Master Fader V2.0 Wants and Speculation

[vadim2012]

Hello!
If the company is having difficulty in removing the key problems, there will be a sensation - to withdraw the product all over the world for the assistance!

[Mikeboltz111]

Yea that's what I meant to say prefade eq dynamics, if I can get this I wouldn't need any other feature update.

[Mixfix]

Yea that's what I meant to say prefade eq dynamics, if I can get this I wouldn't need any other feature update.

I am a bit surprised that it didn't seem like an obvious feature they could have easily implemented at conception with little effort and the absence of this makes me question the competence of the development team. It seems like they need some better experienced audio engineers or maybe simply actually try and test the thing in real situations where stuff like this would become obvious real fast.

[ijpengelly]

It has been discussed quite extensively, but I suspect the reason they haven't done it is because most "entry level" mixing desks have post EQ post insert Aux sends. Even the Onyx 24.4 I had only had internal jumpers to bypass the EQ for the Aux sends. If you wanted dynamics that meant adding it at a group level to avoid it affecting the aux sends.

I agree that it is something that could have easily been implemented in the first pass, but I guess they didn't see it as high on the list as other elements. Also I think people are making more of an issue of it than it actually is, perhaps because they are overusing the dynamics or aren't setting up monitors particularly well. I've done some challenging gigs and had very few issues with feedback due to either element and the people on the business end of the monitors have typically been very happy with the output they are getting.

Anyway, for everyones' sanity, lets hope they do an update and address at least a few of the top issues. 

[Ampli]

I havent problem with the dynamics
I use simply if enough free channels y cord to split the lead singers and sometimes the background singers
Then u have separated eq gate and compressor for the main and monitors
Would be nice to have this funtion in the mixer. (Adding virtual channels) but probely not possible due lack of processing power

[Jkowtko]

DSPs are supposedly fully programmable, so theoretically any combination of routing and processing is possible between inputs and outputs.   And the iPad  control surface means it is also fully programmable with no limitations in configuration whatsoever.   So unless Mackie comes out and says that the DSP they chose has routing limitations, it is their choice not to implement this flexibility.

[WK154]

Actually it's the ARM that does all the routing and decision making not the DSP. The DSP is happy just number crunching on the signals. As you stated there's plenty of compute power there if you're inclined to use it.

[WK154]

MixFix:
I am a bit surprised that it didn't seem like an obvious feature they could have easily implemented at conception with little effort and the absence of this makes me question the competence of the development team. It seems like they need some better experienced audio engineers or maybe simply actually try and test the thing in real situations where stuff like this would become obvious real fast.
My take on the design decisions made by Mackie is based on their desire to mimic the analog desks as much as possible and to keep it simple (KISS) for the intended market (just look at their adds). Since it is all just numbers after the A/D converters it's just moving arrays of numbers around to anywhere until you bring it to the outside world via the D to A's. Just look at the full cross-switch implementation of the XAP-800 (XDM I call it) and all the flexibility it has, but at the expense of complexity for the end user. It takes a bit of doing to understand all the possibilities not something that you would present to this target market. I agree that they missed some essential features in their oversimplification but they still have V1.5 to fix it otherwise the competition will do that for them for their more advanced users market. The key here is not to let the advanced features get in the way of simplicity.

[Jkowtko]

... but it's pretty easy and intuitive to change "Pre" button from a simple on/off to a dropdown with three or four options ... Progressive UIs are a standard concept in the UI/Usability world, and I would find it hard to believe Mackie doesn't understand this.

[WK154]

You will notice that there are no drop-downs anywhere in the App. I agree that the UI is in need of a makeover but I'm informed that revamping the manual would be too much effort at least until V2.0!

[Jkowtko]

I just took a quick look at my X32 app (which I had downloaded a while ago) this morning ... they have other bad issues with their UI, but they do have a dropdown for channel send points.

[WK154]

Their big problem is fixed size windows on all their apps even the AMP one. Hope they fix that soon. Lots of GUI packages out there that are cross platform.

[WK154]

Actually I'm getting real tired of pointing this out to App developer (over 15 yrs. by now). Write your app using HTML or any of the web tools and you'll open up possibilities you never even dreamed of. Platform independence and remote access are just a few of the benefits.

[Jkowtko]

I thought the only options for Apple products were the Apple iOS SDK, and HTML5 a distant second if it's even supported.   

My knowledge is a few years old, but at that time the smart device choices were Apple vs Android ... Android unfortunately had a lot of variations between manufacturers, making Apple products the first choice to capture the biggest chunk of the market with one API.   HTML5 was supposed to solve all of the world's API programming issues, but I haven't heard much more about it in the last few years.

I just took a look on the Apple website and it seems to be focused only on it's SDK.   There is the mentione of creating a "Universal App", but in Apple-speak that means an app that will run on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch ... ha!

[WK154]

Let me paint you the bigger picture in WWW tools. First off Chrome, the number 1 browser in the World by far, is available on the iPad. That and Google maps irks Apple more than anything. Yes, that's due to Android that holds at least 70% of the market in smart phones and half the tablet market. Safari has other competition as well. The point here is your not even tied to a specific web browser since they all have to deal with HTML. Who said anything about iPad lock in to SDK's. I believe Mackie made a strategic error in locking into Apple, but I guess birds of a feather flock together, even paranoid ones. Behringer was smarter than that. No use of 30pin or N direct (USB cables for wired connection) and an open protocol on the iX16. Why would anyone want to reinvent the wheel unless their trying to lock you in to their product. That's been tried in the computer world and the wrecks are strewn all over history and none have survived for long. Those that have survived changed their ways (IBM). Isolationism results are well documented through out history, we're a social animal.