what are your observations?

as far as MixBus; i haven't had the chance to use it yet ....... lol.

it will probably be out of support by the time i get it going. i would have waited to buy it (MixBus) but at $40 (a promo deal that was about to expire), it's hard to get hurt. i'm sure the learning curve for both the newer computer and MixBus are contributing to my foot dragging. it is loaded and ready to go (i think).

my plans are to drag my old production computer and transfer all the files via lightpipe off it. i will be transferring ADAT tapes into the new system too. then i want to go through all the hard drives from old machines that died and get all the audio files off them as well as transfer dat and cassette tapes i want to archive. this way all my work will be on one machine where i can back it up to several different places. then i can take a dirt nap.

just got some monitors last week and still hooking up the p/b. i'm really stumped as to what i should hook up and what i should sell. .... financially "challenged" but i need a summing mixer .... trying to sell something i don't need in order to buy a LittleOne 8.

I'm assuming you are doing this to archive? If so, you'd be way further ahead finding a higher end 2 channel AD and staying ITB. imho, you are only going to smear the crap out of everything.

If I am understanding your plans, why don't your sell everything related to Round Trip and look into a better archiving AD? It might open up something new in audio you haven't thought of? I sold a Lavry AD11 for $1000! Its a killer 2 channel AD / pre combo via USB. It would put most AD's and mid level pre's to shame. I bet you could find one for even less than that today. I wish I never sold mine.

Just thinking how to get you better results over this.

yes, i want to archive everything i can. a lot of the stuff i want to work on will be files that are 24 to 32 tracks ....

i also want to be able to track 8 tracks live if i want. a 2 track in and out won't do.

also i remain unconvinced i can be happy with itb summing. i'm not against trying but i don't want to paint myself into a corner ..... i am still thinking hardware comps and verbs and otb summing yield a superior result. it's difficult to lay down the torch just because someone else claims to have seen the light. it will be interesting to compare.

High end DA AD captured to a uncoupled device is superior but not Round Trip on a budget, especially with what you are going to use. If it was this easy, we'd all be doing it and making a profit.

See if the guy making those box's will sponsor you. If it really does it for you, if its a winner, we'll give him a place to tell the world how cool this really is, he'll have my vote. If we're convinced its a clear turn key solution that will improve music this affordable, lets let it be known!
If is doesn't smears the printed DAW track, I'd be amazed. Analog injection may add some sort of warmth, but the smearing that occurs kills the mids every-time.

I just dumped a $5000 comp because a digital comp followed by a mastering limiter on the capture DAW was a clear winner.

all i know Chris is i've tried it both ways and i like otb better for now. of course with my new DAW i may have to change my mind but we will see.

audiokid, post: 421781, member: 1 wrote: See if the guy making those box's will sponsor you

yeah, been there, got the tee shirt. i'm not even set up yet .... don't want to be in a position where i am beholden to someone.
i need to sell a pair of AKG pencil mics so i can buy the LittleOne 8. it's perfect for my rig.

No worries about beholding. Say it like it is, Kurt. You aren't writing an article or promising anyone anything. We at RO, are interested it supporting the deserving. Period.

I'll give the manufacturer an ad that is worth way more than his best box. That approach is truth and if people have confidence, they will rise to the occasion. If not, doesn't hurt. You have my blessing on this one.

NOTE: If he gives me one too, which I would hope he would also, because I will use it with an M-2b. (nothing rivals that pre for pure huge).
Try your luck. You are going to get it anyway. ;)

I would love to see this out do ITB. I'm all setup for it right now. I have the best converters, high end cabling, and a variety of choice pre's right here. Lets help people who deserve it I say.

FWIW, look after yourself on this but if it grows into something here, I would need anything with 1-8 dsub ins from the Orion32 analog outs and will sum a balanced 3pin into the line ins of a Prism Atlas AD> uncoupled to a capture DAW.

Good luck.

that's a very generous proposal Chris. thanks. i'll give it some thought.

PM me.

LOL... if Kurt doesn't take advantage, I will. ;)

The reason I was asking about Mixbus and it's stock GR is because I find that it works better than any third-party compressor plug I use with it.

My thoughts are that

1.) it's coded for the platform, so it would be intended to work best, and

2.) because of the nature of Mixbus, and it's very "analogy" sound in general, the GR goes hand in hand with it... the compressor that MixBus uses is intended to replicate a Harrison channel compressor, which were very "musical" sounding, but also a little slow.

That's all. ;)

DonnyThompson, post: 421786, member: 46114 wrote: The reason I was asking about Mixbus and it's stock GR is because I find that it works better than any third-party compressor plug I use with it.

is that just with MixBus or across the "board"?

i'm anxious to try MixBus out. also consideriing "Airwindows Console3" .... might be worth looking into. it would be so cool to have an uncluttered work space .... Lap Top, i/o26, / KRK 5s. loose the patch bays and outboard ..... it's tempting. but then if i mix something and it sounds like sh*t no matter what i do, what the hell good is that? i'm hoping we have finally reached a point where we can do this on a computer.

MixBus, [[url=http://[/URL]="

"]Airwindows[/]="

"]Airwindows[/] and a LittleOne 8 sounds like a killer combination.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds as though we are talking about two separate but related things in this thread. Kurt, as I understand it, you want to backup all your archive audio material at the track level (from ADAT tapes, old hard drives, DAT tapes, cassettes etc) to more modern storage, but also set up a live tracking system and a mix station involving a passive summer both for re-mixing from old multi-track sources and for new material?

For the backup process, the only source you've mentioned that needs A-D conversion is cassettes, and almost any converter will be adequate there. All the rest is digital transfer, although that can bring its own difficulties. For the ADAT tapes, I remember you saying you have an Alesis iO|26, and that has a pair of lightpipe inputs that you probably would want to use for this type of transfer, so would you transfer 8 or 16 tracks at a time and then line up the blocks of tracks in your DAW?

For the mix activity, the passive summer should work well, but, as Chris says, the result is very dependent on the quality of the A-D that you use for digitizing the 2-bus mix. Because a passive summer is attenuating, you would either need an A-D with analog gain or use a quality pre-amp in front of a 4dBu A-D. The iO|26 has 8 line outs that you presumably would use for the source of individual tracks or pre-mixed stems.

Either way, unless I have misunderstood, I don't see you needing more than a good-quality stereo ADC for the capture PC. Surprising as it may seem, Audacity works well as a two-track capture DAW as long as you don't rely on any of its processes that perform signal modification.

ooops! i said Audacity when i meant Ardour ..... silly old me... (senior moments) ....

Boswell, post: 421795, member: 29034 wrote: For the ADAT tapes, I remember you saying you have an [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.alesis.c…"]Alesis[/]="http://www.alesis.c…"]Alesis[/] iO|26, and that has a pair of lightpipe inputs that you probably would want to use for this type of transfer, so would you transfer 8 or 16 tracks at a time and then line up the blocks of tracks in your DAW?

that's the plan ... if needed i can stripe smpte on the daw and lock the ADATS to that.

for the initial a/d, i'm sure the converters in the i/o26 will be just fine for me. those Cirrus converters are actually pretty good imo. you have to go deep in the pocket to beat them

for the moment, 2-bus will be converted to 96 or 88.2 thru an M Audio Fast Track (a Focusrite Forte would be nice) I have laying around ... any extra gain needed will be from the M-Audio, my JLM TMP8's or the MLA7. would love to get another STT-1 but i don't see that happening soon .... if i decide later i want better i'll deal with it.

Ardour is my choice for 2-bus to "mix" to because it's free and it's the same basic platform that Harrison uses for MixBus. any extra work needed for the stereo files can be transferred back to MixBus for further processing.

i just sold the mics so financing is on the way ... LittleOne 8 if i can find one or a LittleOne 16 .... db25 cable and AirWindows ... and if AirWindows is as good as it's touted to be, i may be able to get rid of the sum mixer and associated patch bays and hardware.

i hope this is going to finish gear purchases for this system and i see no reason i can't be up and running soon.

i think i'm in for little more or less @ $1k for the moment (computer / software/ speakers new hardware & cabling). if i can get rid of my hardware patch bays, compressor and reverbs, i will actually make money! then i might look at some better 2 track converters and a better computer and software for the capture. but first i need to do some comparisons between itb and otb.

Let me ask this....Will you be up-converting the ADAT stuff to 96/88.2 from 44.1/48? Or will you be bypassing the conversion in the ADATS and going out through the i/o26 and using its converters @88.2/96?

Curious. Have some stuff to do also...as well as restoring multitrack tapes to storage digitally......

i will up sample to 96k for multi tracks.that is i will play 16/48 tracks through the lightpipe to the daw set to record at 96. this way i get the benifit of the higher sample rates when eqing and processing.

Boswell, post: 421795, member: 29034 wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds as though we are talking about two separate but related things in this thread.

We are. LOL.

My original query was to see what compressor - both track and bus - Kurt was using in Mixbus, and if he was using the stock "built in" compressor/leveler that Harrison incorporates into every channel and bus -if you are familiar with Mixbus, you know that the layout is similar to a console and there's a section on each track and bus where there is in-line gain reduction, similar to one of their desks.

I wasn't aware that he hadn't yet actually used it to mix. ;)

so Donny,
what do you think of the reverbs and effects in MixBus?

Truthfully, I'm not using them, because they are add-on's that I would have to pay for. Harrison included some basic compressors and EQ, but for the $39 I spent for it, it didn't include their line of special effects.

I've been in Samplitude the last 6 months or so, so I don't use it as much as I used to, although I still keep it around as a mixing tool. I do really like the gain reduction, though.