X32 Edit - In Depth With Behringer's Powerful X32 Edit Software - Survive The Gig (2024)

***A downloadable/printable version of this guide is now available in the downloads section of the website***

***X32 Edit Version 4.3 is now available and includes bug fixes and support for DCA Spill in firmware 4.04***

X32 Edit is a free download from the Behringer site and is helpful for a few different reasons. The most obvious is setting up Scene Files that you can load on a USB drive and then load on the console when you are onsite so you don’t have to start from scratch when you are at the gig. The 2nd use is that you can create presets for channels, routing, and effects that you can use when you build Scenes in the future. The third use for the software can be remotely controlling a console. This would be most useful with the X32 Rack version, Core version, or Behringer’s line of XAir mixers. They all can be controlled by a computer setup remotely and not requiring a router.

The most easily overlooked use for the X32 Edit software is as a tool to learn your way around the console when you need to figure something out and you don’t have the console in front of you. The earlier version of the software was better for this because it was laid out the same as the console. The more recent versions are visually cleaner and more appealing, but not laid out in the same way as the console.

Much of this information applies to the console as well so it is good to understand.

Download X32 Edit from Behringer

To download the X32 Edit software go to this Link:

https://www.behringer.com/Categories/Behringer/Mixers/Digital/X32/p/P0ASF/Downloads#googtrans(en|en)

Find the version to download in the software dropdown menu on the right side of the webpage. This is where you can find firmware downloads as well.

Mixer Overview

When you open the program you get an overview of the mixer. Notice the Top left corner where “Mixer” tab is selected. This view shows an overview of the individual channel settings, sends, dynamics, eq, and pan.

Channel Overview Tab

Selecting the Channel Tab gives us a more in depth overview of one individual channel. Notice channel 2 “Kick Out” is highlighted. This makes it easy to see how the channel is setup and shows all of the information you would need for an individual channel.

Config Tab

The Config Tab shows information about the pre-amp, source, and insert of a channel.

Gate Tab

The Gate Tab shows the settings for the Gate. An Active/Bypass is highlighted when the gate is active and we can see and control all of the aspects of the gate laid out on this one page.

Dynamics Tab

The Dynamics Tab shows the channel’s dynamics section. There is an Active/Bypass button like the gate. All of the controls for the dynamics section are shown, and like the gate tab they are all available at once. On the X32 console you would have to page up and down at the bottom of the Dynamics tab to see all of the controls and probably would miss or forget about some of the controls like the Mix level. There is also a button to activate auto-release for the compressor.

Equalizer Tab

The Equalizer Tab gives an overview of the Equalizer and the High Pass/Low Cut filter. Selecting the “EQ” button right above the high pass filter will bypass or activate the eq. The button directly below that will activate or bypass the high pass filter. The mode for each band of the eq has a drop down menu to select the different modes available. You can also grab and drag the circles on the screen that correspond to the eq frequencies and drag the frequency higher or lower or drag the gain higher or lower. Each band has it’s own bypass/activate button unlike the console where there is only the global active or bypass.

Sends Tab

The Sends Tab shows and configures the Mixbuses/Aux Sends. Like the previous tabs, the Sends Tab shows the send of the selected channel, in this case it is still Channel 2/Kick Out. The sends can be set up in 6 different ways similar to how the sends to the X-USB card is set up.

They are:

Input – Directly after the preamp and high pass filter

Pre EQ – Before the EQ but after the Gate/Expander

Post EQ – After the channel EQ but before the dynamics. This is recommended for Mixbuses feeding floor monitors when you are mixing monitors from FOH. This way you can use the dynamics for your FOH mix without reducing your gain before feedback in the monitor.

Pre Fader – This send is after the Dynamics section but before the Fader. This would be used if wanted to feed the bus after the dynamics section but before the Fader.

Post Fader – This is used when you are feeding monitors from a dedicated monitor mixing console. In this instance you would leave all of your channel faders at unity and they would act as masters for that send. Any adjustment on the fader would affect the level sent to the sends. This is helpful if there is feedback on a channel you can bring that channel down in all of the mixes just enough to stop the feedback. It also can be helpful to bring a soloist up some in all of the mixes. Also as in the example below the reverb sends (Bus 13-16) are post fader so the amount that is sent to the effect is dependent on the channel’s fader level.

Sub Group – The send feeds the bus at unity.

In the example below, the first 8 mixes are setup as monitor sends. The first 4 are post eq, 5-8 are post fader, 9-12 are subgroups, and 13-16 are post fader effects sends.

Main Output Tab

The Main Output Tab Shows how the main send for the channel is setup. You can assign or un-assign a channel to the Main L/R bus, The Mono/Center bus, and the channel’s Panning all on the left half of the screen, while the right side shows the channel’s Automix settings if available, The DCA assignment, and the Mute Group assignment.

Effects Bank: FX1-4

The FX1-4 Tab shows the first four effects slots. From this tab we can change the type of effect and the routing source that feeds into the effect. There is also a bypass for each effect. These effects are usually set up as send/return effects like reverb and delay. They are permanently set up to return to the four stereo effects returns.

The first four effects banks are setup differently from the second bank of four.

In the example below, FX1 is fed by a Bus 13, FX2 is fed by Bus 14, FX3 is fed by Bus 15, and FX4 is set as inserts.

In order to set these inserts for FX4 in the picture above you go to the Config Tab of the channel or other source you want to insert it on. See below:

In the example above the insert is set for Channel 3. You could set the insert to be another effect from here. The magenta “FX” means it is active. You can select if the insert is Post Dynamics or Pre EQ. See above for Post Dynamics and Below for Pre EQ.

Effects Bank: FX5-8

The effects bank for FX5-8 is setup differently than FX1-4. These effects can only be Insert Effects.

The drop down menu for routing will let you directly select the source point without having to go into the Config Page of the source to connect it.

In the example below you can see A Dual-Mono Graphic EQ in the FX5 slot. This allows you to insert a Mono Graphic EQ on two unrelated sources with independent Graphic EQs. I FX5, the A Slot is inserted on Bus 1, while the B Slot is inserted on Channel 7. FX6 is a Dual-Mono LA2A inserted on Channel 8 and Channel 9. FX7 and FX8 are Graphic EQs inserted on Matrices.

Fader Banks

Fader Bank selection buttons are located along the left bottom side of the X32 Edit interface.

The first selection shows channels 1-32.

The second selection, shown below, shows channel 1-16 as well as the eight DCAs,

The next selection is channel 17-32 and all 8 DCA‘s again.

The next selection down is Aux/FX. The first six faders are the Aux inputs. Faders seven and eight are the 2 track recorder from the top mounted USB Drive. Then there are the four stereo FX Returns. The last four faders on this bank show the faders for the four effects sends.

The next fader bank down shows the Mix Buses and Matrices.

There is also an “All” Fader bank, but using the requires scrolling left and right.

Lastly, there are two user fader banks, which would be helpful if you are using the X32 Edit app to control the mixer remotely. The user banks are not included on the console.

Routing

Routing the console is another area where the X32 Edit app excels. It gives you a nice grid where you can quickly see everything and click to select where you want to route your inputs and outputs.

Routing on the X32 is all done in Banks of Eight Channels. Firmware Version 4.00 included the addition of User Routing Banks that can be made up of individual inputs and outputs from anywhere.

Inputs Routing Tab

The first Routing Tab shows Inputs. This connects the channels on the left (these are the channels/faders on the console) with inputs banks from the inputs sources.

This first example is the most basic setup. It routes channels one-to-one with physical inputs on the back of the console.

This is another common X32 setup. In this example there is a 16 channel stage box on stage. (There could be a 32 channel stagebox or multiple stage boxes, but this example routes only the first 16 channels of AES to the console’s inputs.) This stage box feeds the first 16 channels. This example uses the physical inputs 17-32 to route to channel inputs 17-32. If using an X32 Compact or Rack, you would need to use at least one AES device to get more the 16 physical input channels. In that case you could route the S16 Stagebox to Input 1-16 (which would look the same as the below picture), and then route the physical console inputs (Local 1-16) to Channel 17-32.

This example below shows routing Channel Inputs 1-24 from the USB card. This could be used for a virtual soundcheck or possibly a show with backing tracks, both fed from a computer.

Input Tab Record/Play input setting. This setting makes it possible to quickly switch between two preset banks of inputs. It would be possible to quickly switch between show routing and virtual soundcheck in a live situation, or between input monitoring and playback in a recording setup. This can be setup and switched in the X32 Edit app but can also be done directly on the console in the console’s Input tab shown below. Below you can see that the Orange Routing Blobs correspond to the active routing selections, the grey blobs show the routing selections of the alternate setting.

On the X32 you can switch between the Play and Record input sets on the bottom right if the Input Block section. You highlight the alternating settings and depress the encoder to switch between the two. See below to see how it looks on the console running Firmware Version 4.xx.

The X-Live card includes the ability to automatically switch between the input presets when selecting record or playback mode on the Card Tab.

Aux in Remap

The Aux In Remap allows you to choose what inputs are sent to the Aux In Channels. Only Aux 1-6 can be remapped, the USB 2-Track input channels cannot be remapped. Each set can be remapped in three ways, to Aux 1-2, Aux 1-4, Aux 1-6. In the case of the first two sets, the remainder remain routed to the physical Aux Ins. Using the new User In Routing Bank you could send a mixture of channels but all of the Aux In remaps are limited to the first 6 inputs in their set, making the User In Bank useful to get around this limitation. Aux In Remapping is helpful when you want to bring in tracks from a computer (we will have an in depth article about this in the future), or if you have 32 channels of stageboxes and need more channels.

See below for Aux in Remap choices:

Default Aux Inputs:

Aux In – The physical Aux Inputs 1-6 located on the back of the console. These are default/non-remapped inputs. They are Line Level 1/4 inch TRS balanced inputs, except that Aux 5/6 in and out have a pair of RCA inputs and outputs in addition to 1/4″.

See Below picture of Aux section on the back of console:

The Aux In Remap choices are:

Aux In – Covered above. Default Aux inputs

Local 1-6 – XLR Inputs on the back of the console.

AES50 A 1-6 – Source from the first six channels of AES50 A.

AES50 B 1-6 – Source from the first six channels of AES50 B.

Card 1-6 – Expansion Card channel 1-6.

User 1-6 – User Input Bank 1 channel 1-6. More info further down the article in the User In Routing Tab Overview.

AES50 Routing Tab

The AES50 Routing Tab routes outputs that will be sent down the corresponding AES50-A or AES50-B to another device.

The Card Routing Tab assigns what Banks will feed the Expansion Card, by default it is the USB Recording card. If you installed another card like the X-ADAT, X-DANTE, or X-Live Card this is where you would route what is sent to the card.

Here is an example sending the AES50-A channels 1-32 to the USB Recording Card.

The The XLR Routing Tab shows what source is routed to the physical XLR outputs on the console. In the below example it is Output 1-16 that is linked to XLR Output 1-16. This is where you select the routing blocks that will go to the physical console outputs. What goes into those routing blocks is set in the next tab and is not limited to blocks of four.

The routing tab for Out 1-16 is where you assign what signals feed the console’s routing blocks for Output 1-16. These are not the physical outputs on the console but where we assign what source goes to each of the routing blocks. These outputs are where you set the source for the console’s 16 output channels. The XLR, Card, and AES50 Tabs (covered above) are where these 16 outputs can be assigned to different physical or digital outputs.

In the example below, Output 1-8 receive signal from Mixbus 1-8 to feed monitors from FOH. Output 9-12 are feed by Matrix 1-4, Output 13-14 are feed by the Mono/Center Bus (In this example they were feeding subs.) Output 15-16 are coming off the Main Left/Right Bus. I would usually feed the Main L/R PA off of a Matrix, for a few different reasons that will be covered later, but this is a more straightforward example.

Each output gives us an option for where the Output Tap Point comes from. This is separate and not to be confused with the Sends Tap Points. These Tap Points are specific to the sources but work in a similar way to the Sends Tap Points. The Sends Tap Points are where a channel sends to the individual sends. The Output Tap Points are where in that send (A Buss, Matrix, etc.) sends to the output. The below example is all Post Fader, but the options are:

Input/Low Cut – Right off the input of the send. No processing except Low Cut if available.

Input/Low Cut + Mute – Same as above but the Send’s Mute will effect the output. For instance muting Mixbus 1 will mute the output to Output 1.

Pre EQ – Sends right before the EQ but after the Gate if available.

Pre EQ + Mute – Same as above but the Send’s Mute will effect the output.

Post EQ – Sends after eq but before dynamics.

Post EQ + Mute – Same as above but the Send’s Mute will effect the output.

Pre Fader – Send is before the fader but after all of the channel processing. In this example the fader would not change the signal being sent to the output.

Pre Fader + Mute – Same as above but the Send’s Mute will effect the output.

Post Fader – This send is after the fader and is effected by everything before it including the fader. There is no Post Fader + Mute because the Mute comes before the Fader and the Fader is last in the block diagram.

Output Delay Tab

This tab is where a delay can be set for the different outputs. The green button shows that the delay is active. The delay bar is dragged upwards to set the delay time.

Aux Out Routing Tab

This is where the physical Aux Outputs on the back of the console are routed. Below they are set as inserts that would be used to place an external insert effect into the insert point in a channel or bus on the console.

Ultranet Out Tab

This tab is where the P16/Ultranet sends are setup. This has many different uses, but essentially gives 16 sends that are separate from the 16 output sends configured previously. This is not the same as having additional buses, but sends can be made off of the same Mixbus at a different Tap Point, or totally different sources, like Direct Outputs.

In the example below, P16 1-12 are direct outs from channels 1-12. This is one way to set up the Behringer P16 Personal Mixer so a musician onstage could adjust their own mix from the direct outs. They are set as Pre Fader to have all of the channel processing, but Post EQ may be another good choice depending on the channel, or possibly a mix of the two on a channel by channel basis.

Depending on te setup and how many channels are needed to feed the P16 system, it may be necessary to create subgroups and feed those subgroups to the P16 system to free up P16 Sends. That is more in depth and can be covered in another article.

In the below example P16 channels 13-16 are being used for a different purpose- feeding Turbosound Speakers over Ultranet. There will be a more in depth article on this in the future as well but I wanted to include a quick overview. You can see that P16 13+14 receive signal from the Mono Bus (Subs in this case) and P16 15+16 are sourced from the Main L/R Outs. See the next tab for Turbosound iQ Setup.

iQ Setup Tab

Ultranet can send signal to Turbosound Speakers equipped with Ultranet ports. There are may different Turbosound Speakers with Ultranet ports including Subwoofers, Point Source Powered Speakers, and CoAx Floor Monitors. Turbosound also has a line called the iQ Series, which not only can use Ultranet for signal, but have built in speaker modeling and presets that can be configured directly on the speaker or through the X32 itself.

The example below corresponds to the previous tab where the Ultranet Sources were set. You can see on this tab how P16 Channels 1-12 are Direct Outs of Channels 1-12. For the iQ Setup we are just looking at P16 Channel 13-16. On the right side of the screen you can change the settings for the individual P16 Channel including entering it into a Speaker Group (which allows you to link the settings of all of the speakers in the group which is helpful for quickly setting them up or switching through presets on multiple speakers at once), Selecting Which iQ Speaker is being used, Selecting an EQ Preset, and finally Selecting A Speaker Model. It is not necessary to set these setting to send signal over Ultranet, only an added feature that can be used.

User in/User out Tabs

The last two tabs are a major addition to Firmware version 4.00. The User in/User Out banks create fully customizable routing banks that provide a work around to the previous limitation of Bank of 8 routing. The User In tab allows any source to be patched individually into a chosen slot in one of the User Input Banks. The user input banks are still grouped in channels of eight, but instead of being limited to a source block of 8 channels, it is now possible to place any source into the user bank of 8 inputs.

See below for an example of the User In Banks Routed one-to-one with the channels 1-32.

User Out Tab

Here is what the User Out Routing Tab looks like.

Loading and Saving Scenes and Presets

You can load or save scenes or presets from your computer or your USB drive. These options are found on the right hand side.

The Load button brings up the option to Load a Scene or a Preset.

Likewise, the Save button gives you the option to save as a scene, which saves the whole scene you currently have to a file, or to save a preset, which in this case is the selected channel including the parameters that are checked. Either one will bring up the computer’s finder or browser so you can choose the location of the file. If you setup your USB drive like in the previous article you will have folders to organize everything.

Using Save as Scene we can save a file of a “Scene” that can be loaded onto the X32 console. This is all of the settings of the console itself for the individual mix setup, but not the overall console data, for instance you save and recall a band setup, but it doesn’t import Libraries or Scenes or change the console IP address.

This is how you can easily prep a show file from home or the office without needing to have a console in front of you. It also makes it easy to have an archive of previous show files and presets on your computer to either open and modify for an upcoming show, or in the case of the presets to use to build a new show or import portions of a previous scene into a new scene.

Effects Presets

It is also possible to create presets of effects from you effect banks. This can be handy when you spend time dialing in a reverb just how you like it. You can then save the reverb and recall it in the future. Another example would be tuning a floor monitor with a graphic eq. You can save that file and load it the next time you are going to be using that same setup.

To get to the effects you select the bank that you want to work on, either FX 1-4 or FX5-8. This will bring up the bank of 4 effects and you can select the type of effect from the dropdown menu (red arrow), as well as the routing from the routing drop down menu (green arrow). You can also have the effect bypassed or active (blue arrow). Having the circle lit up is active, dark is bypassed.

Banks 1-4 can either be routed to a bus or routed as an insert. If you want to insert them you will have to go to the configuration page that corresponds to the source you want the effected routed from and back to.

Banks 5-8 will include by default in their routing menu all of the places they can be routed, i.e. channels, buses, matrices, Main L/R, Main M/C.

Effects settings

To edit the effect’s settings, just click on the graphic of the effect and change the parameters directly on it.

From here you also can:

1. Save this effect (red arrow) This creates a Preset of the effect.

2. Load a preset effect from your drive (yellow arrow)

3. Or select between the first and second page for dual mono effects. (green arrow).

Scribble Strips

The X32 has customizable scribble strips and I recommend getting into the habit of setting them up because when it comes time to mix on a wireless device you will be able to tell what channel is what. Also when you load the scene down the road when you have the same band or a similar show or setup you will know what the channels all correspond to. It is much faster to set these up on the computer before you are onsite, even if you have to change a few things around later. This is one area that is much faster to setup on the X32 Edit App.

To set or change the scribble strip in X32 Edit, right click on the channel name. It will bring up the following window. Here you can type what the scribble strip says, select a pre-entered name from the drop down menu, and select the color of the channel.

The first black color selection causes the scribble strip to be blacked out.

The next set is the standard colors.

The next set is the standard colors inverted.

See below for what the drop down name selecting menu looks like:

Faders/Sends on Fader

The bottom right window of the app shows what the faders are currently assigned to.

By default the are showing the fader sends to the Main L/R. This would correspond to the fader position on the board. If you select one of the buses, it will put the “mixer” into sends on fader mode for that bus.

To the direct right of the sends on fader buttons we see the Master fader overview. When you select one of the buses to be sends on fader, this master fader will become the master fader of the corresponding bus and the channel faders will be outlined in the color assigned to that bus.

See below for an example of Sends on Fader mode for Bus 3, which is green.

Setup Screen

The Setup Screen is where you can set global settings for the X32 Edit App.

It is also where you configure the X32 Edit App to connect to a mixer.

The first tab is the Connection Tab and it shows any mixers that you are currently connected to. This requires a Cat5 connection to the Remote port of the console to either your computer or router that your computer is connected to. See below for an example showing a connection to an X32 Compact. You must choose to connect to the mixer. You can also choose to synchronize from this page and that can be either:

Sync Direction – Mixer => PC (X32 Edit will be synced to the mixer)

Sync Direction – PC => Mixer (Mixer will be synced to the X32 Edit app)

Once they are synced, a change on either the mixer or the app will affect the other.

The Mixer Tab shows the general configuration of the mixer itself that can be done from the mixer as well. From here you can Initialize the mixer or X32 Edit app. Initializing can also be done on the console and is the same as “Zeroing” it out. You don’t loose saved settings like library or scene settings, but it sets the mixer to the default settings so you can build a new scene from scratch.

The GUI Preference Tab shows configuration settings for the X32 Edit app itself. If using the X32 Edit remotely tied to a Mixer, you can set the Mixer UI Link so that the X32 Edit follows screen and channel selections on the Mixer. This is helpful if you are using the X32 Edit program as a display for the settings on the mixer. It allows you to mix on the console and select a channel or screen and see it on a computer monitor where it would be easier to see. This can be helpful if you have the time and space to set it up.

Another GUI setting that is very helpful and should be checked is “Bus button names.”

This shows the Bus names when selected instead of just the Bus Numbers. See the two pictures below showing the box checked and unchecked.

Next is the Midi Control Tab.

The Preamps Setup Tab shows the Preamps of the connected Mixer.

The Card Setup Tab shows the Setup Info for the Console’s Expansion Card. This is only shown when the X32 Edit app is connected to a mixer and there is an expansion card in the mixer.

Saving

Remember after you make any changes to have to save the file again. This will either write over the existing file or create a new file depending on how you name it, but you have to actually save a file for any changes that you make. The X32 Edit app will open up wherever you left off, however whatever you have when you save the file is what you will have when you load it onto a console.

See the below article about how to setup a USB flash drive for use with the X32 and how to organize your files to move back and forth from X32 Edit and the X32 Mixers.

The END?

Let me know if you have any questions or would like to see anything gone over in more depth.