3 The initial <dfn>Session</dfn> dialog consists of several consecutive pages:
6 <h2>Open Session Page</h2>
8 On this page, you can open an <dfn>existing session</dfn>. You can also
9 open any <a href="@@snapshots">snapshot</a> of a
10 particular session by clicking on the arrow next to the session name to
11 display all snapshots, and then selecting one. If your session is
12 not displayed in the Recent Sessions list, the <kbd class="menu">Other
13 Sessions</kbd> button will bring up a file selection dialog to navigate
15 Alternatively, you can opt to create a <kbd class="menu">New
19 <h2>New Session page</h2>
21 Here you can type in the name of a session, select a folder to save in, and
22 optionally use an existing <a href="@@session-templates">template</a>.
25 Under <dfn>Advanced Options</dfn>, you can select whether you wish to create
26 a Master Bus, or a Control Bus, and how many channels you wish either to have.
27 You can also decide whether you want Ardour to automatically connect all inputs
28 to the physical ports of your hardware. Ardour will do so
29 sequentially and in round-robin fashion, connecting the first track's
30 input to the first input of your hardware and so on. When Ardour has used
31 all available hardware inputs, it will begin again with the first physical
33 You can limit the number of channels on your physical hardware that Ardour
37 By default Ardour will connect all tracks and busses to the Master Bus if
38 there is one. However you can also tell it to automatically connect each
39 output to the physical outputs of your interface or sound card, and limit
40 the number of physical outputs used, as above.
43 <h2>Audio/MIDI Setup</h2>
46 <img src="/images/Audio-MIDI_Setup.png" alt="The Audio+MIDI Setup Dialog"/>
48 The Audio+MIDI Setup Dialog
53 This window exposes the different audio options to be used by Ardour for the
54 current work session, for hardware and software and is made of:
58 <tr><th>Audio System</th>
59 <td>Depending on the operating system, Ardour can possibly use different audio
60 systems, e.g. on Linux, both <abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound Architecture">
61 ALSA</abbr> and <abbr title="JACK Audio Connection Kit">JACK</abbr> are
66 On Mac OS X this will typically be <kbd class="menu">CoreAudio</kbd>. On Linux usually
67 this will be either <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Free Firewire Audio Driver fOr
68 linux">FFADO</abbr></kbd>
69 or <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound
70 Architecture">ALSA</abbr></kbd>, depending on whether or not you are
71 utilizing a firewire device. Advanced users on all platforms may also
72 use <kbd class="menu">NetJack</kbd> which provides network audio I/O.
75 <td>The selector should show all availiable interfaces provided by the
76 driver above and which are capable of duplex operation.
78 If you are using an Intel Mac running OS X and the builtin audio
80 first <a href="@@using-more-than-one-audio-device">merge
81 its separate input and output devices into a single "aggregate
82 device"</a> before Ardour will be able to use it.
85 <tr><th>Sample Rate</th>
87 The selector will allow you to select from any sample rate
88 supported by the device selected above it.
90 <tr><th>Buffer Size</th>
92 You can adjust the size of the buffer used by your audio interface
93 to allow for either lower latency, or lower CPU usage and higher
96 <tr><th>Input/Output Channels</th>
98 Here you can specify the number of hardware channels to use. The
99 default is <kbd class="menu">all available channels</kbd>.</td></tr>
100 <tr><th>Hardware Input/Output Latency</th>
101 <td>Specify the hardware delay in samples for precise latency compensation.</td></tr>
102 <tr><th>Calibrate</th>
104 This button guides you through a semi-automated process to obtain
105 precise hardware latency measurements for the above option.</td></tr>
106 <tr><th>MIDI System</th>
108 Select the MIDI driver to use. On Mac OS X, this will be <kbd
109 class="menu">CoreMIDI</kbd>. On Linux, you can change between two legacy
110 ALSA drivers or the (preferred) new JACK+ALSA implementation.</td></tr>