[LAU] Behringer and Linux

[Len Ovens]

On Mon, 30 Mar 2015, David Santamauro wrote:

> On 03/30/2015 09:10 AM, Len Ovens wrote:
>> with AES50 OOTB. The Xair does have USB, 18 i/o. There are 11 points on
>> the channel strip where the audio can be routed from including raw from
>> the ADC to post fader. You can also choose Aux in, fx in and out, bus
>> and mains. The Setup page seems to suggest USB can be set to 18 or 2 i/o.
>
> http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XR16
>
> The product description for the X16(air) says:
> "X Air Series 16-input StageBox/Rackmount Digital Mixer for iOS/Android 
> Devices with 8 Programmable Midas Preamps, Integrated Wi-Fi Module, 2-channel 
> USB Interface, and Rackmount Ears"
>
> ==> 2-channel USB Interface
>
> So a simple stereo audio interface.

I was looking at the X(R)18. Which acording to Sweetwater has 16 i/o but 
on the Behringer site says 18/18. I would hope the manufacture is the 
right one. Actually, the sweetwater site says 16 USB channels in one place 
and 18 io half a page away... so I can see both numbers at the same time. 
:P

The XR16 on the other hand appears not to do USB interface at all. Rather 
it allows one to record audio dirrect to USB drive. That is it has a host 
port but not a client port so far as I can tell. So for using it as an 
audio IF, the X18 or XR18 are the minimum requirement. $200 more for the 
USB IF.

Not a bad price I guess, for me the idea of buying a mixer over an AI is 
to get the control surface. So $700 plus $600, $1300 for the xr1800 with 9 
motor faders or $1500 for The x32 Producer with 17 faders and 32USB i/o, 
16 Mic pre, 6 more line inputs and 16 outputs with no extra gear. (I may 
be off, I also see another Talkback input, but don't know the quality of 
the pre) The motor faders are set up as 8 input strips (with banking), 8 
bus strips (may be otherwise asignable as VCA control) and one master. 
This would not be a full MCP controller, but then Ardour is a long way 
from using the whole of an MCP surface anyway. The OSC part may be better 
though it would require middleware to work with Ardour.

On the other hand, I do want to try some things in control surface design 
so by the time I am ready to buy I may not need/want another surface.


--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net