X AIR XR16 16-Input Digital Mixer

[ef37a]

That ^ I think is the microphone and son said it worked pretty well through the A&H properly "notched". They are far from a loud band so not trying to match "Hendrix" levels with an acoustic!

That mic looks similar to the Audio Technica Pro70 that I use on my acoustic. I've not done many gigs with it, but any feedback I've encountered has been at the bass end and can be easily removed by rolling off the bass. The bass roll-off switch on the mic isn't really drastic enough for most uses.

I seem to remember son showed me the F control at about 420Hz? Your PA probably has a lot more bass than the 310s?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

I seem to remember son showed me the F control at about 420Hz? Your PA probably has a lot more bass than the 310s?

The PA in question was a pair of 310s (but it might be a good idea if you were clearer on this as there are quite a few PA speakers with the 310 model number - including 2 fairly different alternatives from Alto which I presume is the make you are referring to).

[Arpangel]

Chances are the results will be far better than your son can obtain himself - mainly because your son won't have to worry about recording and playing at the same time (and believe me, as an engineer who also plays, I much prefer concentrating on playing when I'm doing a session as a player)

Absolutely, one of the main benefits, not having to engineer, just play, it's such a luxury and well worth it.
I'd say the XR18 isn’t necessary in this situation, and won't bring any major benefits technically or musically, in the context of your situation.
I would want it if it, gave them facilities they don’t have now that you need to enable you to do things you can't do now, in any way at all, things they actually want to do that is.
Make new "wanted" musical ideas possible.
Get them more gigs.
I think the answer to all those is that you have all you need right now, and there’s nothing stopping them from doing what they want to do.
Bottom line.

[shufflebeat]

Bottom line is there is no bottom line.

Your recording process will evolve to fit the situation. The new breed of digi-mixers opens up a new workflow of; record every gig/rehearsal, make a mental/physical note of what went well - there’s your framework.

Sgt. Pepper couldn’t have been recorded this way but - that was then.

[The Elf]

It occurs to me that a Zoom LiveTrak (L-12) might be another option. Apart from the annoyance of not having motorised faders (for which you have to learn the 'LiveTrak Waggle' to mitigate), it has the ability to multi-track record internally.

[Arpangel]

Bottom line is there is no bottom line.

Your recording process will evolve to fit the situation. The new breed of digi-mixers opens up a new workflow of; record every gig/rehearsal, make a mental/physical note of what went well - there’s your framework.

Sgt. Pepper couldn’t have been recorded this way but - that was then.

But no point in spending money if you don’t really have to, I know it's not particularly expensive, but it’s a purchase all the same.

[ef37a]

Thank you guys, now I don't want to be seen to blowing my own son's bugle here nor "dissing" bass players! (I was one) but he is just playing bass and he tells me that once he has written and learned a part he doesn't really need to hear himself very much. They did a gig a few months ago where he was DI'ed into the FOH PA and not a lot got back to him.

WRT to recording, the band are pretty tight and he tends to just get a balance of the Altos, drums and bass. The M4+ZED gives 4 discrete tracks which he 'dumps' into Samplitude ProX3 and then plays with that back at his flat. He has been using Sam since way back in its SE8 days so is pretty slick with it. He also has Reaper and the free Cakewalk.

I tend to agree with those who think the X16 is an overkill for a 4 piece and I have suggested to him in an email that maybe(!) it is he that wants one to play with? If that is the case then certainly, the multitracker makes far more sense.

He has not got back to me yet but we are a week or more overdue a Skype session. Will keep you posted.

James, "Alto 310" is all I recall from months ago but I can tell you they are bottom of the range...boracic.

Dave.

[Stratman57]

A Tascam Model 12 would probably be worth a look. It has the sweepable mid EQ and can record multi track + stereo mix to micro SD card. No computer/tablet needed as would be the case for the XR16. I picked one up for less than £400 seconds hand.

Regards, Simon.

[Wonks]

He has not got back to me yet but we are a week or more overdue a Skype session. Will keep you posted.

If you're ot already aware, Microsoft are imminently closing the Skype service.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/top ... 68a9f90472

You'll need to get started with another video conferencing system ASAP.

[James Perrett]

James, "Alto 310" is all I recall from months ago but I can tell you they are bottom of the range...boracic.

If it is the absolute bottom of the range then it is probably the TX310 as the TS310s were more expensive. Both have now been replaced by the equivalent 410s.

[ef37a]

He has not got back to me yet but we are a week or more overdue a Skype session. Will keep you posted.

If you're ot already aware, Microsoft are imminently closing the Skype service.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/top ... 68a9f90472

You'll need to get started with another video conferencing system ASAP.

Hmm, last I read was that Skype was ending for business users but that the free service for private individuals was to continue indefinitely?

I shall see what my son knows WHEN he next contacts me. Kids! Eh?

Dave.

[Stratman57]

I had an email this morning from Microsoft saying that Skype was no longer part of my Microsoft 365 subscription. (Along with Publisher).

Regards, Simon.

[BigRedX]

I had an email this morning from Microsoft saying that Skype was no longer part of my Microsoft 365 subscription. (Along with Publisher).

That will be interesting for several of my clients who still produce work in Publisher which I then convert into something that can actually be printed.

[Stratman57]

The email contained this paragraph:-

Action Recommended: Before 01/10/2026, convert your existing Publisher files to PDF or Word format. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher.

So plenty of time to swap to other formats.

Regards, Simon.

[BigRedX]

The email contained this paragraph:-

Action Recommended: Before 01/10/2026, convert your existing Publisher files to PDF or Word format. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher.

So plenty of time to swap to other formats.

Regards, Simon.

That's going to be interesting for a couple of my clients. PDF is only a delivery format, and if Word supported all the features of Publisher they would already be producing all their "designs" in Word.

[adrian_k]

The email contained this paragraph:-

Action Recommended: Before 01/10/2026, convert your existing Publisher files to PDF or Word format. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher.

So plenty of time to swap to other formats.

Regards, Simon.

That's going to be interesting for a couple of my clients. PDF is only a delivery format, and if Word supported all the features of Publisher they would already be producing all their "designs" in Word.

Not sure why MS aren’t mentioning PowerPoint as an alternative, you can save publisher files as PPTs. Not ideal but doing graphics based stuff in Word is a pain.

[Drew Stephenson]

Not sure why MS aren’t mentioning PowerPoint as an alternative, you can save publisher files as PPTs. Not ideal but doing graphics based stuff in Word is a pain.

[BigRedX]

TBH no MS products produce files that are suitable for professional printing without help. A sizeable portion of my income comes from sorting out stuff done in Publisher, Word and PowerPoint so that it can be properly printed. The only real advantage in the discontinuation of Publisher, is that it is one less format to worry about, and I'll be able to ditch the Windows machine I have solely for the purposes of opening Publisher files and converting them to PDFs, as both Word and PPT are available for the Mac.

PowerPoint comes with it's own set of problems notably the lack of bleed and to ability to use images that are technically too small for print. One publication I deal with has a number of pages in each issue that are created in PowerPoint, and there will be at least one that either won't print after being converted to PDF or which contains photographs that end up blurred or pixelated because they are too small.

[adrian_k]

Not sure why MS aren’t mentioning PowerPoint as an alternative, you can save publisher files as PPTs. Not ideal but doing graphics based stuff in Word is a pain.

So true

[ef37a]

Errr? I know this is about par for the course here but we seem to have strayed a long way from digital mixers?

No matter, very grateful for all your inputs chaps.

Dave.

[BigRedX]

Almost as though they had seen what I was posting here, within half an hour of my last post one of my regular Publisher and Word conversion jobs arrived in my inbox.

Converting the Word part to something that can be "professionally" printed is relatively easy although it does require the Pro version of Acrobat to convert the RGB blacks to just black ink and add crop and registration marks to the pages. The Publisher part seems to get worse with each issue. It may well end up with me designing these pages myself once Publisher support ends, which could make my part of the job actually easier.