Hello all,

This is a general question about big studios that tend to use analog mixers (SSL or Neve) with a Pro Tools HD system. Having mainly learnt how to record and program entirely within a DAW, this aspect of studio rigging and operating is quite foreign territory to me. Basically, I was quite interested to know how those huge analog mixing boards that well known studios use in the main or "Studio A" rooms generally work when using a Pro Tools rig as a recorder.

So do these analog mixing consoles generally handle the front line of any input signal that gets processed by that mixer's channel strip plus any other possible outboard gear, which then in turn gets routed via the 'output' of that channel strip into the Pro Tools converters and finally into the computer?

How about the mixing process when using these analog mixers? Do the recorded tracks from Pro Tools get fed back via the Pro Tools HD outputs into another set of channels of the analog mixer where you can do your final mixing touches/automation/recall? Then after mixing, do these final mixing automations on the analog mixer have to get routed back into Pro Tools for final individual track bouncing and eventual stereo mix down in Pro Tools?

If recording using this kind of method and Pro Tools, would using a 'digital mixer' bring any advantages/disadvantages as opposed to an 'analog mixer' in this case?

I'm actually just doing guess work here so I could be way way off base on my assumptions, so I will appreciate any feedback! Thanks for your help!