ive hed a yamaha n12 for 3 years now and i love it to death. the only point i have to disagree with the above reviewer is that its not just for beginners or their first few productions- theres a reason these are found in many high end commercial studios tucked away out of sight from their clients who just want to see a huge neve console. the n12 is great tech... something like this would have been unheard of just 10 years ago.
the fact is- if you cant produce world class mixes with this thing, YOU are the problem, not the n12!!! the same applies to the lovely mackie onyx 1640i and a+h fw mixers that i have also worked on.
if you dont need a rediculous amount of inputs, the yamaha N12 paired with the incredible hs80m monitors + hs10w sub (see my monitor review here-
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/revie...80m-hs10w.html), a bunch of studio projects 'C' series mics (...if you cant afford neumann), decent accoustic treatment (with good placement knowledge) and cubase will give you a world class recording and production solution that rivals protools hd. yes, i said it. and if you really must disagree chances are you've never really compared the daws or you just want to justify all that $ that youve just blown. if you really must have more pres, chain up another N12 or steinberg mr816 (i think you can stack up 3 of these devices via firewire).
so here are just a few notable ponts to this lovely interface/mixer hybrid...
- can work standalone without firewire
- the pres are fabulous, much better than mackie onyx, a+h, toft. yamaha claim they are the best they ever made, and thats saying something. phat, analog, airy, detailed and characterful? you got it. just dont expect a neve and you will be very happy.
- you can group tracks back into the mixer in STEMS and tweak them individually with eq! noticebly airier mixes result. very much like 'summing' mixers, i bit more 'airy' to my ears (probably because of no analog signal degredation- its all kept in the digital realm via firewire in/out).
- if you have external pres you can bypass the n12 pres by connecting them into the mixers inserts for direct recording.
- cubase control features can also work in other programmes like protools, logic, sonar etc minus a few features. just select 'mackie control' in your daw. however works well and sounds great in all daws.
- it has midi in/out
- you can flip between 3 sets of monitors via 3 selection buttons!!!
- you can access and flip between speakers in 5.1 mode also.
- the eq is based on vintage board designs, and are very effective and surgical. toft eq and mackie perkins eq is arguably better.
- the cubase control is incredible, second to none. does wonders to your workflow.
- you CAN bypass the eq. its not analog eq- the 12 o'clock position is 'off' and kicks in when you start tweaking.
- buckets of headroom, more than you will ever need.
- the onboard rev-x reverb is excellent. not budget sounding at all.
- the onboard compression is very good,and customizeable via software updates.
- the ad/da is as good, if not better than, the overrated RME units that i have used.
- 100mm faders! and nice feeling ones at that.
- the ONLY negitives to this marvelous piece of technology is that it doesnt have spdif or optical ins. but hook up a mr816 interface and there you have it (as well as another 8 of those great pres)!
i even had a look inside the n12 to see what was going on inside and i was amazed by what i saw. thick circuits, quality components and well spaced, logical design. great work.
its a real pity yamaha brought out the new 01v mk2 and not a revised and expanded N12. how about an N24 guys? pleeeeeeeease.....
4.4 (3 Reviews) 
Add Review 
4.75 
4.5 
