Woah, that’s really cool.
No worries about the derailment, I’m enjoying the mixer talk.
another tipp might be to get a used ipad cheap (I would go at least for the 2. generation, as the first is really slow) or the smalest version of the ipad mini which you can get new for less than 300 €. It can also be used for other music apps that arent available for android, googles system has just started catching up with midi support.
greetings,
Goat
A further small update to my notes: an added illustration for common chord progressions, a section on using the Pioneer RMX 500 noise generator or alternatively the noise generator on the Allen & Heath Qu mixers to generate sweeps and atmospheric patches by feeding the signals through the Eventide H9 Spacetime and Space algorithms.
1 Like
Hi Olaf,
the Qu Pac - can the reverb work like the dark reverb in the octatrack ?
I found that the valhalla verb, dark room algorythm does a similar effect as the dark reverb on the octatrack. (I record normally dry, and then ad the dark reverb later, when mixing down in abelton.)
Can the FX on the Qu Pac work in a similar way ? How does the FX compare to the H9 ?
I am really tempted, since there is a current price reduction of the qu pac ongoing. (And i tryed to talk me out of it…)
Do you put everything through the octatrack before sending to the master channel? From the diagramm in your guide it looks like you send everything to a mix bus, before you you send to the master.
The question is , can you feed A4, RYTM to a group, and then this group through the octatrack, using it as an insert FX , send that group to your mix group , which has the other FX units as send FX ?
Sorry for this many questions 
The FX are very capable and of high quality as I played with them this past weekend. Routing them is simple and straightforward.
I haven’t played with the OT’s reverb in a long while, but I would say that the FX are better on the Qu-Pac.
Compared to the H9, I would say the reverb is on par. I have an Eventide Space and the reverb on the Qu-Pac is capable of some of the same verbs, but I wouldn’t say it can go into “space” since it doesn’t have algorithms like the blackhole etc that the Space can do.
Overall though, the FX on the Qu-Pac are very high quality and should have your bases covered.
Thanks for chiming in, can you answer this routing question aswell ?
I.e. routing groups into groups ? That would be super flexible.
Yes, but maybe not exactly that way. This was just added to the most recent firmware:
“Group Mix mode to use the Groups to create additional stereo Mixes”
? Not exactly that way ?
Group Mode - Touch the Group mode button to
set operating mode as a stereo Audio Group. This
provides routing that follows the channel pan control.
You can assign combinations of channels and FX
returns to a group. Groups can be routed to LR or any
Mix to create sub-groups. Groups can be mixed to the
Matrix (not available on Qu-16).
So, i could output that stereo group on some channels, put that signal back
to the octatrack in ? The octatrack out could then be sent to an different group, which then goes to the main out ?
The Idea was to record before it goes into the Octatrack.
Yup, that’d work.
In response to some of the questions raised.
I purchased the H9 not simulate earthbound rooms but extraterrestrial spaces, that is, the shimmer and space-time effects. The OT and Qu mixer provide a range of reverbs that surely will be good quality (whatever that means) but what I found difficult with the OT, and which is fantastic with the H9 are algorithms that combine reverbs with delays. Feed some bleeps in and out comes lots more, including added movement
On the Qu mixer you can combine and route in virtually any way you like - an advantage of digital mixers. You can group external inputs, subject them to EQ and compression and then send this somewhere else. You can send it then also out to a mix, any external gear, and have it come back into the Qu mixer.
I am not sure though why you want to go back to the OT, except you love the effects there so much. I feed the AR and A4 masters into the Qu, the OT main and the OT Cue, plus any other external gear. With the QuPac one could go as far as sending all individual tracks of the AR and/or A4 as separate inputs as there are up to 32 channels possible. I have only split out the kick so far, to play with the Qu’s Ducker, which I could not yet working.
I initially used Groups as a workaround to avoid volume bumps when switching scenes. At present I use only one scene to reset all assignments, otherwise I route everything on the fly. This is the second workflow I describe in the notes. The Qu mixers offer so many options that I need some time before I have tried everything. Later today, I will have a stand build for the Qu Pac, so that it can be used standing over it.
Lots of interesting stuff here, but wouldn’t it make sense to clean up a little and separate the discussion on Olaf’s great guide from the equally interesting discussion on the A & H Qu series of mixers?
Just my $.02
Hans
The mixer is part of Olafs guide, and has a lot of information about it, so when we discuss his guide, its not to wrong to include the mixer discussion also ?
The guide covers a lot of ground in the meanwhile. 100 pages ?
I agree that a probably separate discussion about the Qu Pac should de done elsewhere because of better forum readability, and the Qu Pac itself seems to be very complex device, which needs a lot of work to get it properly setup.
For shimmer /reverb simulation, if you use neighbor tracks in the Octatrack, to chain a reverb & delay, modulate it with LFO, and use a comb filter to offset /micro pitch shift ? Would that deliver a similar sound ? (I will try that out.) There was also a tutorial from nick from sonic state who reproduced that effect with a digital mixer internal FX.
Hans is right, we should discuss mixer purchases in the other threads and keep this for tips and tricks.
The following thread is a good place:
http://www.elektronauts.com/t/finally-the-perfect-mixer/13283/145809
… although surely it is not a perfect mixer for all. It will depend on the needs and we should not ignore the price tag and pretend that we all don’t care about the money. I am fortunate that I can buy all that gear but I for one also feel sometimes slightly embarrassed to throw so much money at my hobby. Surely, someone on a low budget can achieve with a simple or no mixer more than I do. Also here limitations can push creativity and no-one should think this is a must have. For my purposes it is probably an overkill of features and options … but then I get so much pleasure out of this stuff …
Best, Olaf
As I keep exploring the A4, also using the Keith McMillan QuNexus with it, I have updated my notes, the latest version of which can be found HERE. There are also various additions here and there, including more tips gathered from fellow Elektonauts. Best wishes, Olaf
Another update with corrections and additions across the document. Posted here again in case there are new forum users that my find this useful. The latest version of my notes can be found HERE (8MB pdf file).
What is new to the guide ? (The music theory part ? ) I think its a very good addition, every musician should invest a bit time in music theory.
Did you try out to layer sounds on the A4, when selecting “use track” sounds for the unisono mode ? Not sure if this is really that advanced tip, but it makes layering sounds very easy.
@Sternenlicht: I need more time to get to the creation of sounds for the A4. So far I rely mostly on soundpacks, starting off from these with small tweaks. As a consequence the notes on these topics are thin. This will however change, as I move along. I am currently focusing on things one can tweak when performing live, assuming kits, pattern etc are already there. I collected short cuts and menus that are particularly important for that (eg 'Undo"s …) I also look out for tips I find in the forum and those I tried myself, I add to the notes. This has also led to small additions in the sample chain section. In the coming weeks, I will work with a large PA and focus on gain staging, setting levels and will write up notes on that, respectively revise what is there.
This time I have a bigger update. I will continue on live performance ideas for the coming weeks but I now included a chapter on Drum Loop Programming (starting from Page 78 in todays PDF). I tried to make this similar to a course, with two examples and lots of tips, which I gathered over the course of my own training in the last two years. The issue with triplets on the AR isn’t trivial and so I made an effort to illustrate this. I would be interested in feedback on possible errors and typos in that section because it took me a while to get my head around it and figure out ways to illustrate this. If all is fine, this chapter provides guidance on how to translate any triplet pattern from a DAW in the AR.
Mucho appreciando, as always, and thanks for marking the specific place of the additions
THANKS a lot i will reading that and put a feedback when i ending.
But simply Thanks Olaf
Edit: Also on the mixer, i have no doubt about the QUpac from A&H is a serious piece of digital mixer but for those who have less money they are options. And one consideration (at least to me…) is weight !!! if you can carry your live set without extra cost it’s very nice and this kind of mixer is usually 10kg weight (minium) wich lead you in a very hard scenario. I drop Presonus for that same reason.
But you need also to have something in mind, when you are booked you can asking for a mixer on stage, cables, (it can save some weight) … some artist asked for a very specific mixer and place or festival will get that for the weekend.
In my case i find the X18 or XR18 from behringer a nice solution for the price because of the multitrack recording capabilities in USB and also the 4 stereo effects slot (comes from X32) Mackie DL1608 and Soundcraft UI is very nice sounding but you can’t multitrack recording so it’s Live oriented ONLY
But you have also MOTU ultralight AVB which can be controlled with iPad and Keith Mc Millen KMix (but those will not have 2 or 4 effects slot you will need to set some external fx) and only 10 inputs and 8 for the Kmix
Also Soundtrack 12 MTK but weight drop to 6kg and it’s not release for now but probably in May 2016 apparently, limiter’s from DBX and sound very nice. 22 MTK is cool but only studio.