problems setting up external EQ, no insert points... help!

allegra.AUDIO · Post by **allegra.AUDIO** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:40 am

i'm having problems setting up an external EQ (2 ch) in ableton live.
here's what i want to do...
i'm using ableton to dj with a faderfox dj2 controller, no probs there...
just using 2 audio tracks at the moment to keep it simple but what i want to do is use the external EQ i have to fine tune the tracks, left & right, deck 1 & deck 2 etc...
alas, my soundcard does not have insert points, if it did i wouldn't be posting this...
i've played around a bit with the sends & returns but this is still a bit vague to me...
does anyone understand what i'm trying to do & shed some light on the problem?
the routing has got me stumped.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:46 pm

Can't you just put the EQ between the master out and the house PA?

Or do you have a more complex setup in mind where you can prelisten etc with the EQ?

allegra.AUDIO · Post by **allegra.AUDIO** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:28 pm

yeah, i've tried that but it's not the best solution as the signals from audio tracks are
split left & right rather than stereo.
i wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult to do but it seems so,
unless i'm missing something entirely?

laird · Post by **laird** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:34 pm

Those Send/Returns in Live are "virtual" send/returns. You can easily put one of Live's built-in EQs on a send/return and share that between your two stereo tracks.

But unless your soundcard has multiple outputs and inputs, you will not be able to use your external EQ unit with ableton Live without, say, a mixer.

Still, I'm not sure why having Live split your audio between left and right is a problem. All stereo music is split between left and right. Perhaps you mean the EQ accepts a single stereo input jack, while your soundcard give you two mono outputs?? If that's the case, buy a Y cable. It'll be stereo on one end (and have two rubber rings on the male jack) and have two mono jacks on the other end (each with only one rubber ring).

allegra.AUDIO · Post by **allegra.AUDIO** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:08 pm

yes, it has single stereo i/o,
i mean to say that when i run the EQ between sound card & monitors in signal path
the tracks on the left 'deck' in ableton are run through the left side of EQ
& if the monitors are routed directly from the EQ then only the left monitor is affected instead of both monitors (thats what i mean by stereo, sorry for confusion),
same for the right 'deck' & right monitor.
am i making sense? (lol & pulling hair)

thanks for the help, much appreciated.