Each monitor panel has two audio controls: the master fader and the meters beside the preview. Both belong to one playout, and both show what that playout sends out.
The master fader
The master fader is beside the preview on each panel, and its tooltip calls it the Main fader. It applies to everything that the playout sends out: the cues, the music beds and the sound in a scene.
It is a master fader and not a monitoring level. When you lower it, the audio becomes quieter on the output, on the stream and in the recording, so what you hear and what is sent out always change together.
Each playout has its own master fader, and there is no fader for all playouts together.
The meters
The VU column is at the edge of the picture on each panel, and it shows the left and right channels side by side.
The meters measure the signal after the master fader, so they show what is actually sent out. If the meters move and there is no sound in the hall, the problem is therefore after this program: in the card, the mixing desk or an amplifier.
Reading the meters
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Nothing moves during a media cue | There is no sound. The file has no audio, the volume is 0, or the master fader is down |
| Peaks near the top of the range | The level is about right for programme material |
| The meters stay at the top | The sound is too loud. Lower the master fader before the sound clips |
| Only one channel moves | The file is mono, or one channel is missing in the source |
If only one channel moves, stop and check. A file that was recorded on one channel is heard on one side of a stereo system, and you can see this here much more easily than a listener at home can describe it afterwards.
What the meters do not show
The meters show one playout. Sound from outside the playout, such as a source that someone added outside the playout or an application on the computer, is not on these meters, and it is not on the track of the playout either.
In a control room that runs only the playout, the meters therefore show everything. If the computer does more, the next page, audio tracks, explains which other sound can be sent out with the playout.