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How to use the Fairlight mixer with channel strips, faders, and busses in DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve Fairlight mixer features professional channel strips with faders, stereo and 3D panners, six effect slots, dynamics, and a 6-band parametric EQ on every channel for complete mix control.

How does the Fairlight mixer work in DaVinci Resolve?

The Fairlight mixer displays channel strips for every timeline track and bus. Each channel strip includes a fader for volume control, stereo or 3D panners, six effects slots for plugins, plus built-in dynamics processing and a 6-band parametric EQ. Make volume changes during playback or record them over time using automation.

The mixer is the central hub for all level adjustments, panning, and effect routing. Every channel strip mirrors the track in the timeline — changes in the mixer are reflected in the timeline and vice versa. The mixer can be resized to show more or fewer channels depending on project size.

For more DaVinci Resolve tips, read our guide on DaVinci Resolve AI Tools for Colorists and Editors.

Improve your audio workflow with How to adjust clip level, pan, and pitch in DaVinci Resolve Fairlight.

How do you route tracks through the mixer in Fairlight?

Each channel strip has an output destination selector at the top. Click it to route the track to any bus — a stereo master bus, a 5.1 bus, a dialogue bus group, or any FlexBus destination. The bus strips appear to the right of the track strips in the mixer, showing the combined output of all tracks routed to that bus.

For complex projects, use the mixer's bus view to see all routing at a glance. Track strips show their assigned bus color, making it easy to identify which tracks feed which busses. Bus strips show the cumulative levels, processing, and automation for the entire bus.

How do the six effects slots work on each mixer channel?

Every channel strip has six real-time effects slots in addition to the built-in EQ and dynamics. Drag Fairlight FX or third-party Audio Unit plugins into the slots. The slots process audio in series from top to bottom. Click the power button on each slot to bypass it for A/B comparison.

Six slots let you chain multiple processors — for example, a de-esser, EQ, compressor, limiter, reverb send, and a width effect — all on a single channel without needing additional bus routing.