I'm in the market for a new mixer. I recently sold my old analog table, which sounded great but was inconvenient (whenever I had to remix a project, I had to reinvent the wheel). I've been doing the usual surfing and I've found that everybody says the mixer they just bought is great ... following one such recommendation, I checked out one "hot" digital mixer and perhaps the model I got was defective but it sounded terrible: very high noise floor and the most unnatural sounding bass I've ever heard. Boosting the bass simply made the signal distort. Now, I've read a lot of good things about the DA7, but I'd like to hear from some real users what they think about it. Specifically, is it quiet; when you boost the EQ does it remain natural throughout the spectrum; is there a sense of "air" in the sound? Any tips (good or bad) about the unit would be appreciated. I have a budget that would allow me to get a Mackie DB8, but if I can get away with a great sound for less money, I'm always happier. Anybody have any suggestions? -- Max
P.S. Most of the projects I do are for TV and film, so I'm more interested in something that sounds clean and quiet rather than something "semi-pro" that has a lot of bells and whistles.

The forum archives are practically bursting at the seams with praise for the sound of the Da-7...Do a search, then check out the Mackie forum for the D8B. They are PISSED OFF! They have all been recording 16 bit on their $10,000 mixers for the past two years!
When I sit here listening to a great mix on my tandem (24Bit)Da-7 /Nuendo setup, I just have to shake my head and laugh at those poor suckers who bought into the HYPE and marketing blitz of Mackie(I know, its wrong to laugh at the misfortune of others, but....). Use your EARS!

mr attax,

Well, the DA7 is not a bells and whistles board on first glance -- that is, it has no reverb, no effects cards, no touch screen, and only 8ch of phantom power.

However, the mic pre/converter combo sounds really good. If you are using board automation (as opposed to DAW mixing), the automation is hailed by other posters here as being as good as Neve's Flying Fader package (sounds too good to be true, eh?)

Here's my story. I was using ana analog board and a PreSonus Digimax stright into my MOTU and was pretty happy. But, when I heard a DA7 I heard a -dramatic- difference in transients, and the high and low frequency response/definition. The PreSonus had top end, but I think the converters might have been decimating some of it. The DA7 gave drum hits more punch, air, and improved imaging.

The pres are quiet.

The EQ was a tad weird, at first. Others have said that it is hard to get used to because it so transparent. For sure, it is definitely NOT like analog EQ. I mix in software so I don't use it on mixdown, but I do use it when tracking for a hi-pass filter and generally to reduce odd resonances from my so-so room.

The compression is similarly transparent. Again, not phony, but just hard to hear at times. I find myself cutting more deeply with the 7's EQ. The comp has modest gain reduction, but can also be cascaded to good effect.

The custom/MIDI layer has some neat applications (read Craig Anderton's article on how to turn it into a wah-wah "pedal").

But, for me it comes down to two things. A mixer should have a clean signal path and should be easy to use.

That it is.

I can set up a second headphone mix as quickly as I could with an analog mixer. Put one hand on the aux level control, the other on each channel selectors and go! You can even set up a scene for this, I believe.

Go play with one when you get the chance. You won't believe the sound. Especially for the money.

Not to get into board bashing, but the D8b has known architecture problems that will be solved only by releasing another model.

Notice the lack of technical problems raised on this board as compared to Mackie's message board. Also, we have a tight little community here, frequently visited by an engineer from Panasonic (maric, Carl Marinoff).

Good luck in selecting, hope my post was helpful.

JM

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Give me the %$#%^$# keys, $%#^sucker!

WOW!! I didn't know the Mackie mixer was recording at 16 bit. That would really piss me off. I mean that's like ... man, that sucks!

Is that fact?? Do you know for sure?? Does anyone have the scoop?? (sorry to get off topic, but jeez...thats unbelievable)

I would be totally pissed off and demand my money back (sort of like the time I ordered the Tyson/Holyfield fight on Pay/per view -where Tyson bit Holyfield's ear off -- I was on the phone to the Las Vegas boxing commission for the next 2 days demanding that Tyson's purse be w/held and refunded to those who ordered the fight.) But I'm kinda' weird.

*******
Anyway - I love my DA7. It isn't as flashy as the others (its about as unflashy as they get), but it sounds great! I mean it really sounds great! That's what's important to me. I bought mine 2.5 years ago. Today, I would do the exact same thing.

Honest to God, if someone gave me 50K to spend on my studio, I still would keep the same board (maybe I'd buy another one).

Nothing but quality. It is one of the few things I've ever bought in my life I can say I'm TOTALLY satisfied.

Max. Make no mistake.Do you want bells and whistles or a board that just plain sounds great?.When you buy a digi miixer most of what you are paying for is ad da conversion.You can see for yourself the problems people are having over at the Mackie and T -word sites.And why would a third party company like Apogee make a converter package for a mixer (Yamaha 02R)?Let your ears be the judge.For me the choice was the easiest I have made because Panasonics converters in the SV 3700
and 3800 have made these master recorders industry standard.And really, I checked them ALL out before I made a choice and would encourage anyone to do the same.Good luck and hopefully welcome aboard.

[This message has been edited by vincoprod (edited 04-29-2002).]

http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=002206;p=

TheTruth
“i am NOT someone that praises something just for fun… we had several consoles in our studio rooms… Our main room uses a Soundtracs digital console… Our 2 postpro suites are equipped one with a little Oxford, and the other with 2 DA7s… Before we decided to go with panasonics, we had a big testing-phase, with side-by-side working tests in our rooms. 02r, Spirit, d8b, da7 and the tm-d8000 had been candidates. Ramsa won… when the DM24 came out, we thought that we maybe should upgrade the one room also to a 96Khz option…So we got one and tried it out…We returned it 3 weeks later… It was simply...the sound… the DM24 may be a nice choice for a home recording setup, or a small project studio, a Panasonic WR-DA7 can even help when your big-buck console fails… The Ramsa twins won again…”


[This message has been edited by Leslie (edited 04-29-2002).]

That's a good point, chrisg. If I were to expand I would also get a second DA7 instead of migrating to a larger console. It just sounds too good and is too easy to use.

If I were in the market, right now, for another board, I would buy another DA7.
Jim K.

OK, so everyone is talking about the AD/DA conversion, cool, I haven't tried that yet. My little '7' is used for playback and mixing, I have about thirty pres for the front end, My rcorder has great converters.

I would rank the '7' up with the 'big' digi consoles as far as ease in the way it works and the way it sounds.

H. you dog.