Also agreed. Beautifully utilitarian. Like a sleek shard of stone.
If I were a wealthier person I’d totally go for it.
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On the way
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Read the review of this mixer in Sound on Sound. Be ideal for a portable setup. I might just grab one of these in the next month or so.
Just to pick this up. looking at the block diagram in the manual, I think this is possible using inserts (which would need two balanced D-Sub to Jack snakes). The routing is a little convoluted, but bear with me.
- Four stereo stems to 3/4, 5/6, Ext 1 & Ext 2. Summed to Main stereo Bus.
- Take the Insert Send from the Main Bus, and using the 25Way D-Sub to Jack plug it into the Channel 1 & 2 Line Inputs and MUTE the Channel feed to the stereo bus.
- Take the Insert Sends from Channel 1 & 2 (again from the D-Sub To Jack snake) and connect it to the Insert Return on the Main Bus (this may need a Female to Female Jack Connector, depending on the sex of the Jacks on the D-Sub Snakes). Switch the Main Bus insert return IN. On the block diagram this then puts the Channel Signal Path in the main bus, before the G-Comp and Main Fader.
- Feed the MAIN Output XLRs to the DAW.
So signal routing is Stereo/Ext ins to Main Bus, Main Bus Insert Sends to Channel Line Ins. Channel Comp & EQ to Channel Insert Sends to Main Bus Insert Returns to G-Comp (if IN), Main Fader to Main Out.
Need to be careful with channel mutes to main bus to prevent feedback to main bus.
I think that’s done it!, Phew.
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Yup, looks like you cracked it. well done !
Bit convoluted but good to know it’s doable for those that need that use case.
the two knob g comp on this smokes the digitakt master compressor at similar settings. wow.
really blends a suite of synths together with the beat machine.
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You got one? Tell us all about it!
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yey man, would take a listen too! Maybe someone can compare it to UAD SSL Bus comp??
I don’t have the UAD SSL, though have always wanted to pick it up…
The headroom on this board is astounding, the noise level is super low. It’s hard to compare a board that sums to digital summing via UAD Console (which I think sounds great-only issue is no master bus processing…come on UA) - but the way I have my studio patched, all synths are half-normalled to UA inputs, so I can split the signal at patch bay and send to the SSL. Crafting a mix on the board was much faster than doing so in UAD Console. And I preferred the end result. You are more limited, but these limitations force you to get the source right and commit to things.
Haven’t had much time with it, but running the Digitakt through a pair of the stereo channels, and the first words that come to mind is resolution and depth. A touch of the bus compressor gives real body to the mix. The alt inputs also sound very clean. All in all I was summing 8 tracks to two. Still had 4 to play with, which I’ll try today with a few FX returns. Haven’t tried the mic pres, but will give them a run in the next couple days.
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I’m wondering if you’ve heard a noticeable difference in any way between the audio output from the “Stereo channels” and the stereo “EXT INPUTS” (all set at zero)???
No. they all sound excellent. I use the stereo channels and Ext Inputs interchangeably.
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Why did I have to see this thread!?!?!? I didn’t know I needed one of these.
I’m sort of evolving to desktop gear into daw but I have not even tried some of ssl plugins that get rave reviews.
I’m weakening so fast on this that it might be purchased before the next response!
Sam
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I’m feeling very happy and lucky - got one last month! I’ve been slowly studying and approaching it. Having fun sending (and punching in) some FX. If you guys wanna check it out, here’s a couple of experiments - both using digitakt 
ambient: digitakt with the loops, organelle with the melodic/harmonic duties. shallow water as FX send. no compression. Towards the end I play with eq and pan a little bit.
boom-bap: digitakt providing beats, SP404SX helping out with effects. Some compression!
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Would this completely replace an interface and a mixer ?
Just recieved mine and in the process of figuring out how to hook it up. The stereo cues/auxes are send only, is it possible to use the insert returns on the db25 for this or do i need to feed them back into either the stereo channels or ext ins?
So many routing options, its a puzzle, but what a lovely puzzle it is too 
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its not an interface, just a mixer
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I really don’t understand why anyone in electronic music would need this. Maybe a singer song writer? But 2 mono ins, what’s the point?
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Cause with an SSL you can actually polish ****
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I am definitely additionally motivated because of my singer-songwriter leanings. But from what I read and hear, sending-for example-rytm tracks out of daw and back thru the stereo inputs and the compressor gives a lot of life to any type of tracks.
On the flip side, seems most would be happy enough in this example to just use the highly regarded ssl channel strip emulations.
I’m leaning towards it because i get the sense it sounds amazing and gives a bunch of bang for buck if one is looking for a higher end small desktop mixer.
But I’m just learning on the fly here!
Sam
Great. Sales guy was telling me the Ext inputs were much lower. I think he had that confused with the DB25 link. It didn’t help that neither of us could find the Ext level pots at the time 
Going back today with my Bass guitar for another test drive on the mono channels.
Well nobody really needs it, but thousands of people in electronic music never used a DAW or plugins either.
There’s hundreds of ways to use the two exceptionally high quality mono ins. I never have used a DAW, but I imagine you could run a stereo mix from a DAW through it to get real solid state EQ and compression; followed buy the rest it has to offer, and save a lot of your computer processing power in the process.
One thing that got me excited over this mixer is my experience with ssl live in the studio. I don’t get that quality with my current Yamaha or past A&H mixers.