Need a desk...

[Jay Pace]

Thinking of buying this:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/NRV10-main.html

Costs just under £400

Anyone got any better ideas? Looks nice to me, using a shitty tapco thingie at the moment which is a joke of a device...

[loopdon]

I wish i knew more about them. I would like one myself. I know mackie has the vlz3 out now. Soundcraft prolly better still. I reckon it would be important to know if you want usb/firewire etc. integration and how many channels you need.

[Jay Pace]

Have put the SOS review on my server:

www.blackboxtechno.co.uk/maudionrv10.pdf

Its favourable - says you don't get a "sound" like you do with mackie or soundcraft, but that they are good work horses that do a unique job with the firewire & VST channel support.

For £400 I reckon its a goer...

[Electrictribe]

it looks ok, but would invest a couple of extra hundred into a soundcraft of mackie desk. Love my soundcraft desk.

[RDR]

no opinion... other than i think it looks horrid and tacky.

[judas_beast]

Looks cheaply made to me. Never been a massive fan of M-Audio's gear, few of my house mates used to have their cards, didn't like 'em. Also not a fan of combined bits of gear, jack of all trades etc. Personally, I'd get a Mackie Onyx, or 1604 and a decent sound card. Sure, its more money, but you can buy one then the other, and it will sound better. Or get second hand from the great eGay.

[eyeswithoutaface]

depends what you want the desk for really. I wouldnt want to use a desk like this for my main mixdowns that's for sure, but i would certainly use it happily for running mic's through and other bits of kit. I use a small Alesis desk for all my mic's and work's a treat

[fatcollective]

check this out, fvckin bargain!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MACKIE-MIXER-1402-VLZ-PRO-AS-NEW-REDUCED-PRICE_W0QQitemZ170108564661QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2378 5QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[loopdon]

do you do your main mixdowns in the box or do you use a desk? what mics do you use? thinking i might get a little more into the hardware side of things..

[fatcollective]

a mixer brings so much more to your sound....speraration, much more brightness on the high plus more rumble on the bass.

my mix downs come straight from my desk & compressors, took a while to get my head round it, but its bang on now!!

[eyeswithoutaface]

i do my main mixdown's in the computer yeah mate, i dont find much difference between this and using a desk, as the theory and procedure's are the same for me. Plus digital mixing allow's me alot more channels than the desk i have and i like the challenge of getting warmth from a digital setup. Mic wise i have numerous Shure PG58's and PG81's

[fatcollective]

i do my main mixdown's in the computer yeah mate, i dont find much difference between this and using a desk, as the theory and procedure's are the same for me. Plus digital mixing allow's me alot more channels than the desk i have and i like the challenge of getting warmth from a digital setup. Mic wise i have numerous Shure PG58's and PG81's

i think im the total opposite, i like the more raw sound straight from the desk, in fact i just record straight from desk and thats it, i dont play about with the mix afterwards in sound forge or other mastering vsts. if the mix is shit i just re-record it until its right...pure rawness!!

[eyeswithoutaface]

i think im the total opposite, i like the more raw sound straight from the desk, in fact i just record straight from desk and thats it, i dont play about with the mix afterwards in sound forge or other mastering vsts. if the mix is shit i just re-record it until its right...pure rawness!!

yeah, that's a good old school method, certainly does the bizness at times

this would of been good in the methods thread ;)

[judas_beast]

I always used to record straight of the board. Now I tend to do a lot more ''in the box'', thinking of getting a better desk than my shitty Eurorack 2004 (which doesn't get used, thankfully) and going back to the old skool.

But yer, to me that M-audio looks gash.

[anode]

i think im the total opposite, i like the more raw sound straight from the desk, in fact i just record straight from desk and thats it, i dont play about with the mix afterwards in sound forge or other mastering vsts. if the mix is shit i just re-record it until its right...pure rawness!!

do you go straight from the stereo outs to a pc or tape etc..? or do you record from the buss..? so like a 4/8 track style recording?

im planning on recording from the 4 Outs on the buss of a mackie mixer into the 4 Ins of a maudio soundcard in my pc. and possibly go straight from the stereo rca outs on the mixer and do a straight to compact cassette as well:)

[Jay Pace]

Cheers for feedback peeps

So - buy a new soundcard, and buy a proper mackie/soundcraft desk?

Currently running a m-audio 4/4, was thinking that this magic box would give me 10/10 and a better external mixer than my tapco piece of shit, but if its false economy I'll give it a miss.

Tend to do mixdowns internally as well, wanted a new desk to give me more control over mic's, synths, and outboard.

Anyone got any pointers on a new 10/10 soundcard?

[TechMouse]

Anyone got any pointers on a new 10/10 soundcard?
RME stuff is normally pretty good, but you pay for it.

[Barely Human]

Ive got the Delta 10/10Lt, wonderfull little soundcard for the price. Got no complaints about it at all.

[RAAT77atBOA]

*If* you use hardware consistently, then yeah, go ahead with it. Unless you can pick up something better used. Preferable with group channels, and assignable auxes, as well as assignable channel strips (group 1,2,3,4, master).

*If* you don't really use hardware instruments often, just get a clean board that does a good job of not coloring the sound. Wire your monitors straight off the soundcard, and set the mixer to the task of HW efx loops only. Purchase a seperate channel strip for recording anything you want to mic.

[MARK ANXIOUS]

mackie desk is the best way you can go for techno or electronica imho. it has a really sweet sound when you clip - the soundcraft stuff doesnt do that.

recently i bought the onyx and although the eq is slightly different to my old 1604 VLZ, it's really a nice thing to have in the studio.

a good desk is essential if you ask me. and a good soundcard. i have the motu 828.

oh and don't forget GOOD CABLES. mine are of the balanced variety and i noticed the difference immediately the day i bought them.

good luck man.

[FILTERZ]

I have motu 828 and mackie desk also

works for me

[Ritzi Lee]

If you have a 90% digital production environment and you need a total solution regarding your mix sessions, go for the Yamaha 01X. I'm convinced now that it will blow you away. It has even 8 extra analog inputs if you have any additional hardware to wire.

If you want to produce hardware wise, there are different possibilities. A Mackie does the job really well.

Can you give us any indication on how you want to produce? Any studio configurations and stuff like that...

[Jay Pace]

Currently use the following:

delta 4/4
Waldorf pulse analog synth
Sherman filtherbank
Focusrite compounder
& a horrible, horrible tapco mixer to route through.

Do mixdowns internally in cubase.
Always use outboards for synths, FX & compression.

I make plinky, bleepy minimalish techno like this:
http://blackboxtechno.co.uk/x8/Bear%20Spray.mp3

onyx & motu sounding like a good combo at the moment...

And massive thanks to everyone for help on this btw

[loopdon]

Beautiful track that, jay. Sweet sweet sweet production! Minimal, effective, superb.

[eyeswithoutaface]

yeah that's a kewl track mate, you should slide a lovely deep ass sub in there too, sound's wikid now but would be lush with some really smooth sub in there i think

got a nice hood feel to it, but more electronic :)

[Ritzi Lee]

Even when you buy a second hand 01V like I did, you are on track.
And you have a memory to store a maximum of 100 mix sessions.

[eyeswithoutaface]

Even when you buy a second hand 01V like I did, you are on track.
And you have a memory to store a maximum of 100 mix sessions.

yep, that's one of the pro's of a digital mixer. I know some people really dont like them, but it means your not limited to working on one track at a time when it comes to mixdown like with a regular desk, which can be a pain in the arse unless you've got a photographic memory of your desk or can be arsed writing down all the channel states for the particular track your mixing down

[decoherance]

mackie desk is the best way you can go for techno or electronica imho. it has a really sweet sound when you clip - the soundcraft stuff doesnt do that.

recently i bought the onyx and although the eq is slightly different to my old 1604 VLZ, it's really a nice thing to have in the studio.

a good desk is essential if you ask me. and a good soundcard. i have the motu 828.

oh and don't forget GOOD CABLES. mine are of the balanced variety and i noticed the difference immediately the day i bought them.

good luck man.

i dont know, ive got an old spirit folio and i much prefer how overdriving the gains sounds on that compared to my mates onyx.
different strokes i guess...

on a side note, i dug out my old copies of eternity the other day. your record reviews had me in stiches. i forgot how extreme they were lol.