Audio interface suggestions

[KristjanParticipant]

Hey everyone!
I currently own Behringer xr18 for recording and band practise. I've been wanting to upgrade it but i would love some suggestions. Bear in mind i need a lot of inputs, because in the practise/live room i have everything fully miked up for our band and i use the second room for other people. I would prefer a rackmounted AI, but recently i've been looking into mixers like Behringer x32 and Wing (because of multiple inputs). Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Have a great day and stay healthy!

[Magnus EmilssonParticipant]

Hello Kristjan.

Do you want to upgrade to more I/O or in overall quality?

* For more I/O an X32 is the obvious way to go, you know the system and it seems to work well for you.
* If you are going for other mic pre's you might want to consider starting getting a few bespoke mic pre's and using the line input on the XR18 until you got enough of them, and then maybe switch to another converter.
* If you are looking for other converters right away it's going to be an expensive journey getting that much I/O and mic pre's while upping the quality in a noticeable way. If you are going down this route I would recommend 2-3 Apollo X8p or similar offerings from Apogee & RME. It will cost a small fortune.

If I were you, I would perhaps upgrade to the X32 and then start getting a few nice hardware mic-pre's to get a bit of differing "colors" to chose from. When I got enough of those and maybe a used analog mixer for monitoring and I don't actually need the X32 anymore I would get a bespoke interface, something like the Apogee Symphony or UAD Apollo X16. The converters in the X32 are alright, their weak point is the mic-pre's so that is what I would look to remedy first.

/Magnus

[Guido tum SudenKeymaster]

Hi Kristjan,
I fear, you need to be more specific.
How many XLR inputs do you need?
What's your price range?
What are you planning to do with the recordings?
Where do you want to edit the tracks?

Guido

[face (chris) JantonParticipant]

If you wanted to stay with "what you know" the X32 is a decent choice. X32 Rack will give you 16 XLR inputs plus 6 1/4" inputs. Add an SD16 stage box for the second room (it's the same size/shape as the XR18). The SD16 has 16 combo inputs, 8 outputs, AND 4 Ultranet output ports that will provide power for P16M personal mixers.

There is new firmware for the X32 that removes the requirement of assigning inputs/outputs in blocks of 8, which has always been (for some tasks) a stumbling block.

If you are using a computer to drive the XR18 with X-Air software then you're all set - the X32-Edit application is already what you need.

32x32 USB I/O is the normal configuration for the computer.

There are various 8, 16, and 32 input boxes that can be attached with CAT-6 so boxes can be up to 100 meters apart.

[KristjanParticipant]

i think the X32 is the best option since i would need up to 20 xlr inputs for band practise and demo recording, but i would love to have at least 8 great mic pre's for the actual recording sessions. My price range is up to 3000€ (for example x32 + mic pre's)

[face (chris) JantonParticipant]

Trade out the X32 for a Midas M32 😉 you can use SD16 (or 8,32) or Midas stage box. Very nice pre-amps...very nice. Looks like it would fit your price range as well.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by face (chris) Janton.

[Magnus JohanssonParticipant]

I can´t recommend the UI on the x32. If you are used to controlling your x18 from a screen... get the racked version of x32 with some stagebox configuration. Use rack connections in your controlroom and a 32 channel stagebox in your studio. I wish I went this route from the beginning.

[face (chris) JantonParticipant]

The UI on the X32 (and M32) isn't all that nice. If @Kristjan is using the X-Air Edit application to work with the XR18 then it's no problem at all using X32-Edit.

The first time I got to use an M32 (never seen or touched one). I did a rough-draft of how I thought things should work with X-Air Edit (original plan was to use my XR18). I imported my XR18 scene into X32 Edit, read a bunch of documentation, and programmed the mixer with the editor application. Put the scene on a USB stick, loaded it up on the M32 and I was up and running in about 2 minutes.

I *did* take advantage of earlier versions of the X32 Editor application (mimicked the user interface) to learn how to drive the physical device.

If I ever put together a multi-room place it's going to be all CAT-6 and Dante 😉

[Magnus JohanssonParticipant]

Here´s a link to some comparisons between the micpres of x32 vs m32. To me the price difference seem not enough to add anything noticable. The M32 apparently do have some delay compensation but not on all fx slots! bummer. Wonder if it has compensation between busses and channels.

the link https://hannesmottl.wordpress.com/

[face (chris) JantonParticipant]

Thanks for the X32/M32 comparisons. One of the "advantages" of the XR18 was mic-pres designed by Midas. The MR18 is the same box with "real" Midas pres in it. A lot of folks have said they really like the Midas pres, and I have had comment that the XR18 pres actually are very nice sounding. I find them more than adequate for live.

The FX included in the XR18, X32, and M32 are all the same software. SHARC chips running the FX. More slots on the X32 (8) 4 "insert only" and 4 that can be used as bused effects. I have spent the last couple of days turning my XR18 into an outboard effects rack for my Mac 😉 8 mono channels of goodness.

[KristjanParticipant]

Thanks to everyone who replied, i think i will go with the x32 and invest more in external mic pre's. I would like to have different options for different situations. Can anyone recommend some options?

[Magnus EmilssonParticipant]

Warm Audio WA-273 (or WA73 if you only want one channel) or the Golden Age Project PRE-73 DLX MKIII would probably be a nice option to your current pre-amps and both offers excellent value for money. Especially if you can find them used.

Thinking more of a system I would go the 500-series route, get a nice 500 rack and start adding pre amp modules, much cheaper in the long run since you only have to pay for the AC/DC conversion once for every 8 or 10 units. Purple, API, Rupert Neve, WES Audio and more all makes excellent racks, stay away from the cheapest ones, they have a tendency to introduce noise in some of the more sensitive modules due to bad mains transformer shielding. 500 racks are often also available used for good value, they tend to last for 20+ years.

 

/Magnus

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