OMFG... my cousin just gave me a 16 track mixer

[CPhoenix]

Got to play around w/ the DDX3216 for about 10-15 mins last night. Didn't test out the recording signals or anything but here's my thoughts so far

1) this thing is a tank... but not too heavy, which should make it excellent for travel. 2) the midi is hard as hell to setup... haven't figured out how to setup the midi so it sends and receives from my interface, not intuitive at all... found a tutorial that i'm hoping will help... 3) faders are very responsive, i'm kind of impressed w/ that.... looks like they used Alps faders. nice. 4) I'll most likely use SPDIF for now, and if/when I decide to record using it in the studio i'll just solo each channel and track em in separately (the ghetto way lol). The ADAT cards would be around $200 a piece, and i'd need a new interface to even consider each channel going into the AI separately. Not the type of surprise build i can handle right now.

I'm goign to keep updating this thread as I go.... b/c there isn't much literature out there on how to set this up since it's 1) old, and 2) discontinued. Looks like it could be a gem though from reading about people who've actually used it. Most comments that is sucks are from people who have not used it.. but have used Behringer products and are familiar w/ their method of replacing quality parts with crappy parts and sticking their logo on it. But from the few who have used this... they say it's actually a great value and there wasn't enough difference vs. other boards of equal capabilities to warrant the price.

[hollandturbine]

What DAW do you use?

[CPhoenix]

Studio One.


Update:: Figured out how to get it to send MIDI -->
Chapter*10.*Using Control Surfaces
The weird thing I've run into now is that it sends the signal perfectly, but the DDX3216 doesn't receive the midi signal properly under normal circumstances. Studio One has a nice way of setting up midi controllers if there isn't a template for it (you can map everything out yourself). It will jump to the correct position, but it won't move to the automation. It only does it in HUI mode... but the HUI template is competely screwed up lol. So.... i'm gonna have to play around w/ the xml files to get it working right. When I figure it all out i'll post on it. I'm sure I won't be the first & last person to use this w/ Studio One. Until I get that working right... I now have more than 50 faders to control tracks lol. Overkill? Yep! But hey... why not.. it was a gift!!

Also... I actually like the effects on this thing. Very easy to dial up changes to the effects. Looks like it comes w/ a few presets too. And the sound is actually nice. Doesn't seem to introduce too much noise honestly... not from what I can tell. Pleasant surprise. Only noise so far is the noise from my computer, which it SHOULD pick up.. since it's there lol.

Lastly.. this thing is so old it has an RS232 port on the back. It looks like they make RS232 to USB converters, so I grabbed one and i'm going to see if i can hook this thing up via USB to my computer to update the firmware and see if it allows me to exchange sound files and such. The verdict's out on how that'll work out, but it could possibly be very useful. Would be nice to record in the field on this and then just pull the files out over USB and import to DAW if I want to, instead of recording it in w/ the SPDIF.

SPDIF works just as expected by the way.

Still also trying to figure out if there's a poor man's way to run audio out of the DAW, into the DDX and back out into the DAW. Not necessary.... but it would make things interesting indeed. Going to see if I can do this thru SPDIF. I won't be able to add the ADAT expansions for at least the next 2 years.

[hollandturbine]

I use Cubase so I don't know how helpful I can be, but you should be able to get things moving with a regular MIDI track first, ie select the MIDI input to record and then select the output to get them faders flying, after that you can start setting it up as a MIDI controller for your software mixer etc.

I would look to see if you have the option to upgrade the firmware through MIDI before proceeding, like as a backup in case the USB-to-RS232 does not work out.

You can use the supplied ins and outs to run shit from your computer through the mixer and back out provided you have enough ins and outs on your audio interface, the ADAT interface gives you more ins and outs so that instead of having only 16 inputs you have 32 (it is a 32 channel mixer after all).

[CPhoenix]

I would look to see if you have the option to upgrade the firmware through MIDI before proceeding, like as a backup in case the USB-to-RS232 does not work out.

Interesting. I didn't even know this was possible. I'll have to look into how that's supposed to work. Not sure how successful I'll be... b/c I downloaded their exchange software. Ran the .exe and absolutely nothing happened on Win 7 lol. I downlaoded the firmware, but it's in .bex format... no clue how to get it from the computer to the mixer. That's a battle for next week lol.


UPDATE:
So... I've got this board almost working in HUI mode, which I really want to get it working. I like the fact that in HUI mode you can add the tracks as you go and the faders automatically become assigned. Nice.

So... I had to go into the HUI template in S1 and do some serious editing to get them to work. Had to reassign a lot of variables. Took a few hours of trial and error. I've got them finally working.. technically. The correct software fader responds to the correct mixer fader. However.. there must be a loop somewhere (either in the HUI template, or in the DAW itself). The mixer is receiving MIDI correctly... but when I send MIDI info to the DAW by moving the mixer fader... i get some bad resistance. So... that tells me that as I move the fader... somewhere, somehow MIDI out is going to the mixer.

Also.. i'm having difficulty getting faders 9 and up to work. I have to figure out the correct assignment for those and put it in the HUI template. And... only the mute buttons send midi... not the solo. That's a pretty stupid design flaw by Behringer. Not sure if the fireware update fixes this or not... but w/ my luck, it probably wont.

Lastly... the pan pots and jumping as all hell, to the point their unuseable. Hopefully I can fix that. Not sure if that's out of my league, but i'ma try

Once I fix all (or some) of things... i'm going to upload the HUI file here. That way.. if someone comes across this board and wants to use it... they can (at least w/ Studio One... not sure if the HUI template would work elsewhere.)

[bandcoach]

Make sure that you are in write mode when trying to move faders, otherwise it will sternly resist movement as it reads whatever is sent to the mixer by the daw.


The possibility of a MIDI loop from the mixer to the DAW and back is very real - check your DAW settings to see if you pass through the MIDI IN to the MIDI OUT (quite common in some DAWs without user intervention).

As for knowing which controller # to use, read page 52 in the Manual it specifies all of the controller message #s including value ranges

For the firmware update you will also need to download the File exchange software and run it according to the instructions on page 50

[krushing]

I hate to say it, but as cool as it is that you've been given that thing...and after all the good advice given in this thread - I'm not sure if that thing is actually gonna be useful for what you're trying to do. It doesn't sound good; in fact, it's most likely gonna do it's little Behringer thing and make everything sound a little ball-less, if anything. I'd just sell it off and spend the money on a nice interface.

[CPhoenix]

^*sigh*.. yeah, i'm aware of behringer products in general. It's the first thing I said to myself when I saw it. I read a little too much for my own good lol... so i have a good understanding to what's quality gear and what's not, prior to actually using it. But..... having an extra 16 channels of inputs and a good 50+ motorized faders added to your setup overnight, for free, lol is nice regardless.

My conscious won't let me sell a gift. Im still saving for my RME UFX so I can call it a night for interfaces. (Maybe w/ a BLA mod)


Thanks for the advice bandcoach. Switched it to Write hoping it was that simple, but got the same problem. I read somewhere thats what could be causing the loop so im attacking it from that angle too. haven't been successful yet. i'll worry about mapping the rest of the board after i get the fader to stop resisting. any other ideas? other than continuing to debug this HUI template? lol

[hollandturbine]

My guess regarding the HUI protocol would be that a touch fader message is sent in order to override any incoming move fader message, working like a switch between read and write.

[CPhoenix]

^u know what.... that has to work. since the DDX is not touch sensitive... i've probably gotta account for that.

thanks man, i feel in my gut like thats gotta work. i'll let u know the progress. I've noticed the touch fader code in the HUI template bu ive disregarded it to date. that makes perfect sense though now that u mention it.