Logic Pro I/O labels
I recently updated the firmware on my Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen to run Focusrite Control and was surprised to find that the input mappings changed on me, which was pretty annoying. Previously ADAT 1-8 happened to map to inputs 11-18, which was easy enough to remember, but now they map to 13-20 because the loopback interface moved to 9-10, pushing all of the digital inputs down by two.
After a brief conversation with Focusrite support, they pointed me to a feature of Logic I didn’t know about (even though I’ve been a Logic user for over 20 years now): I/O labels! This lets you set custom names for your audio inputs and outputs.
However, managing the preferences can be really annoying (and it’s very easy for the mappings to get lost, for example if Logic crashes), but fortunately there’s Logic I/O Labels Utility which lets you save and restore label sets pretty easily.
Anyway, learning about this has been quite helpful because now I can just permanently label my drum kit’s microphone channels instead of having to consult easily-lost notes or figuring it out on the fly every time, and of course I can also now properly label my various other mics and inputs which makes it easier to keep track of everything.
I guess even after using a piece of software for over two decades you can still be surprised about functionality that’s been there the whole time! (Or at least since version 7, which is where I started using it full-time, and is the earliest full manual I can find online.)