Does such a mixer exist

For a while now I've been scouting for an audio mixer that has MIDI ports - or at least USB - and is equipped with a feature that will allow me to recall the settings of each knob or fader on a channel using the MIDI protocol. It would seem that this is not a very desirable feature because none of the manufacturers I've investigated have anything resembling it. My question is this: Has anyone ever come across such a mixer? I'm designing a system with a lot of complex wiring and the weak point seems to be my inability to quickly or accurately recall very precise mixer settings. I need this capability.

Some current mixers have USB ports on them but offer no features other than a two-mix directly to the computer. This is no good.

Ideally I'd like it to be analog with no more than eight channels, but I'm flexible in this regard. Built-in effects a plus, even if they're really shitty. What is really important to me is size. I will need something that is not a beast to carry around. I realize that studio-grade mixing boards have total recall on them, but they're fat, immobile, behemoths that are fucking expensive to boot.

get a soundcard with 8 inputs (echo audiofire) and a midi controller controlling your DAWs mixer settings could work. one with motorized faders like the bcf2000. it won't take up much space and you can use VSTs as effects etc. allows you to multi track record as well.

it's the setup I have atm.

  On 10/7/2010 at 5:15 PM, Retape said:

get a soundcard with 8 inputs (echo audiofire) and a midi controller controlling your DAWs mixer settings could work. one with motorized faders like the bcf2000. it won't take up much space and you can use VSTs as effects etc. allows you to multi track record as well.

 

it's the setup I have atm.

Interesting. Shame the BCF2000 doesn't have motorized knobs as well as that'd be like the ultimate midi controller I imagine.

Yamaha AW4416

fully motorised faders, complete MIDI implementation

  On 10/7/2010 at 5:51 PM, oscillik said:

Yamaha AW4416

 

fully motorised faders, complete MIDI implementation

Looks very fn cool. Its no longer available at Digital Village tho. Do you know if there is a new version of this product?

  On 10/7/2010 at 5:56 PM, Promo said:

  On 10/7/2010 at 5:51 PM, oscillik said:

Yamaha AW4416

 

fully motorised faders, complete MIDI implementation

Looks very fn cool. Its no longer available at Digital Village tho. Do you know if there is a new version of this product?

i think a more modern implementation of it was the O1V mixers, but i personally thought they were a bit of a downgrade.

i just sold my AW4416 recently, due to the fact that i have no hardware anymore to record. great mixer though, it's essentially a cut down O2R.

edit: it's funny to say "more modern implementation" - the AW4416 was brand new around about 2001 i think. can't remember exactly when it came out, but it still feels like cutting edge to me anyways

  On 10/7/2010 at 4:41 PM, Wall Bird said:

For a while now I've been scouting for an audio mixer that has MIDI ports - or at least USB - and is equipped with a feature that will allow me to recall the settings of each knob or fader on a channel using the MIDI protocol. It would seem that this is not a very desirable feature because none of the manufacturers I've investigated have anything resembling it. My question is this: Has anyone ever come across such a mixer? I'm designing a system with a lot of complex wiring and the weak point seems to be my inability to quickly or accurately recall very precise mixer settings. I need this capability.

 

Some current mixers have USB ports on them but offer no features other than a two-mix directly to the computer. This is no good.

 

Ideally I'd like it to be analog with no more than eight channels, but I'm flexible in this regard. Built-in effects a plus, even if they're really shitty. What is really important to me is size. I will need something that is not a beast to carry around. I realize that studio-grade mixing boards have total recall on them, but they're fat, immobile, behemoths that are fucking expensive to boot.

get a good midi knobbox with the faders you need, then an audio interface that is suitably small... just picking the first things i find on sweetwater:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/nanoKONTROL/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy/

faders obviously won't move themselves. if you got cash to burn, you could use something like a lemur or ipad that does it all with lights and touchscreens.

  On 10/7/2010 at 6:44 PM, hahathhat said:

  On 10/7/2010 at 4:41 PM, Wall Bird said:

For a while now I've been scouting for an audio mixer that has MIDI ports - or at least USB - and is equipped with a feature that will allow me to recall the settings of each knob or fader on a channel using the MIDI protocol. It would seem that this is not a very desirable feature because none of the manufacturers I've investigated have anything resembling it. My question is this: Has anyone ever come across such a mixer? I'm designing a system with a lot of complex wiring and the weak point seems to be my inability to quickly or accurately recall very precise mixer settings. I need this capability.

 

Some current mixers have USB ports on them but offer no features other than a two-mix directly to the computer. This is no good.

 

Ideally I'd like it to be analog with no more than eight channels, but I'm flexible in this regard. Built-in effects a plus, even if they're really shitty. What is really important to me is size. I will need something that is not a beast to carry around. I realize that studio-grade mixing boards have total recall on them, but they're fat, immobile, behemoths that are fucking expensive to boot.

 

get a good midi knobbox with the faders you need, then an audio interface that is suitably small... just picking the first things i find on sweetwater:

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/nanoKONTROL/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UltraLite3Hy/

 

faders obviously won't move themselves. if you got cash to burn, you could use something like a lemur or ipad that does it all with lights and touchscreens.

Holy fuck that Motu Soundcard looks fn sick!!! Shame it only has 6 jack inputs but still that's a beast of a soundcard.

apparently has a pair of XLR in addition to the 6trs -- so 8 in if you have converters or use a mic. also has builtin fx, and in-theory-less-shitty-than-software DSP mixing, midi, and ways to set it up to run standalone... solves the problem dunnit?

edit: the one question left is how good its midi implementation is, is the mixer bit of it easy to talk with? i'd make sure of that first

alesis master control is quite nice. fully motorized faders, good enough audio interface, pre-amps, transport and other daw controls etc.

DV

Ah, well allow me to be completely transparent so that I can narrow down the suggestions a bit more:

I intend to run cables from the output of the mixer channel to it's input in order to create a feedback loop. That will be the primary purpose of this mixer. As you may know, tweaking any of the knobs in the chain (EQ gain, freq, head gain, etc.) will modulate the delay line length and therefore the pitch and timbre. I want to be able to recall these pitches and timbres rapidly so that I can sequence them and engineer a system to perform with them. It will not be used for mixing, but instead as a noise generator.

With that in mind, I should also mention that I already own a Tascam DM-24:

As you may imagine, this thing is a behemoth and not favorable for lugging to gigs across town. It suits my needs, but is simply too damn cumbersome. I need a compact model that will not give me digital clipping. Motorized faders are not a relevant feature, either.

I intend to look into that Edirol, when I get a moment. It looks like it may be perfect, depending on when the A/D conversion takes place.

Akai made a midi controlled analogue mixer back in the day

Dunno how easy they are to find tho

  On 10/8/2010 at 1:50 AM, analogue wings said:

Akai made a midi controlled analogue mixer back in the day

 

 

Dunno how easy they are to find tho

i wouldn't scour the earth for that, but if i found one in a local shop for a good price i can't say i wouldn't buy it. looks pretty neat.

  On 10/7/2010 at 11:15 PM, Wall Bird said:

 

 

I intend to run cables from the output of the mixer channel to it's input in order to create a feedback loop. That will be the primary purpose of this mixer. As you may know, tweaking any of the knobs in the chain (EQ gain, freq, head gain, etc.) will modulate the delay line length and therefore the pitch and timbre. I want to be able to recall these pitches and timbres rapidly so that I can sequence them and engineer a system to perform with them. It will not be used for mixing, but instead as a noise generator.

 

 

very interesting?

wouldn't an analogue desk be better for this?

  On 10/8/2010 at 2:29 AM, soundwave said:

  On 10/7/2010 at 11:15 PM, Wall Bird said:

 

 

I intend to run cables from the output of the mixer channel to it's input in order to create a feedback loop. That will be the primary purpose of this mixer. As you may know, tweaking any of the knobs in the chain (EQ gain, freq, head gain, etc.) will modulate the delay line length and therefore the pitch and timbre. I want to be able to recall these pitches and timbres rapidly so that I can sequence them and engineer a system to perform with them. It will not be used for mixing, but instead as a noise generator.

 

 

 

very interesting?

 

wouldn't an analogue desk be better for this?

not to mention every setup will have its own take on the feedback sound!

perhaps you need to go on a vision quest to find the feedback interface of your destiny.