Brand New Software Mixer

A place to discuss AMP - Audio Mixing Platform (http://www.ampmix.net)

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby soundguy » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:50 pm

Speaking of Behringer X32, does anyone have any experience with the X32 rack, or X32 core and their associated remote software apps? Seems like more disposable B stuff, but a space saver indeed for small gigs.

Best I can tell at first glance is the X32 rack has 16 mic pres built in and the Core requires the S16. Any other thoughts?

Soundguy
soundguy
 
Posts: 338
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:21 pm

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby jlepore » Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:15 pm

Have played briefly with an X32 rack. Nice unit - full control from an iPod. Racked with a few amps and had a full roll-in-hiding system to do a corpy type gig. Can't speak to reliability as it was brand new and think it only got used once.
Gigabyte H55-USB3 i5-650/4G/XP/SSD Profire 2626x3/ADAx2/MLA7x1 Motormix x2 AMP/SAC/SAWLite
User avatar
jlepore
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:35 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby mycorn » Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:13 pm

i have the desk, a core, and 2 s16

coming from years of SAC the software is a no brainer

go get it for your platform and run it

x32 edit

there's very few things that dont work unless it's sync'd...
[you can easily build most of a show...]
mycorn
 
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:15 pm

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby gdougherty » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:12 pm

I'm on tour at the moment with my new X32 Rack and S16. Rack and a 1U UPS are in a gator soft side wheeled rack that comes in just under 50lbs. I've got extra foam packed in the lid since the cover is almost flush with the rails. The S16 is in a 4U Gator shockmount that would have put me just a bit over 50lbs with the Rack and UPS but otherwise would have been my ideal home for it.

I've had a few small gigs under my belt with the Rack and a summer of touring with the full console. The X32 Mix app on the ipad is definitely the way to go. I don't bother with the windows/Mac editor since the sync is slow and can get out of sync if you change something on the rack. Usage live in playing at the house was fine, but it feels like SAC without any optimization for multichannel control. I haven't touched anything on the rack except for the master volume because the ipad app is so much easier. It's better than the software editor or the console surface for most everything but moving faders or having direct access to things on the UDK's if you have the full console.

I do find myself wishing for a view with 16 channels of fader, maybe a custom channel layout, because stereo channels eat into what I can control on one page and I'm so used to living with the 16 input and 8 DCA arrangement I use on the desk 99% of the time. Because of that it can feel a little slow jumping around at times.

We're 2 shows into 10 days of school assemblies on both coasts and I'm so much happier with it than I was my 24 channel SAC flight rig. I have less mixing power, no plugins and fewer stereo IEM mixes but it's still plenty to work with and the band is all mixing their own IEM's on their iPhones. Our setups and tear downs are short, so being able to walk in, do a line check, a quick portion of a song and let everyone deal with their own monitor tweaks while I tweak the Main out Eq for the venue makes everything more efficient. I do line checks as we connect things, can tweak gains if necessary from the ipad, change output routing while I'm troubleshooting signal connectivity issues at venues, or rearranging outputs between the S16 and Rack outputs.

It cost me more than my 24 channel Profire 2626 based setup including laptop, but not if I'd paid the older price for them and had to buy a SAC license as well. Either way, so far I'm very happy with the Rack, and if it holds up as well as the consoles have for original owners, I can expect several years of use out of it with no problems. Biggest complaints on those seem to be faders and sticky buttons over time and I don't have any of those to deal with. The X32 rack will likely eventually become my monitor console/stage box with an X32 for FOH and may replace SAC entirely though at least it will on the majority of my gigs.

Also worth noting. Summer of X32 and now my Rack in below freezing NY weather for transport have netted me zero crashes and a brilliantly stable ipad app that automatically reconnects and doesn't crash if there are any wifi issues. It's occasionally a touch slow when banking around in the app, but they could easily improve that since it appears to do a requery of the console settings every time you change the view. A smarter app that accepted change pushes from the console in the background and cached all the console data for quick local access would be much more responsive with only slowdowns in meter display.

Core loses the 1/4"'aux in-out which is handy for a full 32 channels plus several music playback sources without DI's. We're using 4 of them for keyboard inputs on this tour, but I have the DI's and could have lived with a Core and pair of S16 on this tour.
http://softwareaudioconsole.wikidot.com The start of a wiki. It's slow going and there's a ton of info that should be in there yet.
Biggest item is the Command Reference on how to do most actions within SAC. It's 90% of what you need for UI proficiency.

g is for George
gdougherty
 
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Westminster, CO

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby soundguy » Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:45 pm

Geo,

How many input channels can you see at one time on the iPad app? And does one X32 rack with 16 pres onboard and an iPad gives you everything you need up to 16 inputs? What about EQ on bus outs? How many aux outs? I guess I could look this up but I appreciate your attention to detail in real world application.

And just in case I'm overlooking the obvious, does the X32 rack with associated iPad or Windows/Mac software run independently without the X32 main console?

Soundguy
soundguy
 
Posts: 338
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:21 pm

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby mycorn » Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:50 am

the rack is the desk minus 16 xlr A/D and faders/buttons
...a fully self contained 22x14 mixer

the core is the desk with 0 A/D on board
[it does have a talkback input and monitor/headphone outs...]

while it does have USB input
the idea is that you use aes50 stageboxes...
mycorn
 
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:15 pm

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby soundguy » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:50 pm

Thanks for the input.

Is anyone else on the market ... perhaps lurking in the shadows ... with similar setups? Presonus makes an affordable 16 or 24 channel digital mixer with a popular iPad app, but haven't heard many good reports ... specifically lack of moving faders ... but does the iPad app recall fader position? Don't really know much about that product.

Soundguy
soundguy
 
Posts: 338
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:21 pm

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby WurstWerner » Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:06 am

You can hook up any Mackie Control, BCF2000 or any other faderpack that runs with the Mackie template with a X32 Rack or Core...just sayin'-->

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/210 ... G_1524.MOV

Did lots of shows with the X32Rack and Core. I would always connect both. iPad and a laptop with the X32-Edit software, just in case one fails. I used my old SAC Laptop for running X32Edit and SAC as a VST Host simultaneously. Used some plugins like Drumagog and connected them via the Aux Inputs of the X32Rack. Rock solid.

Image
WurstWerner
 
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:24 am

Re: Brand New Software Mixer

Postby gdougherty » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:24 pm

soundguy wrote:Geo,

How many input channels can you see at one time on the iPad app? And does one X32 rack with 16 pres onboard and an iPad gives you everything you need up to 16 inputs? What about EQ on bus outs? How many aux outs? I guess I could look this up but I appreciate your attention to detail in real world application.

And just in case I'm overlooking the obvious, does the X32 rack with associated iPad or Windows/Mac software run independently without the X32 main console?

Soundguy

16 mic pre plus 6 1/4" i/o channels. 8 on a screen with the ipad. I played the other day with a pair of linked ipads and if you can set them down, it works quite well as a surface alternative. 6 band parametric on each buss, matrix and master output. It has 16 mix busses plus the matrix and main outputs.

Yes, the rack is internally the same brain as the full x32 console, just a different physical configuration.

Its been great, though I have had two oddities where my first mix buss stopped passing audio. No metered signal, just all gone. Rebooted the rack and it kicked right back in.
http://softwareaudioconsole.wikidot.com The start of a wiki. It's slow going and there's a ton of info that should be in there yet.
Biggest item is the Command Reference on how to do most actions within SAC. It's 90% of what you need for UI proficiency.

g is for George
gdougherty
 
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Westminster, CO

Previous

Return to AMP Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron