QSC Touchmix 16/30

[Jakester]

Is there anyone out there who uses either of the QSC Touchmix 16 or 30?

 

I currently have a Behringer XR18 and I'm very pleased with it. However, there is one glaring issue - the inability to easily and quickly adjust levels whilst playing, particularly when using an iPad which might go to sleep. 

 

Every now and again someone will gesture whilst I'm playing that 'they' need to go up in the mix, or some "helpful soul" in the audience will do so. Sometimes they're even right. But if so it can be a bit of a pain whilst playing to try and adjust when you have a small area to aim for and have to potentially unlock the device too. Even if doing it between tunes it can be a faff. Then there's the inevitable moment when someone points their mic at the speakers, or the guitarist unplugs something resulting in a godawful squealing. I find it tricky just to be able to immediately mute the mains if the iPad has gone to sleep. 

 

I like the idea of the master screen on the Touchmix. The 16 looks like it would meet all my needs - even with everything in our band mic'd up, there's still lots of spare capacity, and the Touchmix actually has more Aux outs than the XR18 so we could potentially have more stereo IEM mixes to reduce the need for on-stage monitors. The small 'all in one' form factor is an attraction too. I also like the ability to record direct to USB stick, and also USB playback. 

 

Any comments/observations welcomed! 

[SamIAm]

@Jakester, I cannot speak to the QSC Touchmix ... however (and I apologise if this is teaching grandma to suck eggs) might it be worth configuring your iPad to not go to sleep?  It may make the existing app usable enough.

 

S'manth x

[JPJ]

A fellow XR18 user here, mixing on stage whilst playing bass. As Smanth says, edit your iPad screen settings to not go to sleep but this still leaves you trying to make on the fly adjustments on an iPad screen. 
After searching for a long time I managed to get hold of a Behringer X-Touch controller secondhand for a reasonable price and using that, along with DCA’s mean I can tweak the mix on the fly easily, even mid-song if necessary.

[Jakester]

7 hours ago, JPJ said:

A fellow XR18 user here, mixing on stage whilst playing bass. As Smanth says, edit your iPad screen settings to not go to sleep but this still leaves you trying to make on the fly adjustments on an iPad screen. 
 

Yep, and it’s that second part that’s the issue. I know how to change the iPad settings but it’s my ‘only’ one so it’s a faff having to do it all the time. Plus it’s one more thing to carry around. And if you have it on the whole time you also need to have power for it, just in case. 
 

I have an XTouch too but it’s just another thing to lug around, and then you have to ensure the iPad and XTouch are nearby so you can see the fader changes reflected on the screen. 
 

The QSC seems to address this by combining the physical control surface and the remote options into one product that, for the 16 at least, seems to be smaller than the XTouch alone. Essentially I’d be going from two, possibly 3 separate items into one single one. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Jakester

[JPJ]

11 hours ago, Jakester said:

Yep, and it’s that second part that’s the issue. I know how to change the iPad settings but it’s my ‘only’ one so it’s a faff having to do it all the time. Plus it’s one more thing to carry around. And if you have it on the whole time you also need to have power for it, just in case. 
 

I have an XTouch too but it’s just another thing to lug around, and then you have to ensure the iPad and XTouch are nearby so you can see the fader changes reflected on the screen. 
 

The QSC seems to address this by combining the physical control surface and the remote options into one product that, for the 16 at least, seems to be smaller than the XTouch alone. Essentially I’d be going from two, possibly 3 separate items into one single one. 

I see your argument and I’ll be the last person to get between GAS and your wallet, but the QSC still has you making on-the-fly adjustments using a touch screen rather than physical faders. I’ve got my XR18 racked up along with the DBX drive rack and a handy rack drawer in an 8U flight case that has a patch panel on the back for the main outs from the DBX and a power strip. My X-Touch is in an old pedal board flight case that sits neatly on top of the rack case which is normally on my side of the ‘stage’. My iPad or Surface Go sits neatly in the X-Touch flight case lid from where I can monitor the meters screen whilst playing. 

[skidder652003]

dunno if it helps but our zoom livetrack L20 has physical faders like an old analogue desk as well as ipad remote control interface. It also records individual stems onto an SD card or via DAW on a laptop. Lots of options, 20 inputs , six monitor mixes etc..

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/recording/studio-mixers/zoom-livetrack-l20-digital-mixer-with-recording

[Jakester]

57 minutes ago, JPJ said:

I see your argument and I’ll be the last person to get between GAS and your wallet, but the QSC still has you making on-the-fly adjustments using a touch screen rather than physical faders. I’ve got my XR18 racked up along with the DBX drive rack and a handy rack drawer in an 8U flight case that has a patch panel on the back for the main outs from the DBX and a power strip. My X-Touch is in an old pedal board flight case that sits neatly on top of the rack case which is normally on my side of the ‘stage’. My iPad or Surface Go sits neatly in the X-Touch flight case lid from where I can monitor the meters screen whilst playing. 

 

Well, I was hoping the setup is you can use the main jog control with the selected channel - so press on vox, then adjust up or down using the main rotary controller. 

 

I do have a lot of stuff to move around though - ATM in this particular band I play drums, rather than bass, so it's a full kit, plus full PA, monitor, and then the mixer etc. I've already gone from an 8U rack unit to a shallow 4u, but would still have to cart the xTouch and the ipad along. Whereas with the TM I just need one (small) soft case. 

 

49 minutes ago, skidder652003 said:

dunno if it helps but our zoom livetrack L20 has physical faders like an old analogue desk as well as ipad remote control interface. It also records individual stems onto an SD card or via DAW on a laptop. Lots of options, 20 inputs , six monitor mixes etc..

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/recording/studio-mixers/zoom-livetrack-l20-digital-mixer-with-recording

 

I have been looking at those too. Quite a bit cheaper as well. Does it do remote monitor mix control?

 

A friend has the QSC TM8 and is pleased with it, hence leaning in that direction. 

[skidder652003]

2 hours ago, Jakester said:

 

Well, I was hoping the setup is you can use the main jog control with the selected channel - so press on vox, then adjust up or down using the main rotary controller. 

 

I do have a lot of stuff to move around though - ATM in this particular band I play drums, rather than bass, so it's a full kit, plus full PA, monitor, and then the mixer etc. I've already gone from an 8U rack unit to a shallow 4u, but would still have to cart the xTouch and the ipad along. Whereas with the TM I just need one (small) soft case. 

 

 

I have been looking at those too. Quite a bit cheaper as well. Does it do remote monitor mix control?

 

A friend has the QSC TM8 and is pleased with it, hence leaning in that direction. 

 

[skidder652003]

We had the XR18 but sold it on quickly due to the faff of adjusting sound mid gig (drummers job) with an ipad.

We went back to analogue desk (RCF) which was great but missed the ability to record our gigs through the desk (although the zoom H2N and 4Qn handheld recorders were pretty good)

So the zoom Livetrack offers the best of both worlds, a digital desk with an analogue feel. Adjustments can be made quickly with real faders, and the ability to save a scene at each venue has come in really handy for return gigs.

[Jakester]

Just to come back to this, I found a pre-owned TM16 at one of the bigger music stores - about £500 off the retail price, so I've gone with that. Hopefully I can recoup most of my outlay by selling the XR18, accessories and backup mixer, and have the backup at least of a bigger store, rather than buying 2nd hand privately.

 

Initial playing with it suggests it's light years ahead of the Behringer in terms of interface and usability. For me, at least, everything is logically laid out and there's context-dependent info pages if you need help - essentially an online manual. I have been able to replicate the setup of the XR18 in about half-an-hour - obviously it helps when you've spent the last few years trial-and-erroring into what you think sounds good! And I guess I have build that experience up the hard way via the XR18! 

 

The main draw for me was the physical adjustability and just playing with it on the table in front of me suggests I have made the right choice. It's easy to select a channel and then tweak the levels using the main control wheel, and there are four user-configurable hard buttons on the front, one of which I've assigned to 'all but iPod off' - so it's an immediate kill switch for all live stage inputs. When you need that immediate 'off' instantly, the iPad/XR18 can be a real pain! I still don't see why they didn't just include a master vol dial on the outside of the XR18 like they did the XR32.

 

The QSC also has a built in feedback analyser/destroyer, and has up to 10 Aux outs - two of which are already configured for stereo, meaning I can use my stereo in-ears without faffing and without affecting the number of channels available to the other guys. There's also built-in multitrack recording and playback - something else which is a pain on the XR18, and it has wifi (though like all these things, it's flaky). It's still controllable via an iPad, so there's no functionality lost there at all, and I can set up the other guys for their own wireless monitor control easily. 

 

First gig soon - will report back!

 

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Jakester

[Jakester]

Oh, and just to say the determinative factor between it and the Zoom was size - the Zoom is quite a bit bigger physically. Otherwise, that looked like (and still looks like!) a great option.