[LAU] Mixers and Free Software (was Open Sound Control: Is it still a thing?)

[Len Ovens]

On Sat, 1 May 2021, Bill Purvis wrote:

> I look after a Behringer X32-Rack, which has no knobs, and is therefore 
> a digital
> mixer.

Digital Mixer:
The inputs (after preamp) directly feed an ADC, all mixing is done in DSP, 
outputs are a DAC feeding an analog driver. The digital mixer may have 
phyiscal or glass controls.

There are a lot of digital mixers around (maybe more than analog?) but in 
the case of the 'X' series, they are all digital mixers, the X32 has a mix 
of physical knobs with some glass controls and the x32 rack, x18, x16, etc 
are all glass controls. So far as I know, they do use OSC for remote 
control... or at least offer some data on it:
https://behringerwiki.musictribe.com/index.php?title=OSC_Remote_Protocol
There used to be a pdf which is probably around if you search.
The X-air mixewrs also use OSC for control which are similar but not the 
same... or maybe only a subset works (I have never played with them).

There are some utilities on github, sf and google for sending/receiving 
OSC for these devices or just examining the traffic. Behringer has Linux 
utilities for controlling these mixers remotely for free download and I 
expect wireshark can teach you anything you wish to know about the OSC 
that the above link does not provide.

All of the X mixers are meant to be remote controlled from a tablet (Mac 
or Android) and so those apps can be installed from the usual places.

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net