Message 14/23
Date: 29-Sep-00 @ 10:58 PM -
RE: Digital mixers with FX and compressoin
influx;
I do use the four omni outputs as aux sends, returning the FX units via a little Behringer mixer (MX802A) into one of the stereo inputs. The noise gate on the stereo input is great, when you have 4 FX units in quiescent mode the hiss can get up a bit, so the gate keeps it in check.
If you don't want to buy a separate submixer, the 8 extra inputs for the 01v(on MY8AD) would be good for aux returns, as they are lacking in features compared to channels 1-16, like:
1) Only 2 band EQ (still parametric though)
2) Only access to aux sends 1 and 2, but you're not likely to want to use too many aux sends on aux return channels.
3) No access to fader/mute groups.
4) No stereo link facility for adjacent channels. You'd think this would be useful for stereo returns, but just set the pans to hard left and right and move two faders as one. The stereo link is most useful on samplers with multiple outputs configurable as stereo pairs or single mono.
4) And no dynamics either. Gates would be nice though.
If you did go for the 01v (and I strongly recommend it), think about getting the 8 analogue input card and/or (depending on how much gear you've got) a cheap submixer for the set-and-forget inputs like FX returns. The flexibility it gives you is amazing.