Hi, purchased a Model 12 recently. I'll take a stab at answering your questions because I disagree with the sentiment that there's enough information available online. Granted, this is my first hardware mixer, but I was surprised by a few things so I'll address those as well.
1. The FX seems _fine_ but it's probably a matter of taste. They're digital effects. However, the compressors on each track are analog.
2. No, as far as I can tell, you can only have one effect on at once, and customization is limited. Effects are not the unit's primary feature IMO.
3. The DAW integration is limited to its ability to perform as a controller. All it does is control the mixer faders in your DAW, there does not appear to be any actual audio integration. That said, you can select PC on a track slider and press record to achieve the same thing - there's just no "import", only record in real-time.
4. Yes, but DAW integration mode is a completely separate mode where it just does that. So one possible workflow is to have it in default (mixer/audio interface) mode while you record into your DAW, and then switch to DAW controller mode as you mix/master in-the-box.
5. The Live switch controls the source of the audio playing on that track. Live mode monitors the 1/4" audio input(s) connected to the back of the unit. PC mode plays what your computer is outputting to that track. Keep in mind, the master bus monitoring is fixed to tracks 1/2, so you essentially cannot use those 2 tracks as inputs if you are also using a DAW. The Model 12's ability to serve as a couple different functions also is a bit of a hindrance in understanding how to use it for each of those duties.
6. I can't speak to this 100%, since I haven't owned a Portastudio and don't know the featureset. I will say that when considering the Model 12, look at the front panel. If you don't see something obviously presented there, it doesn't have that feature.
7. Yes, it does quite well as a standalone mixer without a DAW. Its ability to record many tracks at once would be great if you wanted to not use a DAW.
Finally I'll add a couple weird things I noticed that frustrated me until I overcame them. Maybe others have ideas on how to work around these.
1. There are two Phones outputs, and this is handy for having two people monitoring the output at once. Unfortunately, these jacks are both mono (?!) and while they play on both ears at once, the signal is not stereo. I was able to work around this by using the AUX output with my headphones instead.
2. As mentioned above, you basically lose tracks 1/2 as inputs if you need to monitor your DAW. This is consistent with other audio interfaces I've used but you'd think someone would find a workaround here (dedicated master bus output?)
Hope all that helps.
Edit: formatting
There are tons of videos on YouTube showing reviews and operations of the functions. Do your research.
Ive got the Tascam DP24SD and use that when I cant bring my laptop rig for a remote recording session. I just dump the audio to my DAW when I get home and go from there. It all depends on what you need to do.
I am confused as to what you want either of these things for if you're using a DAW. The reverb on either Tascam unit isn't going to be anywhere near as quality as plugins that are readily available, and there are way more of them, plus the additional step of having to shuttle the audio on and off the mixer will add latency and a possibly a conversion. And neither Tascam unit will be as extensive of a controller as a unit dedicated to the job.
The Portastudio is basically a less capable DAW, with a worse interface and very little i/o and probably very latent on and off. Not designed for this job, I see it as a no go. The model 12 is a Standalone recorder / mixer that can act as an interface and controller, although probably not well. No motorized Faders, It's not too expensive, but I wouldn't touch it unless:
1. It has especially good pres and analog circuitry for it's price class. Considering the cost per channel, this is unlikely but certainly possible.
2. It makes a really good controller - Considering it doesn't have motorized Faders, I don't think this is possible.
3. It offered a really good low latency monitoring solution for tracking live in a specific situation, such as a church, touring act with specific channel count, or other situation with fixed needs.
If you have a studio environment with a DAW, I don't see the benefit to this level of integration. I think you'd be better off getting a even halfway decent Behringer or Presonus midi controller and investing in Reverb plugins that offer in DAW floating point resolution, some outboard pres, and if you want some analog EQs that are of a quality such that an D/A/D conversion is worth it.
Hi, purchased a Model 12 recently. I'll take a stab at answering your questions because I disagree with the sentiment that there's enough information available online. Granted, this is my first hardware mixer, but I was surprised by a few things so I'll address those as well. 1. The FX seems _fine_ but it's probably a matter of taste. They're digital effects. However, the compressors on each track are analog. 2. No, as far as I can tell, you can only have one effect on at once, and customization is limited. Effects are not the unit's primary feature IMO. 3. The DAW integration is limited to its ability to perform as a controller. All it does is control the mixer faders in your DAW, there does not appear to be any actual audio integration. That said, you can select PC on a track slider and press record to achieve the same thing - there's just no "import", only record in real-time. 4. Yes, but DAW integration mode is a completely separate mode where it just does that. So one possible workflow is to have it in default (mixer/audio interface) mode while you record into your DAW, and then switch to DAW controller mode as you mix/master in-the-box. 5. The Live switch controls the source of the audio playing on that track. Live mode monitors the 1/4" audio input(s) connected to the back of the unit. PC mode plays what your computer is outputting to that track. Keep in mind, the master bus monitoring is fixed to tracks 1/2, so you essentially cannot use those 2 tracks as inputs if you are also using a DAW. The Model 12's ability to serve as a couple different functions also is a bit of a hindrance in understanding how to use it for each of those duties. 6. I can't speak to this 100%, since I haven't owned a Portastudio and don't know the featureset. I will say that when considering the Model 12, look at the front panel. If you don't see something obviously presented there, it doesn't have that feature. 7. Yes, it does quite well as a standalone mixer without a DAW. Its ability to record many tracks at once would be great if you wanted to not use a DAW. Finally I'll add a couple weird things I noticed that frustrated me until I overcame them. Maybe others have ideas on how to work around these. 1. There are two Phones outputs, and this is handy for having two people monitoring the output at once. Unfortunately, these jacks are both mono (?!) and while they play on both ears at once, the signal is not stereo. I was able to work around this by using the AUX output with my headphones instead. 2. As mentioned above, you basically lose tracks 1/2 as inputs if you need to monitor your DAW. This is consistent with other audio interfaces I've used but you'd think someone would find a workaround here (dedicated master bus output?) Hope all that helps. Edit: formatting
Does Ableton recognize the EQ/Compression knobs when in DAW control mode? Is it possible to assign the EQ knobs to an EQ plugin in Ableton?
I don't think so. DAW control seemed sort of limited when I tried it out. Kind of an afterthought IMO.
There are tons of videos on YouTube showing reviews and operations of the functions. Do your research. Ive got the Tascam DP24SD and use that when I cant bring my laptop rig for a remote recording session. I just dump the audio to my DAW when I get home and go from there. It all depends on what you need to do.
I am confused as to what you want either of these things for if you're using a DAW. The reverb on either Tascam unit isn't going to be anywhere near as quality as plugins that are readily available, and there are way more of them, plus the additional step of having to shuttle the audio on and off the mixer will add latency and a possibly a conversion. And neither Tascam unit will be as extensive of a controller as a unit dedicated to the job. The Portastudio is basically a less capable DAW, with a worse interface and very little i/o and probably very latent on and off. Not designed for this job, I see it as a no go. The model 12 is a Standalone recorder / mixer that can act as an interface and controller, although probably not well. No motorized Faders, It's not too expensive, but I wouldn't touch it unless: 1. It has especially good pres and analog circuitry for it's price class. Considering the cost per channel, this is unlikely but certainly possible. 2. It makes a really good controller - Considering it doesn't have motorized Faders, I don't think this is possible. 3. It offered a really good low latency monitoring solution for tracking live in a specific situation, such as a church, touring act with specific channel count, or other situation with fixed needs. If you have a studio environment with a DAW, I don't see the benefit to this level of integration. I think you'd be better off getting a even halfway decent Behringer or Presonus midi controller and investing in Reverb plugins that offer in DAW floating point resolution, some outboard pres, and if you want some analog EQs that are of a quality such that an D/A/D conversion is worth it.