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Sorry to rant about this but Im shocked to see so many people say that mix minus is not needed or important. I dont understand how this is even an option. Say that to any broadcasting engineer and they will laugh in your face.
Is saying you dont need a mix minus the cool thing now? Is it a buzz term? Its so annoying to see people make comments like " Skype does mix minus automatically" Bottom line is if you are using a mixer.. you should be using mix minus.
Rant over
Paul
It is a contextual thing. If you don't do the things needing mix minus then you don't need it.
The world is full of experts. I recall how people that installed a dial up modem thought they were experts, if the modem worked.
Early internet days brought out an entire genre of users... that were self styled experts.
There is still that..."self styled experts"
If you listen to some of the "stuff" that people call a podcast, it's easy to see why they don't think they need mix minus.
Paul,
I have an Onyx 1220i and don't use mix minus when making Skype calls. Since the interface to the computer is firewire and has the channels split up going to the computer, only channel 1 (my microphone) is the input used by Skype.
I send computer audio to the mixer on the last two channels and then can record that along with my microphone as separate channels in my DAW.
There are, of course, limitations if I wanted to send other sources to Skype.
Does this sound plausible where mix minus wouldn't be needed? I'm new to mixers, but it's worked well for me so far.
Does Skype see the Firewire channels on your mixer?Quote:
Originally Posted by obanta
Here's how I do it on a Mackie 1220i:Quote:
Originally Posted by obanta
Skype does not recognize individual mixer channels as inputs via Firewire. It simply picks up the main outputs from the mixer. If you are bringing the Skype output back into the mixer for recording, you must "minus" that out so the Skype participant doesn't hear it.
Look for the two Firewire buttons located below the Gain control on Channel 11 + 12:
http://f-video.s3.amazonaws.com/onyx-480.jpg
The Firewire Input button allows you to set the source(s) on that channel to either the line connections on the 1/4" jacks or through Firewire 1+2. Press that switch. In the Source Matrix controls you want to make sure that you are NOT assigning FW 1+2 to the Main Mix.
So now you have your mic going out to Skype via Firewire, and the Skype output coming back into the mixer without reinserting Skype back to itself. There's your mix minus.
The mix can then be sent out to an external recorder. You can also set things up inside a DAW. I'll explain if you are interested.
-paul.
Paul, I understand mixers, Firewire, Skype, and mix-minus. What I'm curious about is how Skype sees your Firewire. It recognizes one of my Firewire connections on my Presonus 16.4.2, but it doesn't recognize all of them. It would be fabulous if Skype recognized the Aux Sends, but it doesn't.
Hi Mike,Quote:
Originally Posted by mcphillips
If I understand you correctly, my situation is the same. In the Skype Preferences I have "Microphone" set to the Onyx Mixer. So Skype is picking up the Main Mix through Firewire. That's it ...
Conversely, and from a recording perspective in a DAW - I can route individual mixer channel sources to individual tracks in Pro Tools, including the Skype feed.
-paul.
Skype does not see the Firewire channels of my Presonus mixer. It sees every USB input that I throw at it.
Hi Paul,
I haven't had the same experience with the Onyx Mixer, Skype, and the Main Mix. When I tried using a microphone connected to channel 2 or 3, as an example, the DAW saw the audio fine on those channels but the person on the other end of Skype never heard me. My understanding was that Skype only sent channel 1, even though it doesn't provide any UI visibility into the firewire channels.
If I'm not using the Main Mix correctly, please let know. I've setup my mixer similar to how you explained, but what channel(s) would the main mix be presented to the DAW through the firewire interface?
One solution I considered, but haven't needed and therefore tested, is using a virtual audio device that takes multiple firewire channels for its input and outputs a single channel that Skype would use for its input.
Hi,Quote:
Originally Posted by obanta
Few things:
Can you get it to work using the setup that I documented with a single mic plugged into Channel 1? I can confirm that it works.
Also - I've never tried this using the mic plugged into anything other than Channel 1. I did check around - and you are correct. What you point out regarding the single channel limitation to Skype is documented.
However there is a workaround ...
If Skype only recognizes Channel 1 as a suitable input, we need to take advantage of the flexibility of the mixer. Remember the Alt 3-4 Bus can be set up as a sub-mix. You can use it's output to feed an Input on the mixer.
For example lets say you need to send three mics to Skype via Firewire. You would plug the mics into Channels 2 + 3 + 4. Then assign the outputs to those channels to the Alt 3-4 Bus. Now take the Alt 3-4 Output on the mixer and use it to feed the Channel 1 Line Input. Since Skype hears Channel 1 - it will hear all three mics. The Channel 1 fader will control the relative mix level of what ever sources you patch into it.
One word of caution - if you do this - NEVER assign Channel 1 to the Alt 3-4 Bus!
Let me know how it works out.
-paul.
Yes, I had my setup the same way you suggested and it worked great if the microphone is on channel 1.
I like your workaround solution as it doesn't require any additional software on the computer. I'll give it a try the next time I have a need to Skype with multiple local microphones.
Thanks.
