Xone 96 Mixer

The Lounge Other Gear
#103

Thanks for your help again Dave. Your videos have me on the fence between the DB4 and the 96 :wink:

1 Like
#104

Several reasons

First when you produce you might want to have separate channels to better equalise and mix { HPF/ LPF on each channels to remove low/ high frequencies not needed} specially a machine like a Rytm or a Digitone which produce a lot low frequencies that can lead to a bad mix.

Another reason is that dj mixer tend to colour the sound which is good in a live context but not when you are producing or mixing.

For jamming and playing live a DJ mixer is what you need.

#105

@Riuozami

Have to disagree here. Rytm and digitakt do not produce a lot low frequencies. That is up to you and how you mix stuff within the machine. Better yet, the digitskt has in fact a very very small boost around the top end.

With a normal audio interface you have no hp/lp or eq at all. You want to do that surgically within a daw anyway if you go the daw route.

The coloring argument is again not very representative in that the sound of the Xone 96 is very clean. So “DJ mixers tend to color” argument is based on an assumption rather than factual information. We could try to do a frequency response test between a regular audio interface and the 96 audio interface, but to be frank, that comparison would be pretty useless.

Fact is that you want your sound to be as good as it can be, comming out of your hardware anyway. And the 96 will not color it in any such way that that sound will completely change or be unusable. In fact, I would be impressed if you would hear any difference between that and the direct output of the hardware itself at all.

The reason I’m going into depth on this is that your argument seems mostly based around the fact that it is a “DJ mixer” rather than from actual experience.

5 Likes
#106

My argument is based on what I need to achieve, mixing or jamming.

If i need mixing I need to be able to control the frequencies of each sound/instruments and mix and match all the instruments in their unique frequency range.

I cannot do this with a DJ mixer, fact.

Hence I recommend using a studio mixer, old school classic approach, or a good sound card with 8–12 inputs.

If you use a sound card the mix will be done ITB and you can equalise your recorded sound, loop , or full track using any good DAW with proper gain staging etc.

If I need Djing, jamming or playing live a DJ mixer is the best choice.

Digitakt sounds good, it has marginally better top end freq than Rytm, but Rytm has slightly better low frequency due to its analog engine.

#107

At the end of the day Techno and electronic music of the last 20 years have been produced and mixed on Studio Mixer and in the last 5-8 years ITB.

#109

Mix engineer and FOH engineer here. @DaveMech is spot on - hard agree on his recent comments. The 96 is clean if you’re gainstaging properly. In fact, it’s cleaner (particularly crosstalk) and has a greater headroom than a lot of “studio mixers” on the lower range, including those from Behringer, Soundcraft, Mackie. Want a fun experiment? Run eurorack levels through your favorite budget “studio mixers” and see how little headroom it has. Remember that repeated ADC/DAC conversions can also lead to artifacting - which is exactly what a lot of digital mixers do. Nothing’s stopping you from also running the channel inputs straight into your DAW - I believe you can access each channel.

The only thing I would say makes the 96 inappropriate as a proper studio a interface is the unbalanced RCA in’s for channels.

Here’s another fun thought experiment for you - is the Model:1 a “DJ mixer” or a “studio mixer”? :wink:

(also, I laugh whenever someone blindly recommends the SSL SiX without reading past the marketing covers. It’s not the SSL you think you know.)

4 Likes
#110

Thanks for the input, I am hoping to record the separate channels into Ableton🙂

#111

Thanks for the input. I picked up the 96 a couple of months ago, and it sounds splendid so far, but have mainly been using it for DJing. Definitely plan to incorporate it into my production set up soon.

Re. the unbalanced inputs - presumably not too much of an issue in a small bedroom studio with short cable runs?

1 Like
#112

There you go :slight_smile:
What I am using for mixing and prod :wink:

#113

I am not debating the gain staging, I would not use it and recommend it mainly because it has only 4 stereo inputs and I would be limited if I wanted to do a mixing sound by sound (individual).

If you are using Elektron devices with only stereo outputs I guess it does not matter if you use a DJ mixer or not.

Model 1, in my opinion, is the perfect evolution of the Xone 96 with some unique features that makes it quite unique as a dj/performance mixer and which is still manufactured by Digico and Allen Heath

  • Tascam DB25 Line inputs (line in)

  • Tascam DB25 output of master aux send and cue

  • the fully balanced main mix with 110 dB dynamic range

I would get maybe the Model 1 only for these features but the price is very high and at the same price I could have a pro audio card with mastering grade converter ( I use Metric Halo) multiple in-out, adat in out, analog mic pre, etc etc.

@DaveMech I respect your way of working and your set-up, each of us has a different workflow, in the end it is important you can get the result you want to achieve.

1 Like
#114

I’ll be completely honest - I think you’re missing the point here…

4 Likes
#115

Please tell me, maybe I am too old (school) :smile:

#116

I think you’ve made your point now. You disqualify the Xone96 for studio use for a number of reasons important to you. Can the rest of us that have other interests now go on with our discussion?

1 Like
#117

Oh please boomer - I’m “old-school” as well if you want to be anal about that (first touched a mixing desk almost two decades ago) that means nothing. Don’t try to be a purist and pass it off as an old-schooler thing.

The original topic was around live performance. However, in a pinch, the 96 is completely acceptable (and works as well as/if not better) than a lot of budget mixer/interface combinations - usually 100% digital mixers, by the way. If you had the budget to get one thing, and one thing only, the 96 is a great purchase for both studio and performance use.

These days, the line between “studio use” and “performance” are blurring completely - both because of advances in technology, and because a lot of performance use is essentially someone taking their studio, sticking it in a bunch of flight cases, and performing with it.

I’m also amused that you think the Model:1 is an evolution of the Xone 96. I hate to break it to you, it’s a different product aimed at a different market that’s very far off to one side of the spectrum.

But as @dtr said, you’ve explained why the Xone 96 is not a good mixer for you, but please don’t try to force your opinions on others with factually incorrect or misleading statements based on marketing materials - I have a big pet peeve against this since it usually ends up with someone overspending money to buy something they didn’t need in the first place.

2 Likes
#118

Thanks everyone I can only afford one mixer for both live and studio - I tried the OT as a mixer live but it was being very much under utilized and a tad scary in a dark environment.

I only need a few inputs into my DAW and am looking forward to simplifying my setup.

2 Likes
#119

do you guys see any reasons why this wouldn’t work as a main general-purpose soundcard? currently have a Babyface Pro which i kind of under-utilise since octatrack functions as my main mixer (but won’t for long as my sound sources are growing) and its stereo outs go directly into the Babyface. other than that, i occasionally plug an electric guitar through it but never any mics.

the idea of a box is really appealing that could be used standalone as a mixer but that would also allow me to multitrack all the audio into a DAW AND work as a “basic” soundcard for recording electric guitar directly into the box (and for watching YouTube videos and listening to music of course).

1 Like
#120

I have in fact connected my laptop to the 96 & a yamaha music cast preamp system. I can now use it as my sound system & laptop & computer via USB, also OT /RYTM /P12 Module /NI Maschine. Also works with a HDMI splitter, which i have for my Nintendo switch.

The cool thing about it, is that i can also switch between monitoring setup on my computer and monitoring setup on my synths. That were on separate desks /stands.

2 Likes
#121

Thanks for the info, was looking into this myself and have ordered.

#122

My only caution with this is that the drivers don’t seem to handle high-throughput super well. Sending and receiving lots of channels means you need a much larger buffer.

#123

that’s really good insight! can’t you choose how many channels to receive/send tho? for cases when you’re just working ITB and aren’t using all channels.