Edirol m16-dx

[matainais]

Just layed my hands on a new toy - the EDIROl M-16DX digital mixer/usb interface. I bough it as upgrade from Lexicon Alpha because i wanted to record live shows. Previous attempts to record from 2track outputs weren't exactly satisfactory...
First of all i have to warn everyone who hopes to use it as a main mixer for live shows - you might get disappointed. Having only 4 mic preamps and just one pre fader aux makes this device suitable only for very small and simple setups. Also the built-in effects sound extremely cheap.
But enough about the downsides. After all - i bought it as an multitrack interface. And that is where this thing really shines. Setting it up for use in Cubase 3sx was very easy and intuitive. Once you open the VST connections, you have an option to choose setup presets. I just clicked "16 mono in" and that's it. It is very easy to keep an eye of incoming signal levels on Edirol's display and it's coverter works very nice. the sound is very natural and pleasant.

The edirol m-16dx has a very interesting feature called "room acoustic auto control". Unfortunately its built-in mic didnt do a nice job. afer engaging this feature the sound in my room became very dry. It somehow stated to sound dead, with lots of sizzling highs and almost no bass. Maybe it will work better if you connect an external measurement mic to it. Edirol has an option to use external mic for measurements, and since it has the phantom power feed (selectable for each of the 4 preamps), i don't see no problems that could prevent you from using a good quality measurement microphone.

Overall it seems of an extremely gret value for the price ( i got it for something about 350$ including the international delivery). The mic preamps are quiet and good sounding for the price. The user interface is simple and easy to get used to, much like an analog mixer. To put it simple - it gives you hell of a bang for the bucks spent, just don't expect it to perform like, let's say a Soundracts 16 channel mixer at a live show. It looks like it is meant to be used in small project studios and it appears to be very handy for live recordings when you take the signal out of the FOH mixers direct outs. I am planning to test it out in real shows and see how it takes the usual lugging around and the use and abuse of travelling. So expect some updates