Direct Out

A patch point found on many mixing boards for taking an individual output out of a channel as opposed to routing its output through some bussing architecture. Direct outputs are not all the same though. Some take their signal right after the mic preamp and before the EQ or other gain stages, some may take the signal after the EQ, but before the channel fader, and some are taken after the fader. Many mixers provide a method of switching where the direct out signal comes from on a channel-by-channel basis.