SuperRack sessions use the “sprk” extension.
There are two recovery files in this folder: “CurrentSPRK.dat-journal” and “CurrentSPRK.dat.” Do not delete or move
them.
SAVING A SESSION AFTER MIXER CONFIGURATION HAS CHANGED

You can change the number of racks at any time. If the number of racks in the
session has been reduced since the last time it was saved, this prompt will appear
when you save.

Removing racks clearly results in a loss of channel information. A normal Save at this point would eliminate all
settings from the removed channels, since it overwrites the session file. To preserve that information, we suggest
you do a Save As with a different file name. If you forget to do this, you can always recall a previous History file.
The number of racks is established in the Settings page.

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Loading a Session
Load a session with the “Load” button above the Sessions list or from the Sessions drop-down menu in the Top Bar.

Important: Loading a session can result in an audio dropout or a


click. Do not load a new session when this is not acceptable.

LOADING A SESSION FROM THE SESSIONS LIST


The Load command loads the selected session (blue) from the Sessions list. This list includes all sessions that have
been created, loaded, or imported since the list was last cleared. Open lets you navigate to any session.

If the current session has changed since it was last saved, there will be a prompt asking if you’d like to save it before
loading the new session. If the new session has the same number of racks and calls for the same or similar I/O
inventory, then the new session will load immediately. When working on the same SuperRack repeatedly, this is
often the case.

LOADING SESSIONS FROM THE SESSION MENU

The Session menu is located on the right side of the Top Bar. It’s a quick way to load and save
sessions and templates.

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Resolving Load Errors
If the system inventory and number of racks of the session you’re loading do not match the current configuration,
SuperRack must reconcile the mismatch before loading the session.

Example 1: The saved session has more racks than does the current SuperRack configuration.
In this case, the new session calls for 64 racks, while the system inventory has
only 32. The session will load the first 32 racks and drop the last 32. This
structure becomes permanent when the user performs a save on the "reduced"
session—it cannot be undone. Make a copy (“Save As”) before you save the
reduced session.
Example 2: The I/O inventory of the saved session does not match the current inventory.
Whenever the saved session’s I/O inventory is not the same as that of the
mixer, there is a chance that certain routes cannot be supported. If, for
example, the session calls for a 128-channel MADI device, while the current
driver is stereo, it will be difficult to provide the session with the I/O channels it
needs.

The Session Load routine provides two strategies when sessions and inventory are mismatched.
Option 1: Session – The new session searches for precisely the inventory that was used to create it. If it cannot find
this match, it uses its saved I/O configuration to route to the inventory. This maintains the input/output patching, but
certain routes may not be available because the drivers are not the same.
When a correct device is reassigned, the session will load completely. Routing to or from unavailable devices is not
possible in any widow.
Option 2: Current – The saved session loads into the existing I/O inventory, rather than imposing its structure onto it (as
with the “Session” option). This choice may result in a more efficient use of I/O channels, but routing may not match that
of the session.

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Templates
A template is a session based on a previous session or a factory preset. It
loads all SuperRack settings (except the I/O inventory), which facilitates
moving projects between systems whose inventories are not identical.
When creating a new session, it’s common to begin with a template from the Presets menu.

A newly loaded template does not appear in the Sessions list. Once you open a template and save it as a session
under the desired name, it will show up in the Sessions list. Use the Template Save button to create a session
template from the current session. Templates are stored in the Templates folder:
Mac: Users/Shared/Waves Audio/SuperRack/templates
Windows: Users\Public\Waves\ SuperRack \templates

Auto-Save Sessions (History)


SuperRack can save sessions automatically, either at user-defined intervals or each time snapshots are saved
or recalled. Auto-save settings are controlled in the Mixer Settings page (Setup > Settings > History).
There are three Auto-Save controls:

No Auto-Save There are no automatic saves. No History files are created.


Auto-Save New History files are created at user-defined time intervals.
On Snapshot Update A History file is created each time a snapshot is recalled or stored.

In its default setting, Auto-Save is not active. If you want to use this feature, switch it on manually.

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Click the History button in the Sessions page to view all History files.

A history file is a complete SuperRack session. To prevent


mishaps, SuperRack does not delete auto-saved files. This
provides access to all session information saved throughout
a project.

History files are named based on session name, followed by date stamp and series number. Use the host computer
to copy, move, and delete files. History files can be saved to any location. Set the save location in the Setup >
Settings page. We recommend saving in the default History file folder:
Mac: Users/Shared/Waves Audio/SuperRack/history
Windows: Users\Public\Waves\SuperRack\history

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Snapshots Page
Use the Snapshots page to create, recall, set the scope, and load and save the snapshots in a session. “Snapshot”
refers to all settings used in the current SuperRack configuration. In this context, “all settings” refers to:
• Racks and their parameters (in, mute, gains, plugins, plugin sidechain)
• Plugins and their parameters
• Hot Plugin panel update
• Windows – what windows are open and where they are located on the screen.
• Dugan Automixer settings
• Global BPM

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Store Updates the current snapshot and scope settings with the current SuperRack
status. Replaces the existing stored snapshot.

Undo Undoes the previous change.

New Creates a new snapshot, based on the current SuperRack condition and scope
settings. This makes a new snapshot from the current one and serves as a
“Save as” function.
Copy Copies the selected snapshot to the clipboard. This can then be inserted back
to the Snapshot list as a copy.
Recall Recalls the snapshot that’s selected in the Snapshot list. The name of the
recalled snapshot is displayed in the Snapshots section of the Top Bar.
Insert Pastes the copied snapshot to the list. It does not recall the snapshot.

Delete Deletes the selected snapshot (which is not necessarily the current one).

Previous/Next scene Immediately recalls previous or next scene.

Snapshots List A list of all snapshots that have been created, imported, or saved with the
current session.
Scope Section Sets which racks, plugins, and other controls and functions will be affected
when a specific snapshot is recalled.
All/None Selects or deselects all Scope buttons.

Hot Snapshot Assignment Designates the snapshot as a Hot Snapshot, which can be recalled from the
Snapshots menu in the Top Bar or by means of User Keys.
Notes A large space for writing notes about the selected snapshot.

Tear Off Notes Button Click to disconnect the notes pad and float it anywhere on the screen.

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Snapshots List
The Snapshots list works in the same manner as the Sessions list.

• A selected snapshot is highlighted blue, whether it is the recalled snapshot or not. A


highlighted snapshot is not active until it is recalled.
• Notes associated with the selected snapshot are shown in the Notes section.
• If the current snapshot is not selected, it will be highlighted green, and the selected one will be
highlighted blue.
Above the Snapshots list are two arrows. Use them to recall snapshots lower or higher than
the current one in the Snapshots list.
Double-click on a snapshot to change its name.

Clicking an arrow loads the snapshot immediately.

STORING SNAPSHOTS IN THE SNAPSHOTS LIST


Store saves all mixer settings to a snapshot. If a snapshot other than the current one is selected, you will be offered
two choices:
• Current: Store the settings in the current snapshot.
• Selected: Store the settings in the selected snapshot. This replaces the contents of the selected snapshot.
New creates a new snapshot based on the current settings.
Snapshots, unlike sessions, are not separate files. They are embedded in the sessions.

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RECALLING SNAPSHOTS FROM THE SNAPSHOTS LIST
Select a snapshot and click Recall.

CHANGING THE ORDER OF THE SNAPSHOTS LIST


A snapshot’s place in the Snapshots list determines its recall number, so it’s important to be able to change its
position. There are two ways to do this:

• Drag the snapshot to a new location.


• Copy a snapshot with the Copy button. Use the separator line to choose where the pasted snapshot will be located in
the list. If the separator line is not used, then the copy will be added to the bottom of the Snapshots List. Double-
click on the snapshot to change its name.

STORING A SNAPSHOT WITH THE TOP BAR SNAPSHOT MENU


The Snapshot menu it located on the right side of the Top Bar. It’s used to store and recall
snapshots without leaving your current view.
A snapshot selected in this menu is recalled immediately.
The name of the current snapshot, along with its index number, is displayed in the box. If a scene
has been modified since it was recalled, it is followed by an asterisk (*).
The Top Bar Snapshot menu is described in detail in the Top Bar section of this user guide.

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Hot Snapshots
Hot Snapshots are user-assigned snapshots that are accessible for quick recall from any view.
ASSIGNING HOT SNAPSHOTS
Use the menu at the bottom of the Snapshots list to assign the selected
snapshot a Hot Snapshot position.

RECALLING HOT SNAPSHOTS

Hot Snapshots are recalled from the Snapshots menu on the Top Bar.

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MIDI Control Changes for Snapshots
The Snapshots list can be controlled with MIDI program changes. Use the MIDI control panel to set up Follow
Program Change or Generate Program Change commands (Setup > System Inventory > Controllers>Device Control
Panel).

Assigning Remote IDs to Snapshots


You can manually assign a remote ID number to a snapshot. This lets you separate the listing order of the
snapshots in the Snapshots List from the remote-control snapshot ordering.

If, for example, you assign snapshot number 5 the remote ID of 130, and in the MIDI Controller you assign CC
Number #7 to the 129-256 range, then this MIDI CC #7 with value 1 will recall snapshot 130 (value 0 will recall 129,
and so forth).

There are two ways to assign a remote ID to a snapshot:

When you initially name a snapshot, you can assign an ID using the
External ID drop-down menu.

A new snapshot will indicate the external ID as “none.” To assign an external ID to a


snapshot that’s already in the Snapshots List, click on the arrow to open the
assignment drop-menu.

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Scope Page
Use the Scope page to select which racks and functions can be modified when a snapshot is recalled. All SuperRack
settings are saved when a snapshot is stored. The Scope page filters which of these settings can change upon
snapshot recall. The scope of a snapshot can be changed after the snapshot iscreated.

Scope selections are divided into two categories:

Functions

Racks

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Scope Parameters
Functions can be assigned to the scope of any snapshot:

Hot Plugins The contents of the Hot Plugins Panel (HPP) can be changed per snapshot. If Hot Plugins is selected,
then when this snapshot loads, it will also read what plugins should be in the HPP and will load them
accordingly. If the button is off, then the snapshot won’t update the contents of the HPP.

Windows Recalls which windows were open and how they were located on the screen when the snapshot was
stored. This allows you to create a specific workspace for a snapshot.

Name Change rack name.


Dugan Dugan Speech settings. Current Dugan settings will be within the scope of the snapshot.
BPM Change system BPM.

Input Rack input level

Output Rack output level

In Sets rack processing to In (enabled) or Out (bypassed)


Mute Mutes the rack
Plugins These switches set whether a snapshot can change the parameters of any plugin in a specific plugin rack
slot number, regardless of the plugin. When, for example, “Plugin 7” is deselected, all plugins in slot 7 in any
rack are in recall safe mode when a snapshot is recalled.

Racks sets which racks are included in the scope of the snapshot. Scope parameters (e.g., Hot Plugins, Dugan, Mute)
apply only to highlighted racks, so a rack that is not highlighted will not change with a snapshot recall, regardless of the
Function settings. The number of racks in the Scope section reflects the current SuperRack configuration.

All/None Select: Resets the Scope selection to “all parameters/channels are within the scope of this snapshot” or “no
parameters/channels are within the scope of this snapshot.”

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Recall Safe Page
Recall Safe prevents changes to specified racks and functions during a snapshot change, regardless of Scope
settings. Recall Safe is set for an entire session, not by snapshots. Once Recall Safe is set for the functions and
racks of a session, snapshot recalls will not affect their settings. Racks and functions in recall safe mode are
highlighted green.
The Recall Safe panel uses the same layout as the Snapshot page. As with the Scope page, there is an
All/None button that selects and de-selects all parameters and channels.

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RECALL SAFE FOR SPECIFIC PLUGINS
When you use the Recall Safe page to set a plugin position to Recall Safe, recall changes to any plugin in the
specified position in all active racks will be recall safe.

If you want to prevent a specific instance of a plugin from changing during a


snapshot recall, use the Recall Safe Plugin menu item. This drop-down menu item
is located at the bottom of the Plugin menu of the specified plugin.
There is a small indicator on the plugin icon that says “Safe.”

The Recall Safe status of the other plugins in the rack, as well as other plugins in
the same position of other racks, are not affected by this setting.

RACK RECALL SAFE


For convenience, a selected rack can also be set to Recall
Safe from the Racks drop-down menu in the Top Bar. A
small green SAFE indicates rack Recall Safe status.

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Supplementary Material
Controlling SuperRack Remotely
Many SuperRack functions can be controlled from any MIDI device. Use the MIDI Controller to map most SuperRack
functions to an external device.

Assigning Controls
All Controllers are assigned in the Inventory page of the Setup Window
To add a controller:
Click on an empty controller slot.
Select a controller from the drop-down menu.
Click the controller’s “Gear” button to access its
control panel.

Up to five controllers can be assigned.

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MIDI CONTROLLER
Use the MIDI Controller to map between hardware MIDI controllers and numerous SuperRack functions. Its
interface displays SuperRack functions that can be controlled directly via MIDI, including the eight continuous and
eight discrete plugin controls. Assign links to SuperRack controls using a standard “MIDI Learn” routine.
1. Open the MIDI Controller.
2. Select the SuperRack function you wish to control.
3. Move the desired knob or press the desired button on your MIDI controller to establish an assignment.

The MIDI Controller interface displays SuperRack functions that can be assigned to a MIDI controller.

General Settings Global MIDI Settings


Select input MIDI device input and MIDI THRU.
MIDI Takeover: Actions on the remote controller will not affect the corresponding SuperRack
control until their values match.

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Enable 14-bit CC Support: Allows SuperRack to handle 14-bit MIDI CC (control change
message) data. Certain consoles send out 14-bit MIDI data; un-checking this sets SuperRack
to handle 7-bit MIDI CC.
Display MTC: When selected, the clock window in the Top Bar displays MIDI timecode. When
deselected, the window displays time from the host computer.

Snapshot Recall Establishes how MIDI controls snapshot recalls.


Follow Program Changes on Channel drop-down menu: selects the MIDI channel on
which SuperRack will respond to program change messages. Program change messages
on other MIDI channels will be ignored.
Use Control Change Messages: snapshot recalls for snapshots whose indexes are higher
than 128 can be done by mapping snapshot ranges (128–255, 256–384, etc.) to MIDI CCs.

Navigation Assign navigation between racks and between plugins.


Prev Rack and Next Rack moves rack selection up and down. Select Open Rack to view it in its
Rack Window. Overview opens the Overview window at the layer that contains the
currently selected rack.
Prev Plugin and Next Plugin move up and down the plugin chainer of the selected rack and
opens the plugin’s control pane.

Rack Controls Maps MIDI control messages to control the rack's input gain, output gain, in/out state, and
mute on/off.

File Import and Export control enable you to save the settings you’ve made in the MIDI controller
panel and export them to another panel.

User Keys Maps the 16 user-assignable keys that are defined in the Settings page.

Plugin Controls This panel maps plugin settings control for the selected plugin.
You can map 8 continuous controls and 8 discrete switches per page.
Next Page/Previous Page navigate between plugin control pages.
See below to learn more about controlling plugins with MIDI.

Snapshots Maps eight hot snapshots for direct recall via MIDI.
Next/Prev maps recalling the next or previous snapshot.

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Tempo Maps the Tap Tempo button (Top Bar).

Hot Plugins Maps any of the 12 Hot Plugin assignments to a control.

PLUGIN MIDI MAPPING


The Plugin Controls panel is used to assign external control of the currently selected plugin or the plugin that’s
focused in the plugin pane. This mapping applies also to plugins in detached panels. Plugin controls are mapped to
all Waves plugins in groups of eight variable and eight discrete plugin parameters at a time. Use the Next/Prev
buttons to move between pages.

A SuperRack Session can have up to 64 racks, each containing up to eight plugins. Since every plugin has several
parameter controls, remote control of so many different variables could be a complex task and would require you to
re-map MIDI links each time the configuration changes. MIDI mapping is simplified in SuperRack by using a matrix
that sits between the plugin and the MIDI controller. This matrix assigns key parameter control knobs and buttons
to fixed matrix positions so that MIDI assignments always make sense, regardless of type of processor. For
example, when dynamics processors are being used, the matrix usually assigns the first position to Threshold, the
second to Ratio, the third to Attack, and so forth. With EQ processors, the first variable position is usually Input
Gain, followed by Band One Gain, Band One Frequency, etc. Plugin controls that are currently under MIDI control are
outlined in red, as shown below.

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Q10 and Renaissance
Equalizers share the same
mapping on the current page.

Similarly, TrueVerb and RVerb


share the same mapping on the
current page.

The relationship between hardware and software needs to be set only once. The specific parameter control will
change with each type of plugin, but the logic will remain consistent within categories (e.g. EQs, Dynamics) of
Waves plugins.

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Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers
Function Window Keystroke Action

Reset All Alt+click on a control Returns most controls to default value. This is also true with
most plugin controls.

Insert to all racks Overview Alt + right click/insert a plugin The selected plugin is inserted in the same rack insert position
on all channels in the layer.

Bypass on all Overview Alt + right click/bypass a plugin Bypasses all plugins in the same rack insert position on all
racks channels in the layer. This affects the chosen rack position,
regardless of the plugin type.

Disable on all racks Overview Alt + right click/disable a plugin Disables all plugins in the same rack insert position on all
channels in the layer. This affects the chosen rack position,
regardless of the plugin type.

Remove from all Overview Alt+ right click/remove a plugin Removes all plugins in the same rack insert position on all
racks channels in the layer. This affects the chosen rack position,
regardless of the plugin type.

Disable plugin Rack / Ctrl+click on plugin icon Disables one plugin.


Overview

Bypass plugin Rack / Ctrl+alt+click on plugin Bypasses one plugin.


Overview

Move plugin to Overview Drag plugin from one rack to another Moves the plugin and its presets to another rack.
another rack

Copy plugin to Overview Alt+drag plugin from one rack to Copies the plugin and its presets to another rack.
another rack another

Remove plugin Rack / Swipe plugin icon off of the screen Removes a plugin from the rack.
Overview

Save All Cmd]/Ctrl + S Saves the current session.

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