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OT Harrison Mixbus (not iOS) [Dec 9 sale ended]
@OscarSouth got me curious about Harrison Mixbus.
$39 looks like a good deal for Mixbus 5 plus 5 plugins. Any thoughts?
Mixbus v5 DAW (full version): $39
XT-ME Mastering Equalizer (full version): FREE
GVerb+ (full version): FREE
3D Delay Triple Delay (full version): FREE
Dyno-Mite (full version): FREE
Micro-Glide (full version): FREE
Comments
That's a FANTASTIC price for a product that I'm massively enthusiastic about. V5 only just hit so that'll be valid for a long while and future updates will be $20.
The Harrison message board and facebook user groups are also a very great place to be -- customer support is exceptional across the board. It's built on top of the Ardour open source DAW which it exceptional in itself but the really killer feature is the propriety DSP modelled on their legendary consoles as well as the 'console emulated workflow', which is just unbelievably fluid, fast and powerful (you can break out of it too but just have to be a little careful as it won't hold your hand in terms of latency compensation if you get experimental). A long term colleague in production who was a long time Pro Tools user also raves about it and turned me onto it over a period of a few years.. I should have jumped in sooner! I can't speak highly enough about it.
This is his playlist of Mixbus videos:
It's also massively midi controllable (can also be pretty much fully controlled with OSC using TouchOSC or Lemur on iOS, and templates are provided) and for the real technically inclined, pretty much EVERY POSSIBLE functionality can be automated using the Lua programming language for scripting.. Holy Fuck..
Oh yeah I love the K-Metering for optimum loudness too. The polarity optimiser should be worth a few hundred euro on it's own... 'Rhythm Ferret' tool.. I could go on and on..
I have been using mixbus and now mixbus 32c for a few years now, it is awesome for mixing.
I don’t like the gverb at all, and haven’t really used the delay, dynamite is cool for certain things though. I keep forgetting I have microshift. Haven’t used the mastering eq either.
I have all of their plugins and there are some good things in there, but now that I have 32c I mostly use that eq, it does a lot really well.
But mixbus sounds amazing, you won’t want to mix anywhere else once you try it, and I love the workflow. Hit save a lot though, sometimes it will crash on you. But any little bothers are worth it for the sound.
That exactly summarises my thoughts.
I did have a few crashes when I first started working with it, but I've actually finished a few BIG end to end projects with it now (some pushing it to the point at 4096 buffer where the track won't even play in realtime with all possible CPU performance optimisations active and even crazy stuff like spectre/meltdown patches disabled). I haven't had one crash through 2-3 projects like this, so as far as I'm concerned it's stable. Maybe it was a 'bedding in period'? I've (slightly rarely, but sometimes) heard people mention they've had crashes though, so I guess it's something to consider. I'm using it on Linux if that's of any consideration.
I haven't really used the built in plugins, mainly just stuck with the 'core' tools by Fabfilter along with a Valhalla VST for reverbs. I haven't had any issues with stability when running these Windows VSTs in Linux too and could run plenty of instances of Pro Q 2 and Pro C 2 at lower buffer settings without stability problems. You honestly don't need many plugins though as the propriety DSP has you mostly covered and is embedded directly into the channel GUI. I LOVE the 'Leveller' compressor that the channel compressors default to, and sidechain implementation is soooooo easy (and also incredibly flexible, if you dig into the 'pin controls').
I own Mixbus 32C - got it for one of the $99 specials after trying it out for awhile. I absolutely use it for mixing duties - it makes a killer combo with Waveform9 (or Gadget), in that I create in the one and mix in the other. I like that it helps thicken iOS (and other) virtual synths that can come out a bit thin and digital. That's the built-in saturation (and one reason why it takes more CPU out of the box). I don't see myself moving away from Mixbus for mixing to any other solution out there.
The only complaint is that VST3 isn't supported in Mixbus. It used to crash a lot, too, with some VSTs - and for some reason didn't like some in particular even though it didn't crash it would bog down strangely. But the latest version is the best yet.
My goal nowadays is to use as few plugins as possible and let the music speak for itself. Even if that voice is annoying. Heh. For example, I try to use the built-in EQs and effects in Mixbus except where I need something more "surgical" or to achieve a different effect or in a way that would be easier.
Oh - you'd better have at least one 27" screen to use it, though, as things can get very tiny.
That's the approach I go with usually (apart from specific stuff like unlinked compressors or M/S EQ). I spent a good few hours with a pink noise generator and spectrum analyser tweaking the various channel/bus DSP and watching/listening to the results. The channel/bus DSP can be subtle compared to modern plugins but when you get to know it, it really gets you to where you want to go with minimum fuss/maximum musicality.
Automation of all the channel controls is FANTASTIC too. I find it so fluid that it just happens naturally and riding the various controls plays a central role in my mixing, rather than just compensating for edge cases.
By this time I've posted this track quite a lot, but it's a good example here as it is the most complex piece that I've finished in Mixbus to date. It was very hard to keep the spoken word big, front and clear while still letting the track 'explode' with dynamics and big grooves in places. The master compressors and limiters are heavily automated throughout, there is subtle sidechain compression on a few of the textural elements and there is automation on the channel compressors and channel volumes of the 'central' elements that are competing for attention:
http://udagan.bandcamp.com/track/t-kh
The piece is all iOS apps played onto the Mixbus timeline using a keyboard controller or sequencer (I used Rozeta Rhythm and Cream Mobile on different elements). Then I just moved stuff around in Mixbus and chopped/changed on the timeline to construct the piece.
I'd also note that I'm using Mixbus and not Mixbus 32C. There is not that much difference apart from the channel DSP is emulating a specific console by Harrison for 32C while Mixbus is more of a generalisation of their cumulative expertise (that's how I feel about it anyway). Also 32C has 12 buses rather than 8 and an extra mid band and low pass filter on the channel EQ (I believe?). I like Mixbus -- it does the job for me. Expanding into different DSP variations for different classic desks is a very logical progression for Harrison, I feel.
I think it's ok in terms of that actually, but does require a bit of tweaking. I have a pretty small screen ThinkPad laptop and I've never had any problem -- just got to set up a few keyboard shortcuts to show/hide the mixbus and VCA panels and make use of the 'spill' button to show only the channels feeding the current bus/VCA then it's all good. Splitting the Mixer off into a separate window helps as you get a bit of extra vertical space then.
That said, I can imagine that with a nice big/wide monitor that it would be GLORIOUS.
This particular sale has now expired. I cautiously held off as I want to do more research but I will now be watching Mixbus very closely. It looks great and very focused.
It goes on sale all the time (more often than not!) so I'm sure it won't take long.
Oh yeah if you want to have a play with the other areas of the DAW and editing side of things then install Ardour and have a play. I didn't really get along that well with Ardour at first to be honest until Mixbus's Mixer/DSP made me put the time into the other areas of the app, then when it became familiar and grew comfortable with hotkeys and the 'smart edit' tool then I started to love it. It's very fast and accurate with loads of different ways to move the playhead/active edit point/view and audition the sound on the timeline.
Mixbus also has a CPU overhead from the 'always on' channel DSP, but since both DAWs use the same backend and Ardour is basically just Mixbus without the DSP, a good tip is to track and edit in Ardour with less overhead then load up the project in Mixbus later when you move on to the mixing stage. Of course, if you're working elsewhere and just using Mixbus for mixing anyway (duh..) then this step is irrelevant.
Thanks @OscarSouth! Really appreciate all of the info you are sharing.
For me personally, I think it depends on how my own music production develops and what sort of sound I'm after as I experiment with different styles. With my current sound, advanced mixing might be a little overkill for me but this could change as I learn more, etc.
It's cool -- I love talking about Mixbus
I wouldn't think of it as advanced mixing by the way, it's kind of what you get in Auria Pro with buses, sends and channel strips (plus VCAs and some other nice stuff) but with really well thought out workflow refinements and fantastically modelled DSP, based on their past experience in making consoles. It's probably at it's best when kept simple -- you'll get the speed, safety and utility benefit of the well designed workflow (almost zero mixer setup time) and awesome DSP without having to worry about the technical fine print of digital mixing.
They've carefully recreated the 'console mixing experience' too, which I won't try to explain as it's kind of subtle, but just feels fantastically logical when you get into it. When you stick to the basics then stuff like latency compensation is all taken care of for you. When you get experimental (you can basically rewire all the audio connections to route to wherever you want) then you have to get a bit more hands on in that area and do a bit of manual compensation (there are some measurement tools to help with that too). I've never pushed it that far myself except for experimentation.
I also have come to love Mixbus. The normal non-32C is what I would've gotten had the timing not worked for the 32C version for me - and I would've been happy. Using a separate app to mix definitely also helps keep me "honest" while creating music as I don't hardly worry about which effects go where on what and when as that mostly happens in the mixing stage. And then I use another app to master after exporting from mixbus - I used to do mix and master together but my computer can have a hard time with the load so that's forcing me, in a good way, I think, to properly separate out all the stages. I've mixed at least 8+ tracks so far in mixbus. Some tracks are still harder than others, but that's on me and my choices of instruments/sounds, not Mixbus. I've also spent many many many hours reading and watching videos about mixing.
I miss using Mixbus since going to iOS - If ever ported to iOS will purchase for sure
Nothing stopping you from using both
I dont get any vibes using OSX anymore or creative spark at all Ipad all the way for me
Oh I don't use Mixbus to MAKE music, just MIX music. Waveform 9 and iOS are what I use to make music.