Applies to: Liquid Mix 16, 32

Contents

• Bandwidth Issues
• Error message when installing emulations: 'The Installer could not install some files in"/".'
• I'm losing connection to my computer during Logic's AU Validation
• Why do the attack and release time controls operate differently for the 'Stellar' emulations?
• Why does BAND 1 require 2 bands for 'OLD TUBE 1', 'OLD TUBE 3', and 'VINTAGE 3'?
• Why does Liquid Mix only use 1 processor on my multiprocessor computer?

Bandwidth Issues

Most issues are usually caused by the Liquid Mix struggling to obtain enough bandwidth on the FireWire bus to function correctly. Before following through this article, make sure you have the latest version of the Liquid Mix installer installed:

http://focusrite.com/support/software/liquid_mix/

To resolve bandwidth issues, try:

• Removing any other FireWire devices connected to the bus that the Liquid Mix is connected to.
• If you have to purchase a FireWire card to enable to have multiple FireWire units, we would recommend a FireWire 400-only, non-combo (i.e. not with USB AND FireWire ports) card with either a Texas Instruments or a VIA chipset, from a known brand manufacturer such as Belkin, Lacie or SIIG. For more information on FireWire compatibility, please see the FireWire compatibility article.
• Increase the minimum buffer size in the Liquid Mix manager software, and in your DAW (audio software).

You can also reduce the functionality of the Liquid Mix to reduce its bandwidth requirements.

These steps are useful to go through to help identify whether the bandwidth problem is on the PCI bus as a result of other non-FireWire devices sharing the same system resources as the Liquid Mix. If you can identify this as the cause, there are further steps you can take to adjust your system configuration to optimise the way your hardware communicates with each other.

As computers (PCs in particular) differ vastly, we would advise that you contact us directly through the contact form in regard to doing this, as there is no one solution.

You may also wish to try these tips out if you want to try running the Liquid Mix off of the same FireWire bus as another device.

• Decrease the Track count in the Liquid Mix Manager, to release some reserved bandwidth for these tracks. Even if you are not using all 32 instances, the Liquid Mix will still attempt to reserve bandwidth for them.
• Work at a lower sampling rate.

Error message when installing emulations: 'The Installer could not install some files in"/".'

There is a bug when attempting to install the Liquid Mix emulations on a Mac. The following error message may appear after confirming the location of the Liquid Mix installation directory and entering your password.

It will occur when attempting to run the following installer file after installing the Liquid Mix drivers:

Liquid Mix Emulation Files Web-1.0.dmg

The following workaround should solve this problem:

1. Delete the following directory: /Library/Application Support/Liquid Mix/
2. Re-run the emulation installer.

I'm losing connection to my computer during Logic's AU Validation

It is possible for Logic's AU Validation process to cause the Liquid Mix to lose connection to the computer, causing AU Validation to hang and fail.

Performing a reset of the Liquid Mix hardware will cause the unit to reconnect, allowing the AU Validation to complete. To do this:

Hold down: SAVE, LOAD, and GO BACK simultaneously on the unit itself 

Why do the attack and release time controls operate differently for the 'Stellar' emulations?

The Stellar emulations are modelled on particular vintage compressors in which the attack and release time controls functioned opposite to the way they normally do.

For the majority of compressors, rotating an attack or release time control clockwise will increase the release time. For these particular vintage compressors, however, the release time is longest at the fully counter-clockwise position and shortest at the fully clockwise position.

This peculiarity has been emulated in the Liquid Mix emulation in order to maintain the highest level of authenticity.

Why does BAND 1 require 2 bands for 'OLD TUBE 1', 'OLD TUBE 3', and 'VINTAGE 3'?

The 'OLD TUBE 1', 'OLD TUBE 3', and 'VINTAGE 3' emulations are based upon a vintage EQ in which a low-frequency shelf has two separate gain controls (one allows for positive gain and the other allows for attenuation). In order to emulate the EQ shelf in the most authentic way possible, it is necessary to gang the frequency control for the two gain controls. Consequently, the low-frequency shelf requires two bands.

This affects the creation of EQ hybrids on the Liquid Mix when using these special low-frequency shelves.

Any time you select the 'BAND 1: Shelf LF' for 'OLD TUBE 1' or 'OLD TUBE 3', two bands will be required. This means that if a single band from another emulation exists on an adjacent band, it will be removed in order to accommodate the second band of the 'BAND 1: Shelf LF'.

In addition, if you select the 'BAND 1: Shelf LF' for band 7, it will be necessary to use both BAND 6 and BAND 7 to accommodate this filter. Both of these considerations should be taken into account when building hybrid EQs with the LF shelves of the Liquid Mix.

Why does Liquid Mix only use 1 processor on my multiprocessor computer?

Multiprocessor support is not implemented by plugins. It is something that is determined by the DAW.