Questions & Answers

Studio Live Ai mixer as a Control Surface

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asked Nov 3, 2015 in Ai Mixers by smeiman (1,610 points)
My StudioLive 32 Ai is a beautiful mixer.  With all of the DSP control going on presently it is really sad that I can only use the 32 Ai as an interface into Studio One 3.  I have used Capture to record live performances and that translates great into Studio One with the Fat-Channel active in each track.  But will I ever be able to use the Ai as a direct Control Surface into Studio One?

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answered Nov 3, 2015 by gadget69 (31,130 points)
selected Nov 3, 2015 by jspring
 
Best answer
No, that would require encoder faders, and they should also be motorized for mixdowns. The CS18 was developed specifically for that purpose.

Best regards
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answered Feb 10, 2016 by darthMatthis (1,770 points)
Since the faders actually report their value to the software, I guess you could probably make it work. It already works in the iPad and Computer remote apps for the SL. Only problem being the unmotorized faders. No idea how it would work technically though.
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answered Feb 11, 2016 by smeiman (1,610 points)
I believe Bobby Owsinski wrote a book about using the Studio Live mixer.  I got some insight from that book about recording.  It is possible to use Studio Live mixers as control surfaces for recording but not in a way that I expected.  I have a few more experiments to run, mostly for overdubbing and monitoring, but I feel that the SL will function like I would expect in a studio environment.  Just like I do for a live recording; the input "gain" is set so that there will be no clipping and I let the DAW, in this case Studio One v3, do the recording.  Later I go back and mix the performance.  The added benefit of the Studio Live and Capture 2 is that what ever "Fat Channel" settings are used during the performance these can be used during the mix-down or not.  Getting the basic "clean" recording of the instrument, or vocal, is imperative.  The listening environment will always need some type of dynamics or EQ to compensate for comb filtering or other acoustic imbalances during the performances.  Taking those dynamics and EQ and rendering them into the track may not be the best in the studio environment.  This may not give the best recorded value for any particular track and may also render the track unusable.

For live recording I use the Audiobox 1818 VSL and a Digimax D8 - 16 inputs.  I would use the same configuration in a studio environment and use the zero-latency for monitoring and over dubbing.  If I needed more input, however, I would then use the StudioLive mixer and record in Capture 2, then to the DAW.  The next step would be for over dubbing - this part I have yet to do.
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answered Feb 24, 2016 by darthMatthis (1,770 points)
This way it would be more of a traditional console approach and less of the console surfuce. Or something in between...
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