Soundcraft Signature 12 MTK (multitrack usb mixer)

[Scot_Solida]

I’ve copied the following over from another post I made on the subject. You can indeed record all of your EQ and effects, pan, level, etc to the computer, but you’ll have to give up another channel/channels to do so and route via aux or groups. This is due to the lack of direct outs, an unfortunate exclusion that was doubtlessly made to cut costs.

@Scot_Solida

I bought the 22MTK as a temporary stand-in while I restore my old TAC Scorpion and I intended to use it only as a standalone mixer. However, I was quite pleased at the flexibility and sound quality of the board. My main interface is a MOTU 1248 AVB which has high-spec’ed converters and is wildly flexible and I have some nice outboard pres, dynamics and fx (Chandler TG2, Urei LA3A, Eventides). However, I have done tracks solely with the MTK - even the onboard pres - and have no qualms about including them side-by-side on the same album as songs produced with the higher-end stuff.

My only real complaints (other than the flimsy knobs) about the MTK:

1: No power switch - I use line conditioners, so don’t need a power switch - but it is a miserly omission.

2: No inserts - My biggest gripe about it. I deal with it by using the groups and bringing the processed signals back in on an unused channel. This is kind of a drag. 22 channels isn’t much in my studio, so I am not nuts about sacrificing those channels. However, you get what you pay for. If you aren’t going to be using a lot of outboard dynamics or EQs, it won’t be a problem for you.

3: Reduced signal level on the recorded tracks coming back out of the DAW over USB. This was a design choice in order to allow headroom for added EQ on mixdown. Okay, I get that - it is an entry level mixer and it can help prevent overloading. However, I wish this had been left up to the user to deal with. This is the complaint I hear voiced the most. However, I can live with it and it hasn’t prevented me from doing some excellent mixes on this little board. It helps to set up the gain so that tracking levels are as hot as possible without distorting and normalize the tracks once you’ve got 'em in the DAW (in other words, standard practice for good recordings regardless of what gear is used). One thing to note: you really gotta crank the gain pots with some microphones, but the pres are quiet and can handle it.

It’s a good buy, offering a lot of mixing and routing for the money. The effects are decent, the pres won’t let you down (even if they are nothing to write home about) and I’ve even used the built-in dbx limiters to tame some wayward spiky levels (I’m lookin’ at you, Machinedrum!). If you use plugins, you can run them as inserts - a nice bonus! Latency figures are excellent.

It’s not perfect and clearly built to a price point, but the trade-offs are well chosen. It is an analog board, so no automation, recall, or anything else that a good digital board like the Qu series can offer, but the price is hard to beat. In fact, it does the job so well that I have been procrastinating restoring the TAC since I got it!

@Scot_Solida

You can route the returns through groups or an aux and then patch their outputs to a stereo input.

Sai:

@Scot_Solida

Thanks for the great overview on the MTK. I have one effect pedal and I’m thinking about getting some Strymon etc effects so the missing return can turn out to be a problem.

Yeah, a lot of outboard almost demands the larger 22 MTK, in my opinion. I have yet to feel the lack of returns as a serious limitation and I have racks full of outboard. I tend to always use proper channels for returns no matter what mixer I am using, simply so I can have more sonic control over them. Also, as finalform said, the built-in effects are actually pretty good - if limited, and I have turned to them many times rather than patching in a better outboard unit.

finalform:
Edit: oh, the MTK has no channel inserts at all? Ok, that is a bit tricky.

Exactly. That’s my biggest complaint. For someone with little or no outboard, it’s likely to be a non-issue (and you can use plugins as inserts), but I get around it by sending a channel to a group and bringing it back in on another channel Oh, that’s another thing: the USB conversion is tapped right after the gain, so if you want to track with the board’s EQ, you have to do the same thing. However, I only use those EQs when mixing, for the most part.

@Scot_Solida

Also, the idea that trim should be set to as near the clipping point as possible in order to get decent SNR thru the AD conversion reeks of weak 90s digital audio lol. What is even the point of recording @ 24 bit if you cannot afford to have any headroom? It sounds like a return to the 16 bit depth ages and OCDing about peak meter reading again, dreading for intersample peaks etc

I think I may have been confusing here… the pres are quiet, so you can take advantage of the dynamics on offer - I just suggested the careful gain-leveling as a way to ensure that levels were good and loud to minimize the effect of the level reduction when that signal is piped back down USB to the mixer. I haven’t had any trouble with excess noise - no more than from any other modern analogue device. Certainly not 90s-era, thank goodness. What makes it feel a bit screwy is that the gain knobs have a weird curve. That isn’t to say that the gain is weak - but you might have to crank the knob more than you’d expect to get the levels you want. Rest assured, though, there is plenty of gain for anything you throw at it. I used a ribbon mic to track a mountain dulcimer - a very delicate, quiet instrument - and was able to capture the sound very nicely with the MTK’s pre-amp.