5. Engineer View (Main Mixer)

The Engineer view is the main control panel, visible only on the macOS app (not accessible from phones).

5.1 Header

The header is divided into three levels:

Level 1 — Main bar (56px):

Zone	Content
Left	ESTË Live logo + status indicator ("Online (3)" green or "Offline" red)
Center	Transport controls (⏮ Skip/Play/Rec/Stop/Skip ⏭) + time display "M:SS / M:SS"
Right	Panic button + QR Code + Settings

Level 2 — Timeline (20px):

A horizontal bar showing song regions as colored blocks with white text labels. A mint cursor (playhead) indicates the current position. Clickable to seek to a position.

Level 3 — Info strip (30px):

Visible only when file tracks are loaded. Contains:

Region navigation buttons: |◀ (start), ◀◀ (previous region), ▶▶ (next region), ▶| (end)
Active region badge (colored to match the region)
Bar/beat display ("Bar 16.3")
Time signature and BPM indicator

The left sidebar contains the Setlist panel for managing songs and setlists. See Section 8 for full details.

5.3 Channel Strip Grid

The main area displays a horizontal grid of vertical channel strips, one per channel.

Bus Tabs — At the top, a row of tabs lets you select which bus to view. The active tab is highlighted in the bus custom color. A red "M" badge appears if the bus is muted.

Bus Master Strip — Pinned to the left edge of the channel grid, the bus master strip controls the overall output level of the selected bus. It contains:

MST label — identifies the master strip
Vertical fader — controls bus output volume (range: −∞ to +12 dB). Double-click resets to 0 dB (unity gain)
dB Scale — markers at -48, -36, -24, -12, -6, 0, +6, +12 dB
M button — mutes the entire bus output (red when active)

Each channel strip contains (top to bottom):

Channel name — small text, truncated if long
VU Meter — two vertical bars (L/R) with green-to-yellow-to-red gradient, white peak hold line, and horizontal grid lines at each dB mark
dB Scale — markers at -48, -36, -24, -12, -6, 0, +6, +12 dB (aligned with fader scale)
Vertical fader — mint thumb, semi-transparent mint fill, dB tick marks on the track
dB Value — numeric readout below the fader
Pan control — horizontal slider with indicator (L/C/R)
Buttons — Eye (hide/show per bus, amber when hidden), FX (purple when active), M (mute, red), S (solo, amber)

Volume range: All faders (channel sends and bus master) support a range from −∞ (silence) to +12 dB (4× amplification). The fader uses a dB-linear taper: 0 dB (unity gain) sits at 75% of the fader travel, providing fine control in the common mixing range.

Hiding channels per bus: Click the Eye button on a channel strip to hide that channel from the selected bus. Hidden channels appear with reduced opacity and a dashed border in the engineer view, and are completely invisible in the musician view for that bus. Hidden channels also produce no audio on the hidden bus. This is independent from mute — a musician can mute/unmute channels they see, but only the engineer can hide/show them.

Fader interactions:

Action	Effect
Vertical drag	Adjusts volume (instant visual feedback)
Double-click	Resets to -6 dB
↑/↓ arrows	Increment/decrement by one step
Shift + arrows	Increment/decrement by 10 steps
Home	Maximum volume
End	Minimum volume

5.4 Panic Button

The Panic button silences all audio outputs instantly. Use it in case of feedback, unexpected noise, or any audio emergency.

Normal state: red border, "Panic" text
Active state: solid red background, white text, pulsing button

When panic is active, a semi-transparent red banner appears at the center of the screen with the text "PANIC — ALL AUDIO SILENCED" and a "CLEAR" button to deactivate it.

5.5 QR Code Dialog

Clicking the QR icon in the header opens a dialog to share the connection link with musicians.

Musician tab:

Bus selector (choose which musician)
200x200px SVG QR code with colored border
Two URLs (IP and hostname) with copy buttons

Stage tab:

Direct QR code for the Stage view
URL with copy button