mixer DAW control

braden_

braden_

New member
are there budget friendly options for this? excuse my newbishness, but i didn't realize it was possible until recently. i always thought mixing on the mixer was separate from mixing on the DAW, i didn't know they could be linked. i heard about it logic pro for macs and the yamaha n12 i guess can be linked to a DAW.

am i completely misunderstanding? basically what i'm getting at is moving a knob on the mixer and it moving the "knob" on the DAW.

to me, that sounds like the way to go. i know i want to record digitally, but i like hardware mixing.

and feel free to call me an idiot for being wrong about any of this.

those of you with mixers.. do your mixers control your DAW? or do you mix on the mixer and sends that signal to the DAW where you can further mix?
 
Braden, this is a great question! I still remember when I first found out about mixers and control surfaces :)

The Yamaha N12 is a combination mixer/interface. It will not control your DAW in the manner you're thinking of, but rather is a way to do mixing "outside of the box" in a similar way you would on an analog system.

When you're referring to is called a control surface. A control surface is basically a glorified mouse, in that knobs and faders are assigned to specific controls on your DAW. However, this can save a lot of time in mixing, and can give you better control over your DAW. They make several types of these, ranging from little to lots of features, or single to multiple channel. Some examples of a single channel control surface would be the Frontier Design Alphatrack (which I own) and the Presonus Faderport. These allow you to control one channel at a time. However, things like the Mackie Control Universal and the Euphonix MC Control offer much more channels and control, and can simulate mixing the old fashioned way with knobs and faders, even though it's still all happening "inside the box"

I hope that clears some stuff up for you. Control Surfaces can get pretty expensive, especially once you start adding lots of features. Specifically ones with motorized faders are pricy, but really, you can turn anything wtih knobs or sliders into a control surface and it will effect what's on the screen, but the real key is having what's on the screen effect your control surface, which is why motorized faders are so important.
 
Behringer BCF 2000. Good price, motorized faders etc, can emulate Mackie control and works with almost anything. Can be had new for under 200 bucks and I've seen em on ebay for under 100 bucks.

Yeah it's a behringer but so what, it doesn't touch the sound, it just controls the DAW faders etc thru MIDI commands
 
Bristol Posse said:
Behringer BCF 2000. Good price, motorized faders etc, can emulate Mackie control and works with almost anything. Can be had new for under 200 bucks and I've seen em on ebay for under 100 bucks.

Yeah it's a behringer but so what, it doesn't touch the sound, it just controls the DAW faders etc thru MIDI commands
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And they can be linked. At that price, I'm thinking about 3 or 4 of them, linking them, and having a 24 or 32 channel control surface. :)
 
WhiteStrat said:
And they can be linked. At that price, I'm thinking about 3 or 4 of them, linking them, and having a 24 or 32 channel control surface. :)
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Yup,
I have 2 and enjoy having tactile control of 16 channels for less than 250 bucks. Mixing goes way faster than using the mouse and I find I'm less lazy about making tweaks so the songs end up sounding better (at least to me anyway)
 
Bristol Posse said:
Yup,
I have 2 and enjoy having tactile control of 16 channels for less than 250 bucks. Mixing goes way faster than using the mouse and I find I'm less lazy about making tweaks so the songs end up sounding better (at least to me anyway)
Click to expand...

It's good to hear that you like them. I'm looking forward to having hands-on access to the mixes. I spend so much time moving around in the various windows with a mouse. I get what you're saying about being likely to make more tweaks--I can totally see that.
 
Bristol Posse said:
Yup,
I have 2 and enjoy having tactile control of 16 channels for less than 250 bucks. Mixing goes way faster than using the mouse and I find I'm less lazy about making tweaks so the songs end up sounding better (at least to me anyway)
Click to expand...

What multitrack software do you run with these mixers?
 
Bristol Posse said:
I'm using ACID Pro 7 from Sony and use the BCF2000 in Mackie Control Emulation mode. It took about 90 seconds to set up :)
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I am hoping to use the same software actually! I am psyched since I am buying one from Craigslist for $75 tonight...

Now I need to upgrade my audio interface but my UX2 will do for now....
 
Alvysyngr said:
I am hoping to use the same software actually! I am psyched since I am buying one from Craigslist for $75 tonight...

Now I need to upgrade my audio interface but my UX2 will do for now....
Click to expand...

There's a section in the downloadable Acid Pro manual (available at sonycreativesoftware.com) specifically about setting up the BCF2000. Follow it and everything should run just fine
 
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