X18 X18R X16R X12R Details & Video

[Greg C.]

The iPad app is not as functional as the others, my usage of subgroups to fake the crossover was a problem as that app can't control subgroups (yet?). Sucks that I have three iPads that I really can't use without something else to access the missing functionality .

For this reason, I broke down this week and got a Dell Inspiron 11 "2 in 1" so I could have full control in a tablet format. On sale at Staples for $299 instead of the usual $449. Swapped the spinner HD for an SSD and maxed the RAM out at 8GB instead of the stock 4GB. It's pretty peppy though the screen is a bit small for running X-Air edit.

[gerenm63]

So, I finally had a gig a week back that pushed me to considering another 16-channel digital mixer. The X18/XR18 is the most likely candidate for me, as the price is decent and the features are compelling. But, that said, I'm confused about the WiFi situation. The inbuilt WiFi router only supports 4 devices, according to the specs. If I use my external WiFi router, can it more clients be supported? A max of four devices is kind of a deal breaker, as I regularly work with 5-piece bands where each player handles their own monitor mixes, and I usually have two devices running for the main mix (one in use, one as a backup).

[RoadRanger]

^ I don't think there is an iPhone app yet?

And why are you thinking about moving way from the DL1608?

[gerenm63]

^ I don't think there is an iPhone app yet?

No, there's not. I can live with that -- I have two old HTC Thunderbolts that I can stick new batteries in and use, and Android tablets are really cheap (I can get "good enough" tablets for under U$50). It also seems that the iPad app will run on pretty much any iPad made, as long as it can run iOS 5.0.1. Surprisingly, the "full mixer" app for the XR mixers look almost usable on the Thunderbolt (the screen on the T-bolt is only a smidge smaller than an iPhone 6s) -- at least almost everything can be "touched" from the phone if need be, unlike the Mackie.

[WK154]

^ I don't think there is an iPhone app yet?

And why are you thinking about moving way from the DL1608?

Probably for similar reasons that we did. Time flies when you're having fun. 

[gerenm63]

And why are you thinking about moving way from the DL1608?

Looks like you added this after I answered the first part ....

The biggest reason is that I can't remotely control the input gain. Having the "trim" is okay, but if someone suddenly starts clipping a preamp, no amount of digital trim is going to stop them from actually clipping. That's really the biggest reason.

Still wondering about my original question though -- if I use an external WiFi router, is there still a limit of 4 remote devices?

[WK154]

And why are you thinking about moving way from the DL1608?

Looks like you added this after I answered the first part ....

The biggest reason is that I can't remotely control the input gain. Having the "trim" is okay, but if someone suddenly starts clipping a preamp, no amount of digital trim is going to stop them from actually clipping. That's really the biggest reason.

Still wondering about my original question though -- if I use an external WiFi router, is there still a limit of 4 remote devices?

As long as you don't use the XR's DHCP server (by  way of static IP or external DHCP servers) you can exceed this limit until the XR's run out of steam.

[RoadRanger]

 

The biggest reason is that I can't remotely control the input gain. Having the "trim" is okay, but if someone suddenly starts clipping a preamp, no amount of digital trim is going to stop them from actually clipping. That's really the biggest reason.

One thing you can do is to set the digital trims on the DL1608 to +6 or +12 db and set the physical trims lower so if you start to clip you can go in and lower the digital trims . The Behringer mixers (and others AFAIK) actually "fake" having continuously variable remote trims by using a coarse "stepped" electronic gain in combination to a continuous digital gain (just like the DL1608 has). Heck, crank them up to the full +20db - I doubt you'll hear any decreased bit resolution or increased noise...

[sam.spoons]

I may be wrong about this but I assumed the physical gain controls on the DL1608 were analogue (it makes no sense for them to be otherwise) and, thus, continuous.

I don't know what the resolution of the digital gains on the X32 are but the display shows around 4 'steps' per dB. An 8 bit word length controlling the DCA in the analogue preamp (again I'm assuming that's how it's done) would allow 0-255 'steps' or four steps per dB of gain over a 0-60+ dB range. I'd consider that acceptable......

[RoadRanger]

Those 4 steps per db aren't "real" - the "real" analog DCA's have something like 3db per step and the finer control is emulated in the digital domain. AFAIK no-one has observed any downside to using the full 20 db of digital trim available in the DL1608. I think the TRS only inputs on my XR12 only have two "real" steps (according to the block diagram?) and the rest is "emulated" - works better than expected IME.