In this free tip Julian Rodgers explains how you can control faders, sends and pans in Pro Tools either by typing in precise values or with the mouse wheel.

Sometimes it’s necessary, of just desirable to move a fader by by an exact amount, not “about 3dB” or “until it sounds right” but by precisely however many dB it happens to be. While the Pro Tools mixer displays the current value, it’s not possible to type into that display. You can achieve fine control by holding Command and dragging the fader for fine control but it’s not as quick as typing.

Here’s how you can type in fader values.

All you have to do is open the floating fader by clickling on the little fader icon at the right hand side of the output selector. That’s all there is to it!

Use The Mouse Wheel Or Arrow Keys To Control Faders In Pro Tools

This also works on sends and pans and as an added bonus you can nudge the value up and down by using the mouse wheel or if you need really fine control, use the arrow keys for 0.1dB increments.

Why didn’t I know this years ago?