A Setup, End to End
One real Routling setup at full size - two instruments, per-source effects, a DAW bridge and a headphone mix - with every node and connection explained.
This is a real working setup, at full size. It is the same graph shown on What is Routling, but here you can read it: scroll to pan, and use your browser's zoom to go closer. Nothing in it is a preset - it is what happens when you drag nodes onto a canvas and join them up.
What it does#
The person using this plays guitar and talks, at the same machine, into both a DAW and whatever else is running - a call, a stream, a recording in another app. Windows cannot express that on its own. Every source needs to arrive in two places at once, at different levels, and one of those places is a set of headphones that must never hear itself.
Read it left to right: sources, then processing, then a volume for each path, then destinations.
The sources#
| Node | What it is |
|---|---|
| Microphone | ASIO input 1 on the interface. One channel, so one Mono port |
| Guitar | ASIO input 2. Also mono - a guitar is one cable |
| System Audio | Everything else the machine is playing, captured as a stereo pair. See App Capture and System Audio |
The two instrument nodes sit in a group named ASIO Inputs. Groups are purely organisational - dragging the frame's header moves both cards together. See Nodes and Connections.
The processing#
Each instrument has its own FX Module, because they need different treatment:
- Mic Processing holds five plugins -
Brusfrifor noise,RoughRider3andGGatefor dynamics,TDR Novafor EQ, andValhallaFutureVerbbypassed. The bypassed one stays loaded, so it can be switched back in without re-scanning or losing its settings; the header counts5 (-1) effects. - Guitar Processing holds
Guitar Rig 7, also bypassed here - the guitar is being recorded dry so it can be reamped in the DAW later. - A third FX Module sits on the system audio path with nothing loaded yet, as a placeholder for when it is wanted.
An FX Module is stereo in and stereo out, so a mono source feeds both its inputs.
The volumes#
Six Volume Knob nodes, grouped as Volumes. This is the part that makes the setup work, and it is worth understanding why there are six rather than two.
Every source is needed in two places at different levels: in the headphones, and in whatever leaves the machine. A single volume control cannot do that - turning the guitar down in your own ears would also turn it down for everyone else. So each path gets its own knob:
| Knob | Controls |
|---|---|
| Mic Monitor / Guitar Monitor | How loud each instrument is in the headphones |
| Mic Out / Guitar Out | How loud each is to other applications |
| DAW Out | The DAW's return, on its way out |
| System | System audio, in the headphones |
In the graph, Guitar Monitor and Guitar Out are muted and set around -9 dB, and DAW Out is muted - the guitar is not being played at that moment. A muted knob shows a red MUTE; its dial keeps its position, so unmuting returns to the level that was set.
The destinations#
| Node | Who receives it |
|---|---|
| Headphones (L) and (R) | ASIO outputs 1 and 2, grouped as ASIO Outputs. The monitor mix |
| DAW | A Virtual ASIO node. The DAW sees Routling as an ASIO device and records the processed mic and the dry guitar on separate channels |
| To Routling 1 | A Routling I/O endpoint. Any other application selects Routling OUT 1 as its input and receives the mix of Mic Out, Guitar Out and DAW Out |
That last one is the piece that needs no third-party driver. Routling installs its own WDM devices, so a call application or a recorder just picks Routling OUT 1 from its normal input list.
Why the DAW goes both ways#
The DAW node has ports on both sides, because a DAW is both a destination and a source:
- Into it: the processed microphone, and the guitar dry
- Out of it: whatever the DAW is playing - a backing track, a reamped guitar, a monitor mix of the session
The return feeds the headphones and DAW Out, so the DAW's output can be heard locally and sent onward independently. See DAW Integration.
The mix-minus, quietly#
Notice what does not connect: nothing that leaves the machine comes back into the headphones by a second route, and nothing in the headphone mix feeds To Routling 1. Monitor knobs go only to the headphones; the Out knobs go only to the WDM endpoint. That separation is what stops a caller hearing themselves. Podcast and Multi-Guest Recording covers the same idea when remote guests are involved.
Latency#
The toolbar reads 96 smp and 2.0 ms. At 48 kHz, a 96-sample buffer is 2 ms, and nothing in this graph adds to it - none of the loaded plugins report latency. A buffer that small is only realistic on a well-behaved ASIO interface; see Latency and Buffers before copying it.
Building something like it#
Nothing here is special. Every node came from right-clicking the canvas, and every connection from dragging one port to another:
- Open the interface as your primary device (Your First Route).
- Add the ASIO channel nodes you need (ASIO Channels).
- Add an FX Module per source, and load plugins into it (FX Module).
- Add a Volume Knob per path, not per source - one for the monitor, one for the send (Volume Knob).
- Add the destinations: a Virtual ASIO node for a DAW, a Routling I/O node for other applications.
- Group what belongs together, and save it (Sessions and State).
Related#
- What is Routling - the same graph, at a glance
- Interface Tour - what every part of the window does
- Node Types Overview - every node type available
- DAW Integration - the DAW half of this setup in detail