Ways to use the new features.

[robbocurry]

Hey Dan,
Made any recordings yet with the 32?
On the other point......at least you didn't have to wait 2years+ for your 32r. Announced just a few months ago and there it is in your possession.
There was quite a long time between the announcement of the x32 and it materalizing.
I never considered replacing my dl with an x anything but the smallest of the xr series got me interested, because it should be cheap, as in the past. Potentially not a lot of money to lose. Perhaps a handy spare mixer?
If it's going to take as long from announcement to delivery it might be quite some time before it ever appears.
Just finished another weekend with the DL.
It hasn't been used every night or every weekend exclusively but it's been available and reliable for me for over two years. It's hard to believe not one single x16/18 has been sold yet considering the hype. Obviously not as easy to make such a device after all. So well done Mackie for promising and delivering. Not too shabby at all👍😉

[Rdmitch]

you got guts, i would not want to open up a new unit still under warranty.

I am holding off buying a new unit for a while.  I never spend money on gear that I dont make using it.

This year was a new (used) van so I could stop pulling a trailer.  I'll just  hand with the DL1608 for a while until I see what next year offers.

[Rdmitch]

I think I found another benefit of VCA vs. subgroups.
If I put all my string instruments to a subgroup, while I can control the group volume I can't pan an individual guitar. I have to go the subgroup master and pan from there, which then pans ALL the instruments assigned to the group.
If I assign the same items to a VCA group I can still pan the individual instruments on their channels. The vca
Group master doesn't even have a pan control. 
I think the VCA's work well for me so I set one for vox, one for drums, one for other instruments and the last one
For all my monitors as a master monitor fader.

[dpdan]

Rdmitch, think of the VCA as one fader that is a remote control for all the faders assigned to it.
A VCA does not ever have audio in it's "circuit",.... it is not a volume fader but rather a remote control. Proof of this is that there is no EQ, compression, gating or any other type of audio processing in a VCA.
VCA is an abbreviation for "Voltage Controlled Amplifier" Ultimately, on a digital mixer it acts the same, but should really be called a DCA "Digitally Controlled Amplifier". That of course is just my opinion.  

robbocurry, I have made some recordings with the hard drive and will be making another recording this coming Saturday night with Digital Performer on my Mac laptop.
The hard drive recording is really disappointing in that all 24 channels are recorded to a single stereo "wave" file that is commonly called a "multichannel wave.
I never knew anything of the sort existed. After the files are brought into the computer for mixing each individual wave file needs to be converted to individual mono audio files as is sommon in multi-track recording/mixing. A free downloadable piece of software made by Sound Devices called Wave Agent does the job of converting the single stereo wave file to all 24 mono channels and does a beautifully though. 

It is disappointing to me because approximately every nine minutes or so a new multi-channel wave file is created. When importing these into a DAW for mixing, it is up to us to line up all these files and splice them together and without any tolerance of error on our part otherwise we loose the absolutle sync "IF"we plan to use this with camera footage. I did an experiment of about fifteen minutes and excellent sync was the end result. I was pleaed but if I ever need to make another multi-track recordin with the DL 32R it wil absolutely be with the Mac laptop and Digitial Performer,.... when I am done at the end of the recording I hit stop, save and shut it down. When I return back at the studio I open the DP project and it is ready to start mixing, no splicing of all these tracks, and no time at all spent converting.

I will post a small portion of the video here shortly.

The Mackie DL32R did do what was advertised, it made a flawless multi-track recording that sounds wonderful



 
   
 

[Harpman]

It is disappointing to me because approximately every nine minutes or so a new multi-channel wave file is created. When importing these into a DAW for mixing, it is up to us to line up all these files and splice them together and without any tolerance of error on our part otherwise we loose the absolutle sync "IF"we plan to use this with camera footage. I did an experiment of about fifteen minutes and excellent sync was the end result. I was pleaed but if I ever need to make another multi-track recordin with the DL 32R it wil absolutely be with the Mac laptop and Digitial Performer,.... when I am done at the end of the recording I hit stop, save and shut it down. When I return back at the studio I open the DP project and it is ready to start mixing, no splicing of all these tracks, and no time at all spent converting.

Dan,

Don't know if I would call this "flawless" multi-track recording.  Seems like a lot of work within your DAW or getting them to your DAW. Why create a new .wav file every 9 minutes?  Why have to use another 3rd party app (DP) to manipulate to non-standard .wav files?   My major reason to go with the DL32R was for "seemless" multitrack recording, which is not the case.  Leaning me more towards the Behringer X32 now.  Currently using 2 - Focusrite 18i20's to get 16 tracks of multitrack. I use Sonar X3 on my PC based laptop.  Not going to change anytime soon.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[dpdan]

Harpman, please do not buy the Behringer over the DL32R just because of this one drawback,
use your computer with Sonar,,, or is it not a laptop?

 

[Harpman]

Harpman, please do not buy the Behringer over the DL32R just because of this one drawback,
use your computer with Sonar,,, or is it not a laptop?

Dan, It's a 17" laptop.  I've been a Behringer owner (still own) for quite some years. Don't like their speakers and thats why I have the QSC K-Series.  The Mackie DL was my first deviation from Behringer.  At the time, the X32 wasn't released yet.  I'm really trying to downsize due to space limitations at the gigs we play and saving my back . To lug my laptop around, I was really hoping Mackie would use native unlimited size .wav files.  To spend another $500 US for Digital Producer isn't in my budget.  My goal was to hook up a 2TB drive and worry about getting it to my DAW post-production in my studio.  Hoping they can fix these issues with multi-track soon.  Going to NAMM next year and will be visiting both booths. Not making any purchases until the 2nd quarter of 2015.  Considering that multi-track recording is 1st on my list for features, I will have to see how this plays out.  I don't think that the X32 can record straight to a external HD at this time. Mackie should have provided "seamless" integration into ANY DAW without the need to spend $500 for middleware.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[dpdan]

Nice that it's a laptop, I don't use Sonar but I can't imagine that it would not allow you to record 32 channels simultaneously via the DL32R's USB "computer" port.
I think you misunderstood my post, I use a FREE piece of software made by Sound Devices called Wave Agent to make the individual mono wave files.
But regardless, with a laptop and Sonar all you should need is a USB cable and get 32 in and 32 out unless Sonar has limitations.

I use Digital Performer to mix all my audio and audio for video.
With your laptop, there is no need to buy anything except a USB cable, I will be using my Mac laptop and Digital Performer instead of the portable HD.

The DL32R is an incredible piece of gear,
I'll just leave it at that.

 
 

 

[nottooloud]

The hard drive recording is really disappointing in that all 24 channels are recorded to a single stereo "wave" file that is commonly called a "multichannel wave.

.....

It is disappointing to me because approximately every nine minutes or so a new multi-channel wave file is created. When importing these into a DAW for mixing, it is up to us to line up all these files and splice them together and without any tolerance of error on our part otherwise we loose the absolutle sync "IF"we plan to use this with camera footage.

Another company screws up the file formats. QSC's TouchMix records in 32 bit, which increases the datastream and chokes USB sticks. Logic can't open the files. They also cleverly give every single track the same filename.

Couple questions. What do you get if you just arm 1 track? Does it still restart every 9 minutes, or is it restarting at a specific file size?

Have you checked to see if Mackie included Broadcast WAV timestamps in the files? You should have a function in your DAW to "move the files to preferred positions" or somesuch, and that should line them up with sample accuracy.

Reaper is a very inexpensive multiplatform DAW that will import  multichannel WAVs directly.

[Wynnd]

Glad you found a way to unravel the multichannel wave file.  There are probably other ways to do it too.  Some that might just be a single process that never needs to be spliced.  Anyway, if it doesn't exist yet, it will soon.  Being able to record directly to a laptop would be a winner for me.  (I'm using Cubase Artist 6 on my 2010 Macbook Pro)  Let us know how that works. 

I'm not a huge fan of doing a lot of recording, so won't be changing from my Alesis MultiMix 16 firewire.  (Which works just fine for me.)

[Wynnd]

I just realized that this multi-channel wave file must be a TDM file.  (Time division multiplexed file.  Phone company technology that's at least 50+ years old.)   So basically, there is probably a consistent series of bits from the mixer.  (ie- 1,2,3, marker 1,2,3......)  It would be the fastest and most consistent way to create the file and minimize throughput issues.   (And probably indicate the limits of how many channels can be done until there is a USB 4.x)  If there currently isn't a way of directly handling this type of data stream out of the mixer, it probably shouldn't be difficult to write a capture program that would unravel it on the fly.

[Harpman]

I just realized that this multi-channel wave file must be a TDM file.  (Time division multiplexed file.  Phone company technology that's at least 50+ years old.)   So basically, there is probably a consistent series of bits from the mixer.  (ie- 1,2,3, marker 1,2,3......)  It would be the fastest and most consistent way to create the file and minimize throughput issues.   (And probably indicate the limits of how many channels can be done until there is a USB 4.x)  If there currently isn't a way of directly handling this type of data stream out of the mixer, it probably shouldn't be difficult to write a capture program that would unravel it on the fly.

Makes no sense to use old technology. Just shows a lack of experience in new technology. Can't even fathom USB 4.x when 3.x is still riddled with issues. If an app like Auria can save pure .wav files, why can't MF? 

[nottooloud]

USB2 is fast enough to stream 24 channels of 24 bit. USB3 is plenty for anything we're liable to want to with audio. Video's another story, of course.

As for file formats, my Mackie MDR24/96 recorder wrote individual 24 bit time stamped Broadcast WAV files over a decade ago. They were broken up at intervals to hold to a maximum file size, but they combined seamlessly. Simple, compatible, flexible. Seems like Mackie's going backwards.

[RoadRanger]

If an app like Auria can save pure .wav files, why can't MF?

It's not MF saving the files, the DL32R does it directly to the hard drive - so no iOS or iPad involved. The firmware probably can't have 32 files open simultaneously and/or the DL32R doesn't have enough memory to buffer it. As someone said above they probably chose that format because it had the lowest overhead. However Mackie should definitely either supply or recommend a free program for the PC and Mac that can convert to individual .wav files while splicing all them short ones together. OTOH if Reaper can directly import them, either switch to that great DAW or kick your DAW supplier in the arse to support them .

[Harpman]

Sonar can work directly to the USB port, I just don't want to lug a laptop around with me. Another option would be to use Auria and use the camera connection kit from the USB port on the DL32R (DAW connection). IMHO, seems like multitrack was an afterthought. They could have added more memory to buffer it.  Amazing how Auria can record a 3 hour gig from my Focusrite 18i20's without a hiccup.