Audio Input/Output Routing

This section covers internal Mixer routing functions. Internal audio sources (instruments loaded in the Channel window) enter the Mixer insert track set by Channel settings FX selector, as shown below:

Some points about internal and external audio routing:

Internal routing - The Mixer 'send switches' (18) allow audio to be re-routed internally between mixer tracks. A single track can be re-routed as many other mixer tracks as required. The send-level knob above each switch appears after a send is activated on the destination mixer track (click on a grey switch [] to activate a send and to adjust the send level, if desired). By default, all mixer Insert tracks (1 to 99) are routed to the Master mixer track and the four Send tracks (with send volume set to 0, so no audio is passed).
External routing - Audio sent to and received from your soundcards input and output jacks is set by the Input / Output selectors (6 & 7). NOTE: that each mixer track has its own input and output options. For example, if you have an audio interface with 16 microphone inputs, then you have the option of setting 16 unique mixer channels to receive each of these soundcard inputs. It is even possible to set two or more mixer tracks to receive the same input or send to the same output. When '(none)' is shown, this means no external soundcard input or output is selected for the selected track. By default, the Master mixer track 'Output' is the routed to the soundcards main outputs (usually the main/front Left/Right channels). However, by routing another mixer track (other than the master) to other soundcards outputs (e.g. the rear channels of 5.1 surround-sound card), you can create a separate sub-mix for band headphone monitoring or studio monitoring.
Parallel internal / external routing - It is worth noting that the Mixer track Input / Output (6 & 7) can function in parallel with the internal routing functions so that any track can receive external and internal audio sources simultaneously OR output to the Master mixer track and any other available soundcard output. Mixer routing is described in more detail below:

How to Route Audio

Mixer tracks - can take an input audio signal from one or more internal Instrument Channels by setting the Mixer Track Selector to a given track OR one external source (6). After processing the input they can pass the audio to another location, usually the Master track (1) but it can be another mixer track (18) or directly to a soundcard output (7).
To send audio from one insert track to another - Select the source track you wish to send FROM and then left-click the send control switch [](18) on the destination track you want to send TO. A send-level knob will appear on the destination track that can be used to change the level of signal passed to the destination. By default the SOURCE track will maintain routing to the Master track - If you don't want to create a parallel path to the Master mixer track, select the source track and disable the send switch on the master by left-clicking it.
External Inputs - Most ASIO drivers provide inputs (6) for microphone, line-in, etc. You can route these inputs to any or all mixer tracks. Note that the ASIO inputs will not replace but mix together with any input audio the track receives from other sources (instruments, other tracks, etc).
External Outputs - Most ASIO drivers provide outputs (7). You can route any mixer track to any ASIO output.
Surround sound 5.1 - You can set a group of mixer tracks to output (7) to the individual channels of a 5.1 surround system for surround-sound mixing. A Surround sound template is available in the File menu > New from telplate > Utility > Surround panner. After opening this template, select soundcard outputs using the Output menu (7) to match the pre-named Mixer tracks.
FL Studio as VST - Additional outputs also appear when using the FL Studio multi output VSTi connection.

Limitations of routing:

1. If you are using a DirectSound audio driver only one track at a time can output to the primary output (usually this is the Master Track). This limitation does not apply if you use and ASIO driver, then any mixer track may be routed to any available output (7).

2. FL Studio will disable certain routing choices if this would create a circular dependency (for example trying to route a track to itself).

3. Send tracks (4) can not be routed to insert tracks (3).

4. Use the Send Levels (15) knobs to adjust the amount of signal sent from an insert track to the send tracks.

5. The specially named 'Selected' track (4) can only receive audio from the currently selected track.

Prepare for Recording

The disk icon (17) prepares a track for audio recording (to a *.wav file). The input selected at (6) and/or any internal audio routed to that track will be recorded.

Mixer reference diagram

Mixer menu - Contains view, recording, Track linking, renaming and coloring options, click here to learn more about the options.
Mixer Track Scroll Bar - This will slide the visible range tracks within the mixer window.
Mixer Insert Tracks - The output of all audio instruments in FL Studio is routed to one of the 99 available insert tracks. In the default Mixer setup, once the audio signal is processed with the integrated effects (equalizer, volume and panning - 9) it is then sent to the master mixer track (10). It is also possible to route the audio of a mixer track to any ASIO output (7 - for users with ASIO enabled sound cards) or even another insert track (18). This internal re-routing is a very powerful feature allowing you to create advanced mixer setups with groups and subgroups of insert tracks.

The labels can be right-clicked (or press F2) to rename the track or recolor it. Quick linking of channel/s: From the Channel window use the Channel selector to select the channel/s you want to route to the mixer track, then select the desired destination mixer track and click Ctrl+L. There is also an option to sequentially link Channels to tracks starting from the selected track. Shift+Ctrl+L.
Send Tracks & Selected Track - Send: There are 4 mixer tracks dedicated to send functions, although any track can serve as a send, (18). The send tracks can't be directly linked to instrument channels, but they can receive audio from other mixer tracks (1 to 99). Adjust the amount of signal sent by each Send track with the Send Level knobs (15). The purpose of send tracks is the ability to setup common effects (for ex. reverb and delay) once in a send track and then being able to route multiple insert tracks audio to it, as opposed to adding the same effect in each insert track, wasting CPU power. Selected: This is a special track that automatically receives the currently selected mixer track. Use this to host an instance of Edison for easy recording of any track OR the Wave Candy visualization tools.
Big Peak Meter - Can be hidden using the Mixer menu (1) > View > Options. Output is in dB. See Levels and Mixing to learn more about using peak meters in FL Studio.
External mixer input - ASIO hardware inputs and some VSTi inputs can be selected here. This also where external audio is selected for audio recording in FL Studio.
External mixer output - ASIO hardware outputs can be selected here. Typical uses include live-use where one channel is sent to headphones for monitoring previewed samples/mixes while the main mix goes to the PA OR to create a surround sound sub-mix by sending several mixer tracks to the relevant surround channels of your soundcard.
FX slots - Up to 8 independent FX may be added to each mixer track. To load an Effect: Left-click on pop-up menu arrow at the left end of the slot and use the 'select' option. If you need more than 8 Effects, use the 'Send' feature (18) to route the output of one mixer track to another. To open an Effect user interface interface: Left-click on the name of a loaded Effect, a loaded Effect is displayed in FX slot 7 above. To re-order effects in the stack: place your mouse cursor over the effect to be moved and scroll the mouse-wheel up/down (the mixer window must be selected for this to work, click anywhere on the mixer to select it).
Mixer Track Properties - For more detail click here. Parametric EQ, Stereo Separation , Pan , Swap Stereo Channels, Invert Phase . All these features can be automated. Panel (A) is the graph for the Parametric EQ, left-click to control center frequency (left-right)/amplitude(up/down) or right-click to control bandwidth (left-right)/amplitude(up/down). Panel (B) can be left or right clicked to gain simultaneous X/Y control over Pan and Volume. Panel (C) holds the controls for Plugin Delay Compensation.
Master Mixer Track - All audio output of FL Studio is routed through the master mixer track for final processing before the final output (unless an insert track is routed out of the mixer to an ASIO output - 7). In light of this, the Master track isn't a good place to record external ASIO inputs (6) as the external and internal audio will be mixed together and recorded to disk.
Small Peak Meter - See Levels and Mixing to learn more about using peak meters in FL Studio.
Mute Switch - left-click to mute/un-mute the individual track, right-click to solo/un-solo the individual track.
Pan Knob - this function is also duplicated in the Mixer Track Properties area.
Level Fader - Can be automated right-clicked and linked to controllers. This function is also duplicated in the Mixer Track Properties area.
Send Knobs - When the 'Send' switch is activated (18) this knob (on the destination track) controls the signal level received from the source track.
FX Enable/Disable Switch - When deselected, the FX switch disables all the FX in the associated mixer track (8). At least one effect must be added to the FX rack for the switch to be active. Right-clicking the FX switch will open/close the interfaces for all effects loaded in the associated mixer track.
Track Recording Switch - When selected (orange) the track is armed and any audio (internal or external (6)) will be recorded to disk.
Track Send / Sidechain Enable Switch - Left-click to enable audio to be passed from one track to another, turns orange. Right-click to route OR sidechain to a specific track, master routing disabled. Sidechaining works in conjunction with plugins that accept a sidechain feed (e.g. Fruity Limiter's compressor function or the Stereo Shaper). The direction of the sidechain signal will depend on the plugin, for example the Fruity Limiter receives a sidechain FROM another mixer track while the Stereo Shaper sends a sidechain TO a mixer track. Available Sidechain tracks are labeled by their track name when a plugins sidechain selector is right-clicked. Remember if the sidechain direction is incorrect for the plugin type then the sidechain option won't show when the plugins sidechain selector is right-clicked. NOTES: Multiple side-chain sources can be sent to any given mixer track.

NOTE: Most controls are automatable (right-click and select 'Create automation clip').