Behringer XR18 X-Air

[Geri O]

OK, i've been thinking even more now (sound the alarm and prepare for nonsense overdose) ;

can we record every track as is, "dry" , at the same time record also the whole main mix in one track, and then latter run each of the "dry" tracks trough mixer again trough FX and record them with FX as was in the main mix? so we get each individual track as it was in main mix, without too much thinkering and complication in live setting.

can it haz work?

Rogi, I'm going to investigate and see if this can be done with the X. My guys and I do it pretty regularly with CL5s recording multi-track during a live show. What I have to find out is if the X's outputs can be patched as inputs to the DAW. You have seemingly tracks with Reaper and other DAWs). Anyone already know? It would save me a little legwork......Kidding, I'm happy to figure it out...

For FX, you need to patch the FX channels into input channels so they make the trip to Reaper (or whatever DAW you use).
And then, patch left and right into 2 tracks of Reaper for "confidence" tracks. This is common with live multi-track recording so you can go back and set up the playback with the stereo tracks as a reference ("where was that cowbell part again??").

But there's some other things to consider when recording multi-track. You can record the FX (well, I think) tracks with the other channels, but then what? The FX won't be mixed like they were during the show. As for everything else, it won't be mixed like the show was. All the channels go direct, as stated earlier) to the DAW and the gain is set by the input gains of the X. You will lose EQ and channel fader settings. If you are checking out someone's mixing work, the 2-track USB recording might be more accurate, although PA tuning and stage volume may affect the that mix, making for an unfair evaluation.

Why not just run the USB stick 2-track recording for a good reference of the show? I know, that's really hard to do for several reasons. If you can get the PA reasonably linear (or flat in some worlds), and get the stage volume under control where all of the instruments are in the mix, you'll get a good recording. Or, if all of that is impractical, you can use an un-used aux to make a recording send, which will take some headphone monitoring and adjustments. And some creative FX patching to get them to the recording aux.

Jus' nothin' easy anymore, is it....

 

[ROGI]

I've figured it out. we record raw tracks and mix at the same time. it works like a charm
reason i wanted separate tracks that are the same as in the mix (with fx) is that we can later experiment and see how different settings/sounds on each instrument would sound. for example i would like to change from ampeg svt to eden sim on line6 and see how that would sound in the mix, but we figured it out, we'll just record everything at home multiple times; example, record without bass, again record without guitar, again withou drums, again without vocals and then we have options to work around with. for further explanation this thread should clarify things: Doing it right this time | TalkBass.com

 

[jimfist]

Evidently, there was a new X-Air Edit software editor released last week, version 1.2

Looks like the remote interface design is starting to mature...finally!

Link Removed

 

[BucketOfFish]

I may be a noob in some aspects but I'm no longer a virgin. For a Veteran's Day gig I used the X18 AIR. Packed everything myself, had some help w/unload and setup. I had exactly one hour to set up and sound check a 13 piece band that I play guitar in. I had just enough devil-may-care attitude that I flew without backup. Usually I just use PA to add vocal to the band but there was a complaint within the band that, being somewhat spread out, it was difficult to hear everyone. Don't laugh, I used two active Kustom PA50's on sticks for monitors and two passive two-way TOA 12's (sound good) for FOH (still had to drag a lead amp until funds permit). 3 saxes, 2 bones, 2 trumpets, vocal and keys. I didn't input guitar (me), bass or drums (soon abandoned the idea of recording). During all this the vocalist asked a few times if I needed help...never occurred to me to have her pull my music so, of course, I'm scrambling to set up my stuff at the last minute. I had noted that 17/18 have limited processing but hadn't investigated. That is where the keys went, only problem was, I had never looked for the controls for the line channels. During the second song I remembered I had a DI so between songs I stuck keys in #9, all good now! except for pulling music out while leader is doing countdown...half way through the gig I couldn't find my set list...just a little more stress. Other than that, it all went very well! Yes, those little Kustoms did just fine (I used low cut on keyboard).
Next month we have a annual banquet gig. I will have 3 hours to set up so everything is going to be input and recording will be attempted in Reaper on a lappy. I'll have to do some homework on Reaper and X18 signal processing, EQ and such. Not really proficient so the learning curve is a bit steep as is the stress level.
Going to see the back-cracker soon.

There's also a reset button you press and hold to return to factory defaults.

Yes! I used the reset then, as someone suggested, saved factory default as "Blank Scene".
Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and suggestions.
John

 

[RoadRanger]

I'm never happy without 3 hours to set up.

 

[walterw]

I'm never happy without 3 hours to set up.

well i'm never happy without a leisurely wrist/hand tendon massage from a sexy swedish masseuse before the gig;

i guess that means we both mostly go on stage unhappy

i did my first walk-in sound gig with the x-air 18 tonight, hanging out in the crowd with my ipad; i gotta say, though i'm used to the mackie 1608 workflow and its philosophy of "everything you need, nothing you don't", after working on it for a couple of days ahead of time the b-ger setup seemed pretty powerful in terms of what you could control, it frankly felt a little more "adult" than the mackie. (RTA overlaid on the EQ, a whole big range of different FX plug-ins for the four FX channels plus the option to insert FX into individual channels apart from the four FX auxes, a whole entire multi-track recording setup built into the system.)

my primary annoyance was that the HPF on the input was on a different page than the EQ, and didn't show up in the visual parametric curve.

 

[gearhead1972]

my primary annoyance was that the HPF on the input was on a different page than the EQ, and didn't show up in the visual parametric curve.

That must be an iPad thing, because the HPF is on the eq page in the Android app. That is my primary annoyance, that the UI is not that same across all platforms.

 

[FuturePrimitive]

Been eyeing these for a while and today finally saw one on eBay for the right price, can't wait for it to get here! Hoping this will solve some of our limited monitoring capability when we run our own sound.

 

[aglide]

I took the plunge on one of these recently.. I've only had it in rehearsal so far, but am having fun learning the ropes. The first odd thing that jumps out at me is the fact that I'm having to significately boost the input gain of the channels I attach vocal mics to. I'm using two Alto TS110A powered speakers for mains, and I have to set the input gain on the vocal mic channels to +20-25db for them to be usable. Is that normal or am I missing something?

 

[gearhead1972]

I took the plunge on one of these recently.. I've only had it in rehearsal so far, but am having fun learning the ropes. The first odd thing that jumps out at me is the fact that I'm having to significately boost the input gain of the channels I attach vocal mics to. I'm using two Alto TS110A powered speakers for mains, and I have to set the input gain on the vocal mic channels to +20-25db for them to be usable. Is that normal or am I missing something?

Yeah, that's about where all mine sit, most vocals 23.5

 

[aglide]

Yeah, that's about where all mine sit, most vocals 23.5

Good to know. I have no frame of reference as I'm very new to mixing, expecially with a console that shows me the exact number values of everything.

 

[walterw]

The first odd thing that jumps out at me is the fact that I'm having to significately boost the input gain of the channels I attach vocal mics to.

"boost"?

set 'em to like 11 o'clock on that input trim "knob", that's a normal ballpark range.

 

[Bellbass]

I just bought an XR12 for an improv jazz-rock trio (bass, guitar, sax). I'm no soundman but I figured that it would be a great tool (and one that would get me to better understand sound and mixing). While I was noodling around with the effects, I was wondering if the XR12 could replace my pedalboard!! Of course I'd still need my OD's but do you guys think it would be faisible to use the xr12 as a multieffect (I've already have a MIDI preamp, a MIDI CAB (cab simulator) and Source audio MIDI distortion pedal...) with a Behringer FCB 1010 ( Behringer foot controler)

So, the question to you soundguys/bass players is: are the Reverbs, Delays, modulation, filters, compression in the XR air sound as good (in live situation) as quality pedals (I'm mainly rig with source audio pedals). Being a bass player I don't use effects on every tune but I do want to explore more. I already tried Octaver (great tracking), verbs and chorus and I did like what I heard!

 

[seamonkey]

Listen objectively, record yourself to compare, and it just might replace your pedal board

 

[Bellbass]

Listen objectively, record yourself to compare, and it just might replace your pedal board

True to that with the XR12 it can easily be done. But I know some of the guys here are seasoned soundman and bass players, they've got ears AND experience. And there's also the question of functionnality live: is there a way to change patches on the fly, etc. that I don't know yet...

 

[seamonkey]

Behringer midi enabled their XR line of heads. Foot controllers can switch and change settings.
This is probably done more for the informal use like in your case. A FOH soundman would probably not be switching the effects in and out.

 

[Bellbass]

Yeah, this is a kind of informal use that was not probably intented., But with the MIDI implementation, I guess we can think outside the box!!

 

[Bellbass]

I'm contemplating using an XR12 as a bass preamp. My "big rig" is a pair of 4 ohm 212MBE's powered by a Behringer NU3000. It'd be nice to have a mic input for the kick for when a club only has a crappy vocals-only PA...

That's what I'd like to do as well. I do have a preamp + Cab sim. and I'd use the XR12 as a multieffect/router etc...Keep me posted if you make any progress...I plan to use a FCB1010 as a controller...

 

[RoadRanger]

I just bought an XR12 for an improv jazz-rock trio (bass, guitar, sax). I'm no soundman but I figured that it would be a great tool (and one that would get me to better understand sound and mixing). While I was noodling around with the effects, I was wondering if the XR12 could replace my pedalboard!!

I'm using mine for OD and Pitch shift:
Behringer XR12 as a preamp
Biggest issue is being able to control the FX while playing. I do have a little MIDI controller to try, maybe mic stand mounted. It's an old Behringer BCN44 .

 

[Bellbass]

I'm using mine for OD and Pitch shift:
Behringer XR12 as a preamp
Biggest issue is being able to control the FX while playing. I do have a little MIDI controller to try, maybe mic stand mounted. It's an old Behringer BCN44 .

I was thinking using the Behringer MIDI foot controller (FCB 1010) for that purpose. But I need to test the FX cause I'm in a project where I need reverb, delay, modulations, octaver, compression and, to a lesser extent, filters... The recording capacity of the XR12 will give me the means to check if it can hold its own against my pedalboard.