[Nate Najar]

The avid front of house rigs are basically a large amount of AD and DA into a computer running a modified pro tools system with midi sliders for control. This rig is in many venues, large and small and is also being used on many major tours. It sounds fine. Of course my biggest issue with live sound isn't the equipment, but rather the preferences of the operators most of the time.

In a studio the biggest reason to have a mixer or a console is for routing. A commercial recording facility traditionally was designed to accommodate any eventuality of recording situation. In order to do that, you have to be able to send any signal anywhere without much fuss. Any "sound" the console has was unintentional on the part of the designers.

I am of the mind that prefers to get the mic signals into the AD as efficiently as possible and to use the right mic in the right place and not use too much processing etc... Basically I want as true and clean a signal as I can have. Many people do prefer the particular sound that certain mixers impart on the signal and will want a console intentionally for that sound. Keep in mind that most if not all of these mixers were designed for fidelity and to not "have a sound" but when you have that many components (like in an ssl 4000 for instance) touching the signal just so you can put that signal wherever you want, there will be casualties. Those casualties happen to have become a familiar sound to many however.

So no, you do not "need" a mixer anymore. Unless you do.