Where is your console in the signal chain?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dingwall
  • Start date Start date
D

dingwall

New member
Hey everyone,

I just figured I would strike up a conversation about the use of consoles now-a-days. With the use computers and the ability to mix "in the box".. there are now a lot of studios that don't even have consoles. And there are some studios that do, but don't use them the same way they were used 30 years ago. And there are studios that use the console's the same way they always did.

Now.. for those of you who have consoles in your studio.. where do they come into play?


Is your console...
a) used only for preamps and you mix in the box afterwards?
b) used for preamps and mix down (maybe you mix FROM the box)
c) you use your channel strips as inserts for you DAW
d) anything else!

I've heard of a thousand uses. Some more practical than others.

And also.. whether you mix in or out of the box. What are your preferences for processing? Do you use a lot of analog outboard stuff.. or do you rely on plugins from your DAW?
 
i have an alesis multimix16 firewire mixer. i basically run everything to that, and then the signal goes to the computer. i use standalone pre's for my mics, then from there to my mixer. if i am using more than three mics than i would use the phantom power on the board, though i have yet to use more than two mics at once with my set-up.

my mixing is all done in the software, with plug-ins. i honestly dont use those heavily though, maybe a bit of compression for certain tracks, eq on nearly every track, and a few others for the main mix. its all light though, i have been trying to record the sound as best i can, and then try not to mess around too much with effects or anything. the plug-ins are mainly just to try to get the tracks all balanced together, and genereally trying to get them to sound good as a whole, but i suck hahaha.

for monitoring i go from the board to a monitor controller then to the speakers. when i listen back on headphones i go right from the mixer.
the headphone amp goes off off the monitor controller when recording.

i dont use any outboard gear for mixing as of yet. maybe in the future i would try to mess around with it, but for now i am trying to hone my skills with what i have.
 
Mix ITB.
Mackie' has evolved pretty much to the point of only doing direct monitoring of outboard pres, head phone mixes and some external effects routing back into Sonar. The last step was to take it out of the monitor/playback loop. And of course it's still a keeper for all the other general duties a mixer is good to have around for.
Monitoring is through Central Station. :)
 
Right now I'm using my mixer to feed a headphone amp and two sepate sets of Studio monitors. That's it. Soon I hope to get a new console that I can use my DAW as a tape machine. You know, use the pres and mixdown analog instead of in the box. I have some outboard pres that are great but I need more inputs available and a larger console seems to be the best way to acheive it.
 
I currently use the console for monitoring and mixing to 2 track. I use a lot of hardware synths and effects/processors so I primarily use the computer as a recording medium and for MIDI control

I record vocals, and guitars direct to computer via A/D converters and them bring them out of the computer via D/A though the console (where they are mixed with all the hardware synths drum modules, etc.)

During the next year I plan to do more mixing inside the box (I will be gradually changing from Sonar to Pro Tools) and the console will then be almost exclusively used for monitoring. However, I don't think I'll be ready to lose the console and do everything inside the box any time soon.
 
I use my mixer as synth/module inputs and routing audio via various bits of outboard gear back to the Mac via audio interface ins. It is also the last stage before monitoring so I can run the mix to headphones for tracking vocals and my stereo hifi for A/B purposes.

Dags
 
I track and mix through mine. Insert points to processors, Aux sends to set up cue mixes, all that jazz. Buss and direct outs to the HD24 and back to the tape returns. Mix down to the computer.
 
I don't use the pramps in my console at all. I have outboard preamps for that (much higher quality). I mix exclusively through the console and when tracking, to set up cue mixes.
 
I think a lot of this depends also on not just preference, but what console you have and how it is laid out. I use my console on the front end for preamps and line inputs from outboard preamps, as a control room monitoring source, to create latency free auxilliary mixes, for EQ's and depending on what project I am doing mixing as well. Then again, my console has a feature set and sonic quality that Mackie could only dream of. Of course it didn't cost the same either.
 
I use mine for recording drums, as i don't have enough outboard preamps of the same kind to do this. I have also moded some of the channels on the board, so those channels offer another preamp choice.

I run the outboard preamps right into my Motu and using the cuemix, send those signals to channels on the board for latency free monitoring and making headphone mixes. The way I have it set up, I can make 3 different stereo headphone mixes, all different than the control room mix that I'm listening to.

Sometimes I will send something out of the computer to run it through my outboard gear. Every once in a while, for a band with the budget, I will send all the channels out of the computer and mix on the board. I don't do it that often because of the lack of recall and the time it takes.
 
How much does the Mixer effect the sound of the Monitoring chain if at all?

I pretty much just use my mixer for Monitoring - Mains and headphones and have thought about getting something like the Central Station.

I have a Soundcraft Spirit F1... My DA converters go In and then I go right out to my Monitors. I have wondered for a few years if the Spirit electronics effect my Monitored sound much.

B.
 
Last edited:
mixsit said:
Mix ITB.
Mackie' has evolved pretty much to the point of only doing direct monitoring of outboard pres, head phone mixes and some external effects routing back
Click to expand...
+1 same here with my mackie 24*4.

occasionally i'll use it for its mic preamps.....for DI boxes or toms or something that i can't handle with my outboard. in those cases, i tap the inserts for direct outs which bypasses the eq and summing amps.

but mostly it handles headphone sends and direct monitoring from outboard mic pres. although since i've got a handful of transformer isolated mic splitters, i tend to send one line to the mic pre and the other to the mackie for monitoring.

i never had it in the outbound signal path. i knew i didn't want that. ;)


cheers,
wade
 
My Auditronics console is in Birmingham, Alabama, so it's not in my signal chain right now. It's a small miracle that I found out where it is and will be able to recover it! Then I will face a tough choice that is perfectly framed by your question. Do I still need it as a console, now that I no longer have the 1" 8 track machine to mix down from? Should I just mix in the box? Should I pull out those groovy preamp/EQ modules and rack them? I'm leaning that way, but haven't made a final decision.

Cheers,

Otto
 
I have one of the new mackie onyx 1640's, and i use it for live pa in the studio, it has the firewire option so it also go to the pc. I use the preamps in the mixer. I do all the the mix down and editing in sonar. Also use it with my monitors.
 
This seems like a good place to make my first post:

I use a mixer in Studios A and B. Studio C is for editing and finising.

Studios A and B: I feed all external audio sources (mics, keys, modules, turntables, etc) up to 48 channels through the board and then into a DAW. I'll often do this with VSTi and audio tracks also then do a rough mix inside the DAW. If the client wants an artistic mix, I'll run 8, 16, 24, 36 or 48 channels out of the DAW and back into the board and then onto DAT.

Studio C: All mix/manipulation happens inside the DAW and the channels come out in 2, 2.1, 5.1, 7.1, and 9.2 formats.

Though many projects may begin and end inside the DAW, I prefer to move real faders in realtime with both hands as if the mixer itself is an instrument. I've tried to do this using MIDI controllers but its not the same.
 
Adam P said:
I track and mix through mine. Insert points to processors, Aux sends to set up cue mixes, all that jazz. Buss and direct outs to the HD24 and back to the tape returns. Mix down to the computer.
Click to expand...

I do the exact same Adam P, except I mix down to a 1/4" tape machine and then convert to digital from there. What kind of board you using with your HD?

dingwall, I would think using a console is about as easy as using a computer when setting levels and tweaking things while tracking, but a console allows you to mix "on the fly" during mixdown...you know, pulling down that one backup vocal that voiced a word or two a little too close to the mic for 2 seconds or so that the compressor won't fully squash, at the same point in the song where the lead guitar track needs to be brought up a bit because the first note of the solo doesn't quite cut through the mix and you want to take a little of the high end out of a crash cymbal during the next hit, say 5 seconds into the solo, because you want the crash present during the solo but maybe a little less high end during the solo so not to compete with the guit solo. That's what works for me, but everyone is different.
 
Nice. How is the CAD? How are the pres? EQ? I'm using a Mackie 24.8 I picked up a couple of years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top