Dorico and Audio output

Multiple audio outputs from Dorico?

My current version of Dorico is 6.0.22.6052. After much research I have confirmation in a post by Daniel Spreadbury that there is no way of getting multiple audio outputs from Dorico – that is, a separate audio ouput from each staff. Only a mixed down stereo output is currently possible.

MIDI and an external virtual instrument

So a solution to this would be to route MIDI from each staff and use an external virtual instrument with multi capability. Native Instruments Kontakt 8, Steinberg Halion 7 and EastWest Opus can do this, all three up to 64 MIDI channels, with Opus somewhat limited.

Audio output from the external virtual instrument

Kontakt 8 and Steinberg Halion 7 can handle up to 64 audio output channels. EW Opus handles up to 16 audio outputs as a standard but it is patch dependent and can go all the way up to 64 audio outputs depending on the patch.

An example of setting this up

Here is a setup with Dorico 6 (version: see above), Kontakt 8.6.1, VB Audio Matrix 1.0.1.1 for audio routing and Studio One 7.2.2 for further processing – below is a Dolby Atmos Binaural headphone setup as an example.

1. Export MIDI from Dorico. loopMIDI is a good tool.

2. Route the MIDI into Kontakt, i e connect the MIDI port(s). Use Kontakt as multi and load instruments that correspond to the staves in Dorico. Choose MIDI port and channel for each instrument in the "MIDI Ch:" dropdown list.

3. Start VB Audio Matrix and activate an ASIO Device (your soundcard or similar). Activate Virtual ASIO VASIO64A and VASIO64B.

4. Start Studio One and add a "Mix in Surround" song and choose Dolby Atmos. a) Add audio tracks – as a suggestion the same number as staves in Dorico. b) Add audio tracks – as a suggestion the same number as staves in Dorico. c) Open Studio One-Options-Audio Setup and click "Song Setup". d) Choose "Inputs" and add mono inputs as many as number tracks added previously. e) Choose "Outputs" and add stereo sub's, same number as above.

5. Show mixer in Studio One Name the channels according to instrument a) Set input and output for each channel ("Input 1, Input 2,... and Sub 1, Sub 2,... etc – it is the two fields just above the balance slider).