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Giving up the physical interface. Opinions?


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I know of a few here that mix from stage and have gone from a physical mixer, to something like the DL1608 where no physical mixer exists.

How is this going for you guys that have done it?  Do you find the workflow better or worse than what you were doing before?

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I have been using the DL 1608 for the last year. Love it. It is seamless to mix with. No snakes. Don't have to worry about FOH location. Easy line check from stage. The list goes on. FOH consists of iPad and a laptop for systems monitoring. Looking forward to a 24-32 channel version. Bands love the fact that they can have 6 separate mixes. The FX are good if you know what you are doing.

 

 

When mixing and playing drums in my trio I use a stand with iPad and give my backup i pad to someone I trust in the venue.

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I've had my DL-1608 for about a month. Most of the good stuff is under one menu or another. Can't even see all the channels at once. I knew this going in, but it hasn't been that long since I was mixing on a MixWiz. For speed, analog is very good. For features, digital is better and getting much better every month. The larger consoles like the StudioLive 24.4.2 are pretty much a mix of the immediate usefulness of analog and the depth of digital. (A bit less clumsy.) Don't get me wrong, I still think the DL-1608 was an improvement for me. (And for most purchasers.) My primary goals were to lighten the load, simplify my life and get rid of some stuff that I don't use much. (Know anyone interested in a MixWiz, CLX-440 or a 100' snake? Everything works.) Could use a laptop desk to hold the ipad while mixing from a chair. (Or something else.)

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For those of you who don't appreciate the feel of mixing on a professional control surface, there's no comparison. I see more and more that folks are so willing to compromise on everything these days... Had a guy mixing a show and he had a couple of embarrassing glitches and he said it was no big deal, "everybody has them these days". Wow, not at my level. That kind of stuff can quickly become a career killer.

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agedhorse wrote:

 

For those of you who don't appreciate the feel of mixing on a professional control surface, there's no comparison. I see more and more that folks are so willing to compromise on everything these days... Had a guy mixing a show and he had a couple of embarrassing glitches and he said it was no big deal, "everybody has them these days". Wow, not at my level. That kind of stuff can quickly become a career killer.

 

And I don't think anyone is arguing about that. It's all about the application. Most here are not at "your level". Heck many of us aren't even in front of the mixer all night mixing. It's apples and oranges.

For my application, having the control surface within arms reach while fronting the band is a godsend. Essentially picking up the mixer and moving it around the room at will is also darn handy.

I'll also add that, at "my level" the Ipad has a marketing and perception benefit over an analog mixer. Last night I had 4 groomsmen huddled around the ipad prior to the performance. I was showing them the features and they were blown away. They could identify with the hardware and were impressed with the software. This scenario is repeated pretty much every show.

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These threads always amaze me. I will never want to be without a physical mixer. I can mix entirely on computer, remotely, with my 01v96...but won't, having tried it. We have an iPad in the house that I totally despise because of the touch screen. If I had to mix wireless on an iPad using touch screen all night, I would hate it. My favorite nights of mixing are on large analog consoles with great outboard. An acceptable night of mixing is a good digital console that also has a computer hooked to it. Nothing else will ever make me smile, or invest my money on it.  I like my 01v96 just fine since it is a good compromise, and having used it for a while, I would bet money that I can use it as fast as anyone else can use a Mixwiz.

I guess my age shows, but hardware wins for me everytime...and I am a computer geek for NASA by day so I don't lack the ability to transition...just the desire.

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Axisplayer wrote:

 

 

These threads always amaze me. I will never want to be without a physical mixer. I can mix entirely on computer, remotely, with my 01v96...but won't, having tried it. We have an iPad in the house that I totally despise because of the touch screen. If I had to mix wireless on an iPad using touch screen all night, I would hate it. My favorite nights of mixing are on large analog consoles with great outboard. An acceptable night of mixing is a good digital console that also has a computer hooked to it. Nothing else will ever make me smile, or invest my money on it.  I like my 01v96 just fine since it is a good compromise, and having used it for a while, I would bet money that I can use it as fast as anyone else can use a Mixwiz.

 

I guess my age shows, but hardware wins for me everytime...and I am a computer geek for NASA by day so I don't lack the ability to transition...just the desire.

 

It's not just about what would you rather mix on. For a dedicated FOH engineer I totally get it. If you were in my shoes though, you'd likely have different opinion because priorities, practicality, and sometimes even possibilities, would be different.

In my case it's the same 5 guys with the same instruments set the same way playing the same material every show. Show to show very little changes. A lot of our shows are about asthetics, and to top it off, we have to "do it pretty" in venues aren't meant to accomodate live entertainment. The fact nobody will be slumped over the board all night, and we can do everying a refrigerator size FOH rack can do, but in a shoebox size piece of hardware, is a great evolution and revolution for us.

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I pretty much only do one outside daytime gig per year. It's a 2 day event that I provide sound for.

 

I always set up my SL24.4.2 inside my gear trailer. That way it's out of the elements, both rain AND shine. Then I mic via iPad, even if I'm just sitting in the doorway of my trailer for some shade.

 

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/9aa058e1.jpg

 

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/robare99/023b8c3e.jpg

 

 

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Absolutely true. Usually, speed and efficiency are more important than features. Folks that don't understand something as simple as board tape versus scribble strip have never experienced the need to keep things moving in the heat of the moment with the act on stage. 10-15 min marking the board is an eternity when the band is waiting.

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agedhorse wrote:

 

Absolutely true. Usually, speed and efficiency are more important than features. Folks that don't understand something as simple as board tape versus scribble strip have never experienced the need to keep things moving in the heat of the moment with the act on stage. 10-15 min marking the board is an eternity when the band is waiting.

 

No argument there but just to be fair once you get to a layered board (like the LS9-16 I've worked with) the board tapes (above and below the fader bank) get a bit busy and a sharp marker and neat scribbling becomes necessary.

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It's correct that there is no perfect digital product just like there is no perfect analog product. One advantage of an analog console when going between brands and models is that they are generally more universal in their operational modes and controls do not change function, they work the same all the time.

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agedhorse wrote:

 

I don't use an autorouter because I generally like to control trace positions for crosstalk as well as switching noise artifact reasons. For high density digital, with appropriate design rules, auto routing is essential.

 

+1 the key is setting the right design rules and then only auto routing the stuff that you know works well when autorouted!

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