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Digital mixers ... can anyone compare quality ?
- Thread starter pfschim
- Start date
This question of tablets overheating makes me go hmmmm....(Not the guitar amp for a change....)
I live in central MS where it gets just ghastly hot and very humid.
I've never had a tablet (all iPads, now a 13" iPad Pro) overheat while I was using it. One of younger cohorts has his iPad overheat and shut down recently because he set it on a sub or something right out in the sun! We could hardly touch the thing, it was so hot. But mine did fine and I made sure that it never swat in direct sunlight or any length of time.
Keep 'em shaded. And have a spare some kind of device nearby as a spare, as has been mentioned earlier. A long time ago, my iPad at the time went missing and I had to beg and borrow a player's iPad.
Until I noticed my young grandson at the time sitting behind the monitors playing games on mine. Frankly, I thought that was hilarious. Didn't get mad, I just asked for it back, and to give him my phone, everyone died laughing when they realized what was going on!
I live in central MS where it gets just ghastly hot and very humid.
I've never had a tablet (all iPads, now a 13" iPad Pro) overheat while I was using it. One of younger cohorts has his iPad overheat and shut down recently because he set it on a sub or something right out in the sun! We could hardly touch the thing, it was so hot. But mine did fine and I made sure that it never swat in direct sunlight or any length of time.
Keep 'em shaded. And have a spare some kind of device nearby as a spare, as has been mentioned earlier. A long time ago, my iPad at the time went missing and I had to beg and borrow a player's iPad.
Until I noticed my young grandson at the time sitting behind the monitors playing games on mine. Frankly, I thought that was hilarious. Didn't get mad, I just asked for it back, and to give him my phone, everyone died laughing when they realized what was going on!
I use the Midas M32 and the Behringer X32? At two different venues. Both pretty good. My concern with digital mixers for live sound was the fact that unlike with analog boards, in order to do one thing you need to press multiple buttons which slowa you down. Both Midas and Behringer have the knobs very accessible. The pres on Midas sound better to me although I cannot A/B them so that might not be the case.
for anyone interested, I just posted 2 mint, like new Soundcraft Ui units for sale in the classifieds..
I wish midas would release a 32 rack it would be nice having the upgraded pres onboard
s0c9
Supporting Member
I had to show a pro sound guy (meaning it's what he did for a living) how to setup up and configure stereo IEM mixes w/ remote IEM mixing access via router on an M32 at a nationally known venue that shall remain nameless.
Not sure I'd spend the extra $$$ to upgrade my X32R to an "M32R" [if they built it] just to get the "genuine" Midas pre's tho'..
YMMV
Me neither. By the time you are arguing such minute performance improvements, use a full size M32.
I decided against the M series when I bought the X, as well.
Things like gain structure, quality mic cables, quality mics and DIs, and good instruments and mic’ing techniques go a lot further towards improved input signal than spending a cents more per converter for what I do.
We tried to use all 6 AUX for the first time last weekend. It isn’t as simple as flip of the toggle unfortunately.
Turns out the headphone outs are an identical stereo signals. If you are using them as headphones, both outputs would send a set of cans the same mix.
When they are switched from PHONES to AUX, the stereo signal is still identical, but the left channel is AUX 5 and the right is AUX 6. You need a cable to split the stereo signal to separate left and right or 5 & 6 will get the same mix…or 6 is just dead if you use a mono cable like we did.
Thanks for that info. I've never actually done it. I don't use the ui16 often, although I own one. That wasn't terribly well thought out
While were at it, why did they put the ethernet port, on/off switch, and powercord on the side, making it damn hard to rack mount. I had to buy drop-in cases for all mine.
would any of you more experienced sound folks choose an analog board over a digital board these days ?
I have been paying more attention to the various PA's that the bands I'm in use, and I can absolutely see the benefit of the analog board with each of the pre/input controls all available at once (channel strip style) instead of having to flip menus on a digital control surface.
The other benefit seems to be that due to the strong demand for digital boards, the analog boards (at least in the sizes that I am interested in ... 16 or 18 inputs) are fairly cheap by comparison (at least it seems that way after a quick check on the web today).
I have been paying more attention to the various PA's that the bands I'm in use, and I can absolutely see the benefit of the analog board with each of the pre/input controls all available at once (channel strip style) instead of having to flip menus on a digital control surface.
The other benefit seems to be that due to the strong demand for digital boards, the analog boards (at least in the sizes that I am interested in ... 16 or 18 inputs) are fairly cheap by comparison (at least it seems that way after a quick check on the web today).
s0c9
Supporting Member
Being an [relatively] experienced sound guy, I would chose digital over analog
Why? Because you will also need a truckload of outboard devices with a pure analog board to support effects and so on. All of that [normally] comes with even the "cheap" digital boards. For $600 you can get 16 channels with full parametric EQ, a full set of effects - compressor, reverb, delay, chorus (+ variations thereof) and complex routing support, and some also have built-in wifi (that I would never use). One can also save the ENTIRE configuration for that gig, and recall it next time you go back there. Minor tweaks next time.
For $1000 the feature set increases. $2k you get better quality everything..
Sure.. the workflow on an analog board is "right there at your fingertips" and I used to be in that boat that I had to have that.
I've gotten so used to running digital that it no longer bothers me not being able to "grab a fader", but one can STILL do that on the large format consoles.
Caveat: if you only gig a couple of times a month, or year, then the expense and learning curve are probably NOT worth the effort unless you have a guy like me in the band
Digital all the way. 48 compressors, 18 GEQ's, a million more really inportant features, plus WAY easier to navigate the huge number of outputs people are using today. With sends on fader I can see any aux mix instantly. Try running a dozen aux mixes in analog AAARG!
My work flow-from a zeroed mixer, to ready for sound check is proably 5x faster.
My work flow from zeroed analog mixer, to recalling a mix on digital is obviously 100x faster.
My work flow-from a zeroed mixer, to ready for sound check is proably 5x faster.
My work flow from zeroed analog mixer, to recalling a mix on digital is obviously 100x faster.
thanks for the more experienced insights. still kicking the tires on the idea of buying a PA and seeking as much informed input as I can before making any decisions.
While I can’t argue the Behringer has more aux outs at the price point, I will say that the Soundcraft Ui16 has the best interface and onboard effects/anti feedback/ etc of all the digital mixers at or near this price point. XR18 is ok - but the Ui is FAR more intuitive and imo quieter than the XR. I’ve played through all of them except the Mackie - nobody seems to want to buy them.
s0c9
Supporting Member
I would agree.. altho I went with the X32R when buying.. ONLY because of its expandable accessories - SD8/16, S16, P16 monitors, and the ability to have 16 output busses.
Other than that, the Ui24 would have been sitting in my rack instead.
