DMXDesktop

Behringer X32 and Midas M32: audio into DMXDesktop

The X32 and M32 families carry a 32-in, 32-out USB interface on their expansion card. The card takes its outputs in blocks of eight, so getting the main mix or a music-only bus onto USB 1 and 2 takes one extra routing step, explained below.

This article is part of Connecting a Sound Mixer to DMXDesktop, which covers the shared rules and the problems common to every console.

Models covered

  • Behringer X32, X32 Compact, X32 Producer, X32 Rack
  • Midas M32, M32R, M32C
  • LIVE variants fitted with X-LIVE or DN32-LIVE

All of these use the same routing pages, with small wording differences between firmware revisions.

What you need

  • A USB Type-B cable to the expansion card at the rear (X-USB, X-LIVE, DN32-USB or DN32-LIVE).
  • On Windows, the Behringer or Midas USB ASIO driver for the card you have fitted.
  • On macOS, nothing. The card appears as a Core Audio device on its own.

Connect the console

Windows

  1. Install the USB ASIO driver for your card and restart if asked.
  2. Connect the USB cable and power the console on.
  3. Start DMXDesktop and open Settings → Audio.
  4. Pick the Behringer or Midas device from the ASIO group in the Audio Input Device list.

macOS

  1. Connect the USB cable and power the console on.
  2. Open Audio MIDI Setup and confirm the card is listed.
  3. In DMXDesktop, open Settings → Audio and select it.

Fastest setup: the main mix

This puts your main mix on USB channels 1 and 2, which works on macOS and on Windows whether or not you are using ASIO. It borrows the first two P16 slots, so read the warning first.

  1. On the console, press ROUTING.
  2. Go to the P16 Out tab.
  3. Assign Main L to P16 slot 1 and Main R to P16 slot 2.
  4. On the same page, set the tap point for both slots. Post-Fader makes the feed follow the main fader.
  5. Go to the Card Out tab.
  6. Set the first output block to P16 1-8, so card outputs 1 to 8 come from P16 slots 1 to 8.
  7. In DMXDesktop, select channels 1 and 2.

Recommended setup: a music-only bus

Worth the extra five minutes on any desk that also handles speech. It gives the lighting a feed containing nothing but the music, so nobody speaking makes the rig flash.

  1. Pick two unused mix buses, for example Bus 15 and Bus 16, and stereo-link them.
  2. Name the pair DMXDesktop, unmute it and set its fader to 0 dB.
  3. On each music channel (the playback device, the DJ input, the laptop feed), turn the send to the pair up to 0 dB and leave the channel unmuted.
  4. Choose pre-fader or post-fader sends. Post-fader follows each channel's fader.
  5. Leave the send fully down on every speech microphone, talkback and announcement channel.
  6. In ROUTING → P16 Out, assign Bus 15 to P16 slot 1 and Bus 16 to slot 2, with a post-fader tap so the bus fader sets the level.
  7. In ROUTING → Card Out, set the first output block to P16 1-8.
  8. In DMXDesktop, select channels 1 and 2.

The warning in the section above applies here too: this replaces card outputs 1 to 8 and puts the bus on the P16 (Ultranet) port. Because it lands on card channels 1 and 2, it works on Windows without ASIO as well.

Music channels
players, DJ, live band
Speech mics and talkback
not sent to DMXDesktop
Bus 15 / 16
named "DMXDesktop"
P16 1 / 2
Card Out block P16 1-8
DMXDesktop
channels 1 and 2

Troubleshooting

The card appears in DMXDesktop but there is no signal

Check the Card Out tab. Routing audio into channels from the card and routing audio out to the card are separate settings on this console, and having done one does not do the other.

Only one side moves

Only one of the two sources was assigned to its P16 slot, or one of the channels selected in DMXDesktop is carrying something else. Recheck both.

Moving the fader does not change anything

The P16 tap point is pre-fader. Change it to post-fader on the P16 Out page if you want the lighting to follow the fader.

Personal monitors started playing the main mix

P16 slots 1 and 2 go to the Ultranet port as well as to the card. Move the monitor users off channels 1 and 2, or use the Out 9-16 block described above instead.

The lights react to speech

You are on the main mix. Build the music-only bus above.

Still not working

Work through the shared checks in Connecting a Sound Mixer to DMXDesktop, which covers the faults that are not specific to one console. If you need to contact support, have these five things ready, because they resolve most cases immediately:

  1. The exact mixer model.
  2. Your Windows or macOS version.
  3. How the mixer is connected, and which USB port you used.
  4. Which device you picked in Settings → Audio.
  5. Which left and right channel numbers you selected.

For a console with a multichannel USB interface, a screenshot of the mixer's USB output patch is worth more than any log file.