M-AUDIO 49i User Manual

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KeyStudio 49i User Guide
Using Direct Monitoring
When a microphone or instrument is plugged into the inputs of M-Audio KeyStudio 49i, its signal needs to be converted to a digital 
signal, which then gets sent to the computer via the USB cable  From there, it gets sent to your music software and gets processed, 
then turns around and comes back to the audio outputs  Even though KeyStudio uses the latest hardware and software technology, 
it might take a few fractions of a second to make this trip  This delay (latency) is not a problem when playing back music, but it can 
be distracting when recording music  To compensate for this delay, M-Audio KeyStudio 49i has a feature called Direct Monitor  
Direct Monitor sends the signal from the Channel 1 and 2 inputs directly to the Outputs, without any of the delay caused by traveling 
to and from the computer  The Direct Monitor knob controls the level of the signal from the Channel 1 and 2 inputs to the Main 
and Headphone Outputs  Use this knob to set the monitoring level of the mic or instrument that you are recording relative to the 
audio tracks that are playing from your computer  When using Direct Monitor, you will need to disable any monitoring feature in your 
computer recording software. Otherwise, you will hear your input played back twice—once through Direct Monitor, and again from
your computer  Either turn off record or input monitoring, mute the channels you are recording to, or send their output to  
another bus 
In a typical Direct Monitor application, plug your microphone and guitar into Channel 1 and Channel 2 on the rear panel  Arm a 
pair of inputs in your computer recording software and set their recording levels using the gain controls on the M-Audio KeyStudio  
As detailed in the previous sections, you want the recording level to be as high as possible without distorting  Make sure that the 
recording software is not outputting the audio you’re recording, or else you will hear the signal played twice from the outputs  Next, 
set the Direct Monitor Level for your speakers or headphones and you are ready to record  If you are recording your mic and guitar 
while listening to tracks already recorded in your computer, you might want to listen once and set your Direct Monitor Level relative to 
the tracks playing from your computer 
The Mono Button
When this button is not pressed, the Microphone input will be sent to the Left Output and the Instrument input will be sent to the 
Right Output  This means that you will only hear yourself on one speaker instead of on both while recording one input source at a 
time (Microphone or Instrument)  
When the Mono button is pressed, the Microphone input sends its signal to both the Left and Right Outputs, and the Instrument 
input also sends its signal to both the Left and Right Outputs  This means that you will hear yourself on both speakers while 
recording from any one input source  
The Mono button does not only affect the way you hear yourself while recording (monitoring), but also how the signal is recorded by 
your computer  If the Mono button is active and you are recording to a stereo track in your sequencing software, any Mono source 
(such as a Microphone or a connected instrument) will be recorded to both channels of the stereo track (left and right) and will 
appear in the stereo center  
If you want to record from the Microphone and Instrument inputs simultaneously, but would like the resulting recordings to remain 
editable individually, then you must not activate the Mono button and will have to create two independent mono recording tracks in 
your sequencing software  The first mono track has to be configured to record from input 1 and the second mono track needs to be 
configured to record from input 2 of KeyStudio 49i