Device disconnected

Unplug a USB mic, let Bluetooth headphones wander off, or wake the PC from sleep, and a device can vanish mid-session. Aura Mixer is built to survive this gracefully: it keeps the channel or bus in place, marks the missing device, plays silence for it, and reconnects automatically the moment the hardware returns — no crash, no lost settings.

How a missing device looks

In the SETUP tab (and in device dropdowns) the slot shows a ghost label:

⚠ My USB Mic — disconnected

The strip stays exactly where it was, with all its processing intact. Only its audio is silent until the device comes back.

Getting the sound back

1. Just reconnect it. Plug the device back in (or bring Bluetooth back in range). Audio resumes on its own — you don't have to re-select anything.

2. Or choose another device. If it's gone for good, SELECT the channel/bus → SETUP → pick a different device from the list. The strip and its processing carry over to the new device.

3. Bluetooth headphones stole themselves away? They love to reconnect to a phone or another paired device. Re-select them on your PC, then reconnect in Aura Mixer's SETUP if needed.

4. After sleep/wake. Waking from sleep can briefly drop every device; the engine restarts itself and re-acquires them. If something doesn't come back, restart the engine manually (⏹ → ▶).

5. APP channels wait for the program. A 🎯 APP channel goes quiet when its target program closes, and picks back up when you relaunch it. Click ↺ on the SETUP tab to refresh the process list if it doesn't reattach.

When the Main output is missing

If the device Main L+R plays to isn't there — at launch, after loading a scene that uses it, or when you unplug it — the engine can't start, and a window says so: "… isn't connected, so the audio engine can't play." Pick one:

• Use selected — choose another output (or the system default) from the list; the engine starts on it.
• Keep waiting — close the window and wait. The engine starts by itself as soon as the device is back, with a short "connected again" note.
• Skip — the device is meant to be absent; stop waiting for it.

While Aura Mixer is waiting, the engine is in stand-by, not stopped: if you route your PC's sound through a virtual cable, that cable stays Windows' default, so the PC doesn't suddenly start playing through the speakers. Skip (or ⏹) gives Windows its sound back. If you press ▶ while the device is still missing, the window comes back — a failed start never leaves things silently stuck.

The OUT label in the monitor bar shows the device's name with a ⚠ in the meantime.

"Disconnected" but it's plugged in

A device sometimes reads as disconnected while its name is plainly in the list. The usual reason: Windows gave it a new identity. A monitor's speakers (HDMI / DisplayPort) behind a docking station, or on another port, get a fresh internal id each time they are detected again — same name, new id. Aura Mixer notices and re-links to the device by its name on its own, as long as exactly one active device has that name (details); if two devices share a name it can't tell which you meant, so pick the right one again in the SETUP tab.

Other causes: another app may have grabbed the device in exclusive mode, or Windows changed the default device:

• Close other audio apps that might hold the device exclusively (especially if Aura Mixer is in WASAPI Exclusive — two apps can't share a device exclusively).
• Check Windows sound settings (the ⚙ Windows sound settings button on the SETUP tab opens it directly) — confirm the device is enabled and not disabled/unplugged on the Windows side.