Lifecycle of a recording in Source-Connect 3.9 Pro

This article is part of the Source-Connect Pro and Pro X 3.9 User Guide

This section is a step-by-step guide to using Source-Connect Pro for Auto-Restore and Auto-Replace. It shows how the Q Manager works by describing the ‘lifecycle’ of a file recorded in Pro Tools and the subsequent restore and final replace process.

1. Enable Restore and Replace in your Source-Connect Pro settings 

To request Restore data you must have the ‘Q restore’ checkbox checked in the Source-Connect Pro Settings panel. To request Replace data you must have the ‘Q Replace’ checkbox checked. You can use either or if you need, or disable both if you are just monitoring the connection.

2. Request a Source-Connect session 

When you request a Source-Connect session with Restore or Replace checked, your connection partner will be show a dialog indicating that you wish to receive Restore or Replace data.

3. Ready to record 

If your partner accepts you have now established a Source-Connect session with Restore and Replace enabled. You should now see a Q icon to the left of the Receiving meter, indicating that you can receive Restore and Replace data. If your connection partner also has Source-Connect Pro and has the Restore/Replace boxes checked you will see a Q by your Sending meter also.

4. Recording an audio file 

In this example we are sending a sine-tone signal via the Signal Generator plug-in to be recorded, and for the purposes of demonstration we are causing a significant number of dropped packets. You can see on the waveform in the timeline when the recording is significantly degraded:

IMPORTANT: As noted previously in this document it is necessary to ensure that your recorded signal is passed directly to your record track, with no volume changes or other plug-in processes in between Source-Connect and the record track. This ensures that the Q Manager will able to fully restore and replace your recordings.

5. Restoring the audio file in the background 

Once you stop recording the Q Manager will start the restore process. You can continue recording multiple files as the restore process does not interrupt your session in any way. If you have the ‘Send status notifications to Source-Connect IM’ option enabled in the Advanced settings of the Q Manager, you will see the result of the process in your Source-Connect Instant Message window as files are processed:

6. Taking a look at the restored file 

Since we have recorded a sine-tone signal, it is simple to see visually how the restore process works. Select the filename in the Pro Tools bin and choose ‘Recalculate waveform overviews’. We can now compare the files before and after the restore process visually: 

Before and after the restore process:

We can now see (and hear on playback) that we have a completely restored audio file with perfect playback.

7. Replacing the file with full resolution PCM data 

It is not necessary to restore your audio files if you only need the replace process. However, if your files are currently being restored you’ll need to wait until this process completes before activating the replace process. To activate the replace process there are two options: manually per file or all available files at once. 

Replace now 

To process files individually, highlight that file in the Q Requests panel and select ‘Replace now’:

Start Replace process 

To process all available files in the Q Requests menu, select the ‘Start Replace process’ from the Q Menubar dropdown menu:

You will see an Instant Message (if IM notifications are enabled) to let you know that the Replace process has completed and the status of the file in the Q Requests panel will be ‘Replaced’. Depending on the size of your files and the available bandwidth between you and your connection partner, this process will take some time, and longer than the restore process. Click on the arrow next to the filename to show the current progress. If the file is very large you will see a percentage of the progress.

Once the process is complete you now have the full resolution PCM files in your edit window of your DAW.

8. Detecting whether your audio files are ready for Restore and Replace 

It is possible that because of your audio I/O routing, the Q signal is not being detected in your recorded Source-Connect audio - even though you have the Q icon displayed. Often this is because the I/O you are sending audio through is also used with other input sources. To verify whether this is the case, or if you have set the wrong Audio Files folder in the Q Manager you can try manually scanning a file. If the file status comes back 'Q not present' it means that it was either not recorded from Source-Connect, or the aux you used was not a clean aux. We recommend creating a brand new aux channel in the I/O settings of Pro Tools and testing your record again. 

To manually scan a file choose Scan file(s) from the Requests options menu, then select a file that has been recorded via the Source-Connect connection.