Do it on the X32 · Step 14

Scenes & USB backup

Why am I doing this?

A scene is a saved snapshot of the entire console. It means next Sunday starts where last Sunday ended, instead of from a blank desk. And a USB backup means a console failure doesn't erase months of work. The full explanation → Guide, Step 14

The short version

Already know the drill?

SCENES screen button
Get the mix good, then store a new scene with a clear name
Save new scenes at milestones — don't overwrite blindly
Back up the whole show file to a USB stick every time
Take the stick with you

The saving hierarchy

The X32 saves at a few levels. Biggest to smallest:

Level	What it holds
Show file	Everything — all scenes, routing, the lot. One file for the whole setup.
Scene	A full snapshot of the desk's current state.
Snippet	A partial recall that changes only some settings. Advanced.
Channel / preset library	A single channel strip, or one processing block, saved to reuse.

For week-to-week running, you live in scenes, and you protect everything with a show file backup to USB.

Scenes — the routine

Open the scenes screen.

Press the SCENES screen-select button.
Get the desk where you want it, then store.

When the mix sounds good, store the current state as a scene. Give it a clear, dated name — Sun 03-09 Ready, not Scene 12. Future you, in a hurry, will thank present you.
Save at milestones, not constantly.

Good moments to store a fresh scene:
- After setup and line check — "everything patched and gained"
- After soundcheck — "band sounds good"
- Before any big change — so you can get back
Recall to jump between states.

Select a scene and recall it to load that whole snapshot. This is how you reset to a known-good starting point, or move between different service setups.

⚠ Save new, don't overwrite blindly

The most useful habit with scenes: before you make big changes, store a new scene rather than overwriting the good one.

That way the known-good version still exists. If the changes don't work out — or you break something experimenting — you recall your way back in five seconds instead of rebuilding. Storage is free; a lost mix is not.

Overwriting the one good scene with a half-finished experiment is how people lose a whole morning's work.

Backup — the part people skip

Every time you finish, back the show file up to a USB stick. Then take the stick with you.

Here's the thinking: the console is a computer, and computers fail. A dead console the morning of a service, with no backup, means rebuilding everything from scratch under pressure — or worse, running the service badly. A USB stick in your bag means you walk up to any X32, load the show file, and you're exactly where you left off.

How:

Insert a USB stick into the console's USB port.
On the SCENES screen (or the setup/card page), find the save/export to USB option.
Save the whole show file to the stick — not just one scene, the entire show.
Eject properly, pocket the stick.

Do it every week. The half-second it takes has rescued more services than any other single habit.

What good looks like

Check	Should be
Scene stored	after the mix is good
Scene names	clear and dated, not "Scene 12"
Before big changes	new scene stored first
Show file	backed up to USB every session
The stick	leaves with you

If it goes wrong

Everything reset after a power cycle.: The work wasn't stored to a scene. Nothing on this desk survives a restart unless it's saved. Save early, save often.
I overwrote my good scene with a bad version.: If you'd backed the show file up before the change, load it off the USB. If not — this is exactly why the save-new-first habit exists. Rebuild, and adopt the habit.
The console won't boot on Sunday morning.: This is the nightmare the USB backup is for. Load the show file onto a replacement or borrowed X32 and carry on. No backup? Then you're rebuilding live — and you'll never skip a backup again.
I can't tell which scene is the current good one.: Naming. Date them and label them clearly going forward so there's never a guess.
Recalling a scene changed something I didn't want changed.: A scene recalls everything. If you only want to change part of the desk, that's what snippets are for — but for most volunteers, whole-scene recall is the right tool. Just know it's all-or-nothing.