I had a question about patch points as well, awhile back.  They are aware of most issues, I think...and I believe Noel stated they were needing to "update" the patch points (and I think aux busses too), and s/b in the near updates.

stickman393
@MosValve - you were on the right track. I'm sorry I didn't "get it" when you suggested it.

Glad you got it worked out. I found the aux's to be tricky first I used them. Didn't get sound. Turned on input echo and all was well. I don't turn off the input echo from the tool bar but I see how you thought it was a different issue. I don't grasp the patch points yet. Working on it though.

Input echo is needed in order to stop monitoring when you don't want it. i.e. what if you record the aux track? Now you have the recorded audio as well as the aux input being sent to the mixer that will cause it to be doubled and create phase problems. The input echo allows you to disable the aux input anytime.
 
I see the issue where using the global input echo disable also mutes aux inputs. Perhaps we need a choice to exclude aux inputs from that.

I think this, and the ability to record aux tracks and synth tracks, is a big change and going to take a while for some of us to work out a better workflow (hopefully in conjunction with some bright ideas from Cakewalk). At the moment these are 'mini-landmines' where it's easy for me to break my track in subtle ways, whether accidentally switching off aux tracks, or accidentally recording a synth's audio along with the MIDI and getting it doubled up.
 
Being able to exclude aux inputs from the global input echo disable would be nice. Another option might be to add some sort of 'lock' option to the per-track Input Echo and Record buttons that stops them being toggled by other controls, such as controls in the Control Bar and also in the track folder. That way, if I know I'll never want to record a synth or aux track, or I know I never want to switch off an aux track, I could lock their record buttons to off and the aux input echo to on respectively, and then not worry about them from that point on.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
Input echo is needed in order to stop monitoring when you don't want it. i.e. what if you record the aux track?

Thanks for chiming in, Noel. What you say makes perfect sense, in hindsight. I really wanted Aux Tracks to work "just like buses" but of course they don't. And this expectation is entirely my own - they are called "Aux TRACKS", not "BUS Tracks" or similar. You couldn't have made it clearer.
 
The input echo behavior makes total sense now.
 

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
I see the issue where using the global input echo disable also mutes aux inputs. Perhaps we need a choice to exclude aux inputs from that.

 
Yeah, it was an unexpected workflow change for me, and others. I know it is a workflow issue but I can't imagine doing without the global input echo disable.
 
I'm also not a fan of the proliferation of hard-to-find preference options like a [x] global disable input echo does not affect aux track, but I would definitely use such an option, if it existed.
 
Apart from that hiccup, Aux Tracks, Patchpoints, and Kingston in general is working great for me.
 
Naturally, I WILL BE RENEWING MY MEMBERSHIP IN JANUARY
because it is totally worth it.

Kylotan
 
Being able to exclude aux inputs from the global input echo disable would be nice. Another option might be to add some sort of 'lock' option to the per-track Input Echo and Record buttons that stops them being toggled by other controls, such as controls in the Control Bar and also in the track folder. That way, if I know I'll never want to record a synth or aux track, or I know I never want to switch off an aux track, I could lock their record buttons to off and the aux input echo to on respectively, and then not worry about them from that point on.

I have no idea whether something like that is actually feasible, but I like it.
 

It's one more item to add to the checklist that we go through, when we encounter the "I don't hear what I expected to hear" problem.
 

Right now I simply can't use the Aux tracks because with my tracks having so many layers I might not notice if one was accidentally turned off. But if I could lock them as 'always-on', that would solve the problem for me. A separate button to clear all the input echoes except on Aux tracks would probably avoid the problem, but it still leaves the possibility that I could accidentally click the 'clear all INCLUDING aux tracks' button and never notice. A toggle in the settings instead would be safer, but I too am not a fan of hidden settings that change global behaviour. Just my preference.

For my use, I'm only using Aux Tracks in folders so all of the related tracks can be controlled through the folder's M/S buttons.   I know that doesn't work for every scenario, but so far it's really come in handy.
 

WOW... I was going nuts trying to understand why my aux tracks went silent. And because I have them doing some subtle things sometimes and not others I never got the connection between input echo on and off. I wasted a crapload of time because of this and speaking of echos, curse words could be heard echoing down the hallway of my house emanating from my studio.
 
OK, ok probably if I had watched tutorials on it I would have learned this, but the darn Aux tracks seemed so intuitive to use I just started using them with good success at first. 
 
Perhaps I don't understand why input echo is needed. Maybe someone can explain why it was programmed this way.
 
Ugg...
 
Thank you all for this thread I was gonna just stop using them until Cake could work out the bugs...
 
Rick