Hi there Giorgio,
I have not actually owned the Midas mixer you are talking about but I am quoting a review in
Sound on Sound May 2011 issue. I am also one who has had experience working previously with a fairly large analog mixer and a DAW. I don't do it now though!
The Midas is primarily a live (ideal for live recording) desk but very well suited for studio applications. What frame size did you have in mind? 16, 24 or 32 inputs. The Mic and Line inputs can be used at the same time doubling its input capacity. Would be great for multiple computer returns and a whole lot of hardware synths. There are 4 busses and 6 sends and matrix mixer channels. The matrix can be used to create complex monitor mixes in the studio. Outboard gear will easily interface with this mixer with its sends and sep returns.
The firewire ability matches the input channels so for the 32 channel version there are 32 digital channels to
and from your computer. Due to large number of channels only 44.1 and 48K sample rates are supported. That should be fine though. Driver installation is very easy and stable, all the mixer inputs/outputs come up in your software.
Input channels feature lovely mic pres (very high common mode rejection ratio) and eq (very nice EQ in fact) on every channel. Reviewer said the Mic Pres alone were very close in sound to separate rack mounted external pres. All the usual things apply to the inputs. Lots of gain, pads, phase reverse, low cut filter, 48v power etc.. The reviewer said the mixer sounded beautiful and very musical. (The Midas Sound!) It has 4 stereo channels and your DAW can easily send stems over these channels as well. The channels have lots of headroom and are all very quiet.
A mixer with a lot of input channels will obviously allow you to record a lot of people playing at once if required. But even if you are tracking/overdubbing a limited number of inputs you still have the benefit of doing your mix on a full analog mixer. The mixer will handle all your monitoring duties as well. It also features talkback and built in osc etc..
It comes down to how you like the sound of your mix ITB or all sent through 16, 24 or 32 analog channels. The reviewer had done a lot of ITB mixes and re did some of them on the Midas and he was very impressed with how it sounded. He said the 44.1 K sample rate mixes sounded as good as 96K ITB mixes. Mostly he liked the Midas mixes more.
Depends on what you want with a mixer like this that interfaces directly to a DAW. It is a great concept and apparently this mixer works flawlessly with your computer and after all you can't ask much more than that. I have heard from other sources it has a fantastic sound too. But the 32 channel model will set you back 5000 pounds which is close to $7500 so you have to look at that sort of expenditure and see if that sort of money could be spent in different ways and you still come up with a fantastic sounding mix. eg all digital with some very nice plugins that can emulate mix busses, tape saturators and channel strips etc..
The good thing about this mixer also is you could do a part all digital ITB mix and use the external analog channels at the same time over just a handful of stems or just a few individual tracks. It does not have to be all one way or the other. It could be a blend. The 16 channel version would be wonderful for that.
The Midas cannot act as a control surface for your DAW and it cannot be automated. There is plenty of automation that can be handled in your DAW and just let the mixer mix. A digital mixer can act as a controller, and it can itself be automated which makes it all the more powerful for me. Not only that they can switch scenes and recall very complex mix setups a year later and that is one aspect about digital consoles I really like. These days there is a trend toward several smaller jobs at the same time rather than one bigger one for a longer period.
post edited by Jeff Evans - 2011/06/30 11:01:17