Setting Mixer preferences

The Mixer category of the Max Preferences window shows the settings associated with using the Mixer features of Max audio. The preferences you set are applied to the Mixer engine for every top-level patcher.

Enabling Mixer parallel processing

Since each top-level patcher is compiled separately and has its own isolated DSP chain, you can use multiple processors to process separate top-level patchers (similar to the way in which many DAW environments send separate tracks to separate processors).

Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Scroll to the Mixer category of the preferences listings and click the checkbox in the Value column for the Enable Mixer Parallel Processing setting.
The Max application keeps track of this setting, and will use it when you launch Max again.

Mixer latency

The Mixer Engine allows you to patch without audible interruptions in audio output by introducing an amount of latency in the patch's output. The amount of latency is intended to provide enough time to rebuild a new DSP signal chain while the current signal chain is active, and then to crossfade to the newly created signal chain (the amount of latency required will vary with the complexity of the DSP signal chain). Mixer latency is specified in milliseconds, and will be applied to the Mixer engine for every top-level patcher.

If Mixer Crossfading is off, or if the Latency is set to a value 0, or if the DSP signal chaing cannot be compiled before the latency time has elapsed, Max will fade out the old patcher and fade in the new patcher rather than performing a crossfade.

Enabling Mixer Crossfading

Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Scroll to the Mixer category of the preferences listings and click the checkbox in the Value column for the Enable Mixer Crossfade setting.
The Max application keeps track of this setting, and will use it when you launch Max again.

Setting Mixer Latency

Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Scroll to the Mixer category of the preferences listings and double-click in the Value column for the Mixer Latency setting to get a text cursor. Type in the desired amount of latency (in milliseconds) followed by a carriage return.
The Max application keeps track of the most recently entered latency value. If you set a new latency value, the value you enter will be used when you launch Max again.

Crossfade Ramp Time

You can set a ramp time for the Mixer - the duration of time over which a patcher is faded out when stopping or faded in when starting. The ramp time is specified in in milliseconds, and will be applied to the Mixer engine for every top-level patcher. The ramp time works independently from the Mixer latency settings, but the latency value must be greater than the ramp time for a crossfade to work as expected.

Setting Mixer ramp time

Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Scroll to the Mixer category of the preferences listings and double-click in the Value column for the Mixer Ramp Time setting to get a text cursor. Type in the desired ramp time (in milliseconds) followed by a carriage return.
The Max application keeps track of the most recently entered ramp time. If you set a new latency value, the value you enter will be used when you launch Max again.