PRESONUS S1 Artist 3.0 [50/307] Software monitoring

You can find the Audio Input Follows Selection in the Studio One/Options/Advanced/Console options list (Mac OS X:

Preferences/Advanced/Console). Engaging this automatically record-enables the last Track selected in the Arrange view.

Monitor-enable is, by default, automatically engaged when Record Enable is engaged.

When an Audio Track is record-enabled, a clip indicator appears at the top of the input-level meter for that Track in the

Arrange view. If clipping occurs at the input, the clip indicator turns on. When clipping occurs, you should adjust the input

gain/level on your audio interface, as once the distorted signal is recorded, it cannot be fixed.

Once an Audio Track is record-enabled, you are ready to record. Refer to Activating Recording for more on this topic.

Software Monitoring

To monitor (listen to) live audio input on an Audio Track, click on the Monitor enable button once. This button should turn

blue, and you should begin to hear your live audio input and see its input level on the Track meter. You can also hold [Alt]/

[Option] on the keyboard and then click on the Monitor enable button to simultaneously engage monitoring on a Track and

disengage monitoring on all other Tracks.

It may be helpful to picture the signal path to understand exactly what is happening. For example, if you are listening to a

guitar plugged into channel 1 on your audio interface, then Studio One receives the guitar input on Hardware Input 1.

In Audio I/O Setup, you will have created a mono Input Channel with Hardware Input 1 as its source. Your Audio Track has

that Input Channel selected as its input. The Output of your Audio Track is likely to be the Main Output, which is a stereo

Output Channel. The Output Channel sends to a designated stereo pair of outputs on your hardware audio interface,

which presumably are connected to your monitor speakers or headphones.

When monitoring live audio input from a microphone, avoid listening with speakers that are in close proximity to the

microphone. Otherwise, you might create a feedback loop that could quickly generate dangerously loud audio levels,

possibly harming your ears and your speakers.

Hardware Monitoring

Some audio interfaces feature the ability to monitor the hardware inputs and outputs directly, as opposed to monitoring

through software. This is referred to as “hardware monitoring” or “zero-latency monitoring.” When using this type of

interface, we recommend that you monitor live audio input via the hardware, rather than through the software. This can

help you to avoid common problems that result from software latency, such as hearing a delay when you record vocals, or

recording off-beat.

Setting Input Levels

Setting good input levels is critical to making a good recording. This begins with the hardware audio interface. If the

hardware’s input level is set too low, and you increase the level later in Studio One to compensate, you also raise the level

of any noise in the signal. If the level is too high, you can overload the hardware input, causing unpleasant clipping

distortion that cannot be fixed. Therefore, you should set the input gain on your audio interface as high as possible without

overloading the input. There is usually a clip indicator for each input on the audio interface to assist you in detecting

overloads.

As long as the input levels are not clipping in your audio interface or on the Track to which you are recording in Studio One,

you can always adjust the levels of recorded material after the recording is made. To visually monitor the input levels for

any input in Studio One, it is best to view the Input Channels in the Console by clicking on the Inputs tab in the Console.

Instrument Tracks

Instrument Tracks are where performance data is recorded, drawn, and edited. This data usually comes from a

Keyboard, which is used to play a virtual instrument or hardware sound module. Performance data is not audio; the virtual

instrument or sound module is the audio source.

In Studio One, MIDI controllers are referred to as Keyboards. If you have not set up a Keyboard, refer to the Set Up Your

MIDI Devices section of the Setup chapter.

CHAPTER 5│Studio One Reference Manual