Getting rid of our Mixing Boards? Philosophical question.

[fab]

Hi all.

First post in a looong time.
I'd like to appeal to the wisdom and experience of the good people of this board on a subject that pretty much keeps me from sleeping right now. (I know, I know)

I'm relocating my studio to a new location and I'm taking advantage of that event to "clean up", rationalize and upgrade it.

THE BIG QUESTION:

Do I sell my O2R and go full PT?

My fears/questions for people who made the jump:

(As a primer ProControl and Control 24 are out of the question financially)

-Is it still fun to mix with just a keyboard and a mouse? I'm scared a bit.
Does anyone find the motor-mix thing to be worth the trouble?

-Is the PT 2buss going to sound as good as the O2R Two-buss?

-Is it going to be a royal pain to create headphone mixes on the fly (That TDM delay everytime I insert sends and fx is just horrendous)?

-Is it going to be practical to access my outboard Lexicon/Eventide/Avalon gear in a PT only set-up? (On mixdown mostly)

-How on earth do you manage two track returns (CDs, CD recorder, DAT, K7s, and monitor levels and stuff like that?

Voila,

Can we lay down on a couch and talk about this?
I can't possibly be the only one wondering.

Any insight on any of these topics welcome.

Ciao,

Fab

[bjorn for a reason]

there is no substitute for an analog consoles' monitoring and return functions
headphone mixes etc.
in my humble opinion

[nipple]

Get rid of the board. Studio Technologies makes a product called Studio Comm that handles all of your typical master board module functions like master volume, CD/Tape ins, speaker switching, routing to other machines including headphones amps etc.. plus it has a talk back mic. It's called the model 60/61 and lists for about 800 clams - U.S.. Furman also makes something very simialr called the SRM 80 I believe except no talkback mic. If you need a control surface but can't afford Pro Control or control 24 go for CM Automation's Motormix. 8 motorized faders, 59 switches and 9 rotary knobs plus access to many of Pro Tools functions including changing plugin parameters. I've used Pro Control, the HUI nad Motor mix extensively and Motor mix,all things considered (not the least of which is price), wins hands down even though it's a little slower reaction time due to communicating via mid as opposed to ehternet. It can be had for about 800 simolians -U.S. of course - which is about 1/10th the list price of control 24 and over $10.000 less than Pro control. You can't fully escape the mouse with any of these items but they do make life a bit easier.

[nagra4]

I have been using the Mackie HUI now for a while. It totally blows analog out of the water for functionality.
You wanna' get rid of your 02R? Watcha' gonna' use for mic. pre's? We kept our 02R for pre-amps and as a digital router via lightpipe. The setup kicks ass.

[Greg Malcangi]

Hi Fab,

I went down this route myself a couple of years ago: I had an O2R + PT (as a recorder/editor). I was lucky enough to have the budget to get a ProControl and got rid of the O2R. So I can't answer your first point.

<< Is the PT 2buss going to sound as good as the O2R Two-buss? >> No ... IMHO, PT sounds considerably better.

<< -Is it going to be a royal pain to create headphone mixes on the fly (That TDM delay everytime I insert sends and fx is just horrendous)? >> Nope, it's dead easy. I actually find it easier than on the O2R.

<< Is it going to be practical to access my outboard Lexicon/Eventide/Avalon gear in a PT only set-up? (On mixdown mostly) >> Absolutely, I do this all the time. Using the digital I/Os from an 888/24 and stereo aux imputs for the returns. Obviously though you need to buy enough 888/24s to give you the number of I/Os you need for your all your outboard gear.

<< How on earth do you manage two track returns (CDs, CD recorder, DAT, K7s, and monitor levels and stuff like that? >> Each channel on an 888/24 has two simultaneous outputs; one analog, one digital. I use the analog outs for monitoring and the digital outs to DAT or whatever.

Voila [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Greg

[Irene]

Great news Greg, I'm about to sell my 02R and go full on PT it just seems like the way to go all things considered. I've been on the couch too and did realise that holding onto the 02R was more about a psychological prop than practical sense, and now I can't wait to get rid of it and move on!