Digi 002 as a stand alone mixer?

[spinproductions]

Hi there,
I am going to be selling my 002 rack as I would like to purchase a 002 console as I would like to use it live aswel as in the studio.
Could someone tell me what they are like to use for this purpose?
I generally play solo acoustic (with vocals) & sometimes use an Akai drum machine live also. I don't need more than the 4 mic inputs, but would like the option of compression/eq & reverb on all 8 channels. Are these built in fx any good? Shame they dropped this standalone mode in the 003!?


Thankyou
Piers

[Obsidian Dragon]

The Mic pres on the 002 are relatively flat. In other words they don't hype the sound much for live use. Some might find them sounding a little thin for vocals and some instruments. There are no compressions or effects as you mentioned. The unit is not very rugged as it was not really designed for use on the road. The outputs are on 1/4" connectors which can easily be pulled out.

I would not want to be disconnecting everything in the home studio everything I had a gig and then reconnecting everything afterwards. In my opinion, it may make more sense to simply get an analog mixer (one with effects) for your live purposes. It will make your recording rig last longer and provide you a better and more reliable live rig too. Depending on your live needs, you might want aux sends and returns for stage monitors and outboard effects that the 002 does not have per se. Mackie and Yamaha make very usable live mixer at a reasonable cost. If money is tight, look at Alesis or Behringer.

[flommer]

OD, the 002 actually does have effects while in stand alone mode:

When operating in Stand-alone mode, Digi 002
is a 8x4x2 digital mixer, consisting of:
• Eight inputs corresponding to Analog Inputs
1–8 on the Digi 002 back panel, controlled by
the eight channel strips on the top panel
• Dedicated, in-line three-band EQ on input
channels 1–8
• Dedicated, in-line compressor on input
channels 1–4
• Four available sends on each channel, for adding
internal Delay or Reverb effects, or for integrating
external effects processors

That said, I have never even tried it so I couldn't comment on the quality of the effects. I would not expect them to be anything other than generic but usable.

Plus I agree, it really isn't "road-ready". Maybe for a remote recording session here and there, but not for regular gigging..

[spinproductions]

Thankyou both for your comments, I already use a Soundcraft exf mixer for all my gigging needs, along with some powered mackie speakers.
The desk is good and I'm very happy with it.
I have always liked the mic pres on the 002 rack, but you're right in saying they are very clean! Still, it would be nice to give a digital mixer a try. What about a dedicated FireWire mixer ( Maudio maybe ) at least I could track my live gigs then?!

[boabyd23]

I

I actuallyjust got my digi002 console and have been using it non stop.

The standalone mode is immense and comng from an mbox 2 the sound quality to me is immense. All the effects sound really gd quality however dependant on how hard the unit was worked before u.

The delay could be better but u cud jus use a multi effects unit plugged in . I woldnt recommend constantly carrying it around everywhere tho I to am going to be doing some live and location recording.

I was going to get the digi 003 and you know wat I'm glad I didn't.

This purchase will be one of the best decisions you'll make for the start of 2010 lol

All the best

[spinproductions]

Thankyou, I'm sure your right!
I'll keep my eye on eBay, hopefully find a good one!
Cheers.

[Bunion]

Hi, I am kind of new here so these might be real generic questions, but I have been through a lot with the 002/Rack. I have crashed my PT 8.0.5 more than once experimenting different versions of the driver; 9, 7.4, so on. At one point I think I knew PT 9 and up would accommodate the 002 but I seem to think 8.0.5 should be on the list. Did I miss something? It won't function standalone either so I guess, does it require a driver just to play some tunes? Thank you in advance.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Bunion

Hi, I am kind of new here so these might be real generic questions, but I have been through a lot with the 002/Rack. I have crashed my PT 8.0.5 more than once experimenting different versions of the driver; 9, 7.4, so on. At one point I think I knew PT 9 and up would accommodate the 002 but I seem to think 8.0.5 should be on the list. Did I miss something? It won't function standalone either so I guess, does it require a driver just to play some tunes? Thank you in advance.

What exactly does "play some tunes" mean.

You need a driver to say play any audio (e.g. iTunes) from the computer to the 002.

There is no stand alone mode on the rack version of the 002, so you cannot say mix stuff live using the 002 rack without a computer and DAW connected.

[Bunion]

I meant can you test it using the pre amps with an input and output.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Bunion

I meant can you test it using the pre amps with an input and output.

Test what? For what purpose? Even if it had a stand-alone mode you certainly can't test the whole thing works without connecting it up to a DAW and trying to use it. There is not even hardware inserts on the preamps, so you can't even see what the preamps are doing when the things is not connected to a DAW.

If you have a 002 Rack... then that has no stand alone mode/internal mixer. You need it connected to a computer and DAW and have a suitable 002 Rack driver to be able to say check out the inputs routed to the main (or other) outputs through the DAW.