Page 1 of 2

is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:10 am
by ralphh
as thread title says, i'm looking for a nice mixer to go with Reason 4
this one is kinda nice but not exactly what i'm looking for..
Image

ideally they should look like this
Image

this one has a USB connection but i think its's only a audio interface, i already have that shit, behringer....
you can assign a shitload of effects besides EQ on the knobs for every track, so it would enhance the workflow a lot i guess

so, is there a nice studio mixer somewhere out there?

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:21 am
by deadly_habit

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:44 am
by ralphh

That thing is a decade old, wonder if it will work correctly with reason 4/windows 7?
I think i would prefer a behringer BCR over this one, although it's not what i'm looking for either..
thanks for the heads up anyway

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:11 am
by Depone
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/a ... ontrol.htm

Mackie Control, widely used and trusted control surface

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:11 am
by deadly_habit
midi is midi
the standard hasn't changed since it's inception

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:16 am
by Electric_Head
He wants it to be pretty Deadly.

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:20 am
by deadly_habit
heh well you're pretty limited, the mackie control, breakinger motorized fader/knob boxes, custom built midibox 64, or some hard to find/expensive boutique midi interfaces
http://www.sweetwater.com/c808--Mixing_Control_Surfaces

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:06 pm
by ralphh
Electric_Head wrote:He wants it to be pretty Deadly.
No, i dont care much about looks, but i think the bottom knobs are too small to work with imho
if i had the skill i'd build it myself ;)

edit:

and the main reason i put that behringer mixer as refrence is because it fits in nicely with the reason mixer, so it's all for the workflow



and faders are sexy :Q:

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:18 pm
by Electric_Head
:lol:

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:25 pm
by ehbes
Buy reason 6. Best mixer you could ask for

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:43 pm
by bassinine

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:10 pm
by __________
Yep!

I bought the MIDI CPU myself last month after researching DIY MIDI controllers for a good year plus. I'm yet to build the controller (still designing) but the build quality and customer support from the Highly Liquid boys is really very high. Can't believe they aren't more popular...or is there just not enough demand for custom MIDI?

I know you said you don't want to DIY, but you could easily do a channel strip MIDI mixer constructed in the same way as audio mixers with channel strips. Each MIDI CPU can take 14 potentiometer inputs, then you could chain the signal on through each channel strip using the MIDI outs and throughs. Use the final channel strip as the output. That'd give you 14 knobs on each channel (more than the Behringer audio mixer) or a few less knobs plus bonus switches.

Other than that, there's the interfaces like the Mackie Control, etc. I've always been kind of underwhelmed by them. Not sure how people justify that kind of cash for a few motorized faders and hardware transport buttons.

Ask someone who builds custom controllers for a quote!

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:36 pm
by bassinine
oh, and the bcr 2000 is actually about as good as it gets in that price range. sometimes, the LEDs would glitch out a little bit - but other than that it was solid. never had any problems with functionality.

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:28 pm
by drake89
A midi mixer that lets you mesh perfectly with reason is ass backwards IMO. You're going to spend at close to or 2x the software cost to interface with it. I'd get the behringer things or build one like they were saying if you're dead set. At the end of the day you're still in reason. I'd rather be in anything else and mixing ITB maybe with one of the behringer fader junts. Face it: if you want a hardware mixer like reasons you should be using your computer mostly as a tape machine. In other words forget about the midi aspect.

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:43 pm
by Today
Reason's 2d mixer is just perfect, tbh. I have no idea how you'd go about mapping a mix control surface to Reason

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:45 pm
by ehbes
Today wrote:Reason's 2d mixer is just perfect, tbh. I have no idea how you'd go about mapping a mix control surface to Reason
^ this...unless you've got an ssl lying around its gonna pretty damn hard

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:17 pm
by mks
We're talking a price difference of at least $1000 between something like that Novation and the Mackie Control. Some of the other options are even more.

I just use the faders on my Akai MPK49 or the APC20 and usually get along just fine although I do wish they had a longer throw which is just not practical on devices like these.

I would consider one of the PreSonus FaderPorts for my studio though.

I would also consider one of the Allen and Heath Zed mixers as well. It does not have midi, there is no automation but it does have USB in/out so you could do real time mixes with tracks in the box.

http://www.allen-heath.com/uk/products/ ... =ZEDSeries

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:54 pm
by Today
i almost recommended the Presonus faderport but OP seems to want a desk-like control surface, whereas the faderport, as far as i could see, is only handy for recording automation and maybe punching the record/stop/play buttons, jog, etc. Because it's just one fader, you'd need to keep using your mouse and shit to map it to something, set your value with the fader, then move to the next parameter...

to me it would only be worthwhile if you absolutely hate drawing automation and prefer the feel of a fader to ride the volume of a track or aux send or something

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:58 pm
by mks
Today wrote:i almost recommended the Presonus faderport but OP seems to want a desk-like control surface, whereas the faderport, as far as i could see, is only handy for recording automation and maybe punching the record/stop/play buttons, jog, etc. Because it's just one fader, you'd need to keep using your mouse and shit to map it to something, set your value with the fader, then move to the next parameter...

to me it would only be worthwhile if you absolutely hate drawing automation and prefer the feel of a fader to ride the volume of a track or aux send or something
From the reviews I have read, it sounds like you can jump between channels very easily and be pretty much mouseless.

I do prefer the feel of faders and knobs in my studio. I try to make it as mouseless as possible.

Re: is there a decent MIDI studio mixer?

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:35 am
by ralphh
mks wrote: I try to make it as mouseless as possible.
This is my plan. i now work with a hercules rmx and a korg padkontrol, which is hard to keep up what all the knobs are for, i'm a choatic person....
So i thought a mixer layout would be nice because it's easy to manage if you make a standard template.
£10 Bag wrote:
I know you said you don't want to DIY, but you could easily do a channel strip MIDI mixer constructed in the same way as audio mixers with channel strips. Each MIDI CPU can take 14 potentiometer inputs, then you could chain the signal on through each channel strip using the MIDI outs and throughs. Use the final channel strip as the output. That'd give you 14 knobs on each channel (more than the Behringer audio mixer) or a few less knobs plus bonus switches.

Other than that, there's the interfaces like the Mackie Control, etc. I've always been kind of underwhelmed by them. Not sure how people justify that kind of cash for a few motorized faders and hardware transport buttons.

Ask someone who builds custom controllers for a quote!
Hmm,I might aswell build my own. Seems like fun/cheaper, this is one to do some research on.
Maybe i need to try out reason 6.5 first, i'm really digging the ssl mixer from youtube vids, although it might not be worth it to make a controller for it (and my room will look like a space ship too :o )
if i make a DIY i want to design it around a reason instrument/options for clarity reasons