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Mackie Master Fader


Happy Jack
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1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

@Silvia Bluejay and I are wondering whether it's worth upgrading from the Behringer XR18 (decent product, utterly lousy control app) to the Mackie DL16S and there's surprisingly little available online to inform the decision.

 

No experience of that, but do you mean the XAir software or the third party mixer amp? People always seem to complain about the XAir software and recommend mixing station, although I quite like XAir. I do have mixing station on my phone as it is a handy backup.

 

I just got a X-Control for my X18, so looking forward greatly to the next gig to see how that goes,.

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1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

Any Basschatters with decent experience of this app?

 

@Silvia Bluejay and I are wondering whether it's worth upgrading from the Behringer XR18 (decent product, utterly lousy control app) to the Mackie DL16S and there's surprisingly little available online to inform the decision.

Probably not. DL16S runs on master fader 5 which is a ground up rewrite and been plagued with bugs since it’s release.

 

The XR18 is defo more feature rich than the Mackies - however the Mackies interface is far more accessible than the Behringer one.

 

I still run a pair on Dante connected DL32Rs - but on MF4 - and they are solid. However, I don’t think The 16S supports MF4 (MF5 was introduced with the new range of mixers).

 

Like the XR18, the Mackie inbuilt WiFi is rubbish too.


Id probably recommend the 1608 if you want to go Mackie - and run MF4 on it!

 

Or look at the RCF M18 which has a more simple interface than the Behringer also.

 

But first of all, check out mixing station as above. You may prefer that app.

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21 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

No experience of that, but do you mean the XAir software or the third party mixer amp? People always seem to complain about the XAir software and recommend mixing station, although I quite like XAir. I do have mixing station on my phone as it is a handy backup.

 

I just got a X-Control for my X18, so looking forward greatly to the next gig to see how that goes,.

We have Mixing Station XAir Pro*, the third-party one that costs around £5. It's always been utterly unintuitive, but sort-of-useable, just. Until now. The developer has now decided to ditch the app, build an entirely new one, offer that as a free upgrade to those who bought the previous version, and leave the old version available to use but stop updating it.

We tried getting to grips with the new version, and gave up. We reverted to, and used, the old version twice since the upgrade was suggested, and as if on cue, the old version appears to be malfunctioning. Of course that might be caused by a glitch somewhere else in our system, but it's making us think...

 

*amended after checking my phone

Edited by Silvia Bluejay
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8 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Link, please?

 

 

Oh sorry, I always get the name wrong, an X-Touch

https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0B1X

 

I had been waiting for one to appear on the behringer outlet for a while as I decided that to do the mixing live, and unlike you lucky people with someone out the front to do it, this is just me, I wanted the actual sliders on top of my amp, so when I am busy playing I don't have to try and grab a virtual slider.

 

So now the X18 is on the floor where everyone plugs in, I still have the XAir app on my iPad (never really got on with mixing station), and also the X-Touch wirelessly connecting sitting on top of my amp.  

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No, I have another little wifi / ethernet box that is powered by the USB port in the X-Touch. It can pretty well replace all the functions of the tablet, although it isn't an and / or situation. Some things are easier to see on the tablet but do on the X-Touch. Obviously all the level functions are easy on the X-Touch, so channel volumes, bus volumes effects levels and all those sort of thing, pan, adjusting basic stuff like input levels, compressor, etc. But the EQ although you can set it on the X-Touch it is easier to see on the tablet, such as Q etc.

 

But I can't think of anything you can't actually do on a tablet that you would want to do in a show, so everything except changing which bus went to which channel and USB playback functions. Also naming channels and the colour of them needs to be done on the iPad. The sort of thing you don't normally need to edit in a show. I have both and happy to use both, its just that I am always getting asked to change things while I have my lyrics on the iPad, or I am playing so jabbing the iPad is hard.

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I have absolutely no problem operating the interface, and that includes effects, compression and EQ on each channel, including the main, and everything in between. That's easy both on a 'hard' desk and on a tablet.

On the old version XAir app, what we were always having trouble with, but managing just OK in the end, was setting up our customised scenes for each band and each setting (full electric, semi-acoustic, with or without a double bass, 3-piece, 4-piece or 5-piece band, etc.) i.e.  6 or 7 different scenes that show on the first page only the number of channels we need, but which allow all the other channels, plus effects and main, Aux etc. to be reached on other pages.

The new app defeated us even in this apparently simple task. Life's too short.

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3 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

The new app defeated us even in this apparently simple task. Life's too short.

 

Ah, can't help with that, i didn't know there was a new app. I used the old app a few times but never really bothered to set it up, so just use the default X-Air application. 

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7 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Ah, can't help with that, i didn't know there was a new app. I used the old app a few times but never really bothered to set it up, so just use the default X-Air application. 

 

And I guess this is android, there isn't anything on the iPad list, other than the old Mixing Station Pro. I find it handy in emergency but not a fan of things moving round, so I just stick to the normal channels.

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