Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Jim Williams]

In the future, when us old salts are buried with our consoles, only the video game trained gen X,Y and Z will be able to do quick work on these computer mixers due to years of training on joy sticks and mice. It's an evolution of the species. Or de-evolution?

[dennisr]

I've bee using a AKAI DPS24 as a digital mixer and so far it's just stupid easy.  Don't know how it compares to the DM24 but it's really easy to use and some of the effects are pretty good and the eq is actually OK.  PLUS... it's a 24 track recorder.

Adding the adat card gives me 24 digital in's from my DAW or the HD24.  Has MTC/MMC also so it would sync with the HDR.  To turn on sync there is a button that say "SYNC".  That's about all you have to do.  You can change the frame rate in about 5 seconds.  I know it's not a "PRO" machine but it might be worth a look.

See Ya
Dennis

[Nathanael Iversen]

Last weekend I got to go over a Yamaha PM-1D in person - their top digital console.  Now that is completely outside affordability for all but a few at $100K+, but man, what a beautiful interface.  The "selected channel" controls are dedicated for all eq, dynamics, etc.  There's a matrix. Everything is SO well laid out.  Really just a beautiful board.  I won't be owning one, but it is possible to do digital right, that's for sure.  I can't imagine a good analog mix engineer having any trouble on that board!

[Fig]

Nathanael Iversen wrote on Wed, 22 June 2005 21:34

I can't imagine a good analog mix engineer having any trouble on that board!

That's a bold statement.

What about the sound?

Fig

[Brendan Thompson]

Harvey, I'd just like to point out that us kids (I'm 19 - my class ranges from 19 to 21, 22 or so) hate the DM24 interface, with the flipping thru screens, the layout, the counterintuitiveness of it all.

We had to use the DM24's with DTRS machines last year for our self-paced work. We're much happer on the medium (Tascam) and large format (Harrison) consoles in the main studios...

If there's anything you're having a lot of grief with, let us know, I got pretty good at beating those things into submission by the end of the year...

[hargerst]

How do you get the inserts to work when you're mixing down?  I'm only mixing channels 1-10 for this session.

[mbruce333]

hargerst wrote on Thu, 23 June 2005 20:47

How do you get the inserts to work when you're mixing down?  I'm only mixing channels 1-10 for this session.

Well, the bad news is that you can't.  I am assuming, however, that you are connected to your HDR with either TDIF or ADAT lightpipe.  On the analog channel inputs, the inserts are pre AD converters.  To have analog inserts on the digital returns from the HDR you would need 16 more AD and DA converters....not gonna happen at this price.  Depending on how many of the 4 assignable sends you are using for outboard effects, you can use one or more of those as "inserts."  

Also, I will quite often use one track on the HDR to record on, then drag to a new location and record again on the same track all the time.  It's a real time saver, especially when you have a headphone mix all dialed in with aux sends for the performer (like when doing BGV's, for example).  

But, you don't have to start all the tracks from 00:00:00, just hold down the "shift" key.  That will keep the track locked in time while you drag it vertically to it's new location.  "Control" will make a copy, so "Shift" and "Control" will give you a copy that you can drag to a new location, while being locked in time.

Later!
MB

[hargerst]

mbruce333 wrote on Thu, 23 June 2005 23:56

hargerst wrote on Thu, 23 June 2005 20:47 How do you get the inserts to work when you're mixing down?  I'm only mixing channels 1-10 for this session. Well, the bad news is that you can't.  I am assuming, however, that you are connected to your HDR with either TDIF or ADAT lightpipe.  On the analog channel inputs, the inserts are pre AD converters.  To have analog inserts on the digital returns from the HDR you would need 16 more AD and DA converters....not gonna happen at this price.  Depending on how many of the 4 assignable sends you are using for outboard effects, you can use one or more of those as "inserts."

I was afraid of that.  OK, I guess I gotta figure out how the assignable "sends" work.

Quote:

Also, I will quite often use one track on the HDR to record on, then drag to a new location and record again on the same track all the time.  It's a real time saver, especially when you have a headphone mix all dialed in with aux sends for the performer (like when doing BGV's, for example).   But, you don't have to start all the tracks from 00:00:00, just hold down the "shift" key.  That will keep the track locked in time while you drag it vertically to it's new location.  "Control" will make a copy, so "Shift" and "Control" will give you a copy that you can drag to a new location, while being locked in time. Later! MB

Yeah, I figured that one out about 10 minutes into the session last weekend.  Except, I just toggled the hand tool, wiped the whole song, and dragged it to where I wanted it.

[Bob Olhsson]

I haven't got anything good to say about soft controls!

[Nathanael Iversen]

Fig wrote on Thu, 23 June 2005 13:40

Nathanael Iversen wrote on Wed, 22 June 2005 21:34  I can't imagine a good analog mix engineer having any trouble on that board! That's a bold statement. What about the sound? Fig

In the space it was in (a very large contemporary church) with Meyer arrays, etc. it sounded fantastic.  The church has THREE of them - one just to mix monitors, one for FOH, and one for broadcast video.  The signal is digitized at the remote control pre's and then digitally fed to all three mixers simultaneously.  

I haven't heard the board in a "known" environment, so it may well be that it falls short of a top analog console.  Nevertheless, it was the best live sound I've ever heard.

[Brendan Thompson]

Harvey, we didn't know how the assignable sends worked, nor could we get automation working. We had nothing to patch in anyway, and we weren't getting TC from the DA38's, so we never did work that out.



Just in case anyone is interested, JMC Academy here in Melbourne, Australia *may* be getting rid of 3 DM24's sometime in the next 3 months...

[LDBF]

well, speaking as someone who has had to sell and use the stuff for the last 10 years I think I might throw my tuppence in.  There's also gonna be a little dit of off topic, but its kinda related and I will come back on topic so...

Digital desks: I use a DDX3216 for live at one of the places I work at.  Why'd we get that (I spec'd it, for my sins)?  As the stuff has to be moved around lots, it was everything I needed in a small box- rather than racks of bits and wiring, its snake into the mixer- leaves me time to sort out the stage.  This and cost...  If (read when) it breaks I can get a replacement really easily, due to my day job.

This kinda leads quite nicely to my own personal rant... Cheap sweatshop goods...  There's so much of it.  The amount of returns we deal with with these cheap things. Even with some of the previously good named manufacturers. (no name maning just yet)  I realise its market driven, but I've always thought that with sound, you cut corners and what do you lose?  I used to own one of the original Behringer composers- one of my first bits of outboard I ever owned.  Great.  DBX rip off.  Got one of the Composer Pros when they came out.  Thought I'd open it up and do the mod like with my composer, but no, it wasn't to be.  As where, previously had been a circuit board and descrete components was now fresh air... One board mounted vertically at the front with the pots attched and one at the back with the sockets.  And surface mounts.  And tracks that'd be tight ropes for a knat...  Its giving people an unrealistic appreciation of what is acheivable as much as its enabling people to start doing stuff...

Thing about it is that half these things seem to make life easier for you to get into things and get things done, but 9 times out of ten, the only people who can figure out how to use then are the mans (and womans) who end up getting the real thing eventually anyways.  A lot of the time I feel like I only sell people dust holders.  Half the things they buy and end up never using...  but hey, its rock and roll I guess?..  I was brought up being able to program the 4-in-1 remotes, and those naff little watches casio made... (which brings me to another point- Phase Distortion Synthesis? what were they thinking?!) I am very much a WYSIWUG man.  Even if a knob goes unused because it takes my 3 out of tune and takes 14 hours to retune the little box...  its better having it...  

Having started recently redecorating my living room to make it a nice acoustic space to work on things when not in my cave (studio as the misses called it) treating the walls, ceiling etc and getting to be a space I am really happy with.  Often sat at my couch working on things in Nuendo, when its like, damn, need sound sounding better... wheel thru the Fireface...  Mmmm need better reverb... wheel thru the lex... hmmm need more eq/comp etc... now I seem to have half of the studio surrounding me...

thank you for listening... i feel better now.

p.s. Harv- dunno if you saw Top Gear last week- new BMW M5- theres ONE KNOB that controls the radio, sat nav, air con, and pretty much ALL the on board toys...  WOO! Roll on the future!