DMXDesktop

Soundcraft Ui24R: audio into DMXDesktop

The Ui24R presents 32 channels to a computer over its USB DAW connection, with a fixed and rather convenient layout: the masters and all eight aux buses are already on the first ten channels. A music-only feed for DMXDesktop needs no repatching, and in fact the layout cannot be changed.

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

  • Ui24R

How the Ui24R USB channels are laid out

  • USB DAW 1 and 2 are Master Left and Master Right.
  • USB DAW 3 to 10 are Aux buses 1 to 8.
  • USB DAW 11 to 32 are the input channels, from channel 1 onwards.

This layout is fixed. The Patching page in the browser interface decides where each mixer channel gets its input from, including audio coming back from the computer. It does not change what is sent to the computer.

What you need

  • A USB Type-B cable to the USB DAW connection.
  • On Windows, Soundcraft's Ui24R multichannel USB audio driver.
  • On macOS, nothing extra.

Connect the mixer

  1. Connect USB DAW to the computer.
  2. On Windows, install the Ui24R driver.
  3. In DMXDesktop, open Settings → Audio and select the Ui24R.

Fastest setup: the master mix

  1. USB DAW 1 and 2 always carry Master L and Master R. There is nothing to patch.
  2. In DMXDesktop, select channels 1 and 2.

Channels 1 and 2, so this works on Windows with or without ASIO.

Recommended setup: a music-only aux

Because Aux 1 to 8 are permanently on USB DAW 3 to 10, building a music-only mix is just a matter of using an aux and counting.

  1. Link Aux 1 and Aux 2 as a stereo pair and name it DMXDesktop.
  2. Unmute the pair and set its master to 0 dB.
  3. Send only the music channels to it, at 0 dB. No speech microphones, no talkback.
  4. Aux sends are pre-fader by default, so the feed ignores the channel faders. Switch the sends to post-fader if you want the lighting to follow the channel faders.
  5. Aux 1 is USB DAW 3 and Aux 2 is USB DAW 4. No patching required.
  6. In DMXDesktop, select channels 3 and 4.
Music channels
players, DJ, live band
Speech mics and talkback
not sent to DMXDesktop
Aux 1 / 2
stereo-linked, music only
USB DAW 3 / 4
fixed layout
DMXDesktop
channels 3 and 4

Troubleshooting

Silence on channels 3 and 4

The sends to Aux 1 and 2 are down, the Aux 1/2 master is down or muted, or the sends are post-fader and the channel faders are down or muted. Pre-fader sends keep working with the channel faders down.

Windows offers no channel choice

The multichannel driver is not installed, or you selected the ordinary Windows device instead of its ASIO device.

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.