Members WynnD Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 I'm doing sound for the 8th year for a senior's variety show. Two years ago they built a brand new clubhouse and put crown amps, EAW speakers flown and a Presonus 24.4.2 digital mixer. Mixer's located in the sound/light booth. It's a bit hard to tell how loud things are up there, so I was considering using my Mackie DL1608 mixer and using the ipad from on the floor. After a couple of rehearsals, It would work, but not being able to see all the necessary channels at the same time is a issue. It's just that with all the changes needed with every performer, being able to see all the channels at the same time is a real help. Don't get me wrong, the Mackie is everything I expected when I purchased it, and more has been added since. (Software upgrades.) I'm fairly familiar with the StudioLive mixer. (Enough to not want to connect my laptop to their mixer and force a firmware update.) Just thought you would like to know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fdew Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hang onto your DL 1608. A friend of mine just mixed gig with 15 inputs using a DL 1608 and this http://audiomixingplatform.com/ he had all channels on his laptop screen at the same time and also on a real fader pack. It is in beta now but it is coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dbMontana Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 Interesting -- third party apps for other mixers. I'd seen Air Fader for the LS9 but wasn't away of this one. Probably more out there as well I'd assume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 Let's see hor long term stability works out... even the original manufacturers have had their challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 5, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 I like the DL1608. It's just in this case the Studiolive is there and the remote mixing of the Mackie isn't much of an advantage. Will look at that software. I'd be willing to pay for some good software that used my MacBook for control. Third party apps might just give this mixer a longer software life then Mackie will. I am concerned about finding out when Mackie will stop development of Master Fader. MicroSoft has dropped support for XP but they had huge incentives to support that for a long time. (Large installed base.) Mackie doesn't have any of that. (Least not that I can see.) On the other hand, Mackie's Master Fader could be used for future mixer models with little or slight software changes. It's a nice interface for a small mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 I wonder if maybe just maybe someday the digital mixers will have a VGA port for a widescreen monitor and.or external touch screen monitor as they come down in price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 VGA is a dying interface without bidirectional control, so unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 5, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 I wonder if maybe just maybe someday the digital mixers will have a VGA port for a widescreen monitor and.or external touch screen monitor as they come down in price? I like the concept. Probably would end up being HDMI. Right now that's the only interface that looks like it has a future for at least 10 years. We could also hope that Apple will start making Maxi-Ipads. (Couldn't resist that, but the concept is what I was looking for.) The ipad is a good size, but for some who are going to tablets instead of computers, (Laptops....whatever.) a larger screen type would be worthwhile and a better working surface for controlling other devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 I wonder if maybe just maybe someday the digital mixers will have a VGA port for a widescreen monitor and.or external touch screen monitor as they come down in price?The newer Phonic mixers have VGA and a mouse port. Many high-end digital mixers do too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted May 5, 2014 Members Share Posted May 5, 2014 Or HDMI as Wynn said, could be display port to probably a better fit for digital applications in future. RR: tech is already here I see, Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fdew Posted May 6, 2014 Members Share Posted May 6, 2014 I have thought for some time that the best compromise between the needed controls and cost would be at least 17 real faders, buttons for mute, solo, and select above the faders, and a wide touch screen above that for everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dbMontana Posted May 6, 2014 Members Share Posted May 6, 2014 I have thought for some time that the best compromise between the needed controls and cost would be at least 17 real faders' date=' buttons for mute, solo, and select above the faders, and a wide touch screen above that for everything else.[/quote'] Yup, agreed. I can definitely see a benefit in keeping the faders physical but even the mute/solo/select "could" be virtual if need be. Then of course put the remotely controlled preamps on stage with a cat5 snake. In theory you could reach the point where the layout of the virtual controls could be customizable such that you could mix and match ideas/concepts from different manufacturers and set up your own workflow. If I remember correctly the third party AirFader app for the LS9 allowed certain such customizations. That's a ways out and I'd guess that the manufacturers designs would still dominate but it's all possible -- in theory. Ten years ago users of our data at my day job were very happy with visualization via a static X/Y time/value plot. Now they expect a map interface of sites located geographically near wherever they happen to be at that moment with dynamic popup zoom/panable graphs for each site -- all on their phone of course. We're even exploring a crowd-sourcing approach whereby users can take a picture of an event and text/email it to us (with geographic coordinates included) to share with others and in the process help improve our estimates and data-collection. Why should pro/MI audio be all that different -- well, other than market size of course. There are a lot more cell phones out there than audio consoles -- but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 6, 2014 CMS Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 . There are a lot more cell phones out there than audio consoles -- but still... The "but still" is about money, which is why I have no confidence any 3rd-party support for tablet mixer apps will be around for long. Support is costly enough that as technology moves along the "old" stuff gets left at the wayside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 6, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2014 The beauty of programming for a tablet, is that you don't have to re-invent the interface. A solid dependable interface is a much easier place to start from. I also suspect that the mackie's controls aren't encrypting everything to the n'th degree. (Probably end up being a bit easy to hack or design a third party control for.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fdew Posted May 6, 2014 Members Share Posted May 6, 2014 In theory you could reach the point where the layout of the virtual controls could be customizable such that you could mix and match ideas/concepts from different manufacturers and set up your own workflow. The software I mentioned earlier allows exactly that. http://audiomixingplatform.com/ The API is open so you can change the look and feel. The screen shots shown at the bottom are just examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted May 8, 2014 Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 Could you not just use a SPL meter for measuring the loudness ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 I do have a db meter and the studiolive has a VU output meter. (the VU meter has been the most help in the past.) Unless you're riding the meter, it's easy to get sidetracked by the show. Two more rehearsals then we go live next week. I'll be using FX Live app from my ipad for playing recordings. Testing it for the first time today. I had been using itunes, but you have to watch the endings like a hawk. FX Live doesn't go onto the next recording until you tell it to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 One more thing, the mute switch stops all alerts from sending audio. It still allows recordings to play. Interesting feature and useful here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted May 12, 2014 Members Share Posted May 12, 2014 How was the gig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 13, 2014 Members Share Posted May 13, 2014 I-tunes has a single track play mode also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 13, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 13, 2014 How was the gig? Just came from last rehearsal, show starts Wednesday. I am using my ipad for the FX Live app to deal with sound effects to play, mic assignments and sequences. It's pretty good, I can even edit dead space out of a recording to have things start immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 15, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 Just got back from the first show. (5 to go.) My FX Live app file must have gotten corrupted cause it wouldn't stay as the active app. I ended up re-installing the app and recreating the entire show, this time with separate acts and backups of both acts. (And I left the demo in there too.) I'm expecting this should be enough to not have any problems from now on. I'm carrying my laptop as a second backup just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 15, 2014 Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 Why not at least have a backup on i-tunes or even CD? Sounds like a great app if it's not stable. Cross that off my list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 15, 2014 CMS Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Many are called, but few are chosen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted May 16, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2014 Why not at least have a backup on i-tunes or even CD? Sounds like a great app if it's not stable. Cross that off my list... My backup is itunes playlist and a print of the script with a channel map of the wireless mics. I really like the app cause I can put everything in it. All the mic assignments, cue's and tools to vary the volume, start and end points and immediate sound effects. So far having an extra backup of both acts is looking good. Being that I've never seen any software that never gives any problem, I'm giving it some additional time. I still think that the first file became corrupted. I'm counting on the backups to provide everything I need if the file craps out again. (Will still be carrying my laptop just in case.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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