Understanding AFL/PFL--

[midnightsun]

I just upgraded to HDX AAX and was setting my my I/O and wasn't entirely sure how to take advantage of the Afterfader and Prefader Level setup. Presently, AFL/PFL is set to none. I have a D Command and am able to Solo tracks without any problem. I have researched the Reference Manual and I am not sure if there is some "great" feature that I am missing out on. Please help me connect the dots!

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by midnightsun

I just upgraded to HDX AAX and was setting my my I/O and wasn't entirely sure how to take advantage of the Afterfader and Prefader Level setup. Presently, AFL/PFL is set to none. I have a D Command and am able to Solo tracks without any problem. I have researched the Reference Manual and I am not sure if there is some "great" feature that I am missing out on. Please help me connect the dots!

The soloing you're doing now is "destructive" using the main output as a solo buss. AFL/PFL is a separate output which makes it "non destructive". This allows you to solo things without interfering with a headphone mix that could be using the main out for example. PFL of course allows you to solo things whose fader isn't even up. Not terribly useful in a studio environment but it's there nonetheless.

So you're not missing anything per se, but there is some special functionality added when things are set up this way.

For example, it annoys some people that you can't solo a submix in PT's Default Solo In Place because the members of the group are then cut. AFL allows you to do this. It also allows you to solo things without their effects which can be useful.

[elicious]

also allows you to solo things without their effects which can be useful.

... or solo the fx...

[midnightsun]

Thanks Drew and Elicious.

[Craig F]

Generally used for live and broadcast.
I do like haveing it set up in the studio for:
A) when doing overdubs sending you mix to the artist, you can solo someyhing without interrupting the artist.
B) when mixing through a bus you can use PFL for scrubbing.

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by Craig F

Generally used for live and broadcast.
I do like haveing it set up in the studio for:
A) when doing overdubs sending you mix to the artist, you can solo someyhing without interrupting the artist.
B) when mixing through a bus you can use PFL for scrubbing.

Thanks for posting this!

I was aware of PFL/AFL in Pro Tools and on studio consoles, but I never made the connection with the broadcast consoles that I used for 11 years when I was in radio.

On the old Gates consoles that were in use back in those days, the "audition" bus provided AFL, while the "cue" bus provided PFL.

The audition bus was accessed via an "audition/off/program" switch on each channel, and the "program" VU meters and control room speakers could be switched to the audition bus. This allowed us to set the levels of the mics for a "live" show on the audition bus, then switch the inputs to the program bus when it was "showtime".

The "cue" bus was accessed by turning the channel pot all of the way down until it "clicked", and the signal would then be routed to a small speaker on the "front" of the console. The cue bus could only be accessed by the line-level inputs (turntables, tape decks, network feeds, etc).

Having the cue bus only accessible when the channel pot was turned completely down helped prevent us from accidentally sending the sounds of us manually spinning records back-and-forth to cue them out over the program bus (although it did happen from time to time).

And I suppose there is a certain irony in guys getting paid millions to create the turntable "scratching" that we were paid just a hair above minimum wage to avoid...

[Mikey MTC]

I use it regularly to "hear just the return." (as someone's already mentioned earlier in the thread).

It's brilliant for those times when you just need to hear the verb or delay without hearing the dry stuff feeding that verb or delay.

It also gives you a different perspective on tracks in your mix when you're used to hearing them with all their sends (and returns) active. You can get to hear them totally dry with just one press on a solo button. This is cool for problem solving without having the mute all your FX or mess with complex routing.