Have Mixer or Mixerless?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sax_fan
  • Start date Start date

Have Mixer or Mixerless?

  • I use an analog mixer

    Votes: 184 45.2%

  • I use a digital mixer

    Votes: 54 13.3%

  • I use a mixer, but only for monitoring

    Votes: 60 14.7%

  • I've gone mixerless and I'm not goin' back!

    Votes: 109 26.8%
  • Total voters
    407
what do you mean mixing out of the box? or how can you mix a song with an analog mixer?
 
digital here tascam dm24 but i may go mixerless with a control surface one day debating
 
All in the digital world. I'm not against having a mixer, if I ever upgrade my studio to a different space I'd probably include an analog mixer just to have that option. But for now, tracking and mixing just with the PC works fine for me.
 
sax_fan said:
Just curious. How many people are using mixers vs. going mixerless and mixing "in the box." Why do you prefer one or the other? If you have a mixer, is it analog or digital?
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Mixerless, I am completely Guerilla.
 
Emusic said:
Without a motorized fader console, you can only operate either one fader or one group at the same time.
I use Logic and no control surface, but I find it more easy to "paint" in the volume as the track tags along. This allows a very pinpointed accuracy of the volume of the track.
The way I work, that suits me fine.
If I worked more towards recording live sessions/multitracking I would have missed a moto control surface.
And you gonna love Logic once you get the hang of it. I used Cubase/Sonar earlier and after 3 days of total frustration with Logic I finally got the hang of the basics.
Logic has since then totally taken the throne for me, working with songwriting and some vocal production.
Garageband is cool and fast, but a little optionless when it comes to the heavy programming/effect stuff.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
I love Logic and have done some heavy multitracking and mixing in it, It has 9 different (at least, maybe more) view options and one of them is a 'real' mixing board.

There is very little that Logic cannot do.
 
I Mix in the box but I also have a BCF2000 control surface for tactile control which is the best $79 I think I ever spent.
I find mixing goes way faster with a control surface than a mouse and I'm less inclined to be lazy about making little tweaks than I would be with a mouse and painting automation onto the tracks.
 
For actual mixing I use the mixer in the DAW app, which as of late has been Reaper. I really like being able to key in a specific gain level. But, I do have a SamsonMDR6 I use for routing the output of my PC to my monitors, and all my sound sources into the PC. It works pretty good, and I also have the ability to fine tune all my levels going in. If I clip no problem, the fix is only a slider away! It also gives me the option of D.I., mic'ed, or both.

So, really I use both.
 
I'll jump on this thread... I have been absent for years but I use:
Mackie 32X8bus board which is extremely versatile. It's really 64 channels thanks to the Mix-B function. I know mackie gets a bad rap but I like the pre-amp although I do have 4 outboard preamps as well that go into a patch bay and get directed into my converters. (however the monitoring shows up on the mixer).

So when I track I use the Input channels for tracking either by way of sub busses or direct out (usually direct out) to 16 channels of AD conversion by means of a pair of RME ADI-8's.

Then I mix in Nuendo.
Send it back out through the DA part of the RME's to the Mix-B inputs on the board. It allows for extremely versatile monitoring (pretty much overkill). I had the board for years before I actually read the manual. I was using only half of the functions.
It really is an excellent board but then again many people have more knowledge than I do.
Built in Talk back, headphone amp, mix-b, control rooms, mains. It has everything you need. I also have the metering bridge which is probably not as useful as the meters on Nuendo but still looks pretty. :)

Although all of this stuff is sitting in storage until I finish building my new basement.

I mix in the box though and need to find some control surfaces to use but I'm also a perpetual novice so I am usually a little behind the times. I liked the Tascam 24 channel one they had but I don't know if they still make that. Also for mixing, i don't mind the mouse so much, but I need the dual video monitors. Once you go with a dual display you cannot just go back to one.
 
I use a behringer (prepares to duck rotten fruit thrown) just as a way of routing everything at once. Since my recorder (Tascam DP01 stand-alone) only has 2 inputs, I use the main out of the 12 channel mixer into the recorder. I don't use more that 2 channels at a time unless its the 4 drum mics. So I don't really use it so much as a mixer as for a easy access control.

Other than that I just find the stereo inputs coming in from my guitar modeller, bass modeller, sampler and drum machine are much more convenient than constantly plugging and unplugging from the recorder's inputs. If I want the guitar going in, I just turn up channel 5-6, the bass for 7-8 and so on. It's definitely more for convenience in routing than for the preamps on the mics. At least it has phantom power and EQs for the mic channels 1-4.
 
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