Like a lot of project studio guys who have gear lust but limited funds to do it, I've been building a hybrid mixing studio at home for some time. The interesting thing is that after awhile of adding piece by piece, and always lusting after the next thing it seemed completely necessary to add, maybe 6 years later I almost have the equivalent of a larger mixing desk. I wanted to share where I'm at with it, comparing the costs so far to say an AWS or Audient desk or something. Would love to hear from anyone else that's on a similar path, and what's worked for them, and would also love to hear from anyone working in bigger studios on these large commercial desks what the difference might be that I should be aware of. Also any reaction to the general economics of it. this was really the only way I could get here, not having 25K or more to drop at one time.
I want to leave my 2 Bus chain out of the equation, as well as channel dynamics, which I have some, and just focus on mic/line inputs, EQ, and bussing, like you would find on an AWS 924, for example. There are lots of other ways to do this, some cheaper and some more expensive, but the point being you get a lot of the functionality of a mixing desk for a lot less money.
So starting at the back end, I bought an Antelope Satori monitor controller that has 8 channels of summing. I'm using this to collect 4 stereo groups, you can monitor each one separately, or monitor the sum pre 2Bus chain, or monitor the final mix from your DAW. I've expanded my converters enough to have 36 Analog outs and 16 digital outs, the 16 digital I send via ADAT to an Allen Heath ZedR16, as a satellite sub mix, but my main mixer is a passive box by VintageMaker that has 4 8X2 summing sections. I have an Audient ASP880 8 ch preamp acting as mix bus amps for the 4 separate passive sections which comprise the 4 groups going into the Satori, and I run the ZedR16 submix into one of the passive sections. I also have 2 LittleLabs RedCloud 8 channel passive attenuator packs acting as faders for 2 of the 4 passive sections.
Now the fun part, I bought 8 channels of Phoenix mic/line inputs and gyrator EQ, so that's one of the sections. I can drive these things to taste and use the RedCloud passive attenuators as post EQ faders. I also have 4 channels of Kush Electra EQ and 4 channels of SSL X-Rack SuperAnalogue EQ, so that's another 8 channel section, and contrasting color/style to the Neve-esque Phoenix channels, also followed by the RedCloud attenuator pack. And for the center section compressor, an A Designs Nail. (I actually have an Avalon 747 behind that and a Dione for my percussion bus but, that's extra stuff not found on the basic desk with center compressor)
So the final tally then for 52 channels of summing, with actually 5 groups (counting the Zed) 16 channels of boutique modular EQ, 8 channels of transformer coupled line inputs, and 16 more channels of Zed EQ (which is actually surprisingly good):
(I bought some of this stuff used, but listing new prices)
Satori - 1800$
VintageMaker 32:8 summing box - 800$
Audient ASP880 - 1400$
RedCloud attenuator packs - 2x350$ = 700$
4 ch Kush Electras - 2200$ plus 300$ chassis =2500$
4 ch SSL EQ - 4000$ plus 1200$ for chassis - 5200$
8 channels Phoenix DRS Q4 mkii - 4 x 1400$ = 5600$ (price drop after new Ascent unit came out)
ZedR16 - 2500$
A Designs Nail Compressor - 2500$
and the final number is......... 23,000$
The nearest thing I can think of would be a loaded SSL XL Desk at 30,000$ or API The Box at 15,000$ + 10K$ in 500 series gear. Or an Audient Zen console? Ultimately, those weren't viable options for me financially so it's a moot point, but just to open a possibility for discussion, what does anyone think? I use plugins too obviously, I use the Softube Console 1 system and will be picking up the fader module soon. Ergonomics are maybe not as convenient as a desk but pretty good still.