Cleanfeed/MixMinus

richardincyprusrichardincyprus
in SoundDesk

I'm currently evaluating SoundDesk for a number of uses. Most of it makes sense and is excellent, Auxes and Busses etc. One thing that seems to be missing is for use in Radio or Podcasts. What is missing is the Cleanfeed (English) or MixMinus (American) which is the output of the desk minus the channel concerned. For example if you have Zoom on the SoundDesk you don't want to send that channel back to Zoom but every other channel. This can be done via Aux buses or extra Bus masters but a simple Cleanfeed output would make it very useful and quick and easy to set up for that purpose. I would suggest a C output at the bottom of each channels (C for Cleanfeed, I'm English) which allows you to select where the cleanfeed for that channel is fed (usually using the Virtual Cable or Virtual Driver). The C output could be hidden (default on) like the Solo Function in preferences to make less confusing for people unused to cleanfeed / mixminus feeds.

Comments

  • richardincyprusrichardincyprus

    Firstly, let me say how impressed I am with SoundDesk. I have been evaluating it for the past few days and used it on a Zoom conference yesterday. Originally, I was evaluating it as an add-on mixer to my Midas M32 using Dante to connect the two. But now I see it becoming a general tool-kit for many, many purposes. **I like the way the app height fits my MacBook Pro. I will definitely buy it. **

    These are my suggestions as someone who has been sound mixing for 50 years:

    1. Move Signal Gen to a globally available input, not per channel. I cannot see a need for a per channel Signal Generator.
    2. Move the Inputs and Outputs to the Utilities tab (including the suggested cleanfeed) . Once set up, I don't need to ever see them on the main channel strip. Move phase invert to that tab, too. But keep the Samples window at the bottom of the channel strip -- that's really useful when you add a plugin to see the impact on the other channels.
    3. Change Mute, Solo and PFL to buttons, not switches. (That's cosmetic rather than functional).
    4. Add layers like a normal physical digital mixer with 8 faders per layer (or a selectable number of faders per layer), then the left-hand side has layer select buttons. I understand why, with a flexible number of faders, the choice was made to have it scrollable but in a live situation that would be difficult. On one show recently, I had 96 inputs and 160 outputs; most of the 96 wouldn't end up on SoundDesk but quite a few might. These I would hotkey to Streamdeck buttons, which in a live situation is easier to use than scrolling across loads of channels.
  • richardincyprusrichardincyprus

    Following on from my evaluation where I made some UI suggestions, and the suggestion for a Cleanfeed/MixMinus output. Here are further routing changes that would really enhance SoundDesk:

    Auto-Mute -- This is close to what is needed in a self-op studio. What I want to mute potentially is not the Main Master output, but the SLS (Studio Loud Speaker) output. The main output needs to continue working. I could use the Main Output for SLS and the Stereo output to send to line but then the Main faders don't function, so this is kind of back to front.

  • richardincyprusrichardincyprus

    The sidechain is pre-plugins. I know this is documented but... example use where this is a problem: Sending from main digital desk a lead vocal (mono one channel) and a band mix (stereo) to use 'Carve out space for Vocal' in a Dynamic Eq plugin. The vocal is ONLY being sent as a feed to the sidechain so because of high volume on stage I want to be able to use an expander on the Vocal prior to going to the sidechain of the Dynamic Eq on the band mix. I currently have to use an extra channel, feed post-fade processed vocal to another channel which then became the side chain feed to the Dynamic Eq plugin but better would be for either the side chain to be just pre-fade.

  • SchopenhauerSchopenhauer

    Hello richard!
    The cleanfeed is a great suggestion. I simply want to support this idea.
    Like you, I'm also a big fan of sounddesk. With the 5.2.4 version there is a new mute function, they claim ... that I can't find in the app ;)

    Oh boy, Sounddesk is a brillant tool. I just wish it would be a bit better explained (tutorials / manual).

  • DaveHamiltonDaveHamilton

    I've been using SoundDesk as my mixer for my three podcasts for several years now. And I create a MixMinus, for sure. I just set an Aux Send and send everything except the channel of the person I want to omit (the "minus" part). For me that's Aux 3-4 (because I mix in stereo). Then at the BOTTOM of the mixer window I set the output of that to something other than "Master". For my setup, I'm sending the MixMinus to remote participants, so I have used Loopback (from Rogue Amoeba) to create a passthrough device that I call "Output to Zoom" (I don't use Zoom for my podcast, but no reason to complicate this explanation). Then I set Zoom's microphone for "Output to Zoom" and, boom... the MixMinus gets sent to the person on Zoom, meaning they hear everything except themselves.

    I hope this makes sense, but please feel free to ask questions. I've got a great setup for my podcasts with SoundDesk. I'm SO happy I found it!

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