Perhaps you missed the point that multiple-into-one is OK, the problem occurs when you have one-to-multiple. Busses are expected to have multiple channels connecting to one bus input, but when one channel connects to multiple inputs then the required latency adjustment could be different for each destination, but there is only one output, so only one point for latency adjustment.
Thanks for your thoughts. I’m not being pedantic, merely getting advice placed in the appropriate contexts.
In this thread, the advice to “prefer aux-sends over direct connections” was pasted from the original article without context. Robin DOES, at the end of the source article provide context, in passing, in the Conclusion section, noting “…direct explicit connections are preferable and valid.” The complete guide provides context. Much appreciated.
In the MixBus world, some have also pasted the same snippet “Prefer aux-sends over direct connections” as a rationale and mantra to avoid the very “direct” connections Robin mentions and supports later. But (and this is key) in MixBus there are evidently instances where direct routing is specifically advised against, even encouraging folks to avoid them. There is history there, but there were instances (and likely still are instances) when using the Audio Connections Manager would lead to failures of many types.
So, I want to simply roll all this together if possible. Current day MixBus is built on current day Ardour (plus or minus.) In this thread, Robin actually quoted a snip from his own 2020 guide. Paul (understandably) proposes a rule to avoid forum entries more than 12 months old. In 2025 Ben (MIxBus creator) quotes the same Robin snippet, but out of context, to provide conflicting guidance, due to MixBus being “different.” In this thread, there are statements conflicting whether or not MixBus is different after all. (On the MixBus forum, we are in the midst of hashing out how to tackle the known differences.)
My take-away from all the postings concurs with your point that multiple-into-one is OK. As Robin is the author and final say, I simply want to confirm my take-away in the context of this thread. For SUMMING purposes only, the snippet “Prefer aux-sends over direct connections” lacks sufficient context to justify advising against direct connections for summing.
h
I’ve received additional detail from the MixBus forum…
forum.harrisonconsoles.com/thread-12946-post-73696.html#pid73696
… in response to differences between Ardour and MixBus related to delay compensation. Perhaps they address this in a future release. Perhaps not.
h