JoeCoControl Overview JoeCo control is a powerful application for Mac or PC that allows full control of your JoeCo BlueBox Workstation Recorder product. To use JoeCo control, connect the USB2 cable supplied between your BlueBox and your MAC or PC. The Main control windows shown below are: Mic/Line Input controls Low Latency Input Monitor Mix Workstation Output Monitor Mix Master output Mode Selection There are three modes of operation for JoeCoControl selectable from the drop down menu in the blue top bar of the Mic/Line input controls window. Live Mode is designed for Live Multitrack recording where every input is routed to both the DAW and the BlueBox unit s recorder. Every output is driven from the DAW. Studio Mode dedicates outputs for monitoring and headphones, mixing both the low latency input foldback mix and stems from the DAW Mix Mode retains the dedicated monitor outputs but allows the other outputs to be used as external aux sends while the inputs become aux returns All of the windows in JoeCo Control can be enlarged or reduced by pressing the arrow in the top right corner of that section s blue bar (see red circled area above). JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 1
Mic/Line Input Controls The Mic/line Input control window allows full control of all of the inputs on your JoeCo BlueBox. You can switch between Mic and Line levels and control the channel gain which is displayed at the base of the channel. Selecting Mic input mode allows the use of 48V Phantom Power and insert various audio processes into the signal path: a 28dB Pad, a Soft limiter, a High Pass Filter and reverse the Phase. Transport and Master Window The Transport and Master Window shows you recording information pertaining to the local USB2/3 recording disk attached directly to the BlueBox. It allows you to take your system in and out of record, shows the remaining record time on your local disk and shows the time-code for the particular song. JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 2
JoeCo Control Modes JoeCo Control can operate in three modes selectable by using the mode select button in the top left of the JoeCo Control Mic/Line Input Control Window: Live Mode This mode should be used when making a live recording to your Daw. e.g recording a band. The signal path is as follows. Workstation Output Monitor Mix Mac/PC DAW Outputs Local Recording to USB2/3 disk Inputs Low Latency Monitoring Mix You have two headphone mixes in this mode. One Low Latency Monitor Mix which allows you to monitor the inputs of your system and one Workstation Output Monitor Mix which allows you to monitor the audio coming back from your DAW to the outputs of the system. In each mix you can solo, mute, PFL, pan and adjust the volume of all channels. Adjustment of parameters on these monitor mixes is applied to audio coming out of the two physical headphone outputs. JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 3
Studio Mode When using the BlueBox to record in a studio environment, studio mode should be used. When using this mode, connect your main studio monitors to outputs 1+2 of the system and you can optionally connect an alternative set of monitors to outputs 3+4. Studio mode allows you to create four different mixes with control of mute, PFL, solo, panning and volume adjustment of channels for each mix. Each mix consists of 24 inputs channels and 4 stereo stems from the DAW.. For example, you could create mixed stems of drums, rhythm instruments, backing vocals and percussion and then vary the relative proportions to each monitor mix for individual headphone users whilst mixing in the live Low Latency mic inputs as well The four mixes are routed as follows: Main Mix Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Outputs 1+2 (or 3+4) of the system and the front headphone socket Outputs 5+6 of the system (for driving separate headphone amp) Outputs 7+8 of the system (for driving separate headphone amp) Back Headphone Socket (and output 9&10 on some systems) JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 4
Monitor/Mix Master In studio mode there is also a Master/Mix Master window. This window gives you master volume control and AFL for all of the four mixes, talkback control and also some features for use on your Main Mix. Monitor controls Talkback Mic Channel selector Add Talkback to mix # selectors The Monitor Controls control what signal is sent to the Studio Monitors (and front headphone socket). The STEREO and MONO buttons select between Stereo and Mono. The LEFT and RIGHT buttons select just the Left or Right monitor output channels. The REV button will reverse your mix sending the left channel to the right monitor and vice versa. The ALT button will switch your Master Output from your main set of studio monitors (Outputs 1&2) to your Alternate monitors (Outputs 3&4). The DIM button will reduce the volume of your Monitor Outputs. The MUTE button will mute your Monitors and the front headphone socket. The faders control the overall levels sent to each of the Mix Outputs (MAIN, Phones 1, 2 & 3) The AFL buttons allow After Fade Listen for each of the headphone mixes to monitor what these mixes sound like to their users. Talk Back Control To use Talk Back, plug a Microphone into an input channel and selected it as your Talk Back channel as shown in the picture above. Selecting Send to Mix 1,2,3,4 determines which mixes will receive your voice from the Talk Back mic. Press and hold the TALK button to enable TalkBack. If auto-dim is selected, your Monitor Outputs will automatically dim while TALK is pressed. If you select TB latch then talk back will permanently be selected until you deselect it. JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 5
Mix Mode Mix mode, as the name suggests, is designed for mixing. It allows you to use the unassigned BlueBox outputs as effects sends and the inputs as effects returns during a mix. You would use this to connect outboard processing equipment to your DAW during a mix. So, for example you could create a send in your DAW for a particular piece of outboard gear on channel 10 and then incorporate the return on channel 11 back into your mix. The only channels that cannot be used for sending are outputs 1 through 4 which are tied to your studio monitors. Effects send listen allows you to monitor a particular output channel linked to the input of your outboard gear. When selecting a channel you are listening to the send i.e. the signal being sent to the outboard equipment before any effect is added. Effects return listen allows you to listen to a particular input channel showing the affected audio returning from the outboard equipment. This is effectively (pun intended) a PFL of the external outboard gear and is routed to the Main monitor mix. BlueBox System Output 10 Input 11 Input Output Outboard Equipment In this example we are using output 10 as an effects send We are using Input 11 as an effects return. The Workstation Main Mix Select selects which pair of stereo channels from your DAW are routed to your main outputs (outputs 1+2 on your system). For example, if you are using output channels 5+6 as your Master Output on your DAW then your should select 5+6 on the Workstation Main Mix Select. This allows you to quickly compare or A / B mixes. If you create two separate mixes on your DAW with one of them routed to Master Output 1+2 and the other routed to Outputs 5+6 then you can switch between using by switching between Workstation Main Mix select 1+2 and 5+6. The other monitor window controls operate in a similar manner to studio mode. JoeCo Limited 2009-2016 Page 6