What Do I Need to Change From Analog Mixer to Digital
Making the transition from analog to digital mixing is easier than you might recall.
[Guest postal service by Nick Hampton] I became a fellow member of the digital age a piffling over a twelvemonth ago when my church decided on replacing our analog Mackie 24.4 mixer subsequently information technology blew upwardly in the middle of our Easter service. The Mackie wasn't my favorite by any stretch of the imagination, merely it was analog and as long equally you know what all those faders and knobs are doing, then all you had to exercise was sit dorsum and punch it in. I had used that same Mackie for x years and I kept the original manual with me at all times.
The features on the Mackie were few and far betwixt, especially when y'all are comparing information technology to a digital mixer. When you lot make that comparison, the only existent feature that our Mackie had was some Aux Sends, Overload Lights, Solo Buttons, Sub Groups, and a Mute Button. When that is all y'all take and you are getting the job washed so those features are a jiff of fresh air.
I must say I was dead set confronting getting a digital mixer. I had it in my listen that nosotros were sacrificing quality sound for gadgets and trick effects that would be distracting more than anything else…I tin tell you those thoughts left my listen very quickly when I opened the box to our brand new digital mixer. I didn't know what it did, just it sure looked crawly!
Permit me remind you, I was new to the digital scene and this was the "offset" interaction I had ever had with this kind of mixer. There was no question if this would exist the most hard office of this transition. Non knowing what your audio board is capable of and what all the software that came with it does or doesn't do was quite intimidating. I knew I had to arrive that manual fast and it took me near 6 months before I had EVERYTHING figured out on the PreSonus 24.4.2. "Everything" included the three extra's that came with information technology:
- Universal Command with Virtual Studio Live – Interface for our computer that allows elevate & drop on any PreSonus mixer command.
- Studio One Artist – Recording software that allows y'all to create songs from each aqueduct on the PreSonus mixer that it links upwards to.
- Capture – A digital audio and multi-tracking application that is designed for live recording or mixing your audio in real time to a stereo file. It'south designed to interface with StudioLive perfectly and allows y'all to do a virtual audio cheque without a single person on stage!
The Presonus has allowed our band to control their own aux mix by an app only bachelor to iPhone/iPad users (QMix) from the stage and all I have to do is assign their device to the right aux transport that their receiver is hooked to. That was the biggest and most noticeable divergence that nosotros felt right away. It almost made us feel similar we made the right telephone call just because of how much we saved in not having to purchase in-ear receivers when they could just download a complimentary app!
Is a digital mixer really worth the investment?
Obviously, there are a ton more features that the PreSonus is equipped with just whatsoever digital mixer has them so be sure y'all store all mixers. If y'all truly don't need all the bells and whistles so an analog mixer is probably more up your alley than a digital one. I thought we didn't need those extra bells and whistles just realized how much we were missing out on when I was able to compare and contrast the differences firsthand. Information technology's great having features similar scene recollect and then that yous can save your current setup on your mixer, and that includes aux, fader levels, gain, etc. where all yous have to do is press salvage and when you come in adjacent only think your scene and your set up!
Most digital mixers are loaded with presets and various eq'due south that you can simply drag and drib depending on what software comes with the board. As I mentioned before, PreSonus has the Universal Control that allows your board to be controlled in every stretch of the imagination from the computer if you lot wanted, but that is where you can do more precise adjustments, down to the decimal.
Our transition to digital from analog was something that I was NOT looking forward to but boy was I wrong. I would recommend going digital to only about anyone that asks me, after looking at the positive impact it'southward had for our church building's audio and the effect information technology's had on the ring too. Anytime you can provide your band members with their own personal mix in loftier quality and yous permit them control it…they're going to grinning a lot in your direction!
Even if y'all're one of those quondam timers that loves the feel of the analog and the control that information technology gives, I can only encourage you to step out of your comfort box and at the very to the lowest degree, give a digital board a await-come across and yous just might be as surprised as I was. At the very least, information technology's been a lot of fun to larn, it's really easy to teach in comparing, and our whole team loves it!
Nick Hampton is the Tech Production Ministry Leader at Friendship Church.
[A annotation from Chris: Nick is a fellow tech in my area who has gone from being the only tech on an analog board to a growing a team and working in the digital age. He was thrilled he could write this piece and give dorsum to the tech community. The number of sub-$10k digital mixers is growing and as Nick mentioned, working with these mixers is easier than you call up.]
Source: https://www.behindthemixer.com/analog-digital-mixer-transition-consider/
0 Response to "What Do I Need to Change From Analog Mixer to Digital"
Post a Comment