OTO Mixer - Bébé Chérie

Side note: I have a MOTU 8 Pre Firewire that I use as an ADAT input expander for my Ultralite, and it overdrives very pleasantly when pushing the gain on the pre-amps.

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I was just thinking about testing my behringer audio interface as a mixer.

Is it normal for people to use an 8 mic pre device for mixing their whole hardware setup? I like overdriven preamp sounds like the old boss mixers the techno scene used.

This MOTU is affordable and rackmount… My dream

The Cherie definitely wouldn’t be as scrungly as the old Boss mixers, but what sort of source material were you interested in running through?

If it’s the sound you want, absolutely. Plus you get an extra 8 ins to your interface!

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The things I have running through it definitely benefit from the drive (and the tilt EQ!) - It depends a lot on the source though. A very clean sounding synthesizer can be dirty pretty quickly, but I’m not a fan of the way the Bebe Cherie clips certain things. I’d probably use something more precise for mix/master duties even though the two end channels have BAX EQ type EQs, I’d have to try it out.

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Just got mine yesterday! Going to work on a deep-dive video for my channel (www.signalcolors.com) to come out sometime in January after I’ve had some time with it. In the meantime I’m looking to collect whatever questions anyone has - so let me know what you’d like me to cover! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Awesome! A technical breakdown, or at least less poetic explanation of exactly what the “bliss” knob does would be great.

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You got it!

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I am not the type of person to do a spectrum analysis. What it technically does, I cannot really tell. Listening to it I assume it pushes some high frequencies back into the mix. To me it seems to enhance or “add“ transients a bit, it adds some “air“.
Not sure this description helps.
I am a big fan of this mixer and love to run as much as possible though it. :slight_smile:

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thank you for the answer! i love using the bliss knob on mine but had no idea what its actually doing besides that i like how it sounds…

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It’s basically a one-knob aural exciter, like this:

When I had it, it sounded great so long as it was not overused beyond 3 o’clock because then it starts to sound overly processed to me.

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they are again available on their website… https://www.otomachines.com/product/bebe-cherie/

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I had an Aphex 104 that I loved. Here’s a good history lesson on it: Behind The Aphex Aural Exciter (SOS Aug 93)

The “Big Bottom” effect on the later aural exciters is awesome. Even harmonic distortion that seems to boost bass without increasing volume. FL Studio just added a stock plugin to copy it.

I think Big Bottom is more valuable than the original high frequency effect, but OTO probably did something cool with their high frequency Bliss thing.

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That’s exactly how I’d describe it too. It’s almost like it is a high pass filter from “the top down” to sprinkle a little airiness on top of your filtered signal - but with a limited range so you can’t bring too much back in. I plan to dig into it a bit more to cover it more technically in the video though haha :sweat_smile:

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Absolutely adore my Bébé. What a beautiful lil box :heart:

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I love using it on digital synths. Turning that Bliss knob up is magical

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I’d like more info on the tilt knobs and if possible some analysis of what frequencies are affected.

I’m sure you’ll mention that mutes go to the aux out, but some creative ideas of how to use that would be a great addition.

I love my Bebe and I hope your video helps them become more popular!

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three immediate ways to use the alt outs come to mind:

  1. Using the alt out as a headphone cue bus
  2. Using the alt out for sending track(s) into a sampler / OT
  3. Using the alt out with an fx device which has an analogue dry path, then using wet/dry controls for controlling amount of effect, patched back into an input on the Bebe (requires careful gainstaging for best results)

I’m sure there’s plenty more things you could do

If someone finds it useful, I could send white noise through my Bebe, going through the tilt EQ range manually, and recording the result? From such a file, you can easily determine how the tilt eq behaves (Did a similar test with my Rytm some time ago, found out that Rytm cramps samples’ high freqs quite a bit)

I find the tilt eqs great for DJ style blends, but the stars of the show on the Bebe are the input trims, comp and bliss, at least for me. Overloading the input with a 303 sounds awesome!

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I’m really eager to hear some nice demos of the Cherie, with different synths/drums/samples running through this dear pink baby.

Let me hear how you treat them, baby.

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A shame this mixer uses minijacks, I ended up with a mackie 1202 as the expense of all the extra cabling for the Bebe would have pushed the price too high.

I have synths/drums/samples, in fact.

Give me a feel and I’ll map the Cherie and them around.

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