Jump to content

IK Mixbox SE for $29.99


Larry Shelby

Recommended Posts

MixBix SE Modules

AMPS
British Tube Lead
Flexi Amp 
Preamp
SVT Classic

CHANNEL STRIP
Channel Strip

DELAY
Digital Delay

DISTORTION
Distortion 
Lo-Fi

DYNAMICS
Limiter
White 2A

EQ 
Parametric EQ

FILTER
Env Filter
Filter Phaser
Wah 47

MODULATION
Chorus
Electric Flanger
Ensemble
Phaser
Slicer

REVERB
Ambience
Digital Reverb
Plate Reverb

SATURATION
Saturation X

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, abacab said:

MixBox is really handy as a plugin with all of the ready to go FX chain factory presets with up to 8 FX module slots, plus you can save your own chain and instantly recall them in any project.

It is a great concept and pretty well executed everywhere other than the processing power it can require depending on the plugins used.  

Not for older machines + high track counts, in my experience.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Brian Walton said:

Not for older machines + high track counts, in my experience.  

Easy fix for those with older machines that want to run the latest software plugins: use the effects on one track at a time, then freeze or bounce.

I'll give credit to Kilohearts for striking a decent balance. For a lighter experience, recommend the 30 free Kilohearts Essentials Snapin plugins. They will work individually as standard plugins, or you can use them in one of Kilohearts plugin hosts such as Snap Heap ($29). That is a modular Snapin Host which allows you to build up to seven serial or parallel effects chains. Their GUIs are minimalist and seem to run well with lower resource demand. https://kilohearts.com/products/kilohearts_essentials

Here are two FX screen shots showing a Mixbox chain and a Snap Heap chain being used on a simple Reaper project with a single EZD3 (EZdrummer 3) drum track. Baseline was that Reaper with one EZD3 track took about 5% RT CPU (4% for Reaper and 1% for EZD3).  Used the Reaper Performance Meter to gauge the RT CPU increase when each plugin was online.

This MixBox preset used on one track added about 15% to the real-time CPU demand of the test project (total 20% RT CPU), while the Snap Heap preset shown here was only adding about 3% (Total 8% RT CPU). The load increase is all relative to my machine which is a humble 3-year old i5.

MixBox preset on EZD3 track.PNG

Kilohearts Snap Heap on EZD3 track.PNG

Edited by abacab
  • Thanks 1
  • Great Idea 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, abacab said:

Easy fix for those with older machines that want to run the latest software plugins: use the effects on one track at a time, then freeze.

I'll give credit to Kilohearts for striking a decent balance. For a lighter experience, recommend the 30 free Kilohearts Essentials Snapin plugins. They will work individually as standard plugins, or you can use them in one of Kilohearts plugin hosts such as Snap Heap ($29). That is a modular Snapin Host which allows you to build up to seven serial or parallel effects chains. Their GUIs are minimalist and seem to run well with lower resource demand. https://kilohearts.com/products/kilohearts_essentials

Here are two FX screen shots showing a Mixbox chain and a Snap Heap chain being used on a simple Reaper project with a single EZD3 (EZdrummer 3) drum track. Baseline was that Reaper with one EZD3 track took about 5% RT CPU (4% for Reaper and 1% for EZD3).  Used the Reaper Performance Meter to gauge the RT CPU increase when each plugin was online.

This MixBox preset used on one track added about 15% to the real-time CPU demand of the test project (total 20% RT CPU), while the Snap Heap preset shown here was only adding about 3% (Total 8% RT CPU). The load increase is all relative to my machine which is a humble 3-year old i5.

 

MixBox preset on EZD3 track.PNG

Kilohearts Snap Heap on EZD3 track.PNG

Yep or just the the Plugin Alliance Amek 9099.  ?

I haven't been able to truly figure out the freeze method in a way that works well with my workflow.  I've had to do it hundreds of times over the years but realistically mixing shoud be done in the context of the mix, not an individual track and freezing one track to move on to the next effectivly makes it an individual track type of adjustment not in the context of the whole.  

I've got the Snap Heap thing also, but have only attempted minimal use with it.  It is a good concept, but haven't fallen in love with the interface yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

Yep or just the the Plugin Alliance Amek 9099.  ?

Yep, that's fine for a recording and mixing engineer trying to get a clean mix.

But in addition to the basics, these other options offer a lot of readily accessible creative flexibility to sound designers, with a plethora of modulation and time based effects, and other sound mangling options mostly useful during the song writing phase. Maybe more attractive to the DIY musician vs. the engineer.  ;)

MixBox (full) has 70 effects modules. I think of it more as an outboard effects rack for an instrument. Like a stomp box on steroids. It can easily get heavy, but I do like it's sound! Also, if you have and love Phase Plant, then you will immediately "get" the Snap Heap thingy. It's similar to the effects section of the synth, on it's own as a plugin.

Edited by abacab
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, abacab said:

Yep, that's fine for a recording and mixing engineer trying to get a clean mix.

But in addition to the basics, these other options offer a lot of readily accessible creative flexibility to sound designers with a plethora of modulation and time based effects, and other sound mangling options during the song writing phase. Maybe more attractive to the DIY musician vs. the engineer.  ;)

MixBox (full) has 70 effects modules. I think of it more as an outboard effects rack for an instrument. Like a stomp box on steroids. It can easily get heavy, but I do like it's sound! Also, if you have and love Phase Plant, then you will immediately "get" the Snap Heap thingy. It's similar to the effects section of the synth on it's own as a plugin.

Thats true, Ironically I'm more inclided to use Mix box as the random effect / design tool than the standard "chanel strip" for basic adjustments.  So I might use the Amek for the tone and dynamic shaping then MIxBox on select tracks for "coloration"  effects ala Chorus, Flanger, Uni-Vibe, Tremolo if I'm not using a dedicated unit for one of those functions.

  • Great Idea 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

Thats true, Ironically I'm more inclided to use Mix box as the random effect / design tool than the standard "chanel strip" for basic adjustments.  So I might use the Amek for the tone and dynamic shaping then MIxBox on select tracks for "coloration"  effects ala Chorus, Flanger, Uni-Vibe, Tremolo if I'm not using a dedicated unit for one of those functions.

That's basically what I do with Scheps Omni Channel as a standard "channel strip". It's light and works it's magic to clean up the basic adjustments.

MixBox is one of those things to toss in when you start thinking "what if?" ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, abacab said:

That's basically what I do with Scheps Omni Channel as a standard "channel strip". It's light and works it's magic to clean up the basic adjustments.

MixBox is one of those things to toss in when you start thinking "what if?" ...

Omni was the first Channel Strip I started to use as a "standard" across tracks that didn't feel limited such as all the SSL clones.  But I hate the WAVES model and switched to the AMEK

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an older machine too. I have found I can freeze a track the reactivate the FX bin then add another plug-in. If you wanted to you could in freeze and unfreeze and add another effect and on and on. Sometimes after it’s frozen I wish I could add just a tiny bit of Eq or just a bit of saturation. This is an easy way to attach plugins on an older machine. Or even if you have a newer machine but you love  Acustica you might want to learn this trick. Lol. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also like using MixBox to experiment.  There are quite a few presets that take the sound in a different direction than I normally would, and sometimes that's inspiring.   I'll still probably tweak it, but it's inspiring and adds some fun and randomness to the process, which is a good thing.  It can still be used for normal mixing, of course, and it's good at that, but I've enjoyed experimenting with it when an instrument (like the drums) just needs something and fixing it doesn't seem like fun at that time.  MixBox has made it more fun, which I appreciate.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/17/2023 at 6:09 PM, abacab said:

Easy fix for those with older machines that want to run the latest software plugins: use the effects on one track at a time, then freeze or bounce.

I'll give credit to Kilohearts for striking a decent balance. For a lighter experience, recommend the 30 free Kilohearts Essentials Snapin plugins. They will work individually as standard plugins, or you can use them in one of Kilohearts plugin hosts such as Snap Heap ($29). That is a modular Snapin Host which allows you to build up to seven serial or parallel effects chains. Their GUIs are minimalist and seem to run well with lower resource demand. https://kilohearts.com/products/kilohearts_essentials

Here are two FX screen shots showing a Mixbox chain and a Snap Heap chain being used on a simple Reaper project with a single EZD3 (EZdrummer 3) drum track. Baseline was that Reaper with one EZD3 track took about 5% RT CPU (4% for Reaper and 1% for EZD3).  Used the Reaper Performance Meter to gauge the RT CPU increase when each plugin was online.

This MixBox preset used on one track added about 15% to the real-time CPU demand of the test project (total 20% RT CPU), while the Snap Heap preset shown here was only adding about 3% (Total 8% RT CPU). The load increase is all relative to my machine which is a humble 3-year old i5.

MixBox preset on EZD3 track.PNG

Kilohearts Snap Heap on EZD3 track.PNG

Mate! You're so generous sharing your findings! TY. ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...