Yes, it is definitely possible to route different tracks in your Logic project to different outputs, so you can send them to separate amps. Here's how to set that up:

1. Open the Mixer in Logic (X key default not geometry dash). This will show all your track channels.

2. Click on the output selector on each track you want to route separately. For your DI bass track, choose something like Output 3-4. For the DI guitar, choose Output 5-6.

3. Now in the Zed R16 control panel, you'll want to route those output pairs to different destinations. Route Outputs 3-4 to an amp input for your bass amp. Route Outputs 5-6 to a different amp input for your guitar amp.

4. With this routing setup, when you record enable both tracks, your bass will go to its assigned amp input and guitar to its own amp, while playing together in sync within your Logic session. 

You can continue to add more tracks and route them to other unused output pairs on the Zed R16 to send to other destinations like more amps, effects processors etc. Just remember to assign the output for each track accordingly.

Let me know if any part of that is unclear! Routing between DAW and external gear takes a bit of setup first but allows a lot of flexibility.

Thanks for the reply! Definitely helpful, the only issues is the desk has 2 L/R outputs, 4 AUX and ST1-4, I dont want to use any of the 16 inputs as outputs as they are spoken for with XLR's currently. 

When it says Output 1-2 (I had a play around last night, how am I know which output this corresponds to physically on the desk? I set one of the channel out puts to BUS1 (which apparently corresponds to AUX1) but could still get no sound out of it.

I can set the output per individual track on Logic just dont know how to understand where this output is physically on the desk, as there are over 32dual outputs listed on Logic but the desk literally has only got 2 L/R outputs and 4 AUX so im not sure where these 32 outputs could even be on the desk.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I take it you are using your DAW as a multi-track recorder with the intention of replaying these tracks into the Zed-R16 for mixdown, and using the DAW to capture the stereo mix..

As you know, the Zed-R16 is a analogue mixer that can receive 16 separate channel inputs via either FireWire or ADAT at standard sampling rates. Each Zed-R16 mono channel can be switched to take its input from either the channel pre-amp or the digital return (via a DAC). It works very well like this. The 2-track mixer output is made available in analogue form at the master outputs as a stereo pair, and in digital form via the FireWire output.

Depending on the switch settings on the rear panel of the Zed-R16, your DAW will see 16 FireWire or ADAT destinations for outputs. Similarly, the Zed-R16 will return inputs to the DAW, these being the 16 pre-fader track outputs (FireWire or ADAT) and the master stereo pair (FireWire only).

I have not used Logic with the Zed-R16, only Reaper, Mixbus-32C, Samplitude and a few other PC-compatible DAWs. All of these DAWs show explicit ASIO inputs and outputs from the Zed-R16. Logic should show these channels in its input and output mapping.

You say you "can set the output per individual track on Logic", which sounds as though you are nearly there. These outputs arrive at the Zed-R16 mono channels without further routing. You simply have to press the digital return button (marked 21 in this drawing) next to the fader on every channel that you want to take its source from the DAW.

You capture the master outputs as a stereo pair in your DAW either directly via FireWire or via your analogue interface.

If you find that Logic is challenged at carrying out concurrent 16-track replay and 2-track capture, I suggest you try using Reaper for this. There is an IOS version available (30-day full-function free trial).

The Zed-R16 makes an excellent mixdown board. I can even convert multitrack 48KHz audio from a video shoot to a CD-standard 44.1KHz stereo pair by using Reaper to replay 16 tracks at 48KHz to the Zed-R16 and return the mixed stereo pair via a separate audio interface at 44.1KHz to Mixbus-32C, all this running simultaneously on the same computer.

Thanks for the help!

Im actually using the R16 as a cheap 16channel interface, all mixdown I am doing in the DAW as I can take it home with me, these desks are incredibly cheap and modern 16ch interfaces are mega mega bux which is why im using it, so the actual functionality of the desk is largely ignored- except for now when im having to turn to it to get this to work.

It is linked to Logic via Firewire currently which seems like the better option of ADAT.

The issue with this is channels 1-16 are spoken for, to elaborate further the two DI signals need to be sent to the amps whilst all 16 channels are recording, it's essentially the same as re-amping live if that makes sense, so unfortunately im looking for a solution that doesn't use the 16 pre-amped inputs. The DI tracks would essentially be track 17 & 18 in the DAW on top of the 16 mic channels, 4 of those 16 channels will be mic'ing up the cabinets to capture the re-amped DI sound live. 

There are AUX sends im wondering if there's a way to do that? But there is no channel strip for any channels beyond 16 so I don't know how I would control the amount of AUX that is being sent to the bus, this is what I tried last night- channel 17, set the output to BUS1 (which is listed as AUX1 in logic) jacked the amp into AUX1 on the desk but didn't get any signal at all.

Thanks for any further help!
Best

If the two DI signals are inputs to standard mono channels, and you are not using both Aux 1 and Aux 2, then send the DI signals out via the auxes. Aux 1 and 2 are pre-fader, 3 and 4 are post fader.

You have to raise the level of the appropriate Aux both in the channel strip and also the Aux masters in the Aux area in the upper right of the board. This will send a signal out of an Aux jack, which you can feed via a standard TS guitar lead to an amp for that channel. Note that you can use a TS lead because the Aux outputs are only impedance-balanced and not true signal-balanced, meaning that the signal is only carried on the tip connection, and the ring connection can be grounded.

If you are using all 16 mono channels for microphone inputs, you can bring your DI box outputs into the L inputs of stereo channels ST1 and ST2, which will behave as mono if you only use the L input jack. Use the Aux 1 and Aux 2 level controls respectively in the two stereo channels and check that all the Aux levels in the mono channel strips are off. Note that the stereo inputs have no ADCs and so do not appear in the set of digital signals sent to the DAW.

If you need to send the live DI to the DAW for recording, you will have to sacrifice the main stereo L-R mix and send the ST1 and ST2 only to the main output, panned L and R respectively by using the BAL controls on the stereo channels. These will then become channels 17 and 18 in the FireWire feed to the DAW. Turn off the feed from the main L-R outputs to your monitors, or else plug the monitors into the Control Room outputs, where the source can be controlled, e.g. to PFL.

Thanks pal, i have tried sending them out via Aux 1 & 2, in logic i set the output as Bus1 & Bus2 which has in brackets next to it (Aux 1 & Aux 2) but I got no sound at all. They are literally DI tracks intended for a guitar head, so mono is all thats needed.

I can't raise the Aux volume on the channel strip as there is no corresponding channel strip; 1-16 are taken up by microphone inputs, tracks 17 & 18 are what im trying to route to separate outputs, they are just DI's i'd like to output via the desk to two separate amps/heads.

I will give your second idea a go pal using ST1 & 2 but im sure I tried that and didn't have any success, im thinking the error may lie in the routing on Logic but im unsure, also not sure why the Aux dials control the ST outputs?

There's no need to send the DI back into the DAW as it is already in the DAW being (hopefully) played out via 2 outputs into two separate amps that are mic'd up to record. (basically re-amping both at the same time alongside a live band)

To make it a bit clearer the project is as so;

Tracks (Inputs) 1-16; Microphones (1-8 Live Drum Kit, 9-10 Live Guitar, 11-12, Bass Guitar (DI #1), 13-14 2nd Guitar (DI #2), 15-16 Room Mics
Tracks 17-18; DI Bass & DI Guitar that I need routing back out of the desk into separate amps so the microphones (above) have something to pick up- basically re-amping.

Thanks for your help pal! Appreciate it.

There's some confusion here. When outputting from a DAW to the Zed-R16 either by ADAT or by FireWire, you can only target the DACs (Digital-to-Analogue Converters) in the mixer. These are present in only the 16 mono channels, so direct output to the mixer from a DAW has to be through one or more of those channels. I don't know why Logic is offering you busses to send to, and them giving them the alternative names of AUX1 and AUX2. This is misleading.

With that in mind, your principal choices are:

(1) identify two signals sourced from line-level gear (not microphones) that you are currently routing through two of the 16 mono channels that you could move over to ST1 and ST2 (operating as mono). Then use the freed-up pair of mono channels to receive the two DAW returns, routing them to AUX1 and AUX2 and hence out to your amp rigs.

(2) Buy or borrow a 2-in, 2-out analogue interface that you could use to receive the two raw guitar channels from Logic and as send line-level analogue outs either directly to the amp rigs or to the mixer's ST1 and ST2 as above. This assumes that you can find a way of making Logic cope with one type of interface as the output (the new one) and another for the input (Zed-R16). I know you can do this through Device Aggregation on a Mac, but that is a very heavy user of processor resources. It would have the advantage that you would not necessarily need to synchronise the clocks in the two different interfaces, which brings its own problems.

(3) Get hold of an analogue interface that has at least two analogue inputs plus two ADAT outputs (16 channels) that you send to the Zed-R16 mixer instead of using FireWire. I use a FireFace 800 for this task, and have the per-project choice of going FireWire direct to the mixer or FireWire to the FF800 and ADAT to the mixer.

Some further points and questions:

a) What do you mean when assigning two channels for DI instruments: "...9-10 Live Guitar, 11-12, Bass Guitar (DI #1), 13-14 2nd Guitar (DI #2)..."? Is this Logic numbering, and actually each only goes to one Zed-R16 channel?

b) Be careful about time delay through the re-amp feed when playing live. At mixdown, you may find you have to shunt all the newly-recorded tracks backward in time to get them to line up with the pre-recorded DI guitars that have been re-amped.

Thanks for the reply- the desk has more outputs than just the 16 i/o channels, i'm not looking to send the DI to a mixing channel, I simply want to send the two DI tracks in my DAW to two separate guitar/bass amps, the easiest way I can see to do this is via the mixing desk as it has outputs I can target in Logic (AUX1-4 etc) it doesn't need to be assigned to a channel strip on the physical desk.

Im basically recording a live band whilst also re-amping two DI signals, the fader/eq etc if needed can be targeted and edited in the DAW as I am with the rest of the tracks, i am using A&H desk as simply a 16ch interface, not a mixer as I am mixing in the DAW. 

The DI tracks are not assigned to any of the 16 microphone channels in the DAW, the two DI signals are tracks 17 & 18 in the DAW project, 1-16 are the microphone inputs. Im hoping to simply output these DI tracks (17 & 18) as AUX 1-2 on the desk so I can simply jack the amps into these AUX outputs on the desk.

Im hoping it's something I can do otherwise ill buy a second interface and aggregate it and use the 2 i/o's on that as the outs for the two DI's but this seems overly complicated since I have a 16ch mixer that definitely has more outputs than just the 16 i/o channels.

For the q's, the DI tracks are track 17 & 18, they dont have an assigned channel on the desk as the desk is not being used as anything other than an interface, the audio is not being sent from the DAW to the desk, it is literally just recording into the DAW and that's it. Alongside the 16 microphone tracks being recorded there is an additional two tracks in the DAW (17 & 18) these are the are the two DI tracks im looking to feed out of my DAW into two separate guitar amps for re-amping. The DI's will be re-amped live with the rest of the band, 4 of the 16 microphones are there to reamp whilst the rest of the band plays if that makes sense.

Hopefully that clears it up a bit?

Thanks again

I've drawn a diagram that can hopefully clear up what i'm trying to achieve?

Thanks again

Yes and no.

The Zed-R16 does indeed have many more analogue outputs than those from the 16 mono channels and the main LR outputs. However, in your intended usage, you have to look at the digital features as well as the analogue ones.

When I said in an earlier post that the Zed-R16 has only 16 DACs (one on each mono channel), I should have said "useful" DACs. There is another pair on the digital master return, but these only go via a switch (not a fader) into the main stereo mix bus. The switch is labelled "Digital master to mix L-R", and is situated immediately above the phones output jacks. Use of this button wrecks any master mix generated in the main mixer section and returned to the DAW as channels 17, 18.

However, if you can work out a routing for this, it would be possible to use these for your re-amp signals, since you are returning only digital signals from the channels to the DAW. I don't recommend selecting a path with no faders. Separate faders for the two channels (or at least a stereo level control and a balance control) would be a significant advantage.

The obvious route to use is via the main LR faders, and then out to the amps via the main (2track 1) outs. Be sure to use TRS cables and make certain that the ring contacts are not grounded by the guitar amps. Alternatively, use TS cables via the control room outs.

If you want tonal variation as well as level, you could use TS (not TRS) jumper cables to bring the signals back from the main LR inserts (pre-master faders) to the ST1 and ST2 inputs and then out via AUX1 and AUX2, as I described previously. You would have the danger that raising the mix bus level on either of the STs could cause destructive feedback, but lifting the LR buttons on these.two ST channels would help guard against this.

Thanks for the reply, but I dont quite think you understand still, the audio is not getting returned into the desk, the desk is simply being used as an interface, once the audio from the microphones is recorded it is staying in the DAW, being mixed there and that's it. I simply need to route 2 DI signals to 2 separate amps whilst the recording is taking place into my DAW (Logic) as these DI signals are mic'd up as part of the 16 microphone inputs on the desk. 

The faders are not being used at all, the desk is not being used at all beyond microphone gain, all mixing, eq etc is done in the DAW once the audio has been recorded- not sent back into the desk- so nothing is being returned from the desk into the DAW. I dont need gain control for the DI's as I can set that on the amps themselves, I just need some form of parity really. 

Ill attach the diagram below so hopefully it clears things up a bit.

Yes, the concept is relatively easy, but mapping it on to the routing structure of the desk is less so.

With the 16 mono channels being switched for analogue inputs (thus excluding the 16 standard DAW returns), the only remaining route out of the DAW that could carry any signals is the Digital Master In stereo pair. This goes to the main mix via the Digital Master to Mix LR switch that I mentioned.

My preferred route out for this would be via the main mix bus, through the main L-R faders (these giving individual level controls for the two guitars), via the Digital Master In button and out to the Control Room Monitor (CRM) jacks. TS cabling (guitar leads) from there to the guitar amps. The mixer CRM output pair has its own stereo level control that you will need to set very low to avoid overloading the guitar amps. Since guitar amp inputs are inherently unbalanced, you should check for mains ground loops causing hum on the amps.

Make sure the LR buttons on all the mixer mono and stereo channels are disengaged (up position), and I think you are there!

Thanks pal! I think that might be the only route, either get a second interface and aggregate it or use the main L/R outs on the desk, im just wondering why on earth the desk has 4 AUX outputs if they're not routable in the DAW, they must be there for a reason or use.. maybe theyre for usage when the audio has gone back into the desk for mixing.

Thanks pal! I think that might be the only route, either get a second interface and aggregate it or use the main L/R outs on the desk, im just wondering why on earth the desk has 4 AUX outputs if they're not routable in the DAW, they must be there for a reason or use.. maybe theyre for usage when the audio has gone back into the desk for mixing.

I think your puzzle over the 4 AUXes must reflect your being brought up on DAWs and are now encountering an analogue mixer, rather than us somewhat older folk who were brought up on analogue boards and are having to wrench our brains into understanding DAW mixing!

The Zed-R16 is essentially a live sound mixer with digital in and out expertly grafted on to certain points in the schematic. The surprise really is that it has only 4 AUXes on a desk of that calibre, in a fixed configuration of 2 pre-fader and 2 post-fader. The pre-fader AUXes are primarily for sends to foldback or IEM monitors for the performers, where the post-fader AUXes are for feeding live effect units.

Think of the digital output being for recording live mixes, and the digital input being for bringing recorded tracks back into the mixer for mix down.

As you have discovered, the Zed-R16 can work as a high-quality 16-channel interface with fully-manual controls. The digital in and out acts as an infinite-delay insert on the 16 mono channels.

I think your puzzle over the 4 AUXes must reflect your being brought up on DAWs and are now encountering an analogue mixer, rather than us somewhat older folk who were brought up on analogue boards and are having to wrench our brains into understanding DAW mixing!

Awesome!