M3 Mixer

I have to disagree with the earlier review on this thread. I own it, purchased it about 6 weeks ago, and it works well.

While this review became a lot longer than I expected, I felt like perhaps M3 may be overlooked for potentially the wrong reasons based on the earlier review, and having mixed 4 songs so far with much success over the past 6 weeks with M3. The M3 Mixer has been a tremendous help, and once I had finished my template as I liked it, the projects that followed the first happened very quickly.

I feel having used the software for a decent period of time, and taken the time to learn more about the subject, I am able to offer a more objective review that focuses on what M3 can do, rather than moaning about documentation while overlooking the of hands on video instruction manuals provided by AYAIC. https://www.youtube.com/@ayaicware

For documentation, I will admit there isn't much written, but there are very comprehensive videos on YouTube from AYAIC.

The videos provided by AYAIC are below and you will learn more than just about the Mixer and Level Planes, the man will take you to school.

AYAIC on M3 Advanced Video Get Started Manual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU9nBzkYIzg&t=1635s

AYAIC on M3 In Depth, Video Manual - Every Feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCn3HZ0_Gv8

AYAIC on V2.0 Video Manual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UvQnSCTW0

AYAIC on Level planes and M3 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVvexeGG_cs

There is more than enough information covered to get started, he covers every knob, button, slider and feature in great detail. I'm impressed with the system, and its utility and so I will share the information I have learned while using it.

The software works very well at providing a very balanced mix quickly. Build your initial mix balance in M3 where everything gets its "home" level plane, adjust planes musically through your arrangement as you see fit, to maintain balance you typically arrive back to your home plane with most channels, or don't it is all up to your own creativity. I find that working within the level planes thoughtfully prevents creeping in loudness as the mix progresses. This makes maintaining the mix balance and a dynamic arrangement very easy. Of course, you can use your ears; if something doesn't sound good, adjust the target on the M3 channel that you want to boost or cut manually and then use the learn and mix buttons on that channel and move on. Just remember, after processing a channel or tweaking a synth, relearn the channel to maintain that initial balance, and you are good to go.

For anyone who is confused and doesn't want to search the topic for themself, it's very simple.

Level Planes are not an AYAIC concept; M3 works around the concept and simplifies it for the user. It is a long-used system that not everyone has heard of or used. It is not the "best" way, or the "ultimate" way, the "only" way, it is another method and a system for mixing, based on a concept. I found that learning about the concept breaks you out of guess work, and that is important if your workspace is not ideal. It is used by many and has been in practice for a long time. There is enough information on the net to familiarize oneself with the concept of level planes.

Simply put, level planes focus on the importance of any given sound in any particular section or time in the music.

OT is for those standout sound events, PT is for primary importance or focus - think Kick, Snare, Vocals, Claps (or whatever should be most important to the mix - depends on your creative choices), SC1 and SC2 - think alt synths, chords, plucks, TN1, TN2 think backing vocals etc, pads, strings, ambient sounds, and the -NEU (neutral) that ghostly stuff you feel but don't really ever hear, or sort of hear but is not really defined. None of those home positions are meant to remain static in the mix; in a dynamic project, elements can traverse the level planes and take importance or share it, or be demoted to a lower level plane as they become less important momentarily, and then move back to their home plane as the song flows. Similar to riding faders in traditional mixing, only in a controlled way, and you are not stuck exactly on a level plane, not enough or too much on the level plane for your taste, then adjust the console fader momentarily and then bring it back to unity. The system isn't rigid; you are still the artist and make the decisions with your ears.

The concept easily translates from other mixing methods. Once you look at it from the angle of what is important to the mix, it is no different than riding faders in traditional mixing, you just determine what is or isn't as important, or not needed at a moment, a particular section or time in the music. You really don't need a genre-by-genre guide if you understand the concept of hierarchy in your arrangements and the genres of music you enjoy working with. There are so many musical styles out in the world that it would be difficult to predict what kind of documentation would even be enough for a comprehensive manual, and it would rob someone of their creativity to believe that parameters are worth more than creative choices, or their ears. Level planes are a solid guide, not a strict law.

The concepts are described well enough in the videos to understand more than the basics, and the subject is easily searchable on Google, or even GPT can chat about it. I did chat with GPT to clear up a few questions, and it was bang on. This isn't voodoo; it's just a solid system to follow, and M3 simplifies it for the user with an easy-to-use UI, with some added flexibility like sidechain (duck/expand), group controls, the ability to write fader gain to the arranger, MIDI assignable mixer controls, and a lot more features that are covered in the video manuals.

I recommend taking a look at the videos; they are worth a lot more than a complex manual, and the videos fully demonstrate the system in great detail.

I did concoct a hybrid method of using M3 in my mixes and Studio Pro's console, and so I just follow the 5 controls 3 discussed in the video manuals on the topic of level planes. I apply it within the Studio Pro console for arrangement section changes and transitions, after I have built my initial balance in M3. It works great for creating dynamic changes for arrangement sections, knowing that I will always gravitate back to unity at some point on the Studio Pro console, taking the channels in and out of their home positions while moving through the arrangement as needed. This maintains a good flow and keeps the project balanced. My automation lanes follow the same concepts, and if I adjust an automation lane to control volume of a channel for a section, I always arrive back to unity as needed, and I move on and don't even sweat it or need to endlessly tweak other channels to fit the mix.

Having a system to follow and taking the time to understand why and how it is used actually freed me from guesswork and randomly dragging a fader only to go and drag a bunch of other faders to boost or cut, and to try to fit into the mix.

Check out their YouTube channel to learn more about the software, and then fill in the gaps on the concept with Google if you are not clear. It is worth a second look.

Ideally, a feature I would like to see in M3 would be the ability to have scenes stored directly in M3 and to be able to trigger those scenes with MIDI CC, I would also like to have an option to lock the channel order within the M3 mixer so that they don't accidentally shuffle around if I delete a channel or add one, and that would make it a very versatile system and simplify scene changes from within the mixer.

My only 2 annoyances are that M3 appears to have an 2 minor issues with Studio Pro 8, but the Studio Pro release version is so problematic I would almost guess it is more a Fender issue than AYAIC issue.

In Studio Pro, the channel colours in the M3 mixer reset each time I reload my project. I recently upgraded from Studio One V5, have been a S1 user since 2016 using v3, and I decided to go for the updated features and upgraded to Fender Pro 8. I'm not sure if it is just this hella buggy release or M3. I also find that in Studio Pro the channel order in the Studio Pro console will work well with M3 as long as you build the template in the order you want to see it in M3, I think due to how Studio Pro indexes the channels under the hood, M3 has difficulty and so you in Studio Pro, either build your template in the order you want it in M3, or build it to include some spares, set M3 and save your template, but do not use the auto sort features, as they will work in ungodly ways in Studio Pro.

I cannot fault the minor annoyances I am having while using M3 with Fender's buggy release of Studio Pro 8, and so I have no issues suggesting M3 to someone who may not have an ideal listening room or who struggles to achieve a good starting balance in the mix. I have been making music since the late 2000's and lost my A7x's a couple of years ago to a misfortune and am now on some shitty 3-inch Yorkvilles, and can say honestly that the mixes are translating very well with the M3 system, the balance is definitely better than I had done in the past at the speed of which I can achieve it with M3, even with my Adams I would spend a lot more time balancing my mixes, and I am in a well-treated space.

• Low quality manual, only 4 pages that don't describe features, buttons, fields.
• There is no information on how to mix with M3 VST for different music genres with their individual characteristics.
• Outdated GUI, no skins.
• Poor settings, you can't even see the version of your plugin from the menu.
• No update info in the settings, you will never know that a new version is available.
• Lazy support.
• Price.