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Digital mixers ... can anyone compare quality ?

#21
thanks for the insights, very helpful.
I'm sure the larger, perhaps better equipped units (X32, Ui24r etc) are well worth it in some situations, but the price difference between the X18 (~$449-499) vs these others in not trivial (2x or more). I have been getting along reasonably well with 8 input units, so moving to 16 pre's with 6 AUX outs is a big step up there. Some of the other features (direct recording) are not a major selling point for my needs.

FWIW, I had an interesting and informative real world experience with digital mixers last night on an outdoor gig in fairly high heat (102 ... yeah, it can get that hot and worse in NCal). Good sized outdoor venue (2-300+ people), high temps (102), X18 running 4 mains, 1 sub and 3 monitors .... the sound tech running the gear suddenly could not continue sound check because his tablet (some Android unit) overheated and shut down (!). So we had to wait about 15min while his tablet sat in an ice chest (inside a plastic bag) to cool down and be able to restart. We lost most of our soundcheck time, but were still able to dial it in ok and the gig went fine.

anyone else run into such an issue with digital boards that use tablets as the control surface ?
 
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#22
the X18 and the Xr-18 are different units. the XR is a rackmount format while the X-18 has a tray for holding the ipad/android, though not a dock like the Mackie. The X18 is essentially the same as the XR-18, same inputs and mulitrack recording ability, but the aux outs are 1/4" and not XLR on the X-18.

I did have an ipad overheat on me once using a Mackie DL1608 sitting docked in the tray.
 
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#23
NickFromNY said:
the X18 and the Xr-18 are different units. the XR is a rackmount format while the X-18 has a tray for holding the ipad/android, though not a dock like the Mackie. The X18 is essentially the same as the XR-18, same inputs and mulitrack recording ability, but the aux outs are 1/4" and not XLR on the X-18.

I did have an ipad overheat on me once using a Mackie DL1608 sitting docked in the tray.
Click to expand...
yes, I saw the differences between the X18 and XR18. I prefer the Aux Outs to be XLR as I will be using them for monitor mixes and not IEMs, and I don't want to get into the 1/4" to XLR cable mishmash. I would probably just use the X18 stand alone, not racked as I would not have anything else to rack up with it, so it would probably go in a soft case/gig bag kind of thing.
 
#25
pfschim said:
we had to wait about 15min while his tablet sat in an ice chest (inside a plastic bag) to cool down and be able to restart. We lost most of our soundcheck time, but were still able to dial it in ok and the gig went fine.

anyone else run into such an issue with digital boards that use tablets as the control surface ?
Click to expand...
any soundguy worth calling themselves that would have more than one tablet or have a laptop somewhere in the mix.
 
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#26
Pedalnetics said:
The XAir software is HORRIBLE compared to the X32 software on Apple products, in my opinion. I've ran them both, and prefer to never touch Xair again.

If you're on android, Mixing Station is worth the purchase and makes the same software for both series of mixers. Custom dashboards/layers on the app make mixing easy.
Click to expand...
mixing station is now a thing for iStuff too.
 
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#28
Ethereal Thorn said:
I got a x18 mixer new for $280 it does everything my band needs atm for our iem rack we run 5 stereo iem feeds and use all 16 chanels I would like to step up to a x32 rack to have more channels and expand our setup but i cant justify spending 4x's the amount of money on one atm just for a few features and io.
Click to expand...
I'm with you on that ... 16 pre's should be fine for my foreseeable needs.
 
#29
walterw said:
any soundguy worth calling themselves that would have more than one tablet or have a laptop somewhere in the mix.
Click to expand...
ha, well it was the keyboard players adult son who is not a total newb, but he's definitely learning and he certainly works for very modest compensation. ;)

learned a valuable lesson about the tablets yesterday, that's for sure.
 
#30
pfschim said:
anyone else run into such an issue with digital boards that use tablets as the control surface ?
Click to expand...
Let's be clear.. this has NOTHING to do with a digital console. It's about an iPad going into thermal shutdown. Known issue with iPads.. seen it happen in heat a number of times. That's why as @walterw stated "any soundguy worth calling themselves that would have more than one tablet or have a laptop somewhere in the mix." FACT.
Again, NOTHING to do with digital consoles..
 
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#31
s0c9 said:
Let's be clear.. this has NOTHING to do with a digital console. It's about an iPad going into thermal shutdown. Known issue with iPads.. seen it happen in heat a number of times. That's why as @walterw stated "any soundguy worth calling themselves that would have more than one tablet or have a laptop somewhere in the mix." FACT.
Again, NOTHING to do with digital consoles..
Click to expand...
with respect ... this does have something to do with digital consoles, as opposed to analog consoles, because they require a tablet (or apparently 2, or a laptop) to provide the control surface.

I am not criticizing digital consoles in general, just reporting on a real experience and asking if anyone else has had this happen .. and apparently they have.
 
#32
pfschim said:
with respect ... this does have something to do with digital consoles, as opposed to analog consoles, because they require a tablet (or apparently 2, or a laptop) to provide the control surface.

I am not criticizing digital consoles in general, just reporting on a real experience and asking if anyone else has had this happen .. and apparently they have.
Click to expand...
Back at ya on the respect :)
But, NO, not really.. depends on the console. Some small footprint digital consoles - even rack-mounted - are fully controllable from the front panel. Ugly but workable in a pinch.
iPad (or other tablet) overheating has literally nothing to do with those consoles.
For digital boxes that REQUIRE remote access to run them, the tablets are a necessity, but again, tablet failures are not caused, nor directly due to the consoles in question.
But, to iterate the problem. YES, it does happen. Be prepared.
I have run various QSC (TM8, TM30), A&H (Qu24,QPAC), Behringer (XR18, X32R, Producer, X32), SC (Vi3000, Si Perf 2 and 3, Ui24) and Mackie (DL1608) digital consoles numerous times over the last 18 months (or so). One ALWAYS brings a backup tablet to a gig. Heck, I've even run a TM8 AUX's into an X32R because the client liked the drum presets on the QSC.
Thus, I have all the apps (Ui24 doesn't need one) on both my tablets. Both go to gigs with me. I make a habit of it.

PS: I've never had any of those consoles quit due to heat. Tablets.. yeah.
 
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#34
Another reason I went from a Mackie DL1608 to a Behringer XR18 to a Mackie DL32r was the fact that you can't leave the aux out un-muted when you mute the board. I find as an IEM user sometimes it is helpful to be able to work on my IEM mix while the FOH is muted. Also in a hybrid gig with both wedges and IEM it allows me to mute FOH and the wedges but again leave the IEM on for the user. I know it isn't a biggie for most people but it was to myself and the band I was in at the time. Both of the Mackie's allow this.
 
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#35
musicman7722 said:
Another reason I went from a Mackie DL1608 to a Behringer XR18 to a Mackie DL32r was the fact that you can't leave the aux out un-muted when you mute the board. I find as an IEM user sometimes it is helpful to be able to work on my IEM mix while the FOH is muted. Also in a hybrid gig with both wedges and IEM it allows me to mute FOH and the wedges but again leave the IEM on for the user. I know it isn't a biggie for most people but it was to myself and the band I was in at the time. Both of the Mackie's allow this.
Click to expand...

You can do that with an XR18. Just mute the busses feeding the wedges and the mains and don't mute the mix you are working on. I can't think of a mixer that you can't do that on.
 
#39
Droopy_TX said:
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but can you clarify in what way the X18 is expandable? Are you referring to the P16 monitoring hardware, or cascading mixers, or something else?

As an XR18 owner, I am mighty curious. Thanks!
Click to expand...
mostly the P16 side... only behringer has that on all its X series. Other X mixers have the AES50 connection which allows you to add “stage snakes” such as the S or SD boxes.
 
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