Thinking of getting a 12, they only thing holding me back is the digital conversion happens at the input not after the comp/eq etc. like the 16 and 24. So the 16/24 is full analog up until the multitrack recording. Any ideas if the sound quality of the 12 will be the same as the 16? Could I overdrive the preamps to get some nice distortion like you can on an analog mixer, or will it clip?
What are the real advantages of having midi? I’ll be running a rytm, digitone, toraiz as1 and volante delay through it.
When I overdrive the preamps on the Model 12 it seems to to shift the signal to the left or ride on my headphones. It sounds weird, and not pleasing. Can anyone else confirm this is happening for them too. It could be related to my headphones amp. Not sure. Basically, I stay away from overdriving the preamps.
As for MIDI-- in theory it could allow you to send tempo data to your devices and STOP/PLAY info. So, if you press play on the Model 12, your Digitone etc. would also start playing. I found pressing record on the Model 12 would give me a 4 beat count off, then commence with starting the MnM sequence/song I had on deck. Pretty seamless.
Presuming MIDI sync is tight, this could be useful. However, I understand the Model 16 and 24 can do this now too, as long as you’re ok with having your computer connected to the Model.
I just got mine set up today. I quickly discovered a little bonus I hadn’t considered. I have a Sony turntable that has Bluetooth. I occasionally used this to connect to a portable speaker BUT now I can send audio from my turntable to channel 9/10 via Bluetooth, send that to my sub mix out which goes to my MPC, and sample vinyl wirelessly.
Edit: oddly enough I got them to pair the first time I turned them both on but now I can’t get the turntable to pair again and there’s no menu on either device to select a device. Hmmmm
As someone who use to rip samples from vinyl with a 1200 and numark mixer, using Bluetooth to grab vinyl samples might as well be a rocket that can take people to Mars.
It’s great in my case because my turntable isn’t directly next to my workstation. The turntable has line outs as well but those are connected to a stereo system.
If you have the turntable powered on first, it should automatically pair the two. If the mixer is powered first, I think you’ll have to hold the pair button on the Tascam because the t-table wasn’t available when it booted up.
I had the 12 and returned it I had the sub outs going to my MPC and everything I sampled was super noisy. But I’m curious if I had a bad unit? I really like the idea of this machine so if the 16 sounds better I might buy that.
I don’t own any Elektron “boxes” anymore outside of the Analog Drive. I’m not sure why any particular manufacturer would work better or worse with a mixer. That being said, It’s working perfectly for me. I’m multitracking to Studio One, multitracking to an SD card onboard, using the aux send to implement the Analog Drive, and sampling from all channels (including my iPad via Bluetooth) to my MPC using the sub mix out.
@ttaralli I’m thinking either you had a faulty unit or maybe you didn’t mute the MPC from the sub mix and it was resampling itself? I’m sampling to my MPC via the sub and everything sounds exactly as it sounds in through the headphone out.
My only real criticism is the onboard FX are pretty whatever but I didn’t plan on using them anyway. Other than that I absolutely love this mixer.
The reason I asked that is I want to use OB with my Elektrons and Model 12 with other synths and hopefully have both groups in sync and and working together.
It’s disappointing that the FX in all mixer under $2000 are either awful or mediocre. Why can’t they implement a system where you can pay extra if you want it with better FX algorithms? It seems like a wast eof space and resources. I’d rather have a smaller and more simple mixer without FX than one with bad quality ones.
How do you feel about the overall build quality? Many of these multritrack USB mixers have felt very cheap to me from the Soundcraft MTK series to the Presonus StudioLive series. If I didn’t want multitrack capabilities along with it acting as an audio interface I’d just get an Ashly MM508 + an audio interface but that would get expensive and create wires / cables everywhere (which i hate).
As far as using OB and an interface: I think that has more to do with your operating system. I know Macs seem to handle it fine. I’ve heard some issues about Windows machines but I can’t really speak from experience either way.
Build quality is great from my experience over the past 2 weeks. Actually it feels more solid than my MPC in some ways.
Yeah, a Mac will handle input from various audio interfaces at once (only one OUT of course) while a Windows box (afaik) will only allow one at a time.
So if you’re on a Mac you should be fine, and your machine has enough guts to drive it all.
You definitely have to be careful not to leave the tracks unmuted. I’ve left my FX track with an external compressor on and it will add lots of unwanted noise.
I’m still on the fence over this interface - especially now after reading these customer reviews:
“The only thing I don’t like is that you have to use up two input channels to return a mix from your DAW. Since I have all the channels plugged up with synthesizers, it can make for clumsy overdubbing. It would be great to return a stereo feed to the master section.”
“if you use it as an interface, you will have to sacrifice channels 1 and 2 to output DAW audio through your monitors or headphone. There’s no other way around this. It’s a fantastic piece of hardware aside from this one design flaw. So, be aware that if you need it as an interface, you’ll be at a loss of 2 channels from the start.”
“Not only are Aux sends in mono, but every channel is mono. I get that inserts as mono is fine in live sound, but to be advertised as an interface then only allow mono input is a bit misleading in my opinion.”
"As a standalone option, good but as a interface and controller, pretty bad. Theres no tutorials, lack of explanation on the manuals and poor cust support. "
The review about the inputs being mono is kinda weird though. I think every interface / mixer is like that. Anyway, you confirm any of these claims?
I don’t see this as a design flaw. I like that my computer audio is assigned to faders so I can EQ, send to aux, etc. before the sub mix where I sample to an MPC.
Not true. The last 2 faders are stereo channels. It’s also typical of virtually all mixers outside of DJ mixers that the majority of faders are mono channels.
I haven’t tried using it as a controller. Not something I’m really interested in. But as an interface it hasn’t been any different than my previews interface. I don’t understand that one at all. I opened the hardware settings in Studio One, assigned the ins and outs, saved the preset, done.
Here’s how I’m using the channels if you’re curious. You do have to sacrifice a channel for the AUX return. The quote was correct that the AUX send is mono even for the stereo channels. The Analog Drive, in my case, is mono so it didn’t really matter.
Just so I’m clear on this, if I record / send tracks to my DAW through the Model 12, then finish everything else in the computer, and don’t need audio returned back to further tweak (other than monitoring the entire mix in my DAW on headphones or speakers) then inputs 1 and 2 wouldn’t have to be taken up by the computer and free to be used for other instruments?
EDIT: My setup will be this… Digitakt and Digitone connected via Overbridge. OT and 3 other synths will be connected via the Model 12. I will jam / record into the DAW then do remaining processing in their. I don’t plan to bring audio back out from the DAW to be -reprocessed and then back into the computer. Hope that’s more clear.
I had the sub outs going to my MPC and everything I sampled was super noisy. But I’m curious if I had a bad unit? I really like the idea of this machine so if the 16 sounds better I might buy that.
