DP and Mackie Digital X-Bus

Renaissance Man · Post by **Renaissance Man** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:00 pm

Anybody using the new Mackie Digital X-bus with DP. There's little to no info about DP's implimentation w/ the X-bus on Mackie's site.

dave pine · Post by **dave pine** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:23 pm

i've been using this combo for almost two years now, the control surface works great with dp.

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Thu May 11, 2006 11:56 am

dave pine wrote:i've been using this combo for almost two years now, the control surface works great with dp.

Does it only work in HUI mode, or can it access more of DP's functions?

Astia · Post by **Astia** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:53 pm

I‘ve been a Digital X Bus user for the last 3 months. It really made my life easier on many things but also brought in some problems too.

In a nutshell:
I love the DXB & DP combo. Totally. DXB has been everything I wanted it to be and has improved our sound a lot. Only using it for mixing. Definitely some problems will come with the desk but I can recommend to at least get it for a test run

brood · Post by **brood** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:12 pm

The DXB acts as a Mackie Control with 2 extender packs. The set up of this is rather dumb though. You'll have to buy another MIDI interface to hook it up properly.

I have Mackie's Firewire card installed, which is great.... when it works. The thing that is silly with their Firewire card is that if you change the sample rate, you have to unplug the Firewire cable and plug it back in. EVERY time.

The DXB itself is cool, but I've already had to replace it once (and at other studios several times). They have their issues.

That all being said, when it all behaves, it's pretty cool.

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Thu May 11, 2006 7:41 pm

brood wrote:The DXB acts as a Mackie Control with 2 extender packs. The set up of this is rather dumb though. You'll have to buy another MIDI interface to hook it up properly.

I have Mackie's Firewire card installed, which is great.... when it works. The thing that is silly with their Firewire card is that if you change the sample rate, you have to unplug the Firewire cable and plug it back in. EVERY time.

The DXB itself is cool, but I've already had to replace it once (and at other studios several times). They have their issues.

That all being said, when it all behaves, it's pretty cool.

That's not cool for a board that costs 12K.
I was thinking about upgrading to a DXB but I might just get a DM3200 instead and save myself 9.5K. My Dm24 is maxed out with the fw card and an extra analog card but my only real complaint is the desire to use the board beyond the HUI mode. The DM3200 is suppose to control DP beyond just HUI functions, but I want to see those additional functions in action before I take the plunge.

Renaissance Man · Post by **Renaissance Man** » Fri May 12, 2006 8:39 am

brood wrote:The DXB acts as a Mackie Control with 2 extender packs. The set up of this is rather dumb though. You'll have to buy another MIDI interface to hook it up properly.

How many actual MIDI ports does the DXB use to be fully implimented as a controller?

I have Mackie's Firewire card installed, which is great.... when it works. The thing that is silly with their Firewire card is that if you change the sample rate, you have to unplug the Firewire cable and plug it back in. EVERY time.

So you're streaming audio units from your Mac via firewire? Are there any channel limitations?

The DXB itself is cool, but I've already had to replace it once (and at other studios several times). They have their issues.

Replaced? Can you elaborate?

That all being said, when it all behaves, it's pretty cool.

I'm just looking to make the recording process easier and more intuituve. As it is now, the creative process has to be filtered through this monster "recording mechanism" which more often than not, gets in the way.
It's frustrating that Mackie doesn't impliment a better control strategy than MIDI. It seems like USB would be much more direct, and at the same time not steal valuable MIDI port(s)