Compact Mixer with Mute Automation - any ideas?

[BrianOfHampstead]

Hi All,

Long time lurker / absorber, first post. Thanks in advance.

I'm looking for a portable mixer for an outside location project - I only need 4 channels - which can convert incoming MIDI messages (say midi mutes but any midi messages will do) into mixer channel mutes / unmutes to instantly cut and uncut the audio channels.

Budget is an issue, so high quality isn't important, and I don't mind going for a much bigger mixer as long as it does the mute thing and is at least vaguely portable. 15 years ago I seem to recall you couldn't move for mixers with simple midi mute automation, I'm having trouble tracking down something that'll do it in an uncomplicated way.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Brian.

[dbaudio]

Yamaha LS9
Yamaha 01V

[BrianOfHampstead]

Thanks dbaudio, the LS9's out of my budget but the O1V looks like it should do the job, although it's not absolutely clear from the way the manual's written (odd that - a manual not being clear?! )

I'll be using external sensors that output simple midi info, so that when a sensor is triggered the midi message cuts the channel audio momentarily. Ideally I'll be able to stutter the audio if I'm getting a rapid input of sensor messages, ie turning the channel on and off in rapid quickfire succession. Do you reckon that sounds possible?

Thanks again. Brian

[valleysound]

I believe there is a screen where you set the "user defined keys" on the 01V96 itself, not through the Studio Manager.

[Daniel Stark]

i just picked up a Presonus Firestudio Mobile that would work great for this. Cheap, sounds good, comes with software, but don't know if you are comfortable using an interface and laptop instead of a "mixer".

[BrianOfHampstead]

Thanks Paul and Daniel, replies appreciated.

Hey Daniel - the Presonus sounds very interesting. I don't need to use a mixer as such, and am happy to run it through a computer - though I guess going that route does raise the question why I don't simply run the audio into Protools or Logic on input and route the midi to mute / unmute the internal channels of the sequencer... my reasoning being that I wanted as simple a setup as possible and it would mean less boxes if I found a mixer that would do the muting.

Having said that, the Firestudio Mobile does look very impressive, and having the midi contained with the interface makes it very compact - which software have you been using with it?

[Daniel Stark]

i have been using the presonus studio one software. it seems very stable and easy to use so far, i like it better than other daws i have used (logic, reaper, traktion) considering the disc burning features and stuff in the pro version.

it's easy to do mixer automation in most programs and should be pretty reliable. In reaper you could even create keyboard shortcuts and mute your tracks on and off without any external gear (besides an audio interface).