Switcher
Click-to-switch A/B routing - pick one input set and one output set, with click-free switching.
A Switcher lets you flip between sets of stereo connections with one click. The classic use is monitor switching: send your mix to one pair of speakers, then switch it to another pair to hear how it translates.
When to use it#
- Monitor A/B - compare a mix on two sets of speakers or headphones
- Source select - choose which of several sources feeds the same destination
- Anywhere you would otherwise mute one path and unmute another by hand
On Windows there is no built-in way to switch monitor outputs quickly. A Switcher gives you one, without touching the Windows default device.
Adding one#
Right-click the canvas → Mixing & Effects → Switcher.
A new Switcher starts with one set on each side, both labelled A and both active, so it carries audio as soon as you wire it. Click + Add under a side to add the set you want to switch to.
For monitor A/B: wire your source into In set A, add a second set on the Out side, and wire each output set to a different pair of speakers.
Sets#
Each side of the node holds slot sets. A set is a stereo pair of ports. The two columns are labelled In on the left and Out on the right.
- Only one set per side is live at a time. Clicking a set makes it the active one and silences the rest of that side.
- Clicking the set that is already live turns it off, leaving that side silent. Both sides can legitimately be silent.
- Click + Add on a side to add another set, up to 8 per side.
- Right-click a set to remove it.
The live set is tinted green. Hovering a set tells you what clicking it will do.
Removing the live set leaves that side silent rather than jumping to another set - an unexpected unmute into monitors is worse than a moment of silence.
Each side always keeps at least one set, since a side with none has nothing to switch between and nowhere to wire.
Removing a set relabels the ones after it. Labels stay contiguous, so deleting B turns the old C into the new B. The wires do not move - they stay on the set they were plugged into, which now answers to a different letter.
A set you have renamed keeps the name you gave it. Only the default letters are recompacted, so naming your sets is the way to keep them identifiable across removals.
The two sides are independent#
The input side and the output side are separate selectors. Which one you add sets to decides what you are switching:
| Sets added to | What it does |
|---|---|
| Out side only | One source, switched between several destinations (monitor A/B) |
| In side only | Several sources, switched into one destination (source select) |
| Both | Pick a source and a destination |
All sets share one internal stereo path, so audio entering from the live input set reaches the live output set no matter which sets those are.
For the monitor A/B case you only add sets on the Out side: wire your source into the single In set and switch on the way out.
There is no separate pass-through or "direct" port. Every path through a Switcher goes in on an input set and out on an output set, which is what makes the selection absolute - nothing bypasses it.
Switching is click-free#
Switching does not cut the signal abruptly. Each set fades over about 8 ms - the same de-click ramp the Volume Knob, mute and FX bypass use - so a switch is inaudible apart from the change itself. This matters most when you are listening critically, which is exactly when you switch.
Every gain in a single switch is applied together, so the set going quiet and the set coming up start their ramps on the same audio frame rather than one after the other.
Switcher versus Volume Knob#
| Switcher | Volume Knob | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Choose one path of several | Set a level on paths |
| Gesture | Click a set | Drag or scroll |
| Paths live at once | One per side | All lanes |
| Good for | A/B comparison, source select | Level you keep changing |
You can wire a Volume Knob after a Switcher to control the level of whichever set is live.
Limits and gotchas#
- 8 sets per side maximum.
- Sets are stereo pairs. For mono, use one side of the pair.
- Each side keeps at least one set. Removing the last one is refused.
- Removing the live set leaves that side silent rather than promoting another set.
- All sets share one internal stereo path, so a Switcher carries one stereo signal at a time. For several independent paths use several Switchers.
- On a Free license, a session saved with Switcher nodes restores without them. Their wires drop with them, and a status message reports how many were skipped. Activating Pro and reloading the session restores them.
Related#
- Volume Knob - level control rather than path selection, same Pro gate
- Licensing and Tiers - what Pro unlocks
- Nodes and Connections - per-wire gain
- Ducker - automatic level control