manual/include/newopen-session-dialog.html

<p>
  The initial <dfn>Session</dfn> dialog consists of several consecutive pages:
</p>

<h2>Open Session Page</h2>
<p>
  On this page, you can open an <dfn>existing session</dfn>.  You can also
  open any <a href="@@snapshots">snapshot</a> of a
  particular session by clicking on the arrow next to the session name to
  display all snapshots, and then selecting one.  If your session is
  not displayed in the Recent Sessions list, the <kbd class="menu">Other
  Sessions</kbd> button will bring up a file selection dialog to navigate
  your hard drive.<br>
  Alternatively, you can opt to create a <kbd class="menu">New
  Session</kbd>.
</p>

<h2>New Session page</h2>
<p>
  Here you can type in the name of a session, select a folder to save in, and
  optionally use an existing <a href="@@session-templates">template</a>.
</p>
<p>
  Under <dfn>Advanced Options</dfn>, you can select whether you wish to create
  a Master Bus, or a Control Bus, and how many channels you wish either to have.
  You can also decide whether you want Ardour to automatically connect all inputs
  to the physical ports of your hardware. Ardour will do so
  sequentially and in round-robin fashion, connecting the first track's
  input to the first input of your hardware and so on. When Ardour has used
  all available hardware inputs, it will begin again with the first physical
  input.
  You can limit the number of channels on your physical hardware that Ardour
  uses.
</p>
<p>
  By default Ardour will connect all tracks and busses to the Master Bus if
  there is one. However you can also tell it to automatically connect each
  output to the physical outputs of your interface or sound card, and limit
  the number of physical outputs used, as above.
</p>

<h2>Audio/MIDI Setup</h2>

<figure>
  <img src="/images/Audio-MIDI_Setup.png" alt="The Audio+MIDI Setup Dialog"/>
  <figcaption>
    The Audio+MIDI Setup Dialog
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  This window exposes the different audio options to be used by Ardour for the
  current work session, for hardware and software and is made of:
</p>

<table class="dl">
  <tr><th>Audio System</th>
  <td>Depending on the operating system, Ardour can possibly use different audio
    systems, e.g. on Linux, both <abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound Architecture">
    ALSA</abbr> and <abbr title="JACK Audio Connection Kit">JACK</abbr> are
    available.
 </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Driver</th>
  <td>
    On Mac OS X this will typically be <kbd class="menu">CoreAudio</kbd>. On Linux usually
    this will be either <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Free Firewire Audio Driver fOr
    linux">FFADO</abbr></kbd>
    or <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound
    Architecture">ALSA</abbr></kbd>, depending on whether or not you are
    utilizing a firewire device. Advanced users on all platforms may also
    use <kbd class="menu">NetJack</kbd> which provides network audio I/O.
  </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Device</th>
  <td>The selector should show all availiable interfaces provided by the
  driver above and which are capable of duplex operation.
  <p class="warning">
    If you are using an Intel Mac running OS X and the builtin audio
    interface, you must
    first <a href="@@using-more-than-one-audio-device">merge
    its separate input and output devices into a single "aggregate
    device"</a> before Ardour will be able to use it.
   </p>
  </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Sample Rate</th>
  <td>
    The selector will allow you to select from any sample rate
    supported by the device selected above it.
  </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Buffer Size</th>
  <td>
    You can adjust the size of the buffer used by your audio interface
    to allow for either lower latency, or lower CPU usage and higher
    latency.
  </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Input/Output Channels</th>
  <td>
    Here you can specify the number of hardware channels to use. The
    default is <kbd class="menu">all available channels</kbd>.</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Hardware Input/Output Latency</th>
  <td>Specify the hardware delay in samples for precise latency compensation.</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Calibrate</th>
  <td>
    This button guides you through a semi-automated process to obtain
    precise hardware latency measurements for the above option.</td></tr>
  <tr><th>MIDI System</th>
  <td>
    Select the MIDI driver to use. On Mac OS X, this will be <kbd
    class="menu">CoreMIDI</kbd>. On Linux, you can change between two legacy
    ALSA drivers or the (preferred) new JACK+ALSA implementation.</td></tr>
</table>