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Yamaha 01X VS. M-Audio Project Mix


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My impression is that they are similar enough to warrant a side by side comparison. Unfortunatley I own neither (though that may change) and have only seen them breifly in person (guitar center...).

 

Both are firewire audio/midi interfaces and midi/daw controllers.

 

Both are seemingly compatable with all the standard DAW software out there.

 

Both can also be had for $1,000 USD.

 

First up the stats.

 

Instead of copying everything here are the links.

 

Yamaha 01X

 

 

M-Audio Project Mix

 

 

I'm not going to ramble on about things I have not actually tested, but from my brief viewing of both I would say the M-audio unit seems a bit sturdier and the faders are nicer. It also seems to have a bit more connectivity.

 

On the Yamaha side it's easily expandable, has built in fx (quality unknown), and theres that whole Mlan thing...

 

As for the preamps and converters i'm sure they are nothing to write home about in either unit, but are probably respectable for the price and features of these units.

 

 

 

Thoughts? Opinions? People who have or tried either?

 

 

:cool:

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At first blush, I would be inclined towards the M-Audio offering. The reason is because it offers ADAT I/O as the multitrack digital input, as opposed to mLAN. I can find a lot of things with ADAT connectivity, but not much with mLAN (that is, at my price point. :) )

 

Back at school, mLAN had just started to be a topic. I thought it was really neat, but without a good number of adopters it's pretty much a Yamaha lock-in.

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Originally posted by Danny (NS::U)

At first blush, I would be inclined towards the M-Audio offering. The reason is because it offers ADAT I/O as the multitrack digital input, as opposed to mLAN. I can find a lot of things with ADAT connectivity, but not much with mLAN (that is, at my price point.
:)
)


Back at school, mLAN had just started to be a topic. I thought it was really neat, but without a good number of adopters it's pretty much a Yamaha lock-in.

 

The lack of ADAT connectivity can be addressed two ways. First of all, you might be misunderstanding mLAN a bit... it uses a standard firewire cable, and can be connected to the firewire input on your computer. Install the drivers, and your DAW "sees" the incoming audio just as it would with an ADAT interface, via standard ASIO drivers. Another nice benefit of mLAN is that in addition to carrying multiple channels of digital audio (many more channels than can be carried by the comparatively limited ADAT lightpipe) on a single cable, that one cable also carries multiple MIDI channels as well as high quality word clock. And does so bi-directionally. And via an applet on your computer, you can easily pick which device in an mLAN setup is sending which channels to what devices, which one is the WC master, and control all that routing stuff - no matter where the device is in the mLAN chain.

 

While the 01X doesn't have an ADAT i/o setup on it, you can add a mLAN and ADAT lightpipe I/O equipped i88X (also covered in the above linked EQ magazine review) to your setup very easily and IMO, pretty inexpensively. That increases the I/O considerably The i88X has 8 analog (two with very good mic preamps), 8 ADAT and two S/PDIF channels of I/O onboard, and it interfaces with the 01X very well.

 

I have not tried the M-Audio unit, but I do admit it looks pretty cool. :thu: But IMO, the expandability of the 01X is something that should be taken into consideration if future expansion is something you think you might someday need.

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Speaking of expandability i'm wondering how well either unti would work with "other" gear? Specifically say an RME FireFace (which is somthing I want).

 

Is the M-Audio unit not capable of transmiting midi data over it's firewire?

 

 

:confused:

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It is unfair to generalize as I am about to do.

However, I have experience with products from both companies. In "general", my experience with Yamaha is that you get what you pay for. Stuff works as advertised. In "general", my experience with M-audio is that there stuff is pretty good, but not the best.

Just my $.02.

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Originally posted by jonmatifa

Sound on sound's got a review that I want to read, but I haven't been able to find the Jan '06 edition as I'm in the states.

 

I'm a subscriber, but I have not seen it yet either... we tend to get it later than they do in Europe, for obvious reasons. Great magazine though. :thu:

 

When it arrives, I'll pass along their general conclusions. :wave:

 

Sonik, please let us know what you decide on, and how it works out for you. :wave:

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Well... first of all and very important to know, the ProjectMix IS NOT a mixer. It does nothing without a computer -well, it can control external hardware via standard MIDI ports- It does not have any internal FX. It is mainly an Audio interface WITH Control Surface capabilities.

 

- 16 in / 12 outs at the same time

- ADAT in / out

- 8 preamps

- 10 bit faders, 100 mm

- it is the only audio interface with faders capable of recording directly to Pro Tools 7 (M-Powered version).

 

* No memory locations -not necessary since it's all stored in the DAW not in the device itself-

* It is NOT expandable at this moment.

 

If you need a MIXER then your only call is the YAMAHA.

 

** If you are using another audio source together with the ProjectMix you will need a submixer or something like the MACKIE's BIG KNOB or PRESONUS CENTRAL STATION in order you can monitor everything simultaneously.

 

BTW... yes, its MIDI ports send and receive information through the FireWire port. It is an Audio/MIDI FireWire interface.

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Originally posted by jonmatifa

OT/ About SOS, how do you like their videos and their DVDs in general?

 

I don't have any of their DVD's or videos - I just get the magazine. :)

 

Gus brings up a good point about the M-Audio vs the Yamaha... one is an audio / MIDI interface and control surface, while the other is a control surface / audio & MIDI interface / mixer, so if traditional summing / mixing functions are important to you, that's something to take into consideration. If they are not, then either product could probably serve your needs, and is worthy of your consideration.

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Well I went to GC and played around with both units (hmmm that sounds kinky) for a while. The yamaha does have a few more features but nothing I personally really need, and the m-audio unit just seems more well constructed physically. It should as it weighs more than double the 01x.

 

 

For whats it worth they both seem like great pieces of gear, but in the end I ordered the m-audio unit. I'll try to give it a review when i've had some time to mess around with it.

 

:thu:

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Yeah i've looked at those also.

 

The mackie one is great, but it sure seems pricey for what you get. Great faders though.

 

The tascam (I assume your talking about the big boy) is cool but no digital scribble strip seems like a major flaw. Even if it would up the cost I think a model with the strip would be worthwhile.

 

*shrug*

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http://www.mackie.com/home/showimage.html?u=/products/mackiecontrol/images/ZOOM_MCU.jpg

 

It's just called a LCD parameter display in that picture.

 

Which is what a digital scribble strip is. Just an LCD above the knobs of the channels/faders. You can usually display any parameter relative to the channel there, or most anything you want. You can also use it to see the name/insturment of each channel if you wish. Hence scribble strip.

 

 

If your going to have a digital mixer and/or control surface I don't see why these would not be included on any decent unit.

Of course cost is a factor, but I think the benefit outways any additonal costs.

 

:love:

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Originally posted by sonik777

Well I went to GC and played around with both units (hmmm that sounds kinky) for a while. The yamaha does have a few more features but nothing I personally really need, and the m-audio unit just seems more well constructed physically. It should as it weighs more than double the 01x.



For whats it worth they both seem like great pieces of gear, but in the end I ordered the m-audio unit. I'll try to give it a review when i've had some time to mess around with it.


:thu:

 

Cool, looking forward to reading the review.

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Originally posted by Gus Lozada

Well... first of all and very important to know, the ProjectMix IS NOT a mixer.


- 16 in / 12 outs at the same time

- ADAT in / out

- 8 preamps

 

 

Actually my understanding is there are 4 analog outs, add to that 8 via lightpipe and 2 via spdif would be 14 outs.

 

8 analog ins, 8 lightpipe ins, 2 spdif ins for a total of 18.

 

So, to summarize:

18 in/14 out.

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Actually my understanding is there are 4 analog outs, add to that 8 via lightpipe and 2 via spdif would be 14 outs.

 

 

Apparently you can't use both the ADAT and SPDIF at the same time, you have to select one or the other, hence 16 in 12 out.

 

EDIT - Better add a quote since I turned the page.

 

BTW, this is where I found out Product Manual, page 14.

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Originally posted by where02190

Indeed, I stand corrected, thanks. So that's one (actually) 2 things les than the 002, as you can use both the ADAT and spdif i/o simultainiously on the 002, but for me, no biggie.

 

 

... well, yes. You were right since the actual count of ins inclued 8 Analog + 8 ADAT + 2 S/PDIF but for unknown reasons, it is either ADAT or S/PDIF to recording / playback.

 

It is more similar to the TASCAM units, actually since it is not a stand alone mixer like the 002, neither has digital FX... but then, the 002 does not work with anything but Pro Tools LE -as a control surface-.

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on the Digidesign Forums some guy was saying he A/B'd the mic pres with his 002 and founf the Project Mix to be better.

 

The new (Jan 06) issue of Sound on Sound has a big review on the Project Mix, I've been kind of looking at them myself. Sucks they're going to boost the price and toss in some other software. They should up the price and add M-Powered ProTools...

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Originally posted by SPLASTiK

on the Digidesign Forums some guy was saying he A/B'd the mic pres with his 002 and founf the Project Mix to be better.

 

 

Now that's what I want to hear. I've got one coming (for the old price) to demo soon, can't wait!!!!!

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