Softube Console 1 Hardware Layout
Console 1 Channel Front Panel
Top Row:
- On Screen Display toggle button. Toggles Console 1’s on screen display on or off.
- Display Mode button. Press to cycle through Console 1’s display modes. If accessibility mode is on, press this button to toggle between default mode and training mode.
Holding Shift (the button furthest down to the left) while pressing Display Mode will switch to Compact Mode.
- Favorites assign. Press Shift + Favorites to show only favorited tracks.
- Page Up and Down buttons. Scrolls through banks of tracks in DAW. Also used to scroll through parameters in menus.
Holding Shift while pressing Page Up and Down will cycle through tracks instead of banks of tracks.
- Track Select buttons 1 through 20.
- Group button.
- Copy/All button.
- Presets button. Hold Shift and press Presets to save a new preset.
- Settings button. Hold Shift to enter a different function mode (such as the Apollo mode)
- Bypass Console 1.
Second row:
The second row consists of four groups with two buttons each, positioned vertically. From left to right:
First group:
- Load Section/Strip.
- Change order of section
Second group:
- External sidechain to…
- Filters to…
Third group (to the right of the first screen) selects different visualizations for that screen.
Fourth group (to the left of the second screen) selects different visualizations for that screen.
Column by Column, From the Left
The following section describe groups of controls, column by column.
1 knob and four buttons for the input section:
- Top: Phase Invert button
- Input Gain knob
- Tape/Preamp On button
- Bottom: Shift button, used to access extra functionality.
2 knobs, 1 button below, for the Filters section:
- Top: High Cut (Slope on Shift)
- Middle: Low Cut (Slope on Shift)
- Bottom: Filters On button
2 knobs below the screen are the first half of the Shape section:
- Top: Sustain knob
- Bottom: Punch knob
2 knobs and two buttons, buttons placed horizontally. Second half of the Shape section.
- Top: Gate knob
- Middle: Release knob
- Bottom: Shape 1 (left) and Shape 2 (right) On buttons.
Next are three knobs and one button, positioned vertically to the right of the Shape section. This is the first band, the low band, of the equalizer section.
- Top: Low Q
- Low Frequency
- Low Gain
- Bottom: Low Band Type (Shelf/Bell/Cut)
3 knobs positioned vertically to the right, slightly higher up, of the low band.
- Top: Low Mid Q
- Middle: Low Mid Frequency
- Bottom: Low Mid Gain
3 knobs positioned vertically to the right of the low mid band.
- Top: Low Mid Q
- Middle: Low Mid Frequency
- Bottom: Low Mid Gain
2 buttons, below the Low Mid and High Mid Band knobs, positioned horizontally:
- Left: EQ 1 On
- Right: EQ 2 On
3 knobs positioned vertically to the right, slightly lower down, of the high mid band. These are the last controls of the equalizer section.
- Top: High Q
- High Frequency
- High Gain
- Bottom: High Type (Shelf/Bell/Cut)
2 knobs and 2 buttons vertically to the right of the high EQ band. This is the start of the compressor section.
- Top: Attack
- Middle: Release. Hold Shift to access the Wet/Dry control.
- Bottom: Compressor 1 and 2 On button, positioned horizontally.
2 knobs positioned vertically to the right, and slightly below:
- Top: Ratio
- Bottom: Compression. Hold Shift to access the Make-Up Gain control, which goes from automatic make-up gain at its lowest position to a regular volume control.
3 knobs and 1 button vertically to the right of the compressor.
- Top: Drive knob
- Character knob
- Pan knob. Hold Shift to access the Width control.
- Bottom: Drive On button.
5 buttons vertically with a larger gap between button 4 and 5.
- Top: Send 1 (Hold shift for Send 4)
- Send 2 (Hold shift for Send 5)
- Send 3 (Hold shift for Send 6)
- Main Out Volume
- Volume
These buttons control what happens when the Volume knob is adjusted.
2 buttons positioned horizontally below the 5 buttons:
- Left: Solo. Also used as OK button in menus.
- Right: Mute. Also used as Cancel button in menus.
1 knob below Solo and Mute:
- Volume. Also used to scroll through menus.
Console 1 Fader Front Panel
Left column, top to bottom:
The first group consists of three buttons.
- On Screen Display toggle button. Toggles Console 1s on screen display on or off
- Display Mode button. Press to cycle through Console 1’s display modes. If accessibility mode is on, press this button to toggle between default mode and training mode.
Holding Shift (the button furthest down to the left) while pressing Display Mode will switch to Compact Mode.
- Favorites assign. Assign the currently selected track as a favorite. Press Shift + Favorites to show only favorited tracks.
The second group consists of one, three and lastly two buttons, all controlling the fader modes. Pressing one of these will place that function, for example "Pan" on the faders.
- Pan, then a small space.
- Send 1, Send 2 and Send 3. Pressing Shift and these buttons will access Sends 4 to 6. After these three there's a small space again.
- Param, use to select any Console 1 parameter to be controlled from the fader.
- Volume, the "normal" fader mode.
Lastly you'll find the "Shift" button on the bottom left corner.
10 faders with three buttons each, to the left of the fader
Buttons, top to bottom
- Solo or Phase Invert (Shift + Solo)
- Mute or Bypass (Shift + Solo)
- Track Select at the bottom
Right column, top to bottom:
A group of four buttons
- Settings/Function Mode
- Presets/Save Preset
- Load Strip/Section
- Fader Trim
Next is two groups with two horizontally placed buttons each.
- Page Up and Page Down
- Solo and Mute for the current track. These buttons are also used as OK (Solo) and Cancel (Mute) in menues.
Finally we have the Pan knob in the bottom right corner. This also doubles as Select knob in menues, although it's usually easier to use Page Up/Down to navigate menues.
Rear panel (Both Units)
On both sides of the indentation are USB-C ports. Any port can be used to connect to your computer.
Screen Reader functions
Quick start
The console 1 accessibility features use Voice Over on macOS and Narrator on windows.
You turn on and off the screen reader for Console 1 with the “display on” button on the hardware (top left).
If you don’t have Console 1 plugins inserted on the tracks in your DAW you will only get limited screen reader feedback from the settings menu and similar. Mixing controls and track selectors will be inactive.
If you don’t get any reaction from pressing the display on button, the software might have crashed, try restarting it.
Please refer to the Console 1 Manual as well as the accessible tutorial videos for details on how to use all functions of the hardware and software.
Special Screen Reader Functionality
Shift + Solo: Read input meters in real-time.
Shift + Mute: Read output meters in real-time.
Shift + Compressor On (left): Read gain reduction meter of compressor 1 in real-time.
Shift + Compressor On (right): Read gain reduction meter of compressor 2 in real-time.
Shift + Track 9: Read the combined gain reduction from both compressors in real-time.
Shift + Track 10: Monitor the combined gain reduction at 3 seconds intervals.
Shift + Track 11: Monitor input meters at 3 second intervals.
Shift + Track 12: Monitor output meters at 3 second intervals.
Shift + Track 13: Monitor the currently selected compressors gain reduction meter at 3 second intervals.
Shift + Track 14: Read input peak meter.
Shift + Track 15: Read output peak meter.
Note that the peak value is held for 2 seconds (if there isn’t any higher peak value before that), then it is reset to the current meter value.
Shift + Tape/Preamp On: Turn on Solo Safe on the currently selected track.
Screen Reader Settings
Readout on knob turn
Readout on knob touch
Readout on knob release
Name readout on track select
Number readout on track select
Strip readout on track select
Track select readout order (number name strip/name number strip/ strip number name and so on, in all different combinations)
Readout parameter name (on knob touch/turn)
Readout parameter value (on knob touch/turn)
Parameter readout order (name or value first on knob touch/turn)
Set metering feedback timer (3-8 seconds, how often a meter's value should be reported)
Training mode:
When in training mode, all buttons and knobs read out the parameter name plus the current value of the parameter without changing the value.
When buttons that aren’t linked to a parameter – for example track, page, group, copy, preset and shift – just their names are read.
This means that you can’t change track in training mode. The Display On button works as normal and the Mode button turns off training mode.
Turn On Training mode:
Open Settings (top row, second button from the right), go to the accessibility option and press OK on the option “Use Mode button to toggle screen reader training mode: Off.” You only need to do this once, then the Display Mode button will turn Training Mode on and off.
For information about the hardware layout and more, please visit the Console 1 Mixing System Manual at this link: LINK
