Harrison Mixbus

I did. I was intrigued, particularly after a session in a friend's studio, equipped w/ the real thing - which is amazing.

I liked some things about it - the simplicity of the old-school approach, you know... EQ and (very good sounding) compression and saturation accessible w/o messing w/ plug-ins. I imported a song I had been working on and rebuilt what sounded like a better static mix in less time.

But, in terms of navigating, it feels clunky, rigid and "heavy" (just launching it, my CPU fan starts spinning loudly, something which almost never happens w/ Logic, even running a 50 + tracks mix). I wouldn't want to deal w/ fancy automation - or anything too fancy for that matter - in MixBus.

This and a few other things contribute to the fact that I really don't see myself creating or even just recording and editing into it. It just feels so slow and hard to move. 

Don't know if this ever happened to you, but after a while, I noticed that my wrist was getting painful because my hand was all tensed and I was actually pushing on the mouse if I had to lift something very heavy...

Obviously, you have the option of using jack audio to route the audio from your DAW into MixBus. To me, the actual benefits of MixBus weren't worth it. 

If I'm to use another DAW to record and edit, I'll most likely start messing w/ automation, plug-ins, pan controls, grouped some things and routed certain other things to busses before I start to mix, anyway, as part of the creative process. 

When I reach the actual mix stage, the basic building blocks are there. Having to handle duplicate mixers and 2 different layers for the same mix would be counterproductive.

For Sonar users, who have access to built-in console emulation and Pro Channel, I hardly see any benefit, beside adding one more color to their palette.

My 2 cents...

TBH, if I weren't so obsessed w/ the idea of streamlining everything as much as possible, at that price, I would certainly have grabbed it. ;)

chefmike8888


Thanks for the input Rain.
I pulled the trigger on it before I missed out on the $60 deal.

I'll play with it I'm sure.
Besides, I've spent more money on plug-ins that I don't even install any more.

I have a friend coming over to record later in the week.
I'm going to record his song in it and see how it goes.

Mike

Would be interested to know what you think Mike..


I'm probably going to pull the trigger on it too before the deal is over..


I read they are considering going 64 bit....so that would be a decent step...and being
in the door for almost nothing wouldn't be a bad "entry" IMHO...

OK. I just pulled in some raw tracks I have from a previous project.
I found it very easy to get a good sounding well balanced mix rather quickly.
Of course I didn't get into cutting, coping, pasting, or using 3rd party plugs yet but seems to be very stable.
I'm looking forward to doing a full project from start to finish with this.

My opinion, grab this for $60 while you can.
Normally $218 with the plug-ins.


Definitely a no-brainer in my book anyway.  


Mike

Looks like the PC version is a little underdeveloped in comparison to the Mac version: no MP3 import, no MTC/MMC transport control, no MIDI CC control mapping, although these are all marked as "coming soon." Will buying the $60 version entitle one to free upgrades once it goes 64-bit I wonder? (I see 64-bit is currently only available on Linux). 

Nor edit my message it seems. :s


And having problems jumping back one level up to the software forum.


And getting more pop ups all the time...


I guess that's also why the forums get so painfully slow at times recently - overloaded w/ errors. :P

sharke


Looks like the PC version is a little underdeveloped in comparison to the Mac version: no MP3 import, no MTC/MMC transport control, no MIDI CC control mapping, although these are all marked as "coming soon." Will buying the $60 version entitle one to free upgrades once it goes 64-bit I wonder? (I see 64-bit is currently only available on Linux). 

Their website says that all 2.xx updates will be free.
Leading me to believe that if any of those features are listed as a version 3 then no.
But if they are put out as a 2.something then yes, free.
I'm sure they will offer an upgrade path tho.

MIDI was not a driving factor for me because I use it very little and I have Sonar for that.


Mike


Rain, I agree. The forums have been extremely slow lately. Not sure if it's servers or software but something sure does suck. 

sharke


I've also noticed that you can no longer post from the iPhone's stock browser. The posting form is there, but when you click on it nothing happens. 

I'm sure iK Multi-iApps has a new app for that...=P

If that's any consolation, Harrison have a plan which gets you MixBus for only $49 + $9 per month or such. The subscription can be cancelled after 3 months and you still get to keep MB.

I was just going to mention what grant mentioned, it doesn't support vsti.
but it does look very nice.

I popped for it at $49....I used the $89 I saved from not buying
the Maag EQ since Eddie TX told me about the freebie...so I still come out $40 ahead.

I have it installed but haven't done anything with it...but it seems very solid on Win 8...

I guess my thought process is... if they update it, give it VSTi and MIDI capability,
and make it 64 bit...then it's an investment in the future...and I have an upgrade
path...

If not, then at least it's not a total waste...as I can still use it...

I see that Don't Crack http://store.dontcrack.com/ working with Harrison has Mixbus 2.3 on special for $39 bucks. Full price is $219...looks like a good deal!