How many get by without a large mix control surface?

Do you use large mixing Control Surface?

  • Total voters
    16
Chewie5150

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
I'm seriously rethinking my needs and as you can see in photo I have various midi controllers. I admit over the years I've been chasing gear/gadgets often at the expense of an efficient workflow. So in answering the question, in context, for those of you who are not professionally producing. like me, just a home recording enthusiast. hobby studio. I'm not doing large projects ever. My Avid S1 is a sexy 8 channel mixer surface but I'll be honest...wondering if its' even necessary. when i'm navigating over anything beyond 8 tracks which is always... i'm often taking more time looking at my Avid to see where I'm even at ...then back to my screen. Meaning, its not truly saving me loads of time there. It's a ballin unit no doubt but i'm thinking I'd be more efficient with something like a Presonus Faderport with a single motorized fader that allows me to focus on whatever track i'm currently on. When it ever comes down to actually mixing down a project its not like i'm pressed for time that I can't manually adjust faders in DAW via mouse. So circling back to the post question: how many of you feel it really helps your workflow or do you find you get by just fine without a larger mix control surface?
 

Attachments

  • Avid S1.jpeg
    Avid S1.jpeg
    909.5 KB · Views: 50
My setup's more streamlined nowadays, or at least I'm trying for that. Most of my music time is spent writing and arranging songs, coming up with the instrument parts and rehearing them, and recording. I'm not spending much time mixing these days, so I'm not missing a big control surface. I have Duet Display so I can extend my Windows monitor to my iPad and have the touch-screen for moving the sliders in Cubase and it allows me to sit a bit further back from the monitors.

20241209_152040.jpg
 
Last edited:
ironically as I posted this...i've been having weird issues today with Eucon (avid S1) but I also recently updated my MacOS from ventura to latest. Also fired up cubase which i haven't in a while and there were strange issues there. so in 2 hrs i've mostly spent time f**cking around/restarting /troublehshooting which speaks to the point of my post in a way. The more fancy gagetry you have often means more maintenance and fiddling and less time creating music. This has me thinking about my approach. There is something to be said about less is more. I see so many people online with minimal gear making amazing music. Here i am managing all my gear and not making much music. hmmmmmmmmm

oddly my ongoing internal debate makes me think of this scene
 
Last edited:
Chewie5150 said:
ironically as I posted this...i've been having weird issues today with Eucon (avid S1) but I also recently updated my MacOS from ventura to latest. Also fired up cubase which i haven't in a while and there were strange issues there. so in 2 hrs i've mostly spent time f**cking around/restarting /troublehshooting which speaks to the point of my post in a way. The more fancy gagetry you have often means more maintenance and fiddling and less time creating music. This has me thinking about my approach. There is something to be said about less is more. I see so many people online with minimal gear making amazing music. Here i am managing all my gear and not making much music. hmmmmmmmmm

oddly my ongoing internal debate makes me think of this scene
Click to expand...

Been there!
 
Chewie5150 said:
I'm seriously rethinking my needs and as you can see in photo I have various midi controllers. I admit over the years I've been chasing gear/gadgets often at the expense of an efficient workflow. So in answering the question, in context, for those of you who are not professionally producing. like me, just a home recording enthusiast. hobby studio. I'm not doing large projects ever. My Avid S1 is a sexy 8 channel mixer surface but I'll be honest...wondering if its' even necessary. when i'm navigating over anything beyond 8 tracks which is always... i'm often taking more time looking at my Avid to see where I'm even at ...then back to my screen. Meaning, its not truly saving me loads of time there. It's a ballin unit no doubt but i'm thinking I'd be more efficient with something like a Presonus Faderport with a single motorized fader that allows me to focus on whatever track i'm currently on. When it ever comes down to actually mixing down a project its not like i'm pressed for time that I can't manually adjust faders in DAW via mouse. So circling back to the post question: how many of you feel it really helps your workflow or do you find you get by just fine without a larger mix control surface?
Click to expand...

In home studios, which means almost all studios these days, mixing console control surfaces are a rarity. I have a pair of Artist Mixes, but that cost more than my computer. That's hard to justify.
 
Yeah I'm considering the 'risk/benefit' ratio. How much do I really gain vs the amount if fiddling I often do to keep things working smoothly at the expense of my attention and creative momentum. Granted, the Avid S1 is designed for ProTools and I'm using it for Cubase which does have Eucon support and works decently. I could sell the unit and keep the tablet even for the free avid control app which does have some handy features. If I sold I'd be looking at something like Faderport single version or perhaps behringer X Touch One. or even consider SSL UF1. The other factor I consider is how much I'm using cubase these days. i find myself in Ableton much more for its simplicity and Avid S1 is pretty much useless in that DAW
 
Last edited:
Chewie5150 said:
Yeah I'm considering the 'risk/benefit' ratio. How much do I really gain vs the amount if fiddling I often do to keep things working smoothly at the expense of my attention and creative momentum. Granted, the Avid S1 is designed for ProTools and I'm using it for Cubase which does have Eucon support and works decently. I could sell the unit and keep the tablet even for the free avid control app which does have some handy features. If I sold I'd be looking at something like Faderport single version or perhaps behringer X Touch One. or even consider SSL UF1. The other factor I consider is how much I'm using cubase these days. i find myself in Ableton much more for its simplicity and Avid S1 is pretty much useless in that DAW
Click to expand...
The SSL UF1 looks pretty cool - appearance and features.
 
secondwindow said:
The SSL UF1 looks pretty cool - appearance and features.
Click to expand...
yeah i'm taking a closer look at the UF1. pricier than the others but I think better features esp considering i'd be downgrading from the Avid unit. i want a single fader unit that i have a jog wheel too...where my hand would be resting on it majority of time. i'd probably make far more use of that vs me hardly touching my AVid S1 . it just looks pretty and i like looking at it. I may post a local used ad to test the waters but the used market right now is crap. so i wouldnt expect to recoup a lot of what i paid for in the unit which was a pretty penny
 
I have a dedicated cheaper tablet (amazon fire hd10) that sits on the S1 for displaying the meter bridge. One thing I often overlook and what I thought I'd share is that you can even use the tablet with the free Avid Control App via Eucon enabled DAW. It's actually quite a handy app and perhaps i'd continue to use that even after selling my S1. Here's a vid overview of how it works if you're not familiar. I mean....its FREE and handy if you have a spare tablet you'd like to make use of.
 
Chewie5150 said:
yeah i'm taking a closer look at the UF1. pricier than the others but I think better features esp considering i'd be downgrading from the Avid unit. i want a single fader unit that i have a jog wheel too...where my hand would be resting on it majority of time. i'd probably make far more use of that vs me hardly touching my AVid S1 . it just looks pretty and i like looking at it. I may post a local used ad to test the waters but the used market right now is crap. so i wouldnt expect to recoup a lot of what i paid for in the unit which was a pretty penny
Click to expand...
I'd have to measure the space where I'd put the UF1 to see if there's room for it in the spot I'd want it. Then, I'd have to think hard about whether I'd use it enough to justify buying it - especially at the price.

I've not had an easy time selling music gear lately and have sold for less than I'd have liked when I did find a buyer.
 
Ive been using a VS-700c for over a decade. I really like having faders...even though I only use them rarely.

I've been considering going faderport16 or x-touch + expander, or even a StudioLive 32.
 
secondwindow said:
I'd have to measure the space where I'd put the UF1 to see if there's room for it in the spot I'd want it. Then, I'd have to think hard about whether I'd use it enough to justify buying it - especially at the price.

I've not had an easy time selling music gear lately and have sold for less than I'd have liked when I did find a buyer.
Click to expand...
Valid point. the UF1 isnt' all that small...i mean not whole lot smaller than my S1 unit....and for the function of it...at a fraction of cost there's the faderport/xtouch one etc. I just listed my S1 on local classified so let the sh*t show begin. I'm not desperate to sell but will gauge the interest and if its the right price I'll likely let it go. Now I enter that mode of 'will I regret this later?" hahah. classic. In terms of an 8 fader unit...if i find I just have to have one again...i'd take a closer look at Softube Console Fader Mk3. It looks quite nice.
 
Fired up cubase this afternoon with the Avid S1. thought i'd see how well the control app works as posted in that vid above. Actually you could get by using it for a lot of quick and approximate mixing work using your fingers working grouped instruments. I mean for my small projects the only time i usually want to adjust mulitiple faders would be initially to get basic levelling relative to eachother ...in the ballpark. Like drums, bass, guitar plus xyz. or like the initial drum mix that I'd put into a VCA fader to control the group later.
 
One setup I have is the Avid Artist Mix/Control/Transport.

The Mix is a compact 8 100mm fader unit, Control is 4 60mm faders plus touchscreen and small jog wheel, and the Transport is just jog/shuttle and transport control. Out of the 3 I like the Mix the best.

The other setup is an older Mackie Control Universal and Mackie XT that was mothballed when I retired the 2012 Mac Pro tower. That was a real workhorse rig. The controllers are too deep for my desk and are the MIDI only (non-UBS) so needed a separate interface, but it was super reliable.

Now all I want is a smaller size unit with 4-100mm faders and a jog/shuttle that's not stupid expensive.
 
What do you all think of this?

https://themidimaker.com/products/sparrow-4x100mm-midi-controller
This versatile and compact MIDI controller comes with 4, 100mm travel fader and is the perfect studio addition for audio creators, sound producers, music composers, and more!
  • MIDI compliant and compatible with many major DAWs (Logic Pro X, Kontakt, Ableton, Cakewalk, and more. For a more comprehensive list, check our FAQ.)
  • Plug-and-play compatible with both Windows and OSX (Intel and Apple silicon)
  • 2 meter (~6'7") USB-mini to USB-C cable included to connect the controller to your computer. (USB-A cable and 2-cable bundle available)
  • Fully compatible with our MIDI Editor, allowing you to change settings on the fly
Product Dimensions:
  • Width: 93.5mm (~3 11/16”)
  • Depth: 156.5mm (~6 1/8”)
  • Height: 40mm (~1 1/2”) (Desk to Top of Slider Cap)
  • Weight: 216 grams, 7.6 oz
  • Fader Lever Width: 8mm
Sparrow pic
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom