Harrison Mixbus offers

Subforum for advertisements. Anything that might be interesting to the LinuxMusicians community is fair game here: hardware or software, Free or proprietary, go wild!

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

singforme
Established Member
Posts: 127
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:58 pm
Contact:

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by singforme »

One thing to add in favour of Mixbus: I can mix waaaay faster on it than on Ardour. This is due to the fact that the mixer-gui is structured like an analogue console, with "real" EQ-knobs , a "hardware-style" compressor and 8(12) integrated accessible bus-sends on each channel. it saves you setting these up manually (which means about 1-2 minutes of work per channel unless you use track templates) plus one mouse-click every time you want to open a compressor/high-pass-filter/eq plugin + dragging the cursor to the right place and then the same for closing the plugin again. These things may sound petty but you just spend the time mixing instead of configuring the tracks and fiddling with plugins all the time. Just download the demo and be surprised... they don't pay me but I've tried quite a few DAWS before and found nothing as fast and intuitive as mixbus;)
jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by jonetsu »

Another thing, that I realized recently, is that the mixer view in Mixbus has a gain staging knob which can be used instead of going to the editor, finding/selecting a track (finding when there are 40+ tracks and busses) and adding gain to teh waveform. I still use the latter as part of importing tracks, setting up the session, adding subtractive EQ, and initial run of the mix, although I find it mor eand more convenient to have that knob in the mixer view when working on a track and just quickly adding a bit more gain at the source while not losing focus on the main track work.
Last edited by jonetsu on Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
English Guy
Established Member
Posts: 525
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:28 pm
Location: England
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by English Guy »

When discussing Mixbus let us also not forget their superb Linux support.
User avatar
Capoeira
Established Member
Posts: 1321
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Brazil
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by Capoeira »

jonetsu wrote:
ufug wrote:
Capoeira wrote: Also, you can use Mixbus for anything, but I feel that the workflow is really suited to analog music. If you are mostly looping and/or using software instruments, the benefits of Mixbus are probably less appealing.
Will depends how Mixbus is used. I do all the creation in Bitwig and use Mixbus32C for mixing and recently, to re=record the guitar tracks that were sketched in Bitwig. So far, I find that Mixbus32C offers a warmer sound right off from the first import of the Bitwig tracks whereas Bitwig offers a punchier sound. The way I see it is that I prefer to build 'punchliness' from a warm base, mostly by mixing, than trying to add warmth to a clear punchy mix as I find that warmth will last a longer run than punch in listening experience.
the warmth comes from the tape saturation. this is a good topic about those things: https://community.ardour.org/node/8097
User avatar
Capoeira
Established Member
Posts: 1321
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Brazil
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by Capoeira »

singforme wrote:One thing to add in favour of Mixbus: I can mix waaaay faster on it than on Ardour.
cool. this was also mentioned in the topic I just posted
User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2520
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by sysrqer »

I can't mix with it, it's needlessly crippled. Creating your own aux track means that that aux can only play in mono because the send on the track is pre pan. That kills it for me, no sub or stereo pair groups, mono fx sends.
jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by jonetsu »

Capoeira wrote: the warmth comes from the tape saturation. this is a good topic about those things: https://community.ardour.org/node/8097
I'm afraid this would not be the case, unless tape saturation is always active when when at 0. As I described above, as I freshly import tracks from Bitwig there's a difference. Which means that the only tape saturation present at that moment is the one on the master bus, which I turn to 0 on a new project. I rarely use the Mixbus tape saturation on the master bus as I use Satin instead, near the finishing of the mix. I do use however the mixbusses during work on a mix and their tape saturation, although that's a bit later in the mix as tracks are being sent to these mixbvusses.

It's a bit puzzling. I asked Harrison if the 32C EQ, when in it's default settings, can still modify the audio as the audio passes through the emulated circuitry nevertheless, and it does not seem so.

Since I never fully mixed anything in Bitwig, I can't compare finished mixes. But the last listen in Bitwig before exporting the tracks, and the first listen in Mixbus32C after import and setting the master bus' tape saturation at 0 (basically no FX) have differences that somehow asserts that Mixbus32C is not a transparent DAW, and I like it that way.
jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by jonetsu »

sysrqer wrote:I can't mix with it, it's needlessly crippled. Creating your own aux track means that that aux can only play in mono because the send on the track is pre pan. That kills it for me, no sub or stereo pair groups, mono fx sends.
So in other words if I got that right, when modifying the panning on a channel, the panning on the stereo bus to which the channel sends should follow, is that right ? Here are the same two channels, top part, bottom part:
mixbusBusSend-a.jpg
mixbusBusSend-a.jpg (8.89 KiB) Viewed 879 times
mixbusBusSend-b.jpg
mixbusBusSend-b.jpg (18.5 KiB) Viewed 879 times
User avatar
Capoeira
Established Member
Posts: 1321
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Brazil
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by Capoeira »

jonetsu wrote:
Capoeira wrote: the warmth comes from the tape saturation. this is a good topic about those things: https://community.ardour.org/node/8097
I'm afraid this would not be the case, unless tape saturation is always active when when at 0. As I described above, as I freshly import tracks from Bitwig there's a difference. Which means that the only tape saturation present at that moment is the one on the master bus, which I turn to 0 on a new project. I rarely use the Mixbus tape saturation on the master bus as I use Satin instead, near the finishing of the mix. I do use however the mixbusses during work on a mix and their tape saturation, although that's a bit later in the mix as tracks are being sent to these mixbvusses.

It's a bit puzzling. I asked Harrison if the 32C EQ, when in it's default settings, can still modify the audio as the audio passes through the emulated circuitry nevertheless, and it does not seem so.

Since I never fully mixed anything in Bitwig, I can't compare finished mixes. But the last listen in Bitwig before exporting the tracks, and the first listen in Mixbus32C after import and setting the master bus' tape saturation at 0 (basically no FX) have differences that somehow asserts that Mixbus32C is not a transparent DAW, and I like it that way.
I see. some processing is active, 0s and 1s don't change alone. as you said, the effect must be hidden
User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2520
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by sysrqer »

jonetsu wrote:
sysrqer wrote:I can't mix with it, it's needlessly crippled. Creating your own aux track means that that aux can only play in mono because the send on the track is pre pan. That kills it for me, no sub or stereo pair groups, mono fx sends.
So in other words if I got that right, when modifying the panning on a channel, the panning on the stereo bus to which the channel sends should follow, is that right ? Here are the same two channels, top part, bottom part:
No, I'm not talking about the mixbus buses.
tavasti
Established Member
Posts: 2047
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:56 am
Location: Kangasala, Finland
Has thanked: 369 times
Been thanked: 208 times
Contact:

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by tavasti »

Capoeira wrote:damn, I missed the offers.
Join that mailing list, this is still valid for 15 hours: https://mailchi.mp/harrisonconsoles/32c ... box-417561

And at least for last few weeks, there has been new offer coming pretty soon.
Capoeira wrote:can I highjack this thread to ask if 32c is worth it?
and how about Mixbus beiing worth it the investment comparing to Ardour? (I did read the thread on Gearlutz, wanted to hear some opinion from Ardour users)
I have for now decided, that 32C might not be worth the price for me, but cheaper Mixbus is. Let's see if I will ever hit to it's limitations compared to 32C. But that is only me, my projects are simple this far. I would say that 32C is worth the money if you are mixing real multitrack projects (with more than 8 tracks).

Currently I mix even my plain-software music with Mixbus. I have created basics with lmms or caustic, and I mix exported stems in mixbus.

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

User avatar
Capoeira
Established Member
Posts: 1321
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Brazil
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by Capoeira »

tavasti wrote:
Capoeira wrote:damn, I missed the offers.
Join that mailing list, this is still valid for 15 hours: https://mailchi.mp/harrisonconsoles/32c ... box-417561

And at least for last few weeks, there has been new offer coming pretty soon.
Capoeira wrote:can I highjack this thread to ask if 32c is worth it?
and how about Mixbus beiing worth it the investment comparing to Ardour? (I did read the thread on Gearlutz, wanted to hear some opinion from Ardour users)
I have for now decided, that 32C might not be worth the price for me, but cheaper Mixbus is. Let's see if I will ever hit to it's limitations compared to 32C. But that is only me, my projects are simple this far. I would say that 32C is worth the money if you are mixing real multitrack projects (with more than 8 tracks).

Currently I mix even my plain-software music with Mixbus. I have created basics with lmms or caustic, and I mix exported stems in mixbus.

ooo. thanks. I still have to demo it though, before I buy. But nice that those promos apear freuently. I will subscribe
jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by jonetsu »

Capoeira wrote: I see. some processing is active, 0s and 1s don't change alone. as you said, the effect must be hidden
To be absolutely fair though, the listening levels between Bitwig and Mixbus 32C should be measure with a SPL meter. I thought of getting one to calibrate the monitoring although so far I only do it by ear.
tavasti
Established Member
Posts: 2047
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:56 am
Location: Kangasala, Finland
Has thanked: 369 times
Been thanked: 208 times
Contact:

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by tavasti »

jonetsu wrote:
Capoeira wrote: the warmth comes from the tape saturation. this is a good topic about those things: https://community.ardour.org/node/8097
I'm afraid this would not be the case, unless tape saturation is always active when when at 0. As I described above, as I freshly import tracks from Bitwig there's a difference. Which means that the only tape saturation present at that moment is the one on the master bus, which I turn to 0 on a new project. I rarely use the Mixbus tape saturation on the master bus as I use Satin instead, near the finishing of the mix. I do use however the mixbusses during work on a mix and their tape saturation, although that's a bit later in the mix as tracks are being sent to these mixbvusses.

It's a bit puzzling. I asked Harrison if the 32C EQ, when in it's default settings, can still modify the audio as the audio passes through the emulated circuitry nevertheless, and it does not seem so.
I think I've seen somewhere that EQ is active even when it has all zero. And if you have few tracks, you adjust volumes, there is how those volume adjustments are done, how everything is summed together?

From their web page:
* Precision algorithms for EQ, Filter, Compression, Analog Tape Saturation, and Summing
* The Mixbus engine is internally dithered, ramped, and gain staged so that sound quality is preserved as close to analog as possible
At least that is what they try to say, but I don't really know. And to be honest, I don't hear the difference, but I like UI.

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Harrison Mixbus offers

Post by jonetsu »

tavasti wrote: I have for now decided, that 32C might not be worth the price for me, but cheaper Mixbus is. Let's see if I will ever hit to it's limitations compared to 32C. But that is only me, my projects are simple this far. I would say that 32C is worth the money if you are mixing real multitrack projects (with more than 8 tracks).
How much was it recently for 32C ? $99 ? That's simply excellent. I did not pay that :? That main advanatge of 32C is the EQ I find, not the number of mixbusses. In the Linux world it's not easy to find hardware emulation. OvertoneDSP does and that's about the only one if you do not count perhaps u-he Presserk compressor whose documentationmentions emulating some known compressors (but no direct mention - we saw recently what happened with OvertoneDSP who had to remove their SSL-based EQ4000) and their Satin tape emulation. The 32C adds what is termed as precise hardware emulation of Harrison's 32C EQ that was found in their famous analog consoles that recorded so many well-known albums. The EQ adds its own character.

Recently my most 'serious' Soundcloud pieces (still not serious as really making an EP or such commercial attempt) have around 30 to 40 tracks including busses and mixbusses. This could be almost mixed using a regular Mixbus. I say 'almost' because the average of 4 mixbusses that I use each have their Harrison tape saturation. Having so many Satin instances would call for problems as Satin consumes a fair amount of CPU.
Post Reply