Channel Strip Types
AnalogDAW has several kinds of channel strip. They share the same analog-modeled processors but serve different roles in your mix. This chapter explains each strip, what processing it carries, and when to use it.
They all share the console engines. Tracks, mix buses, aux returns, and the master use the same modeled color, EQ, saturation, and compressor DSP — so a compressor "mode" or EQ move sounds the same wherever you use it. What differs is how much runs by default: tracks, mix buses, and the master each impart a gentle character even at flat settings (see the console-voicing note below), while aux returns and cue buses stay clean until you switch a processor on.
Quick comparison
| Strip | Sums audio? | Has full processing? | Main job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track | — (it's a source) | Yes | Record and shape one instrument/voice. |
| Mix Bus | Yes | Yes | Process a group of tracks together. |
| Aux Return | Yes (from sends) | Yes + reverb/delay | Shared send effects. |
| Cue Bus | Yes (from cue sends) | Level/pan only | Performer headphone mixes. |
| VCA Group | No | No (fader only) | Ride many faders as one. |
| Master Bus | Yes (everything) | Yes + tape + Maximizer | Final output and polish. |
Track strip
The workhorse. One track = one source (a mic, a line input, an instrument, or imported audio).
Signal flow: Input → movable Record Point / processing chain → Pan → Fader → Output. Record Point starts before Preamp/Color → Filter → Gate → EQ → Compressor → De-Esser → Inserts; anything moved above it is printed into new recordings.
Carries: preamp & color, high/low-pass filters, gate, 4-band EQ, mode-switchable compressor, de-esser, six plug-in inserts, aux sends, cue sends, pan, fader, mute/solo/arm, and automation.
Routes to: a mix bus or directly to the master (and to a chosen hardware output pair).
Use it for: everything you record or import — the foundation of the mix.
Mix Bus
A summing strip that combines several tracks into one signal you can process and control together.
Signal flow: (summed inputs) → Filter → Gate → De-Esser → EQ → Compressor → Inserts (reorderable) → Console glue saturation (always on) → Pan/Trim → Fader → Output.
Carries: the same processors as a track (filter, gate, de-esser, EQ, compressor, inserts), plus a fader, pan, and an output trim. It can belong to a VCA group and have its own automation.
Every mix bus also runs a subtle console "glue" saturation at the end of its chain. It's light (a small, level-neutral touch of harmonics that deepens as the bus compressor works harder) and it is always on — it's part of what makes a sub-mix through a bus feel cohesive rather than just summed. There's no on/off for it; if you want a summing path with no baked-in color, route those tracks straight to the master instead of through a bus.
Routes to: the master or another bus (for nested sub-mixes).
Use it for: drum buses, vocal buses, instrument groups — "glue" compression across a group, a single EQ move on all backing vocals, parallel processing.
Aux Return
A bus fed by sends rather than by routed track outputs — the home for shared effects.
Carries: built-in reverb (Small/Medium/Large Room, Medium/Large Hall, Plate, Cathedral) and delay (time, feedback, mix), plus the full processing set (filter, gate, de-esser, EQ, compressor, inserts), a level, pan, and enable.
Fed by: each track's aux send (pre- or post-fader).
Use it for: one reverb shared by the whole mix, a slap-back delay on several vocals, parallel "New York" compression (send drums to an aux and crush it).
Cue Bus
A dedicated headphone/monitor mix for performers, independent of the main mix and sent to its own hardware output pair.
Carries: a level and pan per bus, an enable, an output channel pair selector, and an option to follow the main mix as a starting point.
Fed by: each track's cue send.
Use it for: giving the singer "more me" in their cans, building a click-heavy mix for the drummer, or any monitor mix that shouldn't affect the recording.
VCA Group
Not an audio path at all — a control group. A VCA group's fader applies a level offset to all its members simultaneously. Members can be tracks, mix buses, and aux returns.
Carries: a single group fader (a dB offset) and automation. No audio summing, no processing.
Use it for: riding "all drums" or "all vocals" with one fader while keeping each member's internal balance; automating group-level moves cleanly. Pair it with track groups for full control of a section.
Master Bus
The final strip — everything in the session sums here before it leaves your speakers or your export. It's a mastering chain.
Signal flow: (full mix) → Tape → Filter → EQ → Compressor → Inserts → Maximizer → Output fader → Meter. (Every stage including the Maximizer is reorderable, except the output fader and meter, which stay last.)
Carries:
Tape saturation — a dedicated master tape stage with bias and speed- dependent high-frequency roll-off, for cohesion and analog glue.
Filter and a 4-band EQ for final tone shaping.
A compressor (with the same five modes, plus Auto Make-Up) for overall control.
Six plug-in inserts for mastering tools.
A Maximizer to catch peaks and raise loudness, with an input threshold/drive, a ceiling, a release, and an optional look-ahead (off / 0.75 / 1.5 ms — off adds zero latency, so it won't affect monitoring while you record).
With look-ahead on, the ceiling is a true-peak ceiling: the Maximizer measures the waveform your converter actually reconstructs between the samples, not just the samples themselves, and holds that to the value you set. This is what a delivery ceiling is for — a file whose samples all sit under the ceiling can still clip a converter, and will almost certainly overshoot when encoded to a lossy format. Expect a master to sit a little under 1 dB quieter at the same ceiling setting than it would from a samples-only limiter; that difference is headroom you were previously spending without being told.
With look-ahead off, the ceiling applies to the samples only. Anticipating a peak requires hearing it slightly before it arrives, so true-peak control is not possible at zero latency. Use
0.75or1.5 mswhen you are mastering; leave it off while tracking, when monitoring latency matters more.An output gain and fine trim.
An optional loudness (LUFS) target — a metering reference (Streaming Balanced -14, Streaming Conservative -16, Video Streaming -13, Streaming Loud -12, CD / Club -9). When enabled, the master's loudness meter shows how far your mix sits from that target so you can adjust the level yourself. Changing only the meter target is a guide; running the Mastering Assistant uses that target to build an audible master chain.
A TRUE PEAK readout in the metering view, in dBTP. It turns red once it passes the ceiling this master is set to deliver at — your Maximizer ceiling plus whatever the output fader and trim add on top of it, since those sit after the Maximizer. This is the peak of the waveform your converter reconstructs, not of the samples — a mix whose samples all sit at -1 dBFS can still reconstruct above 0, and that is what clips a converter or a lossy encoder. It is measured the way delivery specs define it (ITU-R BS.1770 4x oversampling), so it agrees with the meters a mastering engineer or a streaming service will use, and with what AnalogDAW measures when it exports. Expect it to read higher than the peak meter beside it, often by 1 dB or more on a loud master; that gap is real headroom you are already spending.
A Mastering Assistant in the metering view. Choose a character, amount, and delivery target, then run Master This. Playback stops before analysis so the assistant can render a stable loud section, measure it, and set high-pass, EQ, tape, glue compression, and Maximizer drive. After a run, changing the assistant controls re-applies the chain immediately from the cached analysis; A/B compares against a loudness-matched bypass, and Revert restores the pre-assistant master chain. See Mastering for the full workflow.
Use it for: final polish, controlling overall dynamics and loudness, and hitting a target level for distribution. Keep the Maximizer on to prevent clipping on the way out.
A note on the console voicing
AnalogDAW ships a single, carefully-tuned console voicing ("Warm"): large- transformer low-end weight and even-harmonic bloom, blended with a tight, present, airy top end. It's what gives a project mixed in AnalogDAW a consistent, "run through a desk" character — and part of it is working before you touch a single processor.
Because people often ask "does this DAW always have a sound, even with nothing switched on?", here is exactly what is baked in, where, and what is not — see The Console Sound for the full, plain-language explanation.
| Strip | Colored at flat/default settings? | What's always in the path | Can you defeat it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track | Yes | The preamp — a light console voicing EQ plus transformer + Class-A harmonic warmth, even with GAIN and COLOR at zero | Yes — switch the preamp off for a bit-clean pass-through (only pad/phase remain) |
| Mix Bus | Yes | A subtle "glue" saturation at the end of the chain | No dedicated switch — avoid it by routing straight to the master instead of through a bus |
| Master | Yes | The tape stage (gentle harmonics + high-frequency softening) | Yes — switch Tape off |
| Aux Return | No | Nothing until you enable a processor | n/a — it's already clean |
| Cue Bus | No | Level/pan only | n/a |
| VCA Group | No | It carries no audio at all | n/a |
The amounts are small by design — this is "sounds like it was tracked to a nice console," not an obvious effect. If you ever need a mathematically clean path (for measurement, mastering a finished file, or A/B reference), switch the track preamp and the master tape off and keep audio off the mix buses; AnalogDAW will then pass audio through unaltered.
Next: The Console Sound →