High end interface or mid range console? Looking for some advice

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Hey guys,

I am looking for some advice on my next home studio upgrades. And am facing this question over whether to invest in a high end audio interface or a digital console? There's also always the option to go with a control surface and a decent interface.

I've got to the point in my life where with the way I route things in my studio it's easier to run a board. I've also gotten to a point where space for a board isn't an issue. Furthermore in my professional career when I'm running FOH or producing i am using a board and in many ways it's enhanced my ability to be creative.

I say all that to say I know I need to get my hands on physical faders for my home studio.

I've also collected enough outboard gear that really all vocals and drums go to various pres before they come into the board so the quality of the built in pre isn't quite as important as back in the day. It's also my belief that these days even in some entry level units they have relatively decent pres. At least for non HD recording that's going to get compressed into a mp3 track. I've got about $3000 to invest with my goal being to have enough i/o for my studio, faders that I can actually touch and good enough pres for mp3.

So what are your thoughts and suggestions? In general and specifically.

Id love to get an avid s3 but a little steep right now. However is it worth saving for?

Allen and heaths qu32 has some nice pres in it and runs hui for daw control. At a pretty solid price as well.

Even the focusrite stuff has been pretty solid for years. The drivers can be a pain sometimes but for the price hard to beat.... pairing that with the avid artist and mix is another option.

Just looking for some ideas and suggestions!

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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$3000 to invest with my goal being to have enough i/o for my studio, faders that I can actually touch and good enough pres for mp3.
well your only option appears to be a A&H QU series then.

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wickfut wrote:
$3000 to invest with my goal being to have enough i/o for my studio, faders that I can actually touch and good enough pres for mp3.
well your only option appears to be a A&H QU series then.
Care to elaborate? Is that a good option? Am I better off saving some additional $$? Etc.

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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theEmbark wrote:
wickfut wrote:
$3000 to invest with my goal being to have enough i/o for my studio, faders that I can actually touch and good enough pres for mp3.
well your only option appears to be a A&H QU series then.
Care to elaborate? Is that a good option? Am I better off saving some additional $$? Etc.

Thanks,
Kevin
You want faders, 32 inputs and good pre's. What else in your price range covers all those bases?

You could get RME Digiface + 4x Behringers ADA8200 + Behringer X-Touch I suppose. I think I'd rather go for the QU mixer myself.

There seems to be a lot of similar hardware digital mixers flying about at the moment. All USB 2, touch screens, flying faders , but all lacking digital ins/outs and only 24 bit 48khz sample rate.
That QU32 looks about the best out of them but would be killer if it had an ADAT or MADI card slot and scribble strips. I'm not sure if I could trust playing 32 channels of low latency VST synths down USB2.0.

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Thanks for your reply,

So let's just take the cost factor out of it.

In a home studio / hobby studio what are most people using as there consoles?

Used gear isn't a problem for me as long as it works. Basically I'm just trying to feel out options. If i doubled or tripled by budget what other options would come into play?

The qu32 looks great but defentily has draw backs like you mentioned. Just trying to see what else is out there.

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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Hi,
for some reason I like talking about mixers-
mine gives me a buzz every time when I dust it,
and I ride faders all day, entertaining myself and making music.
One of my units is in getting serviced,
but when it comes back I will have 24 channels of 2x Mackie Onyx 1220.
I want to buy some Samson Aura 10" that have 2 inputs, so I can use both.

Mackie have been in the small format mixer trade for more than a decade,
currently they have got cheaper, went digital and USB instead of firewire.

Here's a link mate->
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROFX16V2-Ma ... 1438.l2649

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theEmbark wrote:Thanks for your reply,

So let's just take the cost factor out of it.

In a home studio / hobby studio what are most people using as there consoles?

Used gear isn't a problem for me as long as it works. Basically I'm just trying to feel out options. If i doubled or tripled by budget what other options would come into play?

The qu32 looks great but defentily has draw backs like you mentioned. Just trying to see what else is out there.

Thanks,
Kevin
Here's a list of what I've been looking at and why I haven't bought it yet..

Behringer X32 - don't trust the company to make a mixer which will last longer than its warranty period.
A&H Qu24/32 - 48khz sample rate, no scribble strips.
Midas M32R - No digital ins/outs Unless I pay another £1500 for the full M32 version.
QSC TouchMix-30 - zero faders. Pure touch screen.
Studiomaster DigiLive 16 - No stereo link of mono channels.

Soundcraft SI impact - Current favourite to purchase. The only one which allows 32 digital ins/outs on separate MADI card.
PreSonus StudioLive 32 - still on fence and reading reviews/specs.
IMG Stage Line DMIX-20 - No digital ins/outs and just one fader, still tempted with this due to me having a suspicion that most current digital mixers are using pretty much the same bits , hence why they all have similar converter specs, so why spend £2000 for 24 faders when you can get the same thing for £700 but with a single fader and in a nice compact unit.
Last edited by wickfut on Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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I'm using an Allen & Heath ZED14 ... 6 mono channels, 4 stereo channels plus 2 x stereo ins on phonos. Mono out, stereo out and aux output. 4 aux sends per channel, 3 band EQ with swept mids. It also has usb for connecting a computer.

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nix808 wrote:Hi,
for some reason I like talking about mixers-
mine gives me a buzz every time when I dust it,
and I ride faders all day, entertaining myself and making music.
One of my units is in getting serviced,
but when it comes back I will have 24 channels of 2x Mackie Onyx 1220.
I want to buy some Samson Aura 10" that have 2 inputs, so I can use both.

Mackie have been in the small format mixer trade for more than a decade,
currently they have got cheaper, went digital and USB instead of firewire.

Here's a link mate->
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROFX16V2-Ma ... 1438.l2649
Thanks for the reply!

I actually have the larger version of the onyx in another studio and we have been really happy with it. Just didn't think about it for what I'm trying to do. I use the other one as mostly a live board. I'll look into this a bit more but I can attest to the fact that these things are built like tanks. Mind sharing how you have this interacting with your DAW?
wickfut wrote:
theEmbark wrote:Thanks for your reply,

So let's just take the cost factor out of it.

In a home studio / hobby studio what are most people using as there consoles?

Used gear isn't a problem for me as long as it works. Basically I'm just trying to feel out options. If i doubled or tripled by budget what other options would come into play?

The qu32 looks great but defentily has draw backs like you mentioned. Just trying to see what else is out there.

Thanks,
Kevin
Here's a list of what I've been looking at and why I haven't bought it yet..

Behringer X32 - don't trust the company to make a mixer which will last longer than its warranty period.
A&H Qu24/32 - 48khz sample rate, no scribble strips.
Midas M32R - No digital ins/outs Unless I pay another £1500 for the full M32 version.
QSC TouchMix-30 - zero faders. Pure touch screen.
Studiomaster DigiLive 16 - No stereo link of mono channels.

Soundcraft SI impact - Current favourite to purchase. The only one which allows 32 digital ins/outs on separate MADI card.
PreSonus StudioLive 32 - still on fence and reading reviews/specs.
IMG Stage Line DMIX-20 - No digital ins/outs and just one fader, still tempted with this due to me having a suspicion that most current digital mixers are using pretty much the same bits , hence why they all have similar converter specs, so why spend £2000 for 24 faders when you can get the same thing for £700 but with a single fader and in a nice compact unit.
Thanks for sharing this! A lot of the same stuff I've been looking at it's helpful to hear other thoughts on them. Just FYI I have a x32 in 2 of the places I regularly mix and both of them are constantly out for repair. Trying to push for a budget upgrade but these are both churches so budget is always an issue. That being said they sound pretty good but I wouldn't personally buy one. Presonus put me off to there company probably 10 years back with some crazy stupid issues with some analog mixers I had. That being said it's been a while they've probably stepped up their game.

Thoughts on the onyx boards?
thecontrolcentre wrote:I'm using an Allen & Heath ZED14 ... 6 mono channels, 4 stereo channels plus 2 x stereo ins on phonos. Mono out, stereo out and aux output. 4 aux sends per channel, 3 band EQ with swept mids. It also has usb for connecting a computer.
Thanks for sharing! Not enough i/o for me but I know they have a larger model. I could also look at chaining 2 together.

I appreciate the replies! I've got some research to Do!

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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Thoughts on the onyx boards?
Owned a dinky 820i firewire one about 5 years ago to use as a temporary sound card when my proper one died. It did a great job of making my PSI A25 monitors sound shit.

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wickfut wrote:
Thoughts on the onyx boards?
Owned a dinky 820i firewire one about 5 years ago to use as a temporary sound card when my proper one died. It did a great job of making my PSI A25 monitors sound shit.
Haha good to know!

Might look into some other compact analog mixers as long as I can chain 2 together. Anything that pops to the front of your Mind?

Thanks again,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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Am I better off saving a bit and buying something like an avid s3? Then getting some UA interface?
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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In terms of bang for buck, imho it's hard to beat Soundcraft MTK22.
I just bought this for £653: it's a 22 channel analogue mixer which integrates completely with DAW channels as well as hardware inputs too natch. It's pres are decent, it's onboard EQs are excellent and there's some alright onboard FX too.

You will probably get more options / better quality if you spend around £3,000 but for under £700 the MTK22 is a hell of a deal and leaves money for other studio equipment (eg acoustic treatment and excellent monitors etc).

A few individual MTKs have had some hum/noise issues, as per the KVR thread here or the Gearslutz thread about the MTK. But most units don't come with these issues and I'm very happy with my purchase.

Sub-£700 it's a steal.

Ps - not sure if you want 32 inputs or if you'd be happy with 22 (clearly the MTK won't meet your specs if it's the former).

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theEmbark wrote: Just FYI I have a x32 in 2 of the places I regularly mix and both of them are constantly out for repair. Trying to push for a budget upgrade but these are both churches so budget is always an issue. That being said they sound pretty good but I wouldn't personally buy one.
Hi Kevin

Are there patterns to the breakdowns, specific weaknesses or failure modes? Or is it an entirely new breakdown every time?

I don't have much space to devote to a mixer and the capabilities for "at home" mixing and computer interface look promising with some of the small form factor behringer faderless rackmount or desktops. I'd probably use ethernet control but maybe very close renge wifi.

So if the failures you most notice tend to be switches and sliders type stuff maybe I wouldn't have tor rule out the faderless models

I didn't yet see another brand with combination of computer interface and mixer features I would want, for money I'd be willing to pay.

A couple of brands are controllable via html5 rather than device specific, which might promise better software longevity, but I didn't yet see an html5 controlled model with desirable combo of features and price for solo home computer multitrack recording.

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dark water wrote:In terms of bang for buck, imho it's hard to beat Soundcraft MTK22.
I just bought this for £653: it's a 22 channel analogue mixer which integrates completely with DAW channels as well as hardware inputs too natch. It's pres are decent, it's onboard EQs are excellent and there's some alright onboard FX too.

You will probably get more options / better quality if you spend around £3,000 but for under £700 the MTK22 is a hell of a deal and leaves money for other studio equipment (eg acoustic treatment and excellent monitors etc).

A few individual MTKs have had some hum/noise issues, as per the KVR thread here or the Gearslutz thread about the MTK. But most units don't come with these issues and I'm very happy with my purchase.

Sub-£700 it's a steal.

Ps - not sure if you want 32 inputs or if you'd be happy with 22 (clearly the MTK won't meet your specs if it's the former).
Thanks for the reply! I will look into this for sure. To you have yours running into a convertor or straight into your pc?


As to the x32 - the first issue was the screen going out. The other issue was a couple of the faders just wouldn't automate. It wasn't anything big but berhinger has always been hit or miss for me and the x32 offers some great options and you can't beat the price. Overall the places I work that have x32s are super happy with them. I'd say my feelings are neutral I personally wouldn't buy one but I'd recommend them if it's all that fits the budget.
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
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Kevin DiGennaro

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