Digital Mixers. Now adding NAMM 2015 entries

[Geri O]

I realise this has been going a few days but just to throw a couple of my experiences into the ring-

The iPad mixing is good enough I think to make the X32 rack almost usable alone for a live situation. We have an X32 rack and a full sized X32 console, and even with the full console I still run an iPad by my side as I use the full console - as mentioned some of the features (EQs, some mon sends, etc) and just faster on the iPad than even on the full console.
The X32 rack does have front controls which in theory do give you adjustment of all the parameters, so you aren't in the dark, but you wouldn't want to operate by it. You might be able to do some clever things with little units like the BCF2000 to give control of 8 channels but I haven't tried that in the flesh yet.

The X32 and X32-Rack together do make a good pair, as the X32-Rack can be used as a stage box (in place of an S16), but unlike the S16 can also perform the proper processing duties for the gigs that are smaller than need the full X32 console, and can be run from an iPad.

The SM Pro Audio UMix series do look great, but we pre-ordered one, being assured a delivery date "within one or two weeks" - this was in August 2014 - they have been perpetually "one or two weeks from shipping!" for months now. The price point does look great though and the iPad interface is excellent, being designed for touchscreen from the outset rather than being a digital copy of an analogue layout (things like gain on sliders rather than onscreen rotary pots) - however since we found the iPad app of the Behringer so usable we cancelled the UMix pre-orders as we didn't want to have to get familiar with two apps if using the other manufacturer for the smaller gigs.

Man, sounds you got a really good thing going on there. I've heard about the delays with the UMix. I hope they get it off the ground.

 

[thoward]

I hope so too - I was excited about it back in the summer and had one pre-ordered and was recommending it for people as well, but I've stopped recommending now or mentioning it to anyone until they start shipping.
Just to clarify as well I'm not describing a fixed band setup - I work supporting many different kinds of events (in a college) so we have an inventory of kit we can scale depending on the size of event. Would be nice for a band setup though! Though that's even as a dedicated front of house sound engineer in front of the X32 I'm still running an iPad due to the usability of the app.

 

[morgansterne]

does anybody use the x32 rack mixer with an android device? My new group wants to get one of the x32 rack units but absolutely it has to work with our android devices. Curious about ease of use and setup.
I am familiar with digital mixers but never have used a wireless type before.

 

[thoward]

Which android are you trying with? We have X32 rack and full consoles and although I don't have any android tablets I think one of our techs does.

 

[morgansterne]

I have a generic android tablet, a samsung rugby pro phone, no apple devices. I'm not sure which devices the other band members have, but the drummer has told us that he won't buy it until he's sure it will play nice with android devices.

 

[EastCoastThump]

No personal experience w/ Android, but do a search for <"Mixing Station" app>. It will run the X32 rack from an Android device. Available on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], manual [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], a Youtube demo, and a fair bit of discussion on forums if you search.

 

[Tunaman]

New Midas Mixers for NAMM 2015

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Holy FREAKING Moly...

Look at the similarities between the 2 rears... haha

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[jimfist]

oooh....aaaaahhhh.

 

[s0c9]

New Midas Mixers for NAMM 2015
Holy FREAKING Moly...
Look at the similarities between the 2 rears... haha

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Heck, take a detailed look at the X32 user guide and compare to the M32 if you want "close".
Then do the same for the firmware for both products... A = B ! (95%)

 

[seamonkey]

If a layout works might as well re-use it.
No sense re-inventing what works
If it's cable compatible with other boards - all the better!

 

[4Mal]

I'm really jazzed by the rack DL-32 and RM-32 ... Getting more comfortable with the thought of no interface. Heck I mix my own band on the DL-806 and in reality... There is no panic button there... Maybe I can get over it...

 

[Tunaman]

I'm really jazzed by the rack DL-32 and RM-32 ... Getting more comfortable with the thought of no interface. Heck I mix my own band on the DL-806 and in reality... There is no panic button there... Maybe I can get over it...

Those thing just scare me a bit. I want a console in case something goes wrong with the ipad (dropped, not charged etc)


The M32R is due to be in available mid Feb... I think thats reasonable considering its probably 95% the x32 compact. People are bitching about it not recording in 96khz Its a 48khz desk. Not sure it would be THAT different for a live performance anyway. Maybe wont be your ideal recording studio desk then. If its the same price as the x32 compact it may be worth a shot

 

[4Mal]

I had the same reaction to No Knobs ? I am everybit as screwed if the DL806 takes a dive. I have had a few hiccups, all surmounted though... Used ipad 3's are pulling $150 loaded with memory on the Portland CL. A few spares might be the ticket. I carry a few apple chargers to sound gigs and have one in the dL 806 gig bag. It just makes sense to Spend $20 and be prepared. I've used it when the iPad with my lyrics was drained and I didn't check...

Just spent some quality time reading on the M32 R. Having trouble seeing where it fits... To me it's kinda of a tweener. 16 channel I/O is a show stopper for me. I still need to move 32 channels to the board so another box to buy and some channels come in on the relatively dated aes50 port while some are wired up via XLR. Still need a traditional snake or yet more boxes to buy. Doesn't really make things more efficient for me.

 

[Tunaman]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

This should be shipping soon... man its cheap & its got all the software. You have a LOT of money not paying for motorized faders, LCD screens etc. Works on Android. $699 out of the gate, 15% off the usual standard discount could get it down to $600 which is tempting. Open source vs Mackie which is closed Ive read

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Tunaman]

Tested out the QU-16 at GC today. that thing is just plain built well. What a great board... but I keep coming back to not being able to adjust knobs on the fly as we play now... why get a digital mixer with them? I'm leaning towards the X-air.

We sounded like crap last gig & our guitar player just can't adjust while playing while having in ear monitors in... whats the point of giving him knobs & faders vs giving my soundman father in law in the crowd the ipad to make it happen?

 

[walterw]

Tested out the QU-16 at GC today. that thing is just plain built well. What a great board... but I keep coming back to not being able to adjust knobs on the fly as we play now...

you can't? doesn't it do ipad/phone control as well?

as for IEMs, your guitar player might have a better shot at acclimating if he can adjust his own mix rather than frantically hand-signalling the soundguy all night.

 

[Tunaman]

you can't? doesn't it do ipad/phone control as well?

as for IEMs, your guitar player might have a better shot at acclimating if he can adjust his own mix rather than frantically hand-signalling the soundguy all night.

The QU-16 is fantastic & if I had the scratch I'd get it but for $699 the XR-18 will save so much I could buy 3 android tabs to boot... which is what we are going to use to control the thing anyway... not the knobs\faders. QU-16 is IOS only BOO !

 

[Rockin Mike]

Did some studying & comparison of the Presonus RM-32 and the Mackie DL-32 last night on the web.
I wanted to like the Presonus. I'm using their Audiobox 1818VSL recording interface with their Digimax D8 right now, mixing and recording rehearsals in 16 tracks with no board, just the mixer built into their Studio One DAW. Works like a charm but it's an ancestor of the newer stuff and lacks some features, but I digress.

I wanted to like the RM-32 but I found out you really need 2 computers to run it right. It won't record straight to a USB hard drive. The recording interface is Firewire and it has to talk to their Capture or Studio One software running on Windows or Mac. So, your recording computer is tethered to the rack by the firewire (good luck finding a laptop with firewire nowadays) and you still need an iPad to do the wireless control.

The Mackie DL-32 has (looks like) velcro straps on top where you can secure a wireless router and USB hard drive, done.

Firewire is a great protocol for recording music, but it doesn't do me any good if I can't find a laptop with modern big CPU and memory plus firewire. Can't even find one with an expressport to add a firewire card anymore.

 

[walterw]

The QU-16 is fantastic & if I had the scratch I'd get it but for $699 the XR-18 will save so much I could buy 3 android tabs to boot... which is what we are going to use to control the thing anyway... not the knobs\faders. QU-16 is IOS only BOO !

lots of pros don't seem comfortable with the idea of no physical knobs, but i swear when the SL first came out and started taking over the bar band world, my first thought upon seeing the (frankly confusing to me) board itself and their ipad app that did the same thing but better (because the faders actually "moved" and represented what the board was really doing) my first thought was to wonder why we needed that bulky board with all those expensive and breakable plastic knobs and sliders at all! why couldn't it just be a "black box" with ipad control?

and that's of course what mackie did with the 1608, and what is happening all over the place now.

 

[Rockin Mike]

I think the physical complexity of a board makes it more likely to have problems. I wonder how much it costs to replace a broken slider motor? With the ipad as tunaman said you can always carry a spare. One thing I don't like about digital interfaces is having to flip through screen after screen to get at the setting you want. On an analog board everything is right there in front of you. I like that about the Studio One mixer and VSL too... the layout is like a physical board, everything is right up front.