edmann Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 Hi Craig! I have enjoyed your writings over the years, and realize that you may be the best person to answer this question: Do you know of a good fairly inexpensive line mixer for digi-stems in creating a better mix - i.e. out of the box? I seem to remember you having some DIY projects over the years, and thought maybe there is a solution lying somewhere in your archives. I just do not have the bread right now to go out and spend 3-8k on a class A line mixer - but even the digistem mixes that I have done thru a Mackie board sound WAY better than the In The Box mixes. thanks! and best regards Ed Mann Ed Mann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 Build a passive mixer with just a few resistors, and use a killer mic pre (will come in handy during tracking too) for makeup gain. I've done this and it totally smokes anything you can buy for the same price, if you don't need EQ and sends and all that. Even if you do, shelling for a couple channels of nice outboard EQ will still very likely leave you in a position to sound much better. Great passive mixer cheat sheet at John Klett's forum on Prosoundweb.com A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 I've never cared for passive mixers, hate 'em in fact. Ed, another one I've thought of that'll you can stay digi with, the Yamaha O1V. They're going used for $600 or so since the new O1V96 has come out. The summing is much better than in any DAW I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 BTW Ed, what is your DAW, soundcard setup? How many outputs do you want to send to the mixer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edmann Posted September 25, 2003 Author Share Posted September 25, 2003 Thanks everybody - the passive mixer sounds very interesting Ted, thanks for the idea - I looked over on Klett's forum but I didn't find that actual schematic or directions - is that what I should be looking for? I know nothing but I can solder. Tinder: right now I have...almost nothing! I have sold all computer audio interfaces off in disgust. However, I am reconstructing and will soon have a minumum of 8 but perhaps 16 analog outputs from probably an Apogee Rosetta 800 or DA16, and hopefully all of that will be i/o the mac (or PC if my thinking continues that way it has been) via an RME Digiface or 9652. All clocked to the Apogee. Mac would be using DP - and probably in OS9. If I make the break all the way to PC then it is who knows what - Samplitude or Nuendo. I have not considered the 96k O1V thing because it is just more digital summing - which was exactly what is driving me despondent, but I hear you if you say it is that much better than average DAW summing. Worth considering - certainly is cheap and you get all that extra functionality of the control surface. I will investigate - thanks to all Ed Ed Mann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 The cheap O1v does not do 96k, so if you're going to work that high, you'll have to try something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 If you do a search over on Klett's forum for passive mixers, you will find what you need. Tinder Arts, did you use make up gain with whatever passive mixer you hated working with? What were the details? I have heard some pretty wonderful things from mine. But I'm not using a whole hell of a lot of channels, that could be the difference. I wonder. A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 The passives I've worked with didn't sound good at all unless I used a preamp to feed them. Then again, I haven't tried them all. In the role of a summing mixer, I just can't imagine that a resistor mixer could compare to a good quality mixer with a good quality summing amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 "The passives I've worked with didn't sound good at all unless I used a preamp to feed them." Well now that I think of it most times I've used them, I have had a preamp to feed them or super hot signals to feed them. "Then again, I haven't tried them all. In the role of a summing mixer, I just can't imagine that a resistor mixer could compare to a good quality mixer with a good quality summing amp." well, I can imagine a lot of things. Real world experience is something else. I couldn't classify very many mixers that cost less than several thousand as "good quality". All in favor of good quality though. A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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