Ableton Forum

I'm looking for a mixing board with a S/PDIF out that i can hook into my mbox.

I have a few sound sources in my studio... dj mixer, bass, microphone, computer, that i want to be able to control the volumes of from a mixer with faders just for playing. I dont want to spend 2000 on a digi 002, and i know tascam makes another control surface/ mixing board/ audio interface, but i dont really know.

Does that kind of product exist?

ask google for a "spdif mixer"

it should give you the Alesis Multimix 12FXD

$200 USD, simple, and spdif'd

The Soundcraft Spirit M series has S/PDIF out. It comes in 4.8 or 12 ch input and is quite cheap here in the UK.

http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet ... duct_id=24

so if i bought this spirit m mixer and had lets say 4 inputs going into the mixer, I could connect it to the mbox with spdif and track all four channels into seperate tracks with live 4?


which is better Alesis or Soundcraft?

im willing to pay the extra money on the soundcraft if it is actually worth the difference.

or maybe a cheaper option would be to get a cheap but good mixer like Behringer Eurorack and a 2nd hand minidisc player with SPDIF - you could probably get both pretty cheap 2nd hand by now - course then you're going through the converters of the minidisc but personally I dont find that a problem

You can pick up an 02R on eBay fairly cheap.

i want a mixer with quality preamps to run my mic, bass, and rane ttm56 through, and i want to go straight into the computer on seperate tracks. I dont mind shelling out 600 bucks or so for a quality mixer, if its going to do the job and sound clean. ive heard that behringer's sound is kind of doo doo.

What is an 02R?

Bernie Lomax wrote:so if i bought this spirit m mixer and had lets say 4 inputs going into the mixer, I could connect it to the mbox with spdif and track all four channels into seperate tracks with live 4?

Bernie, Spdif is stereo. Does the mbox allow simultaneous recording on both spdif and analog?

Excuse my ignorance, but I have been educated on the topic of spdif and "lightpipe" by the genius minds at Guitar Center.

The dude told me that spdif could handle 8 channels because it was originally used for adat? He kept referring to the optical connection though, but led me to belive that the coaxial spdif connection could do the same thing.

Are you sure spdif is only stereo? How would it work sending seperate tracks in the case of adat?

please reply if you know... I need to make moves on some kind of solution for my studio.

The Digi002 seems like a good solution for this all, but i dont really want to spend 2Gs on it right now. I just need something i can plug everything into and hear through my monitors, then be able to track into my computer. Having just 2 inputs into my computer isnt the biggest deal right now because most of what im doing is overdubbing. The issue is expandiblity, if i get a mixer, i want to be able to still use it when i get a firewire interface. The onyx mixers seem nice, but are also very expensive.

I know tascam makes a firewire interface with monitoring and flying faders, but, i'm still not sure of what to get. If the spdif thing that i described above works, I want to do that.

Any suggestions?

Bernie Lomax wrote:please reply if you know... I need to make moves on some kind of solution for my studio.

The dude at Guitar centre who told you that SPDIF could handle 8 channels was wrong. Yes, you can transmit 8 channels on an optical cable, but only when using an ADAT protocol - NOT SPDIF.

To clarify, SPDIF is a protocol, not a type of cable. It is STEREO only. I believe that it stands for Sony/Phillips Digital (?) Format. You can transmit SPDIF information over an RCA cable, as well as over an optical cable. ADAT, which is 8 channels, is transmitted by optical, but NOT over RCA. Your customer service noob confused the CABLE (optical) with the protocol (SPDIF).

My advice for recording multiple signals at once:

Dump your M-Box

Buy a used MOTU 828 (or preferably a MOTU 828 Mk II, or any other used firewire interface with multiple ins).

For the price of a digital mixer, plus what you can sell your M-box for, you could probably buy a one piece solution that's capable of recording multiple signals simultaneously, and act as a stand-alone mixer.

montrealbreaks wrote:
To clarify, SPDIF is a protocol, not a type of cable. It is STEREO only. I believe that it stands for Sony/Phillips Digital (?) Format.

Sony / Philips Digital InterFace actually
i know, dumb acronym.

AdamJay wrote:

montrealbreaks wrote: I believe that it stands for Sony/Phillips Digital (?) Format.

Sony / Philips Digital InterFace actually
i know, dumb acronym.

Hmmm...

Well, just goes to show me to check a search engine before spouting off.

nah it just goes to show that the acronym is retarded. hehehe.
no one can ever remember it because its not right.. Interface is two words..

consumer electronics baby... gotta love it.

so I'm looking at this now
http://www.tascam.com/Products/fw1082.html

My friend has the bigger version and seems pretty happy with it.

Anyone know of anything comparable, or better?