This new Heritage version of the Audient ASP 8024 really seems like such a wonderful analog mixer. Adding the extra character to this already superb mixer is the icing on the cake. SOS Sept 2016 issue has a great review of this mixer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHfgUr-4egk

I would be very proud to have a 24 channel version of this mixer in my studio. Really would not need so many outboard EQ's with the way the built in EQ sounds. Very solid, wonderful faders.

"Each channel is equipped with a four-band equaliser split into two sections, one containing the high and low shelves, and the other the two parametric mid bands. These two elements can be allocated independently to the short or long fader paths as required. Four stereo effects-return channels are provided, each routable to the 24 tape/DAW buses for recording effects stems, as well as to the stereo mix bus and directly into the two cue aux buses to allow artist headphone monitoring with effects. Output trim controls are provided for the 24 buses, and the first eight are also duplicated to a set of eight sub-group faders, each with balanced inserts and separate physical outputs. These subgroups can also be routed to the stereo mix bus via pan-pots, and can be used with the optional DLC module to incorporate VCA automation directly into sub-mix stems." SOS

Just read the Sound on Sound review myself; it does look very nice and it has everything I would want in a console this size. It has a new quieter external power supply, John Hardy op amps, and the Dual Layer Control module for DAW control.

Biggest new feature is the "Retro Iron" which has the Carnhill output transformers. . As I have read the API The Box and 1608 providing clean but not a transparent sound, this Audient along with the Retro Iron appears to provide equal analog tone along with much more features.

The 'new' character is just on the main buss it seems.

Is it not possible to do a similar character effect with outboard on the main buss?

Anyone use this mixer on a session?

Hello, I have 48ch ASP8024-HE in my studio. Also I have SSL Sigma. You can ask me any questions if you are interested. The thing I found when I first installed it - it sounded with more balls than SSL Sigma, but the sound stage seemed narrower and not so 3D. I tried to really push the mix bus on both mixers at that moment, cause that is what most engineers do to achieve glue and color. How i compared? I sent some audio tracks from my ProTools to Audient and to Sigma. I switched between them and the difference was obvious. At first I was a bit dissappointed. Working with a large format console seemed more convenient than going back to plugins and mix using Sigma. I hate plugins to tell the truth, not every plugin, but I hate this digital high frequencies which appear not only when using EQ, but just when putting any digital compressor. For me UREI LA-3A, which I have in my studio is just my favourite vocal compressor of all time. You can compress up to 10-15 dB, it sounds smooth and the compression is invisible. So) back to mixers here)) I really started to mess with that. I wanted to keep all the convience when working with big console and take the sound from Sigma. I made the following thing -> using bus sends, I made several subgroups (about 8-10 stereo subgroups) and sent them to Sigma stereo inputs and monitored from Sigma. It made some sort of SSL console for me really) it is a nice option, but the problem is that I am not only mixing, I also do a lot of recordings where all 24 busses are usually used. So constant switching between recording and mixing process is just terrible. And still there were not enough ''balls''. So I stopped using this scenario. What I did next) I started to group all the channels to just 1 Audient subgroup and sent it to SSL stereo input. I found that really it doesn't seriously matter how many inputs I used on SSL mixer, it is the master bus of Sigma which makes everything sound wider and deeper. It seems like there is some kind of S1-imager there but much better. So, it seemed to be a nice option. Only 2 busses from audient were used, no need for constant switching, but still something was lacking concerning the sound. P.S. -> the Audient EQs, when mixing through SSL Sigma, sound more like SSL EQs really). So, after all that, after using this console for almost 6 months, I was mixing a jazz song, and occasionaly mixed it with just audient and its mixbus, and the indicators on master bus showed around +4 or +8 db over 0 VU mark. The total headroom of the console is +18 db. And it was like a strike of a lightning!!! The console sounded wide and 3D. I was like "what???", I looked at the patchbay and saw that Sigma wasn't patched in. The low end glue was so amazing. At first I couldn't get it. And then I noticed that I had to turn on the monitoring volume knob pretty high. I saw that indicators were about +4 + 8 db. I thought it was no so loud to go into the converter, I pushed the mixbus louder and again in started to sound like a mess and 3D changed into 2D. I said WOW! I put it back were it was and again it sounded nice! So, my dissappointment suddenly turned into delight!. The conclusion: I find that every studio unit has a sweet spot. Every unit is different. Perhaps on SSL 4000 the coolest sound is when you push the mixbus (the same thing with SSL Sigma), but in my case with Audient - the sweet spot is around +4 or +8. So, I am glad everything works nice. And it sounds better than my previous combination "Audient+Sigma". Now it has 3D, depth and balls. So, if you have Audient console - try this, it seems much better not to push the mix bus to much. If you want it to be even wider, put S1 imager at about 1.20 or 1.30 and put a short plate with 25-30 ms predelay as a master reverb (UAD EMT 140 or Pure Plate are fine for that). Just a little bit. I should also try putting Sigma after Audient Mixbus by the way. Both busses. may be sweet but to FAT As for Retro Iron, well i found that it is too obvious when the mix bus is too pushed, and less obvious when you have indicators around +4 db. It really adds some glue, saturation, low end attack and a little bit of presense. I never use the Retro iron low and high end boosts, to me they sound cheap in highs and too much in the low end (perhaps i should go inside and tweak the amount of db on low end, there is an option for tweakers according to the info on the website). As for EQs... I can't say I like them, really. It seems they are good only for cutting, I don't like boosting with them. When you boost the low shelf - it sounds woolly and muddy. The only thing I like about these EQs - they have really nice AIR highs. So when I need a little bit of Air, I go for high mid frequency, choose 7500 or 18000, make a wide Q and boost there. To me, plugins are much better on low end eqing than these EQs, but this AIR on highs cannot be achieved with plugins (even UAD Maag EQ4 can't do this). For lead instruments or vocals some 500 series EQs on the inserts can be great (SSL EQs or Sound Sculptor EQ73, or Pultec or API or CAPI and so on). Also, the Bus Compressor))) Well, I can definitely say, it is not an SSL comp. Moreover, just by putting it into the circuit - it makes some changes to the sound: 1) its adds something in the high end that shouldn't be there 2) it makes the sound narrower 3) when compressing, the compression is too obvious. It could be a great compressor to put on just the Drum Bus or something else, but unfortunately, I can't take it anywhere else from the master bus. It can be used in some tracks, but I prefer my DIY GSSL compressor with audiophile components inside. It cost me about 1000 $ to build one. It sounds much closer to SSL compressor. It is smooth. I like Auto release, or 100 ms. attack at 10. ratio 2. 2-3 db of GR. So these are my 2 cents. If you are interested in any additional info about Audient console, please don't hesitate to write questions.

By the way, also from my practice, I have massive passive and I don't like it on the Audient master bus. It sounds too polished, less dynamic and adds something in the low mids that I try to avoid. Audient itself has plenty of low mids in the master buss section. The highs and mids are great on massivo, but the tubes just polish all the dynamics, which can be good only for some mixes.

Cheers,
Tom

Great info, so all higher end mixers have a sweet spot that will give you the magic sound your looking for.

The 'HE' model must have different meters because the regular ASP8024's don't have any '+' on their meters. They start at the top @ 0, then go down -2, -4, -6, -8, etc.

The original was marked in dBFS relative to +18dBu as 0, coming down from there, -2 etc etc... the HE has markings for dBu - with +4dBu = 0VU and that references -14dBFS, with +18dBu = 0dBFS.

The same scale, but instead of being referenced just against dBFS, it's back to analogue dBu, with a nod towards VU and dBFS - so if you run a tape machine AND pro tools side by side it helps keep an eye on where both might be as the signal leaves the board... albeit the meter is pretty much peak reading.

If you calibrate your converters to anything other than +18dBu = 0dBFS, the meter is now more useful compared to the old one.

-T

Thank you for the honest review of the Audient Heritage. I must say that I was dissapointed in the faults you mentioned. Especially regarding the EQ which Audient really pushes as a great EQ.

I wanted this console to be without the faults you mentioned, especially the mix buss issues which were numerous. I guess I bought into the marketing too much.

For the price tag I would have assumed it to be a better product. Sigh...

pat

There's pros and cons to every console of course.

For the price tag, what is the better product? I would assume you'd have to give up quite a bit of features, channels/inputs, or both.

??

I really wish the Sigma and C24 got along. Cant pan with the C24 which is the only reason i actually wanted the sigma and for buss duties.

He did say the highs on the EQ he liked, it was just the lows that was not doing it for him. And it just one person's opinion. I heard them and they sound great to me. Not one EQ will meet the need for every song and type of music mind you.

I agree with every thing you said. For the money AUDIENT fills a gap between smaller inexpensive setups that lack flexibility and the insane high shelf priced console. Let me be clear, I am not in the position to buy a new console from Audient, but like all good GS members, I have whittled my options down for the day I do buy and Audient was at the top of the list.

There is no such thing as a perfect console. I have been dissapointed before with gear but it was mainly because I realized the better quality product was in another price bracket.

I just buy top shelf items now and wait if I can’t afford it. I don’t want to suffer at the hands of the gear anymore. I have had that happpen and it took years to begin to rebuild towards a better setup.

pat

I agree with you Space 1999, and I will have to watch that show again on YouTube. I loved watching that show back in the day.

When I saw the Audient mixer I was surprised of the level of quality it had. It offered all of features I would ever need. The pre's are clean, the EQ were clear and sounded great to me.

In my studio, even with having an SSl X Rack, some times my Brainworx Console N or UAD API Vision were the better choice for the tracks. Not one flavor will always be the best choice. If I owned and Audient mixer. It would put a smile on my face every day which is the mixer choice of Pete Townsend.

John Hardy output stage kicks ass.

Just curious but have you ever used the console?

I used the Audient 4816 in a studio which has the same mic pre's and EQs, but only heard the 8024-HE. Great sounding desks.

Yes! That is what we actually did
We have studer A800 (16 ch) and A80 master recorder. We adjusted Studer and Converter inputs and outputs so that converters digital 0 db corresponds to digital 0 of the Audient meter (the highest 0 db point). All other things were adjusted based on -18 db = 0VU or +4 on Audient meters

Perhaps you understood me in a wrong way... I don't say it is a bad console) It is a good one, really. Yes, it doesn't have fader automation, unfortunately (only with DLC, but the recall of each fader is possible only if you took pictures before). There are no compressors/gates on each channel, there are no LEDs inside bus output buttons, the knobs look like old mackie cheap knobs, but at the same time the fader movement is amazing. All this has nothing to do with the sound, it is done like this so that the price could be lower, everybody understands that. You can't have all the same luxuries of the expensive consoles, otherwise Audient would cost the same price. It is ok! I do like its preamps even more on several vocals than the Neve ones I have. This console can give you professional results. Every desk has its own sound, though it says that Audient has no sound (clean), it actually has, it is difficult to describe in words but it is very soft and airy with a good sum in the low end, which glues everything together. You just need to get used to it. You know, after I wrote my review, a friend of mine let my try IGS Rubberbands 500 series stereo mastering pultec EQ (non-tube). Well I must say, this beast does have THAT low end that I expect from the EQ. But actually this is not just frequency boost, it is a pultec thing that it does don't know how really. I fell in love with this IGS EQ at once. I think this will be my next puchase. And it really helps Audient to get some big big and open sound (actually it will do this for any console). And the high end is also great in this device. And the price is ok. They say tube pultecs don't sound that tight, cause tubes tend to smooth everything out. But I can tell you that for 100% you can't get that sound from plugins. All these UAD Pultecs are just nothing in comparison with these real big badass IGS toys! Ha-ha

Well I did post a rather reactionary post. I want the Audient 8024 HE to be my next console purchase. I have researched it from top to bottom.

First of all, I don’t expect any console EQ to do what a Pultec can do to a kick drum or a bass guitar. It took me a while to figure that one out.

David’s EQ actually shares design concepts with the might Amek 90988i console. The ability to break up the EQ to the short faded or long faded and to do the same with the sixes is a brilliant concept.

The mic pres have always received great reviews and of course that mic pre is in all their products. I thank you for your description of it. I was hopeful when you described it as not sterile but with its own character. I think the way you described it was with character but not a heavy footprint which can clog a mix.

Somewhere cost has to be cut to offer the board at that price range, and if that means cheap feeling knobs, so be it. I believe you said the all important fader throw was very nice. That’s good to know.

Where I got concerned was your description of the mix bus when mixing down. I have mixed on larger heavier consoles that fold once you push the mix bus. It’s disappointing when you have a 48 track mix. You seem to say that your evaluation of the mix bus was flawed because you didn’t have a handle on it yet.

I understand.

I’ll keep my ears open if anyone has anything else they would like to add. I would be grateful. Thanks to all who have contributed.

pat

I think after 6-7 month working on it I am still getting used to it, cause it is a big change for me going from plugins to analog. In plugins 3 db of gain reduction seem like 6-7 db on a hardware unit. When you add eq using the plugin, it changes the sound and this frequency doesn't jump into you from the speakers, but in analog it actually jumps and you need more control to keep it less dynamic or on the contrary keep it like that. I remember when I first tried audient EQ, the low shelf or bell, I expected this to be not a pultec thing, but some sort of SSL low end. Unfortunately it doesn't have that thing. The SSL plugin and even a standard EQ7 gives me the lows I want when I rotate the knob. That is what I meant by saying that IGS 500 series pultec was some kind of a necessary thing to get the tight and clear low end for this console. Another solution to me is to get SSL 611EQs for just kick and bass. I don't need low boosts anywhere else. This is analog and every device has its sound. There are a lot of toys which are good at different tasks. We need to have many of them working in analog.

By the way, I have one more positive thing to add about this console - when you mix some blues or rock'n'roll on this - it is just made for this!!! In comparison with SSL Sigma - Sigma is too thin and too wide for this music. Telecaster overdriven guitars sound like a dream through the Audient desk!

In this price range I’d also check out the Trident consoles. I have used neither, btw.

I only know 1990’s mid-price consoles (TAC, Soundtracs, Amek) and the full-size SSL E/G/J series. These days I’m ITB, but the sound of a quality analog console, man, that’s something else.

The headroom thing Artem talks about makes sense to me. That’s the thing with those classic SSL’s, you can keep throwing stuff at them and they don’t buckle. I think I read somewhere back then that the G-series actually had like +56dB of headroom. That said, people who knew both said that when SSL’s begin to crack, Neves are just getting started, but I wouldn’t know about that. To me, those old SSL’s are the gold standard.

I also thought about Trident 88 (48ch) but it was far more expensive than Audient Heritage. Trident looks more expensive itself and it has VU meters which is also cool, it is also an inline console and it has transformer preamps which is also great. Trident and Audient both don't have VCA groups, they have just standard 8 mono subgroups. It is useful only for Michael Brauer thing and convenience to have everything closer to the master section. But the problem is that in this case you need to have separate reverbs for different instruments, for example if I make 1-2 as Group 1, I send all my drums there, parallel drum stuff and drum reverbs. Only in this case I can change the entire drum volume in the mix (with its reverb). The same for other instruments like guitars, vocals, keys and others. VCAs a better cause they change the volume of every channel going to reverbs automaticly. I think VCA groups are the best solution for master section groups. Unfortunately it exists only in expensive consoles.

As for Trident, there is Trident 78 series out there and it's a bit cheaper, costs like Audient. Check it out guys.

Artem

I actually started all digital with my own commercial studio and then 6 years later merged with an all analog studio (console and Radar and 24 track).

It was a difficult adjustment at first but eventually highly rewarding. You have to watch your channel levels so that you don’t overcome the master bus. That is where group channels really help at first.

As well, in a DAW you move a knob in an EQ plug and you can hear a drastic difference. An analog console paints with a wider brush when it comes to EQ.

This goes back to the analog console’s assumption that you got the sound right to begin with and just need to sweeten the track. It was expected of you to move the mic around and place it at the proper distance.

Sounds got printed to tape with reverbs and all. You should be able to bring the faders to unity and have a basic mix already. It’s a good practice!

Thanks for letting me share.

pat

Okay guys, I want to continue our discussion and have some new things to tell you)

After almost 2 years of using ASP8024-HE I noticed some more things that are good and not good but can be improved.

1) Monitoring Section
2) Making your mixbus wider and more linear
3) Fader replacement for automation without using DLC.

MONITORING SECTION.

If anybody haven't read my post on instagram, I will put it down here as it is:

"This post is about AUDIENT ASP8024-HE and i think you should know this cause we engineers should help each other. I am a lucky owner of this console. It sounds great, really, but there is one con: the monitoring section needs some upgrade. It changes the sound quite a bit, making it 2D, sharper in the high mids, dirtier in the highs, it adds low mids a bit and some overall analog mudiness in the sound which kills details and depth/width a lot, sublows become not so pronounced. I listen in a treated designed control room, through Genelecs 8260A with GLM calibration. Klotz MC5000 cable, AVID HD I/O. The difference is obvious when you compare it to converter outputs directly into monitors and through the monitor section via EXT IN. I must also add, that I have SSL Sigma and I compared its monitoring section and it sounds exactly as the converter. Monitoring section is THE MOST IMPORTANT part and it MUST BE INVISIBLE!!! Otherwise it can lead to wrong EQ or other technical moves. Audient’s is not(( But as for the console itself it is cool and sounds cool and you can achieve professional results with it ! And its mix outputs also sound fine!!! The problem is exactly in the monitoring section. Ours will be upgraded. Thank God I have SSL Sigma to monitor from. I thought you should know. P.S.: if anybody has this console please tell me your opinion or compare it to converter outputs. I need to know if it’s only my case or it happens with every ASP8024HE. This is abnormal"

Please, if anybody can make a test of their own ASP8024-HE, share your opinion.

MAKING YOU MIX BUS WIDER AND MORE LINEAR.

Audient's mixbus adds low mid and high mid frequencies that's for sure without RETRO IRON. RETRO IRON makes it even more noticable and adds glue which is nice. This frequency change to my mind on one hand makes the sound fatter but at the same time makes it feel narrower and sharper in mids. I always find myself compressing or cutting those mid areas cause these frequencies start to be too dynamic and noticable. Moreover this affects reverb returns. But it is analog, perhaps it is supposed to be like that. By trying lots of ways to improve it, and having SSL Sigma in the rack, I came up with the following solution: I like using console, all the EQs, Auxes, Inserts but I want to have more stable mixbus (frequency-wise) so I group all the channel to 4 subgroups: Drums, Instruments, Vocals, All FX. I send these 4 stereo subgroups to 4 stereo inputs of SSL Sigma. Sigma's mix bus doesn't have those frequency changes, it adds width, 3D, tight low end, a bit of softening and I put processing in Sigma's Inserts and now I have an insert on/off switch, which is laking is ASP8024-HE. I get a different sound which I find better for more then 80% of music I record. Moreover by pushing subgroup faders I can drive the input channel's of Sigma - isn't it nice?) I tried different ways of using Sigma with ASP8024-HE and this is the best of all I tried. The only problem using this way is that Solo's don't work cause you are not using audient's mix bus. And since solo doesn't mute other channels you can't solo anything (SSL consoles do it better by the way). I think Audient should change their solo mode and add AFL mode, it would be more appropriate for mixing.

FADER REPLACEMENT FOR AUTOMATION WITHOUT DLC

A friend of mine in Nashville got Flying Faders installed into his ASP8024 (non-HE version). So for sure I can do that also with mine but the price is too high and it is not reasonable at all. But I have found FADERMATE automation system which seems to be what I am looking for. Don't know if it will fit well in dimensions. It is not that expensive, it doesn't have features, simply analog mode or the DAW control mode. In this case 1st fader will control the 1st channel in the DAW. No fader page listing here. But that's okay. The easiest and cheapest way is to put 8 motorized faders to replace Subgroup faders. I can put SSL Sigma channels as the last inserts on any Audient channels that I need to automate. Create 8 midi tracks at the very beginning of a project in Pro Tools. These 8 midi tracks will control Sigma moves. The moves will be done by the new motorized Subgroup faders in a DAW mode and remembered by the midi tracks. Cool.

But has anybody had experience with FADERMATE or any other cheap automation systems? I know that FADERMATE is expandable and you can later add more 8-channel fader banks.

Best regards,
Artem

Artem,

You might find more owners of the non-HE version on this old thread>

Audient ASP 8024

As the monitor section should be the same on the non-HE board?

I think they can differ a bit, cause in Heritage Edition they used new ALPS pot, perhaps there were any other changes I don't know. Also the mix bus was changed a bit (990C op-amps), this could change the sound also.

Best Regards,
Artem