10 Sep
2015
10 Sep
'15
5:30 p.m.
In short: I'm looking for a mixer which works out of the box with linux.
Longer story: For an acrobatic/music group I'm looking for a mixer with
different compatabilities:
- It should work as a(n analog) standalone mixer for mics and instruments
- It should work with linux to get the sources into ardour, preferable
replace an external soundcard
- In best case it has Midi support to control ardour and other programs.
Maybe I think about something like the Allen & Heath ZED60-10FX, but
that doesn't support my wish about the Midi compatability and also
allows only 16 Bit recordings.
Do you have any idea which hardware could work and get close to my demands?
Sinnlos
10 Sep
10 Sep
5:53 p.m.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 17:30:10 +0200
Rhizomatic Nomad <mail(a)rhizomatic-nomad.net> wrote:
In short: I'm looking for a mixer which works out
of the box with linux.
Longer story: For an acrobatic/music group I'm looking for a mixer with
different compatabilities:
- It should work as a(n analog) standalone mixer for mics and instruments
- It should work with linux to get the sources into ardour, preferable
replace an external soundcard
- In best case it has Midi support to control ardour and other programs.
I just pre-ordered a Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK (*)
22-ch Mixer with 16 x Ghost Mic Preamps, 3 x Aux Busses, 4-band British EQs, Dual Lexicon
Effects Engines, dbx Limiters, Switchable Hi-Z Inputs, and USB Playback and Recording
This is going to be an upgrade from my Alesis MultiMix16 FireWire board which
has been a great little mixer but a bit limited for the live shows/recording
I'm doing lately.
The MTK version will output each channel individually via USB 2.0 at
24-bit/48kHz. It also has a USB return feature, allowing you to take the
pre-fader signal, patch it into Ardour (or other DAW), and take the DAW's
output and feed it back in, so you can add effects in your DAW if you want.
They're claiming 4ms latency over USB. We'll see about that. I am expecting
it to work right out of the box, as USB devices seem pretty well supported,
but I won't be able to know until it arrives.
The only thing it doesn't have is the MIDI control, but that wasn't one
of my requirements. If I wanted to get insane, I might be able to send
everything through Ardour and use either a control surface or an app like
TouchDAW to control on the fly, but that would be completely dependent on
the latencies involved and making all the bits work right.
(*) http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Sig22MT
--
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
6:23 p.m.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 11:53:04 -0400, Joe Hartley wrote:
Hi Joe,
assumed it should provide the sound quality and the durability I expect
from Soundcraft and the 4 Band EQs should be good too, plus USB should
work for at least 8 I/Os duplex with less than 10 ms latency, then the
value-for-money ratio would be incredible. I don't care about the
Lexicon effects and the limiters. I more than once payed more, to get
less. Is it for recording only or for playback, resp. duplex too?
Please report back after you used it and please report back after using
it for several month.
Regards,
Ralf
8:57 p.m.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:23:41 +0200
Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf(a)alice-dsl.net> wrote:
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 11:53:04 -0400, Joe Hartley
wrote:
assumed it should provide the sound quality and the durability I expect
from Soundcraft and the 4 Band EQs should be good too, plus USB should
work for at least 8 I/Os duplex with less than 10 ms latency, then the
value-for-money ratio would be incredible. I don't care about the
Lexicon effects and the limiters. I more than once payed more, to get
less. Is it for recording only or for playback, resp. duplex too?
I've been doing a lot of reading on this board! It looks like the USB
is full duplex; it will send 24 channels (20 + the stereo "playback" +
stereo mains) out and receive 22 channels (20 + "playback").
On paper, USB 2.0 will provide enough bandwidth for all channels, but the
devil will be in the details. Coming from the live sound perspective, the
workflow here is really nice, and the USB channel inserts should allow
interesting things. One forum had a discussion about using this along
with Harrison Mixbus to master and get the bonus of the board's analog
summing which could be an amazing thing.
I will definitely give some feedback on this when it finally ships!
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
9:09 p.m.
Joe Hartley <jh(a)brainiac.com> writes:
I've been doing a lot of reading on this board!
It looks like the USB
is full duplex; it will send 24 channels (20 + the stereo "playback" +
stereo mains) out and receive 22 channels (20 + "playback").
On paper, USB 2.0 will provide enough bandwidth for all channels, but the
devil will be in the details. Coming from the live sound perspective, the
workflow here is really nice, and the USB channel inserts should allow
interesting things. One forum had a discussion about using this along
with Harrison Mixbus to master and get the bonus of the board's analog
summing which could be an amazing thing.
I will definitely give some feedback on this when it finally ships!
Now I'm starting to get interested, and I didn't think I was even
shopping for a mixer. (I do know someone who is though.)
My questions would be:
- How Linux-friendly is the USB support? Does it revert into some sort
of "class-compliant" mode that handicaps most of the fun if you try to
use it outside of Mac/Windows world, without a special closed driver?
- Do the channel EQ's feature a bypass/defeat button, to let you take
the EQ out of the circuit? I've run into some mixers that have fairly
obnoxious coloration in their EQ even with all the knobs at "neutral"
settings, and no way to turn it off or dial it out. I wouldn't
imagine SoundCraft is typically like that, but I've seen it on others.
- What's the quality of the converters like? Being that it's 2015,
that's almost become an anachronistic question. Almost nobody makes
"bad" converters anymore...but it's still a concern for me anyway.
9:30 p.m.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:09:56 -0500
Brent Busby <brent(a)keycorner.org> wrote:
My questions would be:
- How Linux-friendly is the USB support? Does it revert into some sort
of "class-compliant" mode that handicaps most of the fun if you try to
use it outside of Mac/Windows world, without a special closed driver?
An excellent question and one that's also at the top of my list. It's
said to use the same interface as their MADI-USB card which is known to
work with Linux so I have high hopes.
- Do the channel EQ's feature a bypass/defeat
button, to let you take
the EQ out of the circuit?
Doesn't look that way.
- What's the quality of the converters like?
Being that it's 2015,
that's almost become an anachronistic question. Almost nobody makes
"bad" converters anymore...but it's still a concern for me anyway.
This is still unknown, though I've not heard of anyone saying Soundcraft's
converters are bad. They're certainly not going to be in the Apogee Symphony
class, but I'm sure they'll be pretty good.
--
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
9:44 p.m.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:09:56 -0500
Brent Busby <brent(a)keycorner.org> wrote:
- What's the quality of the converters like?
Ah, just learned that they use Cirrus CS5368s for the converters. That's
a pretty well-respected chip.
--
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
9:29 p.m.
On 09/10/2015 05:30 PM, Rhizomatic Nomad wrote:
In short: I'm looking for a mixer which works out
of the box with linux.
Longer story: For an acrobatic/music group I'm looking for a mixer with
different compatabilities:
- It should work as a(n analog) standalone mixer for mics and instruments
- It should work with linux to get the sources into ardour, preferable
replace an external soundcard
- In best case it has Midi support to control ardour and other programs.
MIDI faders and an _analog_ mixer is a bit of a contradiction...
If you can do with a completely analog mixer:
* I liked the Mackie Onyx 16-channel desk a lot. Firewire out which
works flawlessly with FFADO, but no Wordclock in, hence difficult to
integrate into more complex recording setups. Mixer built like a tank,
very nice to work with.
* MIDAS makes a analog mixer with 2 full parametric EQs and Firewire
in/out, I think it's called the F32. It's a thing of beauty, but it only
has four auxes, which is a shame as it seriously limits its usefulness.
I loved it when I got to use it, have used it 3-4 times IIRC.
If you're looking for integration with Ardour etc. as a controller,
_and_ you can live with a fully digital mixer (and hey, why not?) both
the Behringer X32 and the Allen&Heath GLD 80 are quite nice to work
with, the bugs have been shaken out by now, and they provide awesome
value for the cost. The A&H QU might be another nice option at a lower
price point.
Personally, I have a strong dislike for the SI Compact and Performer (as
in OMFG what an awful desk, display is a joke, patching is a pain,
preamps noisy, each time I had to use them was an utter pain, and I now
refuse to work with them).
Presonus makes a digital mixer that looks great on paper, but it doesn't
have motorfaders and that totally rules it out for me. Failed concept if
you ask me.
HTH,
Jörn
--
Jörn Nettingsmeier
Lortzingstr. 11, 45128 Essen, Tel. +49 177 7937487
Meister für Veranstaltungstechnik (Bühne/Studio)
Tonmeister VDT
http://stackingdwarves.net
9:40 p.m.
On 09/10/2015 09:29 PM, Jörn Nettingsmeier wrote:
If you're looking for integration with Ardour etc.
as a controller,
_and_ you can live with a fully digital mixer (and hey, why not?) both
the Behringer X32 and the Allen&Heath GLD 80 are quite nice to work
with, the bugs have been shaken out by now, and they provide awesome
value for the cost. The A&H QU might be another nice option at a lower
price point.
Correction: the GLD 80 does not have a Linux-compatible interface card
available.
The X32 however works well with 32 ins and 32 outs, class-compliant,
just plug it and start jack. Only ever used it for recording, so I
haven't bothered to test the latency limits.
--
Jörn Nettingsmeier
Lortzingstr. 11, 45128 Essen, Tel. +49 177 7937487
Meister für Veranstaltungstechnik (Bühne/Studio)
Tonmeister VDT
http://stackingdwarves.net
3203
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9 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
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Brent Busby -
Joe Hartley -
Jörn Nettingsmeier -
Ralf Mardorf -
Rhizomatic Nomad -
Ulrich-Lorenz Schlüter