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Right now, I have a couple ADATs with a Mackie 24x8 bus.

I'd like to get a new system for $4,000-$8,000 that gives me:

1. At least 12 XLR mic inputs (to record a live band)
2. Automated mixing
3. Pitch correction
4. Time correction
5. To be able to work without endless drop down menus and mouse clicks.

Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

britune@aol.com

Comments

KurtFoster Tue, 01/18/2005 - 09:07

Resistance to mixing with a mouse is futile ... if you really want to be well versed in the skills of a modern day recordist, you should get on board sooner rather than later. You will get a much better production mixing in the box except in cases where there's a large mixing console like a SSL or Neve with moving faders and a ton of very expensive outboard gear available. Even in that scenario, a lot of top engineers are using the automation in their DAWs to supplement the automation in the consoles.

Most all of the better recording programs offer automation and when you use automation, almost all of your work will be on one or two channels at a time. In that situation, mixing with a mouse is really not that bad. Just set a basic "static mix" up and then go into write mode and start making the moves one by one, exactly the same way you would go about doing an automated mix on a console ..

You can stop and rewind, go to specific areas and drop in and initiate write. You don't need to make complete passes. So actually, mixing this way can be a real time saver.. and you get the benefit of a repeatable mix with the ability to do alternate versions with different moves all of course with TOTAL recall ... that's what DAW is all about.

The learning curves aren't as hard as one would think. It took me about 5 days with the program and computer before I could do everything I needed to do ..

Moving faders are cool to watch but in the end for the most part, you don't hear the difference in the production ... that is a move made with a mouse will sound the same as one made with a fader with a low end mixer or control surface ... so all you are really getting when you purchase a mixer to use as a control surface is another piece of expensive gear that's going to be an obsolete door stop in a few years. A lot of cash for temporary "bling factor". You would be better off spending your cash on things that are in the signal path that really do make a difference like preamps, mics, eq's, quality compressors and converters (in that order).

JoeH Tue, 01/18/2005 - 16:11

I'm with Kurt on this; save your money and skip the moving faders; it gets old realllll fast. I can do more with a mouse and/or a Pen Pad than I ever could with a bunch of faders.

I use an analog mixer to monitor, do rough "live" mixes on the fly, and playback various things (CDs, Keyboards, etc), but the real work happens within the computer, via mouse or pen pad.

It's scary at first if you're not comfortable with it, but eventually you'll fly with it. (And you can have all kinds of "Virtual" faders in your onscreen mixer, if it makes you feel any better.)

maintiger Tue, 01/18/2005 - 17:11

I had a mackie control in my old commercial tudio and after I sold the place I put together a home studio- the mackie was not one of the items on my list. I thought it was way overpriced for what it did and I agree with kurt & Joe, there is nothing that it does that can't be done with the mouse just as fast-

by the way, if you must absolutely have a control surface, behringer has one for a little over 200 bucs- it does the same thing the huy or the m control does for 1k+ 8)

JeffreyMajeau Wed, 01/19/2005 - 06:59

You can plug 4 XLRs right into either the 002 or the 002R. The 002 is cool because it's got a control surface, so you don't have to miss using faders, it's got 'em! There's also 4 more analog ins on the 002 (you will need external pres and they have TRS jacks) for a total of 8 analog. You can also send another 8 into the unit via the ADAT input, so you get 8 ADAT + 8 analog + 2 S/PDIF for a total of 18 simultaneous inputs.

Connects via Firewire to your PC.

Dan

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