On Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 12:31:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I tried out an M-Audio Profire 2626 interface. Got one off
of eBay for song. I just want to gripe about one aspect of
it that I think almost cripples the device - the software
mixer. The unit has plenty of gozintas and gozoutas. The
preamps sound pretty good to me. The firewire seems pretty
solid - I am buffering at 64 samples.
So this doesn't seem to be too much to ask these days. But
there is something as important as the hardware - the
software mixer. I actually picked this unit up after
reading about its DSP mixer. I liked the flexible routing
and the assignable master volume knob. A great step in the
right direction. Here's my complaint: Aside from the
master mix, the only other way to create a mix for output
is by using the Aux sends. The trouble is that these lack
mute and solo buttons, and the pan is slaved to the master,
plus there is no master volume for each AUX. My first task
was to set up outs 1/2 and 3/4 as separate headphone mixes
(not configurable) and then 5/6 as a monitor mix (so cool
that I can assign the master out knob as I wish). So I
went to do some recording. Immediately I notice that the
array of circular knobs is way more confusing to look at
then the bank of linear faders that the master mix is
blessed with. But that's ok, I'll get used to it. I
brought in a pre from my old interface via S/PDIF so I
could compare the two units. I record something while
hardware monitoring the two preamps. Then I go to listen
to the recording, but I have to mute input monitoring of
the two preamps. Nope. I have to turn down the levels on
those inputs to listen to the software returns, and hope
they get back to the same place when I record again.
I compare this to my old unit. The mixer has tabs at the
top, one for each hardware output. Now, you can't see
everything at once, which may be why the 2626 went the
route they did, but when I want to mess with my headphone
mix, I click that tab, and I can see everything in faders
with mute, solo and pan dedicated to each source. Plus I
get master out meters to tell me how hot my signal is at
the output, along with a master level to control the final
level at that output. How can you live without that? If
the level is not right, I have to mess with all of that
AUX's knobs to change the total output. Lame. Ok I know
I have a headphone knob on the unit but I still want to
adjust the digital level properly, and this doesn't help
me if I'm sending to an outboard unit or something from one
of the other outputs. The only place an AUX mix can go is
to a hardware output - so to leave of a master level and
meter is difficult to understand.
I just think that the software was designed by someone who
had never used the unit in a working environment. It's all
about the software these days. You get the signal into the
computer as soon as possible - from preamp to converter and
in - then the world is your oyster if the software is
designed correctly. I just don't see the proper level of
attention to detail being brought in here.
Now at ~3ms latency, I can probably solve all of this
by bypassing the DSP mixer altogether (one can), and doing
all of the mixing from my DAW software. No problem making
a proper headphone mix that way. Still, it irks me and
I wanted to complain.
Here are some shots of what the 2626 looks like along with
my other interface's:
http://imgur.com/a/d4ooG
This is what I'd see if I wanted to
adjust my headphone mix. A row of lonely AUX knobs on the
one, and a fully visible and featured mixer on the other with
dedicated pan, mute and solo buttons with a master out meter
and fader. Far superior.
Thought M & S were Mono & Stereo!
Now, how many "mixers" have a Master gain control? For example, I can mix multiple tracks in Audacity, but if I find the VU meter being pegged, I either have to decrease amplitude of each track, manually or automatically, but both are either tedious or time consuming. I asked the Audacity development crew to simplify, they suggested adding Master Gain Control.
Jack
I know this unit is old. Maybe things have gotten better out
there by now. I normally buy used gear cuz money.