Hi.

So If I'm summing OTB with whatever, how can I automate using the DAW if I want to use external compressors with the console? I would be changing the volume of the signal before the compressor which I don't want to do.

Am I thinking of this right, or is this the wrong way to think about it?

How do you mix OTB and use DAW automation? Thanks

Yeah - if you're using something like an analog mixer there's no way around that, short of controllable VCAs that automate the volume coming back from a compressor rather than into it.

The only affordable hardware system I know of that could do that was the long discontinued Mackie Ultramix, which of course uses software that is now decades out of date.

My friend and I are discussing some ideas for designing a 4 or 8 channel hardware VCA automation for exactly the purpose you describe. If I could at least automate the 4 groups of my Soundcraft DLX that would be something.

The answer is, you do bus compression with hardware, but individual channel compression with plugins or hardware inserts.
If you want to be able to analog automation, you could incorporate something like WesAudio’s ngLeveler
https://wesaudio.com/product/ngleveler/

I think you are right about the problem of where your volume automation 'sits'. You don't want to have the levels going up and down before the compressor.

If it was me, and I really wanted to "involve" my analog compressors on individual instruments, I would either use them while tracking ("on the way in") or possibly reamp them prior to doing the actual mix. I suppose that if you had enough channels of conversion, you could insert the compressors, run them back into the DAW and then automate them and then go out to your mixer in real time.

IMO, the one thing that might be the "wrong" way of thinking is putting pressure on yourself for some kind of OTB 'purity'. It wouldn't be the end of the world to do what Podgorny suggested and use ITB compression for individual channels and save your hardware for the busses which probably aren't going to have big swings in volume.

Excellent!

That seems to be a modern equivalent of what the Mackie Ultramix was doing almost 30yrs ago.

€1,800 isn't out of sight for those of us mixing analog but wanting to automate up to 16 OTB channels.

Here's the relevant bit from the press release for the OP...

Yeah, I think I'd just rather do it by hand.

This is cool. I wish you luck in getting something figured out.

I think the best thing if you wanna use outboard compression is to simply mix on the console faders and leave the DAW faders alone. What's the point in using a console anyway if you not going to use the faders?

Thanks for this. That definitely one idea.

Lots of people (like me) use mixers with direct outs and gain stage with the fader pre-daw

I do a rough static mix on the console initially and then automate all the channels in daw. I don't think there are any problems to worry about.

Even when I do ITB mixes, I prefer to automate before the compressor.

If there are situations where an instrument plays both soft and loud passages, I either cut it into two channels or do parallel compression. Also in such cases, obviously high ratio settings are not suitable if parallel compression is not applied. Very low ratios with lower treshold can still be used perfectly. I like these situations because it gives me an excuse to play with the compressor.

does this console have automation?

No. Just a normal console.

Well there's one reason to engage your DAW faders, right there.

I plan on using outboard compressors in the console inserts.

I do it the same way. But I always track with compression where necessary. That reduces the amount of compression needed while mixing. Hence DAW automation into compressors isn´t a problem.