MuTools

Grizzellda · Post by **Grizzellda** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:02 pm

Maybe Jo will chime in here because he designed MuLab to be like this in the first place. It is modular & it is somewhat unique.

A "rack" is not just an "in line mixer strip", it can also be a unique module in the Mux, stuffed with effects & saved as a "rack preset". In this way it could be thought of as an "FX chain"!

Am I one of only a few who actually likes the mixer desk? Well, I do...

My concerns have been fonts & plug-in management, both quite valid, I feel, for interacting with a DAW. Fonts are always there, you can't avoid them, and plug-in management, well that becomes an issue as the plug in list keeps expanding...

I have never complained about MuLab's basic layout or design!

That is something so fundamental to a DAW, that asking for change there might be unrealistic. I really dig MuLab's uniqueness. If I want to explore a different workflow, I have some other DAWs, each with their own cool features.

I understand that the "mainstream DAWs" have a certain type of mixer structure.

Why should MuLab follow? Build a basic structure, save it as a template, and move on!

Oh, but the beauty of modularity!

JohnD71651 · Post by **JohnD71651** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 10:55 pm

I'm fine with the look of the racks and with their functionality and also don't think any fixed "mixing console" is needed. But as I said earlier in a thread I'd love to be able to stack them on top of each other to create some sort of large mixing screen.

There is a more important thing, though. Perhaps it's really my Kensington trackball but the volume sliders are not smooth enough for my needs. I often want to make very very small adjustments and can't. I've just checked it and the smallest adjustment I can make with the trackball is 0.26dB. Is that normal?

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:22 pm

JohnD71651 wrote:I often want to make very very small adjustments and can't.

Hold the Command key and you can move the slider in 0.01dB increments; without Command key, levels increase by ~quarter decibel from any starting point you set using Cmd key.

heks · Post by **heks** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:24 am

Grizzellda wrote: A "rack" is not just an "in line mixer strip", it can also be a unique module in the Mux, stuffed with effects & saved as a "rack preset". In this way it could be thought of as an "FX chain"!

I find the racks functionality fantastic, I find they give a "flexibility not easily found in other hosts and being able to chain them is a dream come true. I'm new to MuLab for a few reasons, first I was happy with my last host, which is important so when I looked at MuLab it didn't take much for me to move on. I was put off by the "Fisher Price" kids toy look, bold colours and rounded edges. I can't put my finger on it but its the look of the racks that is intimately noticeable to me, possibly that they're sort of short and fat with clipped corners, aiding the aforementioned look?

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:43 am

@heks, you can customize colors and many other details. My basic MuLab scheme is duotone: all grey & desaturated green.

heks · Post by **heks** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:50 am

Michael L wrote:@heks, you can customize colors and many other details. My basic MuLab scheme is duotone: all grey & soft green.

That,s true Michael, I was raising my previous "first impressions" as a none user. I'm now a MuLab "convert" so gradually will loose impartiality.

sl23 · Post by **sl23** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:04 pm

Perhaps the option to 'pin' racks may alleviate some issues? Like in Firefox. Any number of Racks could be pinned to allow constant monitoring and easy access while others are scrolled as normal.

bibz1st · Post by **bibz1st** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 1:39 pm

sl23 wrote:Perhaps the option to 'pin' racks may alleviate some issues? Like in Firefox. Any number of Racks could be pinned to allow constant monitoring and easy access while others are scrolled as normal.

This is actually possible to a certain extent, if you go into the project Modular screen you can double click any of the Racks to open just that one and move about the screen wherever you like. If you dont hide the rack section you will end up having 2 of the same rack open but can always collapse them as necessary.
In the pic I am able to scroll as normal and my Master rack is floating in the top right, can also work with mixer section docked or undocked. Best to collapse any racks in the mixer section setup this way thus freeing up a bit more rack space too.
Its not perfect but does work

Capture.JPG

JohnD71651 · Post by **JohnD71651** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:23 pm

Michael L wrote:Hold the Command key and you can move the slider in 0.01dB increments; without Command key, levels increase by ~quarter decibel from any starting point you set using Cmd key.

Wow, I didn't know that and have missed it in the manuals! Mulab is awesome, thanks a lot!

mgiambro · Post by **mgiambro** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 6:30 pm

bibz1st wrote:
sl23 wrote: Best to collapse any racks in the mixer section setup this way thus freeing up a bit more rack space too.
Its not perfect but does work

I'm not sure if it's already a fr, but the ability to group racks in the desk (much like folders with tracks) would be useful. I've changed my workflow to submix drums into a mux, which has alleviated the issue mostly for me, but the ability to group racks into sections and collapse/hide each section would certainly be valuable. Sorry, I know this is not a UI issue, but since it was mentioned I thought I'd chip in.

sl23 · Post by **sl23** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:22 am

If also like racks to auto close, like how muzys did it. Click one it opens and closes last opened rack.

I appreciate the conclusion mentioned above BTW, but this means constantly moving the racks about, pain in the ass! I prefer the rack section open to remove the need to do that.

Another rack improvement would be to have a button to collapse/hide racks, again similar to muzys, but was very simple and effective way of utilising space while making it easy to show/hide sections.

bibz1st · Post by **bibz1st** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:21 pm

sl23 wrote:I also like racks to auto close, like how muzys did it. Click one it opens and closes last opened rack.

But Mulab can do that can it not, via right clicking the Expand/Collapse Rack button or did Muzys do it differently, I cant remember

sl23 · Post by **sl23** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:15 pm

bibz1st wrote:But Mulab can do that can it not, via right clicking the Expand/Collapse Rack button or did Muzys do it differently, I cant remember

Correct, but it takes two clicks to do so. Muzys only ever had one open at a time, click one and the open rack closed, click a second rack and the previous would close.

MuTools · Post by **MuTools** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:20 pm

Right-click the Collpase/Expand button -> Auto Collpase/Expand. If it's enabled it's like in Muzys.

bibz1st · Post by **bibz1st** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 10:01 pm

Yea thats the one I meant

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