If you plan on mixing ITB and simply using the console as a monitor mixer and a router and dont intend it for use as mic pres, then any small mixer will suffice. If you want a mixer to do sub-stems out and back to warm things up a bit and intend on using the mic pres then the Ghost is the least expensive console that will give a good sound as well as an excellent EQ system and routing to and from outboard devices such as compressors and delays/verbs. It is heads above the Mackies in terms of sonics and with proper use of gain staging will provide a very clear and clean sound for all your recording needs. I have one and make records that stand the test of hearing. I do my mixes at another studio in a ProTools HD3 rig with all the bells and whistles, but the basic tracks done on the Ghost sound great.

I like my ghost. I come out Apoggee converters from Cubase SX3. I am happy. I was thinking about the Sarge mod. Does anyone have the Sarge Mod on their Ghost. I think the converters and clock are important when you are going AD/DA/AD So I went ahead and bought the Rosetta, Big Ben And a DA 16X and it made a huge difference immediately over the RME converters that I was using.

I don't use the Ghost pres but I might give that a whirl soon. I just go into Cubase through the Apogee with other pres and then single channel outs to mix. I like it MUCH better than mixing in the box. MUCH Better. Still use plugins UAD1 pultecs and a Fairchild or two on individual tracks. But the console allows me to have inserts and do busing with the cool outboard gear.

I just like being able to turn the knobs. I love Cubase for tracking and editing and a few plugs but that is about it--oh and I can't live without the DAW for songwriting. Pretty much all I can say is that I am very happy with the Ghost 24LE. And if the mod makes it that much better I may invest the additional 3K later. I just enjoy mixing in analog. I guess it is just my vibe.

Anyone with the Ghost Mod.

Search the site, the Ghost has been talked about plenty.

So there is no in the box mixing with this board, just transport controls for your DAW? Sorry to sound like a n00b, but I am! haha

If you mix with such a board with a DAW out of the box, how to you export your final mix to WAV?

The Ghost rocks - Cheaply modified (then it REALLY rocks).

Dump a couple $k into it and the preamps and master section go from "nice" to "impressive" overnight.

John...I'm almost at that critical dilemma about the major mod on the Ghost. My plan is to have a hybrid studio complete with ProTools HD(maybe I wont need it and only go with the 002R) but to have a console I can mix as well as track with that has pres that are better than the Ghosts are now. I have heard a version that has been upgraded and it sounds great. Mine sounds really good now but I know a lot of that is my particular brand of sound control. I make the source really good and hot so the inputs only have to work so much. Didnt they used to call this engineering???!

So the dilemma will be to upgrade the Ghost, or go higher on the food chain as far as console. Trident....DDA....love the Sonys'....anyway you get the picture. Its almost the same moneywise with what I can get for the Ghost and the difference in quality consoles(which no one wants right now) as opposed to the upgrade of the Ghost and what I already have invested.

Decisions decisions decisions..........good thing I aint in no hurry.....

And regardless what anybody says about this....I run my Ghost on a Variac and run the voltage up to the upper range of its recommended operational voltage. I never go past whats in the book, but theres a point on these that the rails get a bit more volts and the mic pres get a lot more creamy and the EQ gets very precise. Plus...its a steady voltage from the transformer and theres a great ground created by the windings..NO BUZZ. ever.

I'm just rambling.....peace.

Right now I am running a Tascam FW-1884 with an 8 channel adat lightpiped. I understand the workings of my current setup perfectly, but down the road I may want to upgrade depending on my success and whatnot.

That is why I asked about this board and other boards like it. I am curious of exactly what gear is needed to get the tracks to and from the computer. Also the concepts of ITB and OTB mixing has got me a little confused. Maybe this isn't the forum for such questions but if you can help I'd appreciate it.

davedog which power supply do you have for the ghost?

I have the largest one for the Ghost. The PS275.

just wondering if being of english design it pretty much had a higher voltage in mind on the drawing table. just a thought......................

geeknik wrote: Right now I am running a Tascam FW-1884 with an 8 channel adat lightpiped. I understand the workings of my current setup perfectly, but down the road I may want to upgrade depending on my success and whatnot.

That is why I asked about this board and other boards like it. I am curious of exactly what gear is needed to get the tracks to and from the computer. Also the concepts of ITB and OTB mixing has got me a little confused. Maybe this isn't the forum for such questions but if you can help I'd appreciate it.

Yule need some Analog to Digital (AD) Convertors and a lot of Digital to Analog (DA) converters. Such as the Apogee DA16 mentioned up there. You could record through the Ghost preamps into the AD converters, into the computer. Then when it is time to mix, you come out of your computer, through the DA converters, and back into the Ghost again. Here you can mix levels, EQ, etc., but you are not actually controlling anything in the computer software. You are completely independant at this point. But you will send your main bus out of the mixer back into the AD to go into the computer to record your final mixdown (unless you have a stand-alone recorder for your master).

I use RME 9652 24 in and out tracks at 48K in the computer, ADAT to Apogee 16X DA and Rosetta 800 DA into the Ghost. Then out the mix bus into Rosetta 800, and AES into The Masterlink. I have external compressor/Limiter and EQ before I go into the Masterlink. But I can either make a CD24 and open that in Wavelab or record directly into Wavelab over SPDIF from the Masterlink.

You could arm tracks in in the DAW and go right back in for your master but I don't like going in and out of the same computer. Maybe its just me. And I like using something other than the computer sometimes.

I will probably soon get a dedictaed ad/da maybe Lavry or Rosetta 200 or UA2192 to go in and out of my master. But that is a low priority.

How does a Ghost standup against something like a Midas 320?
Is the Midas a little bit better or is it way way better?

The Midas was designed as a live FOH console. The Ghost is primarily a recording console. The Midas has nice features. Excellent pres, very decent EQ, and the routing is simple and functional. This is an apples to apples question. "Stacking up'" is something one would have to do in a side by side comparison.

Davedog wrote: The Midas was designed as a live FOH console. The Midas has nice features. Excellent pres, very decent EQ, and the routing is simple and functional.

Thanks DaveDog
I have talked to some people about the difference of a live console Vs the recording console. But many say it really doesn't matter, in reguards to the Midas boards. That they can be used as either one (live or recording).
Any thoughts on that guys?
I figured I can get a Midas 320 for around $3500 (off ebay)
And I'm not sure what the Ghost sells for.
I just want to get a board that I will not outgrow in say 5 to 7 years.

I've used a Midas 320 at a live show and they do indeed sound very good. As has been mentioned already, however, these are designed for live use and the routing in and out of the board reflects that. There aren't as many ways into and out of the Midas as there are for the Ghost. If memory serves, the Midas can't easily be used in an "in line" mode like the Ghost can.

That may or may not be an issue for the way you want to work. I have nothing but praise for the Venice's but could not use them for tracking and mixing in my room. Price wise, you'll might pay more for a Venice 320 than you will a 32 channel Ghost, depending on whether or not you get the LE versus the CPU version and the meter bridge. I've seen 32-channel Ghost's fetch anywhere from 2000 to 3500 bucks on the Bay. Considering the amount of routing, built in talkback mic, number of studio foldbacks, inserts and other features built in to the Ghost's, they're quite a value even if bought new.