DAW With Focus On Recording Rather Than Internal Beat Making and MIDI?

[40Hz]

been looking into mixbus and been finding a lot of stuff that doesn’t inspire confidence like this:

Looking at some of his other videos, I’m not feeling all that confident about the guy.

I have zero idea what is setup is or the specs on the machine he’s using. But he strikes me as a little sloppy with his folder structure and approach to workflow.

Can’t speak for every Mixbus user, but I haven’t experienced any of the crashing he’s mentioned. Maybe it has something to do with Mixbus V6 or his OS.

My experience is limited to running Mixbus on Windows and Linux. And in both cases there’s some OS tweaking you should be doing first on the PC you’re using if you’re running a DAW or virtual instruments.

And yes, the Mixbus workflow is very close to what you’d experience with a traditional mixing console. Which is different than the way some other DAWs approach things. About the only thing you can really say to that is you need to learn the specifics and quirks and ultimately grasp the underlying design pattern (or ‘paradigm’ if you want the fancy IT word) of whatever software you intend to use on a production basis. Because they all have a learning curve. Nobody is born knowing how to use Mixbus, or ProTools, or Ableton. Some DAWs are easier to get into initially. But once you get beyond the basics, things start to get progressively more complex with all of them the deeper you dive into it. There’s no getting around that for any complex software tool.

 

[dkelley]

been looking into mixbus and been finding a lot of stuff that doesn’t inspire confidence, like this:

It "sounds" really really good.

These are daws. The sound of a daw has not existed for decades. They stopped having their own sound back when the technology became standardized. They are playing back multiple tracks of wav files (or similar format) simultaneously and keeping them in sync. Same with recording. The file format is standard. There is no audio processing that is unique to each, unless you get into dithering, which normally doesn't happen any more (24 bit to 16 bit dithering is essentially inaudible anyhow).

So his quote in teh video about the sound quality is moot.

His complaints are critical. His love of the mix flow? That is why the product still exists. But not a chance in hell I'd put up with it with all of those complaints about stability and design and bad features.

So that is what mixbus is all about, eh?

forget it LoL

 

[dkelley]

Somehow, buying a Mac to use garage band, effectively making garage band a multi-thousand dollar DAW, just doesn't seem like a wise use of money. I could literally buy reaper + a control deck + multiple new instruments and maybe even have some left over for that kind price.

Not to mention his mac mini should run reaper at least as well as it runs garageband. Heck, reaper exists for linux even!

 

[dkelley]

Looking at some of his other videos, I’m not feeling all that confident about the guy.

I have zero idea what is setup is or the specs on the machine he’s using. But he strikes me as a little sloppy with his folder structure and approach to workflow.

Can’t speak for every Mixbus user, but I haven’t experienced any of the crashing he’s mentioned. Maybe it has something to do with Mixbus V6 or his OS.

My experience is limited to running Mixbus on Windows and Linux. And in both cases there’s some OS tweaking you should be doing first on the PC you’re using if you’re running a DAW or virtual instruments.

And yes, the Mixbus workflow is very close to what you’d experience with a traditional mixing console. Which is different than the way some other DAWs approach things. About the only thing you can really say to that is you need to learn the specifics and quirks and ultimately grasp the underlying design pattern (or ‘paradigm’ if you want the fancy IT word) of whatever software you intend to use on a production basis. Because they all have a learning curve. Nobody is born knowing how to use Mixbus, or ProTools, or Ableton. Some DAWs are easier to get into initially. But once you get beyond the basics, things start to get progressively more complex with all of them the deeper you dive into it. There’s no getting around that for any complex software tool.

Thank you, that makes me more interested in trying it out one day, at least so I have some experience wiht it in case I ever am plunked down in front of it for a job!

 

[bassbrad]

Mixbus - Audio Recording Software - DAW Nashville, TN

Harrison Mixbus or 32C is the absolute bomb, has all the right tools in the right places and sounds amazing. All you need to add is a great reverb

 

[silky smoove]

It "sounds" really really good.

These are daws. The sound of a daw has not existed for decades. They stopped having their own sound back when the technology became standardized. They are playing back multiple tracks of wav files (or similar format) simultaneously and keeping them in sync. Same with recording. The file format is standard. There is no audio processing that is unique to each, unless you get into dithering, which normally doesn't happen any more (24 bit to 16 bit dithering is essentially inaudible anyhow).

So his quote in teh video about the sound quality is moot.

You’re correct, except for Mixbus and I’m told the same is true about Luna. They both have built-in processing on their 2buss that can’t be disabled. So, he is correct about Mixbus having a sound. It does. Null tests confirm this. It’s up to the end user to decide if having a specific color coming from their DAW is beneficial or not.

 

[Peeved T-40]

Nobody is born knowing how to use Mixbus, or ProTools, or Ableton.

Of course not, but I do have reasonably deep knowledge about recording and mixing for film and to find out basically none of that information helps me here, not because the principles are fundamentally different, but because the interfaces just took different paths is more than a little frustrating.

 

[Peeved T-40]

It "sounds" really really good.

These are daws. The sound of a daw has not existed for decades. They stopped having their own sound back when the technology became standardized. They are playing back multiple tracks of wav files (or similar format) simultaneously and keeping them in sync. Same with recording. The file format is standard. There is no audio processing that is unique to each, unless you get into dithering, which normally doesn't happen any more (24 bit to 16 bit dithering is essentially inaudible anyhow).

So his quote in teh video about the sound quality is moot.

His complaints are critical. His love of the mix flow? That is why the product still exists. But not a chance in hell I'd put up with it with all of those complaints about stability and design and bad features.

So that is what mixbus is all about, eh?

forget it LoL

I had the same thought about the “sound” of the DAW. It doesn’t make any sense to me but that’s what all the discussion around MixBus and what their own marketing seems to be. It’s all about how it “has a more analogue sound”. One guy did a mix in reaper and one in mix pad and they did sound dramatically different. The MixPad mix was much more full sounding but I know... I’m not sure I buy it. I smell BS but other's in this thread have even said it's true soooo...

 

[silky smoove]

One guy did a mix in reaper and one in mix pad and they did sound dramatically different.

It’s been confirmed repeatedly over on Gearslutz. Load up a batch of identical files in Mixbus and some other DAW, apply zero processing in either DAW, bounce a mix out of each, do a null test and there will be a difference. Do this between, say, Logic and ProTools and as long as the settings are identical the result will completely null. Mixbus has color baked right into the 2buss. Not necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, just a thing.

 

[Peeved T-40]

It’s been confirmed repeatedly over on Gearslutz. Load up a batch of identical files in Mixbus and some other DAW, apply zero processing in either DAW, bounce a mix out of each, do a null test and there will be a difference. Do this between, say, Logic and ProTools and as long as the settings are identical the result will completely null. Mixbus has color baked right into the 2buss. Not necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, just a thing.

I would assume then, there's no reason you couldn't get the same sound of reaper or any other DAW if you mixed it right

 

[silky smoove]

I would assume then, there's no reason you couldn't get the same sound of reaper or any other DAW if you mixed it right

Maybe not exactly the same as Mixbus unless you were trying desperately for that specific sound. The reality is that it doesn’t matter. Either a mix sounds good or it doesn’t.

 

[stuntbass77]

Somehow, buying a Mac to use garage band, effectively making garage band a multi-thousand dollar DAW, just doesn't seem like a wise use of money. I could literally buy reaper + a control deck + multiple new instruments and maybe even have some left over for that kind price.

Agreed, I should have been clearer. I point was that one would also get a great computer as well. Yes, you are right in if all he wants is a DAW. I just love how easy and intuitive a Mac is ( at least to me ). I love that they support their products for a very long time, the iPhone 6s for 6 years android can’t even come close with the 3 they just now are starting to do. The computers as well are supported for a crazy long time. I still have a second gen. iPad that is getting security updates still. Again, I was thinking more along the lines of investment from a computer standpoint but that’s not what is in question here.

 

[40Hz]

Thank you, that makes me more interested in trying it out one day, at least so I have some experience wiht it in case I ever am plunked down in front of it for a job!

You can download a demo copy for free and get some hands-on with it if you like. With me it was a big “like it!” first time out. But that’s just me and won’t necessarily apply to someone else’s experience with it.

 

[LBS-bass]

It "sounds" really really good.

These are daws. The sound of a daw has not existed for decades. They stopped having their own sound back when the technology became standardized.

A lot of people are saying it sounds warm, which leads me to believe there's some baked-in coloration inherent in the software. Digital recording and editing shouldn't have warmth, or color, until you add it, but we can't seem to get away from this need to have that needle-drop sheen over everything we do.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Yeah, I know, that's exactly my frustration. I want to be able to scrub the timeline. As in, drag the play head around and have the audio play in real time as I do it. This is something every video editor can do and it's intensely helpful. Like, I understand I'm coming from film into music so I have some different expectations but this seems like a no brainer to me. Not being able to do that feels very restrictive

I'd be astounded if Studio One, or Reaper don't have a shuttle lock mode on the transport controls - enabling you to use the numeric key pad to scrub back and forth (at a variety of speeds) along the time line.

They must, at least, have a scrub tool, allowing you to drag the cursor over a section of audio.

 

[LBS-bass]

I'd be astounded if Studio One, or Reaper don't have a shuttle lock mode on the transport controls - enabling you to use the numeric key pad to scrub back and forth (at a variety of speeds) along the time line.

They must, at least, have a scrub tool, allowing you to drag the cursor over a section of audio.

I understand you can scrub in Logic, but I don't really know how to do it well. I just expand the waveform until I can visually see the place where I want to edit, and then I place the "playhead" (which is really just a marker) there. But I get that those who are used to editing with ears and not eyes would find this painful.

 

[Peeved T-40]

I'd be astounded if Studio One, or Reaper don't have a shuttle lock mode on the transport controls - enabling you to use the numeric key pad to scrub back and forth (at a variety of speeds) along the time line.

They must, at least, have a scrub tool, allowing you to drag the cursor over a section of audio.

You can click where you want the marker on the timeline but you can't drag it around

 

[silky smoove]

I understand you can scrub in Logic, but I don't really know how to do it well.

For reference I do it the same way as you, but if you're interested in learning how to scrub you need enable the pause button in the transport controls, which is not visible by default. You also need to check the box labeled 'Scrubbing with audio in Tracks area' under Preferences > Audio > Editing. From there you can adjust the scrubbing behavior. With pause engaged you click and hold the playhead and then drag left or right to scrub accordingly. I don't like it at all. It's okay on a jog wheel equipped control surface, but with the mouse it stinks as far as I'm concerned.

 

[swarfrat]

Mixbus is upfront about that. It's one of their selling features "True Analog" they call it. It actually passes the signal through a simulation of the old Mixbus32 channel strip circuitry.


"Harrison can now faithfully emulate the beautifully-designed analog signal processing designs of the past and incorporate them into a full function “True Analog” mixing console within the digital audio workstation environment"

Mixbus32C | Music Recording Software for Audio Post Production | Harrison Consoles

 

[Wood and Wire]

It "sounds" really really good.

These are daws. The sound of a daw has not existed for decades. They stopped having their own sound back when the technology became standardized. They are playing back multiple tracks of wav files (or similar format) simultaneously and keeping them in sync. Same with recording. The file format is standard. There is no audio processing that is unique to each, unless you get into dithering, which normally doesn't happen any more (24 bit to 16 bit dithering is essentially inaudible anyhow).

So his quote in teh video about the sound quality is moot.

His complaints are critical. His love of the mix flow? That is why the product still exists. But not a chance in hell I'd put up with it with all of those complaints about stability and design and bad features.

So that is what mixbus is all about, eh?

forget it LoL

Harrison make mixing consoles, most popular in Film mixing (if I recall correctly, Apocalypse Now was mixed in a Harrison).

The Mixbus DAW models the sound of those consoles - effectively you're running your mix through a giant plug-in.

Arguably more convenient than putting any of the SSL / Neve / Trident etc plug-in emulations by Waves / Slate etc, on every channel of your DAW.