Qu-16 or QSC Touchmix for easier mixdown almost daw-less (or just Zoom L-12 is ok?)

Ubik2020

New member
Hello, after 20 years of no recording I plan to make a new project. I am a bit lost to keep up with recent gears.. Itried using DAW now but want to have more immediacy and buy a gear that enable me to use DAW at the minimun if not.

I want to record multitracks and mixdown possibly to the same machine but it seems Touchmix can only record the final stereo mix only to an outboard recorder, that will forcefully have double conversion and I fear to loose to much quality at that stage.

Which of these two machines enable me to have the more direct and easy mixdown to final stero track with the minimum use of DAW? I also noted the new Zoom Livetrak L12 can apparently self record the final mix and being a DAW audio interface I could still record the mix into a daw .. But my feeling says the Zoom audio quality might be far from both the qu16 and Touchmix..

Could you help me in my choice and kick me a tip for an easy solution?
Thanxs
 
How many simultaneous tracks do you need to record? I've been looking at both the QU-16 and Zoom L12 as well.
I would "guess" that the preamps in the QU-16 would be better than the Zoom, but not sure I'd be able to tell the difference.
The QU-16 has motorized faders which would allow for easy visible access to stored "scenes" of recording. The Zoom has a way of doing that electronically, but it's not as obvious.
I have a Zoom R16 so the L12 would probably be an easier learning curve for me, but I do like the idea of being able to record a full band, live with multiple drum mics and that makes the QU-16 more desirable.
I like making the final mix on my computer/DAW but it's nice to know you can do everything with either of these choices.
If your use case is professional recording of more than 8 inputs the QU-16 seems like the way to go.
If your use case is personal/casual recording of up to 8 inputs then maybe the Zoom is the way to go.
Not sure about the effects available in either system, that's why I use a DAW for mixing.
Curious to see what you choose and why!
 
I want to record multitracks and mixdown possibly to the same machine but it seems Touchmix can only record the final stereo mix only to an outboard recorder, that will forcefully have double conversion and I fear to loose to much quality at that stage.
Thanxs


I have a touchmix 16 and have done some multitrack live recordings at gigs, I usually mix in the computer at the studio after by exporting the files, but I am pretty sure that you can mix in the touchmix to a final mix file within the mixer itself. You have the channels in playback mode and arm the stereo master to record and you should get a stereo (or maybe it records as left and right mono track which is not a problem as you can still make it a stereo file later) from the playback.

Alan.
 
Hi Dave. I only need to record track by track as it's a solo project.. My fear on the zoom is the pre quality and its toy feeling.. The liking for me is the possibility to avoid Daw almost completely unless I want to do it.. Alan, I also thought your point makes sense but this was specifically denied by qsc when I contacted them for clarification. Possibly has to do with language issue of my funny terminology.. I said them i want to mixdown into the unit itself but they might have understood differently. I looked at their manual but page 16 is foggy for me
 
One thing more... I have a microbrute synth and I might want to take recordings in various places of the house. A qu-16 seems a solid stuff that not fun to move and will force me to compose in one place. In this respect both qsc and l12 fit the bill.
 
FWIW, I don't know either of these machines.

Zoom has come a long way since the R16 I used to own. The pres on the new R8 are way better. I abandoned the R16 for two reasons: phantom on one pair of inputs only and just 54 dB gain on the preamps. That's fine for recording a rock band, but it's not for ribbon mics on a quiet instrument and results in white noise. For everything else, I liked the R16.

According to the spec sheet, the L12 has 60 dB of gain and less noise. If it's like the R8, that brings it up to Sound Devices levels of quality.
 
In fact I am as well using condensers with acoustic instruments and white noise is my enemy although gating or a denoise might help? I might i have read they are the same than F series pre, supposedly their best sounding.
 
The pre's in the Zoom F8 recorder are clean and noiseless and won't need gating. The same goes for the older mixer/recorder R16, but these get noisy at high gain. That's a small problem if you use ribbon mics or low-sensitivity dynamic mics, like the Senn MD21 on quiet sources.

If you use a high output condenser, say an NT1, it's no problem. But as you only have two inputs with phantom power on the R16, it kind of kills the portability if you need to take a few phantom power boxes too. One of the charms of the R16 is that it can run on batteries.

The only "noiseless" preamps I know are from Sound Devices or RME. There are others, of course, but usually not in the price range of a Zoom R16 :D

I hope the preamps in the L12 are of the same class as the new F8 recorder. If they are, I might even buy an L12, despite the fact that it has a lot of christmas lights. It really looks like a very useable little box.
 
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Qsc insists that mixdown inside the unit cannot be done.. Still looking for audio quality feedback of zoom plus qsc, if any
 
Qsc insists that mixdown inside the unit cannot be done.. Still looking for audio quality feedback of zoom plus qsc, if any


It actually says you can mix down a live show later using the mixer? I have never done it on mine but a friend is using his as a home studio so I am sure he is doing it. I will read the manual tomorrow and Sus it out.
Who at Qsc is saying it can’t be done?

Alan

Found it already, page 16 of manual, Internal mix down to 2 track.
 
Agree with you...to dont infring any privacy or making public a private mail i sent it to you as private message. Maybe as to do my question was not clear? Have a look please,,,The type of response is also not fully align with my msg to them
 
Hi bought qsc today.. First track i recorded seems very good. Clean sound not far from the audient interface sound quality, at first glance..
 
Thanks Dave.. Portability to record any place and supposedly fair quality pre and conversion designed by Mackie team. On top the learning curve seems easy..
 
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