Who is using Harrison Mixbus?

[Mr. Spock]

Hi guys,

currently demoing Mixbus 4, which seems really nice at first glance.
Seems easy to get into, really nice sounding EQ, channel compressor and bus saturation.

Long term users:

- How is the CPU hit (compared to Live, which sucks so much CPU)
- overall experience, stability
- sound quality improvements compared to your results on other DAWs
- general comments appreciated

Thanks for any comments

[Steve Bolivar]

Here's a very thorough evaluation of Mixbus 32c 4.1. A friend of mine uses the base Mixbus and likes it.
http://www.admiralbumblebee.com/tags/#Mixbus
That link goes to the bottom of the page. Reviews are in the middle.

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

Love it! Cant see it. Don't use it.

[Tj Shredder]

I can only talk about Ardour, which Mixbus is based on. I do prefer it over ProTools when I need to edit audio. Depending on the task, I would never edit audio in Live, completely unusable for that task, I would never create loop based music in Ardour.
I expect a DAW to not have a "sound", I would use extra plug-ins for that.

[Mr. Spock]

Thanks guys,

I will test it a bit more and see if I click with it.

[toonertik]

I can only talk about Ardour, which Mixbus is based on. I do prefer it over ProTools when I need to edit audio. Depending on the task, I would never edit audio in Live, completely unusable for that task, I would never create loop based music in Ardour.

I expect a DAW to not have a "sound", I would use extra plug-ins for that.

Except Mixbus does have a "sound", which is really what it all about IMO, it tries to replicate Harrisons analog mixer (although MB 32 is a more accurate emulation of their old desk).
I use it sometimes for stem mixing for that old analogue feel and like what it can do.

[Tj Shredder]

I think Ardour basically is Mixbus without the channel strip. The channel strip is meant to sound and that is what you pay for I guess. I am grateful to Harrison as their concept of using and supporting open source did help both worlds and gives us more freedom...

[do_androids_dream]

Except Mixbus does have a "sound", which is really what it all about IMO, it tries to replicate Harrisons analog mixer (although MB 32 is a more accurate emulation of their old desk).
I use it sometimes for stem mixing for that old analogue feel and like what it can do.

It indeed has a 'sound' if you engage the eq, compressor, saturation or limiter. It doesn't have anything further than this though (no channel colouration, summing algos etc.). If you don't use any of the built in processors it will give you the same result as any other DAW.

[toonertik]

I think Ardour basically is Mixbus without the channel strip. The channel strip is meant to sound and that is what you pay for I guess. I am grateful to Harrison as their concept of using and supporting open source did help both worlds and gives us more freedom...

Yes, Harrison's mixer added to Ardour.
And yes, I believe they support Ardour financially as well.

[vitocorleone123]

I like mixing in 32c. I wouldn't want to use it for music creation, personally.

Since it's already emulating things and has EQ built-in, the CPU usage is higher than expected (for me). As long as I'm modest with the number of plugins I use (try to use the built in EQs, compressors, etc. but they aren't surgical enough at times), especially with analog emulations. I'm developing a lighter, cleaner "touch" overall, and my music sound better for it in the end to my ears.

I don't think it works with vst3 yet. I think you can probably achieve relative closeness to the sound in other DAWs through smart use of analog plugins - not sure if that'd be more CPU efficient, or less. Probably less. Stability in my limited experience is decent of late, except when it hates on some plugins and freezes up my computer.

[v1o]

I can only talk about Ardour, which Mixbus is based on. I do prefer it over ProTools when I need to edit audio. Depending on the task, I would never edit audio in Live, completely unusable for that task, I would never create loop based music in Ardour.
I expect a DAW to not have a "sound", I would use extra plug-ins for that.

Sounds superfluous. If you’re not going to edit in your primary DAW. Why don’t you use an audio editor?

[Tj Shredder]

I can only talk about Ardour, which Mixbus is based on. I do prefer it over ProTools when I need to edit audio. Depending on the task, I would never edit audio in Live, completely unusable for that task, I would never create loop based music in Ardour.
I expect a DAW to not have a "sound", I would use extra plug-ins for that.

Sounds superfluous. If you’re not going to edit in your primary DAW. Why don’t you use an audio editor?

Ardour is a multitrack audio editor.
I have multiple "primary" DAWs. If I record acoustic music its Ardour, for electronic stuff its Bitwig, if its experimental, its Max/MSP. If I need to edit a 2-track I used to use Peak, but that died recently, like Sound Designer before...: - (

Btw. Ardour is the only DAW with an exponential wave form display. No need to do a vertical zoom to see soft passages!

[Debutante]

I read somewhere about stability issues, maybe here??

[Tj Shredder]

I am happy, and the best, if you run into problems, you can chat with the developers directly. Fast and competent help!

[Studio Saturn]

The DAW for mixing is one of a kind really glorious. The crash That I'm having blows my mind all the time. Today it works without any issue and tomorrow there will be one. That is the only reason I keep going to REAPER. I don't have the patience these days I don't need a headache. I really need something that I can rely on and Reaper does the job. I like Mixbus I really do but I can't intertain a crash and a few bugs that I'm having. Doest it sound great? Yes The Harrison Plugins also are great but. I can't afford to be disappointed in the middle of a mix and Poof it is gone. Time is very special to me and it keeps dragging me all the time. I will check them out when they release 5.