Re: AW: Alesis Multimix 8 Line. 1u mixer for looping.

[mark francombe <mark@markfrancombe.com>]

Thanks Luis... that exact thing was what i was worried about... right now i have the cheap behringer 1U.. and i dont actually have any problems with it, just that i was interested in being able to make my own signal chain, of auxes and channels, and then save it to the box, so the software DIDNT have to come too... live I dont take a computer...



But ease of use under stress, is very important to me, and right now, a complete rewire of my gear is just as easy of moving 2 patch cables in my patch bay so... maybe I stay with this lo tech, hissy, buzzy and distorted set up... maybe i cant blame the hiss or distortion on the behringer anyway, but the edps... and the operator of course!



M

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 8:03 AM, L.Angulo <labaloops@yahoo.com> wrote:

Mark,
i had the Motu for a while and though the mixer is flexible i found it very tedious manually though through the software is obviously the way to do it.Some things i just prefer to do manually!
syncing mobious and the adrenalinn and sending program changes to it with my FCB1010 was however a nightmare,as soon as i started doing midi sync stuff i just could not get it to work right,my presonus works flawless and is way cheaper!
then again try it and tell us your results
cheers
Luis
www.myspace.com/luisangulocom


--- mark francombe <mark@markfrancombe.com> schrieb am Mi, 14.10.2009:

> Von: mark francombe <mark@markfrancombe.com>
> Betreff: Re: AW: Alesis Multimix 8 Line. 1u mixer for looping.
> An: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Datum: Mittwoch, 14. Oktober 2009, 11:17

> Further to this 1U discussion, has anyone

> tried the Motu Traveller as a loopers mixer? It seems to be
> very interesting... but i dont have one, but am thinking
> about it ... alot....
>
> http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun05/articles/motutraveler.htm
>
>
>
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 2:16 PM,
> andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>
> hi Luis, (and loopers everywhere suffereing the "mixer
> problem")
>
>
>
> I had a really good look at the Alesis 8Line.
>
>
>
> The chips used are the cheapest op amps available for
> audio.
>
> The construction is good enough, but not better than
> Behringer
>
> ( held together by self tap screws).
>
> The "tech support" on the website never replies
> at all.
>
>
>
> As it's a line mixer though, the cheap chips only have
> to do  1:1 amplification, which means the sound quality
> doesn't suffer too much.
>
>
>
> I wouldn't consider it for studio use, but for live
> work I think it's
>
> going to scrape by.
>
> As for noise levels...less than the EDPs.
>
>
>
> I was able to successfully mod the 8Line so that the mic
> input, and
>
> one other, are sent to the FX send without going to the
> main mix.
>
> That's a very easy hack to do which makes the mixer
> loop friendly,
>
> just clipping a few wires. (plus of course the 3 days to
> work out
>
> which wires to clip because Alesis won't provide
> docs).
>
> I also added switches for that, which is a bit harder, but
> allows a bit of flexibility.
>
> I reckon it wouldn't be hard to do other mods to the
> 8Line, luike re=routing
>
>
>
> I don't know the Rolls stuff at all, don't even
> know if
>
> there's a European dealer.
>
> ...but I mailed their tech support to test them out on your
> behalf ;-)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Anyway, those 2 mixers have very different feature lists,
>
> surely that's the first consideration?
>
>
>
>
>
> andy butler
>
>
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>
> L.Angulo wrote:
>
>
> hey Andy,
>
> Still investigating this.
>
> Which one do you think is better in terms of sound quality
> between this and the Rolls RM 65B?
>
>
>
> specs here for both
>
>
>
> http://www.rolls.com/pdf/DS_RM65.pdf
>
>
>
> http://www.alesis.com/multimix8line
>
>
>
> anyone?
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
> Is this the ideal small mixer we've
>
> all been looking for?
>
>
>
> Alesis Multimix 8 Line. 1u mixer for looping.
>
> http://www.alesis.com/multimix8line.
>
>
>
>
>
> Feature list and mini review.
>
>
>
> features
>
>
>
> All connections on 1/4 unbalanced jacks unless otherwise
>
> noted.
>
> 8 stereo/mono input channels,  vol, balance, fx send
>
> *Stereo* FX send ( works with channel pan/balance, for
> each
>
> channel)
>
> stereo FX return (with vol control)
>
> Channel 1 switches to a mono microphone input, XLR, no
>
> phantom.
>
> Main outs on balanced jacks with master vol.
>
>
>
> ..and some additional connections on *stereo* 1/4 in jacks
>
> Monitor out...after master vol
>
> Mix out ...before master vol
>
> Input to main bus.
>
> Input to fx bus.
>
> (those last 3 are officially for daisy chaining 2 or more
>
> units).
>
>
>
> Comments
>
> 1) stereo fx bus....that's very useful
>
> 2) seems well built, and sounds ok. Not noisy.
>
> 3) none of the controls has a 0dB calibration, which makes
>
> set up that much harder. ( the cheap Behringer
>
>  stuff often has this). Not really a problem.
>
> 4) the mic input sounds good enough for live work with
> good
>
> full range response. Not for studio though, there's
>
>  a distinctive quality/color to the transient response,
> and
>
> no 48V.
>
> 5) Mic pre-amp doesn't have an insert, and there's
> no way
>
> to make fx send pre fade. In simple terms
>
>   this means you can't EQ the mic, or compress it.
>
> (and can't use my Vortex patches!)
>
> 6) the additional connectors  available give some
>
> scope for  extra routing, as long as you
>
>    don't mind using Y-cables.
>
> 7) neither of the 2 additional outputs has an independent
>
> vol control, (such as would be useful for
>
>   sending to Zoom H2 for recording)
>
> 8) there's no mixer schematic in the manual, it's
> printed
>
> on the top of the unit. Obviously
>
>   when you rack the unit you no longer have the
>
> schematic which is the only way to see
>
>   the mixer features at a glance.
>
> 9) Balanced outs means that you only need a couple of jack
>
> to XLR converters and
>
>   you're able to say " I have my own DI box"
> to any
>
> sound engineer you encounter when playing live.
>
>   This reduces their anxiety about how to deal with
>
> your complex setup to zero.
>
> 10) no official way to make sends pre-fade, which would
>
> make the unit much more usable.
>
>
>
> Conclusion
>
> Very nearly a neat way to route your looping gear, and add
>
> a microphone
>
> with just a 1u unit.
>
>
>
> If you don't need to use the mic-pre there's no
> real minus
>
> points to the mixer,
>
> apart from lack of pre-fade sends.
>
> Sound quality is easily good enough for live work.
>
>
>
> Big disappointment is the implementation of the mic input.
>
> There's no way to
>
> eq the mic, so unless you want a flat response, and have a
>
> dynamic mic that
>
> will give that you can't really this mixer. Using with
> an
>
> SM58, for instance, will
>
> just give you that unclear boxy sound which is normally
>
> filtered out at the desk.
>
> So, probably ok for announcements that no-one understands.
>
> I'm ok, I have a Sennheiser 421 which works very well
> for
>
> feeding assorted
>
> acoustic sounds into the loops (on the fx send), but those
>
> aren't exactly
>
> cheap.
>
> Generally, anyone looking to add a mic to their setup ( or
>
> to remove a mic-pre
>
> to save weight/space) is going to be frustrated.
>
>
>
> Further investigation.
>
> It must be possible to mod this unit so that there's a
> way
>
> to eq( or Vortex)  the mic.
>
> but no service sheet available.
>
>
>
> I emailed Alesis tech support, US *and* UK and was sent a
>
> pair of automated responses
>
> promising a reply within 2 days....about a week ago.
>
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>
> andy butler
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> --
> www.markfrancombe.com
> http://vimeo.com/user825094
> http://uk.youtube.com/user/markfrancombe
>
>
> http://www.myspace.com/markfrancombe
> http://www.looop.no/shop/catlabel.php?q=Synch%20Non%20Synch
>
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>
>

-- 
www.markfrancombe.com
http://vimeo.com/user825094


http://uk.youtube.com/user/markfrancombe
http://www.myspace.com/markfrancombe
http://www.looop.no/shop/catlabel.php?q=Synch%20Non%20Synch