Mixing Out of the Box

This article was written by Chris McCown at Sweetwater. We’ve publishing an entire series of articles in the Lounge from Sweetwater. Keep your eyes peeled and check back often! And now for some motivation.

If you’re like me, then your studio consists of a DAW (digital audio workstation software), a computer, an audio interface, a decent set of monitors, a nice selection of plug-ins, possibly an outboard mic preamp or two, and a couple of good mics. Maybe you have an outboard EQ or compressor, and you may even be using a nice master clock with high-end AD/DA converters. Hopefully some acoustic treatment is present on the walls and in the corners.

If this is you, you will definitely benefit from what I’m about to tell you, although I believe a summing mixer – which is the key term of this article – will be beneficial to anyone who records audio whether it’s in a small basement studio or a full-blown commercial production facility.

What is a “summing mixer”? A summing mixer is an analog device that takes multiple audio outputs from your digital-to-analog converter or audio interface, and mixes them in the analog domain. Essentially you’re taking your mix out of the computer/DAW digital domain, and stepping into the analog realm to create a mixed stereo track filled with high-headroom, spatially present glory. A summing mixer can be either a dedicated box, such as those from Dangerous Music, TL Audio, Audient, and other manufacturers, or it can be a compact or console-style analog mixer.

But wait, your DAW has a mixer screen; why would you want to go outside to an analog summing box or mixer? Good question, but I assure you, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to listen to a mix that’s been passed through a summing mixer versus the same project with an “in-the-box” mix, that question would answer itself. You’ll have more headroom, which will give each track more room to fit into its own place in the mix. The stereo image will spread significantly, and the depth of the mix will increase. To be completely clear, you probably won’t just take your in-the-box mix, reassign the outputs to your brand-new summing mixer, and print the mix. Some remixing will likely be involved, partially because you’ll find things that weren’t optimal about your in-the-box mix, and in part because the perceived levels will be different.

Have you ever worked on a project where you knew you had spent the appropriate amount of time getting everything just right, before tracking? You experimented with different mic positions, you made sure levels were right with no digital clipping, and worked until the material was well rehearsed and polished. Yet, after tracking, although you did your best in mixdown, the mix just sounded dull and flat? Perhaps some of the nuances got lost in the mix, or there was no depth to the recording; there was left-to-right spread but there was no front-to-back depth – you didn’t feel like you could step into the mix while you were listening, because it was so one dimensional?

Perhaps it wasn’t your ability or the material. For example, I was working on a 6-song album in my DAW early last year, and I was pulling my hair out trying to get something I could live with, because I knew the band was going to release it into distribution. That’s when I first tried a Dangerous Music D-Box – which is a combination of a summing mixer and a killer monitor control box – and it saved my mixes! Just as I had described, my mixes were flat, dull, and uninspiring. I tried everything I knew to try – and I mean everything! Nothing was working. I could get the mix to sound different, but not necessarily better. Tracks were getting buried, there didn’t seem to be enough room for each track to breathe. The D-Box summing mixer was the answer.

Here’s how I did it: from the DAW, all the drum tracks were sent in stereo to two outputs on my interface, all guitars in stereo to another pair of outputs, vocals (including back-up vox) in stereo to another output pair, and the bass guitar all by its lonesome on another output. The D box has eight analog inputs, which are all combined to a single stereo output. As soon as I remixed my material and sent the tracks out to the D-Box as separate stereo pairs or “stems,” I could finally call it “done.” The stereo image spread wide open, as if someone had opened up another room. All of the sudden there was depth – that front-to-back thing that can be so elusive, and each track (even the quiet tracks and passages), had its own space and popped out of the mix.

The next time you find yourself pulling your hair out after realizing your mix just doesn’t sound as good as a commercially produced track, you might be ready to take your mix out of the box. If you’re looking to buy one piece of gear to step up your mixing game, a summing box is hands down the best suggestion I could give you. Happy mixing!

Chris McCown has over 23 years experience as a musician and over 15 years experience as an engineer. He’s currently studying music theory, playing lead guitar at his church, and is a Sales Engineer at Sweetwater, in addition to writing and producing his own material. He can be reached at 1-800-222-4700 ext. 1328 or chris_mccown@sweetwater.com.