DIY Console faderbox design

[DwaneHollands]

Hi Dwane... Chris is talkin 2 X-panda's which would equal 8 aux's (4 on each). Then seeing he won't be using the 2 busses....there's another 4 out's.

Do you mean, using the 4 stereo tracks on the X-Panda as 4 Aux's and grouping them in the Daw befre sending them out to the X-Panda? I can't see how line/ALT channels are sent from the console to the Aux's/stereo channels.

I can see the two FX sends which are mono on both the X-Desk and X-Panda.

Sorry, this is confusing for me...

[rick]

the x desk seems to be designed for the guy , who had a console and still has a rack of select outboard and thinks working in the box without a console is madness - workflow wise
there are all these little button insert options and tricks it really is cool if your in that headspace (i am )

if you think you need a console for "summing "
the the x desk is overpriced and not the right thing
but if you need a console - but just a little one to create records with i think its tops
it is so quiet i cannot even understand how they have done it .

maybe all those addon things they just launched will take off , but probably not
it is not a really cheap way to do anything that they do
but me likee
good to see cla does as well , i thought after reading about how useless they were on the web i was out my own
again.

[The Tasmanian]

Dwane
All I need is a clean path to send off to aux's for parallel processing,fx sends - not from stereo stems - all individual outputs, all going through various eq's comps, then patch in the SSL so that I have 4 Aux's and the fader is there if I need it - then all into a passive mix bus.
As Rick says the SSL's are really clean - and others I know inform me that even the mix bus is really good - lots of headroom - punchy bla bla (very important to me).
Now I can make a console with all these random old/new bits - /Eq's/comps/reverbs etc - based around a passive mix bus and the SSL as a clean console routing system where I need it. Add another one for more fader channels and/or more aux's . plus more parallels.

[Ben M]

Hi Dwane... Chris is talkin 2 X-panda's which would equal 8 aux's (4 on each). Then seeing he won't be using the 2 busses....there's another 4 out's.

Do you mean, using the 4 stereo tracks on the X-Panda as 4 Aux's and grouping them in the Daw befre sending them out to the X-Panda? I can't see how line/ALT channels are sent from the console to the Aux's/stereo channels.

I can see the two FX sends which are mono on both the X-Desk and X-Panda.

Sorry, this is confusing for me...

Dwane, I'm not sure if I'm helping with your confusion. What exactly is confusing you???

Pan hard left and hard right on the cue send (that's 2 aux sends), then aux 1 and aux 2 = 4 aux's total.
The x-panda has direct outs and a stereo mix buss. If your not using the stereo buss (only the direct out's) then that's an additional 2 outputs to try and use in some fashion.


Looks like this has just hit youtube;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9wBf4BgqDI

[DwaneHollands]

<clap> Snap!

I think I get it now!

Ahh, since the Cue mix is stereo, you pan them hard left and right and you've got two invidivual Aux's effectively. Send the FX1 and FX2 as another 2 Aux's. I got that now!

So you send CUE stereo mix out as 2 channels, though your EQ's/Comps and into Passive Mix as two channels. FX1 and FX2 as two channels into your EQs/Comps and then into Passive Mix.

Use the MIX buss outputs into passive mix. (all of the above outs come through the UNITE DSub25). Use the MIX Buss stereo inserts to send through another pair of EQ's/Comps.

The amount of the send level from the faders to the mix buss, is your blend for parrallel processing for your line in's.

The Cue to MIX buss button with the fader is a global parrallel blend of the ALT inputs to the FX1/FX2.

Mix Buss output left and right, straight into passive mix.

OK, it's late and I'm losing all coherant thought. Did I get it right?

Oh Crap, I think I did this based on the X-Desk, not the X-Panda...

[The Tasmanian]

I'll explain it better Dwane - its like this:
32 outputs out of tools. Each DA output goes directly to the passive mix bus. Some outputs will have vintage EQ's patched between the DA and pass mix bus. - But say on drums I want a parallel compressor blended on the now EQed drums, then here is where the desk comes into play. By patching through this little console (line in to line out) I can now send the drums through the 4 mono auxes to 4 different compressors that are returned into the passive mix bus.
And if I really needed I could use the consoles stereo mix bus as another stereo aux if I wanted.
So in effect I have a small console flexibility. If I added a 2nd console for vocals and guitars then I would get another set of auxes for reverbs and delays - again returning into the passive mix bus.
Obviously after the passive mix bus - I use a pair of mic pre's for make up gain (my stereo fader)

[The Tasmanian]

Those who have never used a passive mix bus don't know what they are missing out on.
Being able to change the sound of the mix bus by swapping pre's is such a great way to work.
I now take a passive mix bus into big mix rooms and use the studio console as a sub mixer into the pass mix bus, keeping the main elements going straight through the pass mix bus.
A straight wire mix bus sounds astonishingly huge.
Proharmonic passive mix bus is a great box !
I don't think I could work any other way now.

[Alistair]

Hey Chris- you're obviously loving Rob's passive summing unit, so I'm gonna bug you with a few questions.

Checking the one on Rob's site, it doesn't seem to have any panning control between hard L/R and mono. Does this annoy you? I've only got limited pan on my current summing unit and it drives me crazy.

And what pre's are you using for make up gain? Do you find there are a couple you keep coming back to (eg a great clean pre, a great punchy pre) or half the fun is in trying everything and just seeing what works?

[The Tasmanian]

Hi Alistair,
The idea is to not pan - 98% of the stuff is LCR - then inside protools I can pan within a stereo pair if needed - or on this new little console using the mix bus.
There is so much to be gained by not panning 98% of the music - only using LCR.
My fave mix bus is my 2 Valve Voodoo's as make up gain/touch of valve compression, then into a API 2500 again with just a touch. Ive also used a pair of Rola 77MKIII's, Electrodynes etc and MCI's and all sorts - they all sound so different. The bottom line is they generally have to be fast with transients.

[The Tasmanian]

Alistair - also pan pots decrease the quality of the audio - by switching it is point to point wire - a better world sonically than a pan pot.

[Alistair]

Thanks for the info. Interesting about the pan, I never thought of it as being detrimental, but I suppose it is another thing that's in the signal path. Whether it's a big difference considering everything else in there, I guess that's up to an individuals ears.
I certainly do use centre or hard pans for 90% of stuff, but every now and then I want a guitar to sit in those in between spaces, and whilst I can do it across a stereo pair and pan in the DAW, it's a pain in terms of outboard etc. Then again- those tracks are usually 'non-essentials', so maybe the compromise is to have a 16 channel unit with 12 LCR, 4 channels pan knobs etc... Just thinking out loud.