ULN8 > Dangerous 2 Bus - Worth It?

[nomatic]

Don't bother.......

The Mio summing sounded good enough to sell my Equinox.

[drcaron]

Thanks for the feedback!

[tobi-mobile]

Originally Posted by drcaron

Loving my ULN8... but the grass is always greener right?

Now, I've read all the analog summing threads, and listened to tons of shoot-outs. But I'm wondering if there are any ULN8 users who are summing OTB?

Of course, the MIO summing is awesome, but I can't help but wonder if there are guys out there going from a ULN8 to a Dangerous 2-Bus or 2-Bus LT?

I'd like to get my hands on a D2B to at least try it out... but then again, the ULN8 rocks - and so does Studio One 2.5. Thoughts?

I used the ULN-8 with a Neve 8816. Sold the Neve. Summing in MIO is stunning especially with the character presets. The only thing I do OTB is sending the master bus to some good pres. In my case its a pair of Avedis MA5 or Electrodyne 501. It gives some harmonics and glue.

[cinealta]

Analog summing is very overrated. Just use the ULN-8.

[drcaron]

Thanks for the replies. The ULN8 is certainly a mighty piece of gear. And I can see why OTB summing would render minimal -if any- improvements to MIO summing. I know that most guys say it's just -different- when mixing analog.

I write and record mostly downtempo/electronic/rock. I have a Slate Dragon Comp which is great, but I'm not really using it much. Just trying to take my finished sound to the next level with some OTB polish. Perhaps an API 2500 would get more use across the 2-buss? Or a nice EQ?

Any dissenting opinions on summing OTB with the ULN8?

[CJ1973]

You are introducing a new set of variables into it, so it comes down to how much you are willing to work the new system to further things.

A friend has the Fat Bustard Thermionic Culture and I can say that it improved his sound slightly as it's tube/character based.

In anyevent, I've heard that 8 channels of summing is not worth it. Summing as a concept works better when there are 16 or more channels involved where the difference can be seen. However, great records are mixed and produced inside the box, so it's certainly not an essential to go that route.

In my case, after researching and based on budgets and my requirements, I went for an SSL X-desk (for me, its a great monitor control, reference, talk-back and 'if needed' I can sum but don't need to) and it's been a great investment.

[rhizomeman]

Originally Posted by tobi-mobile

The only thing I do OTB is sending the master bus to some good pres. In my case its a pair of Avedis MA5 or Electrodyne 501. It gives some harmonics and glue.

Tobi-mobile - does running the master through some MA5s work well? I also have a ULN8 and mix through the MIO (which is amazing) and was thinking of getting some outboard to run my masters through. Any advice would be appreciated.

[drcaron]

Originally Posted by Focalpress

man it sounds like you would be much better off going with the dangerous Liaison rather than the summing bus. it lets you stay in the box, but has 2 busses so you can insert up to 6 pieces of gear and do flawless analog parallel processing from within the box. when you get say to 20 or so outboard pieces, then it would be time to look at a nice summing solution with faders and input trim.

That's a great recommendation. I wasn't aware of that product. Looks quite useful! Thanks for the suggestion.

[neuroticartist]

Sorry but you guys are crazy, the Dangerous 2-bus LT summing all my mixes made a HUGE difference even with just plugins, Just mixing down to a summing rack and pushing your faders some gives you a ton more headroom and a clearer, wider mix with better "glue" due to the added headroom. It up'ed the quality of my huge track count mixes considerably. With every penny and way better than ITB which, I will never do again.

[nigel saunders]

Originally Posted by neuroticartist

Sorry but you guys are crazy, the Dangerous 2-bus LT summing all my mixes made a HUGE difference even with just plugins, Just mixing down to a summing rack and pushing your fakers some gives you a ton more headroom and a clearer, wider mix. It up'ed the quality of my huge track count mixes considerably. With every penny and way better than ITB which, I will never do again,

You sound like someone who doesn't have a ULN8 - if Im wrong then I apologise.

To the original poster the ULN8 sounds great but I still occasional go OTB into a compressor\ EQ.
Increasingly it doesnt help.

[ben_allison]

Originally Posted by neuroticartist

Sorry but you guys are crazy, the Dangerous 2-bus LT summing all my mixes made a HUGE difference even with just plugins, Just mixing down to a summing rack and pushing your faders some gives you a ton more headroom and a clearer, wider mix with better "glue" due to the added headroom. It up'ed the quality of my huge track count mixes considerably. With every penny and way better than ITB which, I will never do again.

Yeah summing inside a ULN8/LIO8 is not exactly like summing inside a DAW.

It's got something like 60bits of resolution, so tons of headroom.

Many people who sum with it and also own fancy-pants summing boxes have ended up ditching the summing boxes.

[drcaron]

Originally Posted by neuroticartist

Sorry but you guys are crazy, the Dangerous 2-bus LT summing all my mixes made a HUGE difference even with just plugins, Just mixing down to a summing rack and pushing your faders some gives you a ton more headroom and a clearer, wider mix with better "glue" due to the added headroom. It up'ed the quality of my huge track count mixes considerably. With every penny and way better than ITB which, I will never do again.

What kind of gear are you using before the Dangerous LT?

[Magucci]

Originally Posted by ben_allison

Yeah summing inside a ULN8/LIO8 is not exactly like summing inside a DAW.

It's got something like 60bits of resolution, so tons of headroom.

Many people who sum with it and also own fancy-pants summing boxes have ended up ditching the summing boxes.

It even has 80bit summing.

Summing in the DAW is awful in comparison with summing in Mio mixer which is awesome for digital summing.

[cme]

Cool thread. While I don't have a ULN-8. Wish I did. I do have a 2882 and had contemplated a summing mixer. I already sum in the mio mixer. Guess I'll keep doing that for now.

[ben_allison]

Originally Posted by Magucci

It even has 80bit summing.

That's right. My bad!

[burnhard]

I am (still) using my equinox ...with uln8 and 2 x2882
I love it....but I am using some outboard ..
The summing might not be it but I love the transformers
the dangerous didn't do it for me...
@nomatic
you really sold the equinox?
could you tell us your workflow now?
I would love to hear more stories of
people that went back to itb

[Actualsizeaudio]

Thought I would chime in:

Summing in the ULN-8 is stunning. I had NO IDEA it was any different until I did a tracking session. During tracking I was listening to the mix being summed inside of the ULN8. When I would play back the audio prom a native pro tools system it didn't sound nearly as good. I went crazy adjusting the levels to be EXACTLY the same, and didn't use any plugs. The difference was night and day; I couldn't believe it. Everyone who experienced it agreed.

So did I go and sell my Manley 16x2? No, how my mixing has evolved is that the 16x2 ends up being a parallel analog mixer. All of the tracks that I send out of the ULN8s for compression or EQ don't go back to the ULNs, they go to the Manley. The master out of the ULN goes into the EXT input of the Manley straight to the 2Bus. I then use the knobs on the Manley to mix in my parallel compression busses. Works awesome. The other plus is the Manley has 8 amazing mic pres.

So, if I only had the ULNs would I invest in an analog summer now? No, I'd spend that money on a compressor, or some other toy.