Set I/O Assignments and bounce extensions for Logic Pro for Mac surround projects
The following tasks are only required if you monitor your surround or spatial audio project on dedicated surround speakers or bounce to surround channels. If you use a binaural renderer to bounce your project or monitor through headphones, you can use the default settings. For more information about the binaural renderer, see Set up binaural render modes in Logic Pro for Mac.
Before you can create a Logic Pro project in surround, you need to specify which outputs of your interface are connected to which speaker. If you’re recording in surround, you also need to specify the inputs of your audio interface.
These configurations are made in the Output and Input panes of the I/O Assignments settings. The I/O Assignments pane features three subpanes: Output, Bounce Extensions, and Input. All three subpanes are linked, but can be adjusted independently.
Note: In all but the rarest circumstances, the default settings for each surround format should meet your needs.
Choose Logic Pro > Settings > Audio, then click I/O Assignments (or use the Open Surround Settings key command).
In the Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > I/O Assignments pane, click either Output or Input.
Choose the surround format you want to work in from the “Show as” pop-up menu.
This action automatically sets the input and output channel pop-up menus in both the Output and Input panes.
Note: The surround format chosen here only alters the layout/routing of channels to speakers in the I/O Assignments pane. The actual project surround format is determined in the project settings. See Set the surround format in Logic Pro for Mac.
In the Surround section of the Output pane, do one of the following:
Use a standard output configuration: Click one of the three Initialize buttons below the “Show as” pop-up menu.
Default: Activates the default setup of Logic Pro. For example, for the 5.1 format, output 1 is routed to the left speaker, output 2 to the right one, output 3 to left surround, output 4 to right surround, output 5 to the center speaker, and output 6 to the LFE channel.
ITU: Assigns the International Telecommunications Union standard, used by many professionals.
WG-4: Assigns the WG-4 standard, set by the DVD Forum for DVD-Audio.
Use a custom output configuration: Choose the output of your audio interface from each of the active pop-up menus: Left, Center, Right, and so on.
The pop-up menu shows 16 output channels or more if the selected audio interface has additional channels.
In the Surround section of the Input pane, do one of the following:
Use a standard input configuration: Click one of the three Initialize buttons below the “Show as” pop-up menu.
Default: Activates the default setup. For example, for the 5.1 format, input 1 is routed to the left speaker, input 2 to the right one, input 3 to left surround, input 4 to right surround, input 5 to the center speaker, and input 6 to the LFE channel.
ITU: Assigns the International Telecommunications Union standard, used by many professionals.
WG-4: Assigns the WG-4 standard, set by the DVD Forum for DVD-Audio.
Use a custom input configuration: Choose the input of your audio interface from each of the active pop-up menus: Left, Center, Right, and so on.
Click Bounce Extensions.
This window lets you specify file extensions, which are characters appended to audio file names when you bounce the file in split format. They are also referred to as channel identifiers because they indicate the individual speaker channels of each bounced mono file and determine the channel assignment when importing split stereo or surround files.
Enter a new extension name in any of the active fields.
For example, the default left extension “.L” could be renamed “.Left,” or the left surround extension “.Ls” could be changed to “.LSurr.” Don’t forget the period before the extension.
If you change your mind, click the Reset Extensions button to revert to default entries.
Note: Changing the extension has no impact on the files—it simply makes them easier to identify. If you find the defaults clear enough, there’s no need to change them.
