Now that's the way to demonstrate a product. A huge difference in the sound once mixed, driven and with the buss comp on. Isn't that the sound we're looking for? Great video!
Yes, exactly. There\s so few longer videos demonstrating small and Medium Format Consoles. A shame, as the type of person who can afford them are people some way into their careers, know a thing or two and won't drop a ton of cash without checking a product out thoroughly first. By the way gonna order my The Box later this week once finance is sorted out.
@@ThePdeHav That's great to hear, I'm glad for you, I wish I were in the same position, but that's out of my budget for now although I have been taking a hard look at the Audient ASP4816 to quench some of my hunger.
Thank you for putting this up since there are rarely videos running audio through a console like this and some of the features. Would be great to see a second video when you have the time!
I would've been curious to hear the stems summed ITB compared to those through the board. Great recording and performance/vibe in there and great video!
What an awesome Consoe. Thanks for this in-depth video. Spent the past week researching small and mid format consoles. Came up in the industry using Neve and SSL. My mind's pretty much made up to go for API.
Thank you so much for doing this video! Even though I have owned my Box for a year and a half, it is awesome to see someone else's perspective and workflow with it. Awesome song and I loved your input.
I wanted to go through a few weird ways I use the routing, but the video was already a lot longer than I thought it would be... Are you still liking yours?
@MillSounds Studio Yes, I love mine. I am actually going to sell mine to get a Box2. The funny thing is I rarely use mine for summing. I just primarily use mine for the input channels, compressors, EQ's, monitor section and then I use the summing section for all my returns for Pro Tools and splitting the outputs into my hearback system for the studio headphones. It is amazing for that. But I have done a few projects summing through the mixer and I have been extremely happy with how it sounds. I just typically need to work faster with Faster than real time bounces which doesn't allow me to get to use the summing.
Amazing work🙏 Very educating! First I had hard time of hearing any differences, but eventually I think hardware sounded bit more open and clear? Anyway I have the UA plugins and I'm really happy to hear that they are this close to the original hardware.
Thought it was just sort of nice. Until . . . Pow. The 527 totally transformed it instantly into a terrific mix! The mix engineer was way ahead of us. Definitely would go with the driven over the 0 dB. Well done.
This was a very helpful video to understand how the summing section of the API Box can alter the sound of your signals. I hope you get an opportunity to add some 550A EQ's on your input channel section. It should be a nice addition to your mixer.
Actually have some 550b's in there now. Check out my 3 Part series I did more recently comparing the console to all the UAD emulations (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Oe-HnxKiPrU.htmlsi=qIn4fENTcf73Bcdt)
The Six looks really appealing! If I were still in a bedroom or home studio, it would definitely be towards the top of my list. I'm also curious about their Fusion unit, SSL has been knocking out some great stuff lately.
@@MillSounds it’s really fun and forces you to be creative. I do lots of crazy routing combos with guitar pedals and different things to squeeze every drop out of each channel 🙂
What a great video ! Can’t wait to see part two . I would like to see how you routing on the back and explain more what’s two tracks input on the back .thanks !
Thanks for this! Even through my phone's speakers it's very obvious what this console does. Now I just need to find the money 😬 No doubt, this is worth every penny.
Sounds amazing, thank you for this! Its no words it just sounds right and the music just surrounds you more(depth) and much Thicker sounding aswell, that was a lot of words but yeah I am excited! Beautiful, Thanks again! Btw. the song sounds really nice man, is this you or?
We FINALLY got around to releasing this song, haha... It was a collaboration between myself and a friend that does not really do music anymore, so it took a while before he could come out here to visit again and wrap it up. Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
I’ve just finished a 3 Part Series comparing my console to the UAD API Plugins (here’s Part 1 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Oe-HnxKiPrU.html the other 2 are on my channel)!
This was fantastic! One of the best gear demos I've seen - period. I've recently become very curious about 'The Box 2' given the expanded inputs(the 1608 has been on my radar for several years, but it's more than 3x the price and I have a ton of great outboard pres/eqs/comps including API). You did a great job of showing the ease by which you can achieve stellar results, however I do have a question: The specifications state "16 summing channels (24 during mix)". Can you confirm this and if so, why did you limit yourself to just 16 channels in this example? You mentioned working on 1608s and AXS - how does this sound compared to them, in all honesty? Are the components identical? Thanks again!
Thanks, glad it was helpful! The 1608 is a great console and I enjoyed working on them in larger studios, but I always kind of knew it would be overkill for the kind of studio I wanted to build and the way I wanted to work. I was excited about The Box coming out, but more so all the improvements they made with this new version. You can actually do a lot more than 24 channels during mix down. You have the 16 summing channels on the right side, plus the 8 channels on the left. Then you have 2 summing channels inputs on the back where you can either run 2 more channels or the outputs of another summing mixer right into the master section. You can also incorporate the AUX channels if you wanted to make things really complicated. I've been doing the "Stem Mix" setup like I did in the video for years. For some reason, I've always kind of landed at around 8 stereo stem for most mixes, sometimes a few more. 16 is working out great for me, but I'm also limited to around 16 outputs right now as I'm running a UA Apollo for 8 channels and also expanding with an ADAT interface for the other 8. I'll look into getting another Apollo at some point, but right now this works perfectly for me. All of API's consoles are pretty much laid out the same way in terms of how they sound. I don't have any real experience mixing on the AXS consoles (more tracking), but as far as 1608's go I have to say The Box sounds similar. I've not done a side by side comparison, but technically they should sound the same on mix down.
@@MillSounds Thanks for such a detailed reply- much appreciated! Ahh I see. Wow, that's even better than I'd hoped given the additional options you've mentioned for external summing busses being piped directly into the master buss! I'm all BURL up here - 16in/32out Mothership, Vancouver 32ch summing mixer, B2 Bomber ADC and Orca monitor, so the potential for full blown summed mixes with different flavours is fantastic! You can't go wrong with the Apollo; I had one some years back along with a Dangerous Dbox which was my first foray into hybrid/stem mixing. Even with only 8 analogue channels out, the difference in workflow and final results was dramatic. That's great to know re: consistent sounds across all the consoles. API claim 'The Box' is identical as far as components go, but hearing a real world user confirm that bodes well. On a different note: I had a look at your site. Beautiful space you have there! I'm in a major city in Canada but plan to make a similar move in the next while. As a Chandler user/fan, seeing the TG and hearing it in action was really cool. I don't own it yet but it's on the list, along with a Curve Bender. I do have a pair of TG 12411 Channels that I adore and use on everything, so my ears are well attuned to that transfer console vibe. Having some of that mojo baked into the signal path in is such a unique idea! Thanks again for the demo and additional info... I feel that much better about pursuing this new avenue -especially if it can solve some challenges while saving me a ton over a 1608-II!
You kind of have to wonder why API themselves or the dealers never make videos like these. Kind of strange, right? They talk talk talk about the gear but never actually record/mix with it!
I watched a few videos of the API summing, I was pretty impressed. UA definitely got in the ballpark, I can hear it pretty clearly. I've got an Apollo but don't have Luna. I am considering doing a shootout video, I would be curious as well!
Great song! Love that kick drum :). Thanks for making what is probably the coolest gear demo ever made - especially around you hitting the saturation point where the bass starts to drop off - very cool and... is the bass in tune? :) The wow seems to fix it... love that vocal - and such nice guitars - who is the artist? (The voice is quite reminiscent of Martin Stephenson, love what you've done with that!)
We FINALLY got around to releasing this song, haha... Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
Great video and explanation! I think the box 2 sounds great. It still has that pointy sound that I hear compared the old api mixer like a 2488 or 1604. But that follows through with all new vs old api gear. I guess that’s just the new api sound vs the old. Either way it sounds very good like a console, especially when you start to butter it up by pushing it. Is there a global switch to take all the faders out and have them at unity or do you have to hit each channel individually? Thanks again Steve
There's no global switch for the 0 dB/fader bypass, you have to do them each individually. I think the only global bypass on the console is the "Solo Clear". I don't have much experience with the older API consoles, just some tracking with vintage units (no mixing first hand). The newer API designs are a bit different, but the definitely make up for it in areas like noise. API's are some of the quietest consoles out there and the headroom is insane!
Man...this is huge. I have a pair of API CS and I just love them. Everything sounds huge and the 527 makes a lot of difference. Would you be keen to compare a mix ITB and summed in the API console? just to have an idea cause after seeing your review my mouth is watering...I wanna run to the store and buy one...OMG...what a sound. Thank you for such thorough video review
I'm considering doing a shootout comparing the console to the new UAD API Summing in their Luna DAW. If I end up doing that, it would be the perfect opportunity to compare them both to the ITB mix.
Sweet man … hey quick question when summing for example let’s say I got 4 stems and I’m using an interface with 8 outs db25 and I’m sending my mix from the DAW for example drums,vocals,keys and fx drums sends are 3/4 vocals 5/6 fx 7/8 my question is do I need to send the main stereo out 1/2 also ? Because the main out are using 1/2 out ? To the summing mixer I’m using a neve orbit and my interface is a antelope secrete 8 sc
What I don't understand is the 8 input. I don't see spending that much money and not even be able to track a full band at once. For that much money I need at least 16 inputs. Is there something that I'm missing here, because I really, really want to like The Box.
Great River makes some solid stuff! I haven't used the MixMaster, but I always loved their preamps. Purely from a sound perspective, I can't imagine the API Box sounding better. It would definitely be "different" though. There's a lot of iron in that MixMaster, I'm sure it's got an awesome sound when driven hard. The Box Console is definitely more of a "console" though. To me, having all the faders and the layout is invaluable.
@@MillSounds thanks for the reply. It sounds a bit neve and also thick. But I want the faders. I asked Dan about it he said it would be too much. I also want eqs. But I do love the api sound.
Well done. Refreshing demo that respects the viewer's intelligence. Quick question - did you track that song through the input side of the Box or did you track straight from your Apollo into ProTools? Curious what you make of the tracking side. Also this was 2020 - still using? Thank you again.
That was so long ago, I can't remember what was done tracking wise. I think some of that song might have been done before I got the console. Most of it was a mix and match between the API preamps and my other stuff. The tracking side it great for me, 8 preamps was plenty as I like API's but didn't want or need more than 8. I'm slowly filling up the 500 series slots too, I've got two API 550b EQ's in there now. Check out the more recent 3 part video series I did on comparing the API Console to all the UAD plugins and Luna summing. There's plenty more console content in there!
I had a Fulltone Tube Tape Echo hooked up to AUX 1 for a bit when I first got the console. I had the AUX going into the input of the Tape Echo, then the output of the tape echo going into the insert of summing channel 16.That was a pretty simple solution for using it during mixes.
It's a friend of mine that's currently not really doing music anymore. He came to visit last Christmas and we threw this together one night. I try to use personal projects for demo's to avoid any potential copyright issues down the line.
We FINALLY got around to releasing this song, haha... Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
Really loving the sounds you're getting out of this! Is there a way to add more external pre's to this board and track say 12 channels at a time or is it max of 8?
There's not really a way to add preamps to the 500 slots, so there's no way to add them over there. If you really felt like it, you could patch some external preamps into the inserts of the summing section on the right side. There wouldn't be any sonic benefits of doing this as the summing section is pretty much strait wire and doesn't have any transformers or opamps on those channels. Depending on how you're setting up headphone sends or organizing your session, I guess it might be convenient to have those preamp channels routed to the console during tracking. Otherwise, this is just a "Small Format Console", haha. I don't really want more than 8 API preamps right now, so this is perfect for me. I've got additional external preamps, and occasionally I'll route those to the summing section during larger tracking sessions for organizational reasons. I hope that makes sense! The sky's the limit any time you hook a console like this up to a patch bay.
@@MillSounds Thanks so much for your reply! Yes. I think I get it. I think generally 8 pre's is enough but I have some other pre's such as Clarett and UAD 4-710D that if the session needed it would be great to patch in and record with and If I understand correctly I have this is an option (options are always good! :)) . I've never owned a console and this is my current number 1 pick for price, sound and features. Thanks again
We FINALLY got around to releasing this song, haha... Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
Thanks, I’m thinking about buying this console and this video helped a lot. That’s Eddie Vedder singing right? It really sounds like him. What’s the name of this song?
Just released the song from this video, we kind of forgot about it and just got around to wrapping it up. Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
I'm personally using the new Universal Audio Apollo X series. They're really great and similar to the API have a lot of headroom. If I'm working on material that needs to be quite loud and "squashed" during mastering, I'll hit the console pretty hard during mixing and then drive the Apollo inputs well into clipping on the way end. It shaves off some transients in a nice way and lets me push my mastering chain a bit harder. I've owned the original "silver face" and "black face" Apollo units and that's definitely not something I could do with those.
Hi there! One question, if you have 4 mono tracks (let’s you record a guitar cab with with 4 mics), could you summed them in the Box and have 1 summed mono track back in Pro Tools? Thanks and happy Easter ✌️
There's not a dedicated "buss" on the Box Consoles, but there are some work arounds. I've got the Program Output of the console going into two channels on my interface, I'm generally recording those when I'm printing a mix through the console. On smaller sessions, I have occasionally just done a mix of a few mics (I've done it on electric guitar like you were asking) on the console and recorded one of the main outputs channels back in. That's an easy workaround if you're not returning anything else to the console or running a larger session. As a workaround to this, I've considered just setting up the AUX send to go back into a channel on my interface. The AUX system in the Box Console has their own transformers and opamps, so it's a very similar layout to how a buss would work on a larger API Console. You could always get a mix of the mics through the AUX and record that. Lots of cool options! I have not set up my console on a patch bay yet, so those are some things I'm considering setting up at some point as well.
Hello ! thats such a great sound . any chance you could send me the itb vs analog summin version of it in wav ? Tryin to figure out if I pull the trigger on it :) cheers
Hey! The song from that video has changed a bit and gotten a rework. I'm not even sure if I have all the files to be able to pull that up. Feel free to email me (Contact info is on the MillSounds webpage) and I would be happy to run a few stems through the console for you if it will help!
You can send tracks to the left side as well when mixing, I just don't use them as 16 outs is enough for me most of the time. When you're going back in on any of the channels on the API (it doesn't matter if it's the left side blue faders of the 16 channels on the right side), the only transformers are the ones in the master section. There are not 16 individual transformers on each of the summing channels, the color is all coming from pushing the master section. This is how all the modern API consoles are designed, all the way up to the larger Legacy series.
It's a habit of my workflow. I'm sending out groups of things to stereo faders basically, there's plenty of times where I'll have a slight stereo chorus or doubling effect on a bass guitar. It saves me a little bit of recall time and headache so I can keep the groups faded hard left and right on the API. This song happened to have a mono bass guitar. There's also times where bands will double track a bass part with a stereo synth sound and blend that in with the bass guitar. That's just how I choose to do things, it works for me. There would be absolutely nothing wrong with sending the bass out to a mono output and putting the API pan pot on center. I know after years of doing this that I can get in a hurry with recalls and miss things. I would rather burn another potential mono console channel than accidentally send a revision with the bass guitar panned hard left, haha!
@@johnc.4625 I don't have my Fulltone Tape Delay anymore, but I had that on AUX 1 for a while. The only annoying thing about the box is that there are not AUX returns. For the Fulltone, I returned it to the console via an insert on one of the summing channels on the right side of the console. If I needed to use it during a mix, I just engaged the insert for that channel.
@@johnc.4625 Pretty much. Not the most convenient way of doing things, but it worked. I was running the Fulltone 100% wet, so just blending in a wet effect to the mix. I hit the fulltone a bit harder driving it with the AUX, then turned up the level on the fulltone to where it needed to be in the mix. At that point, I could find tune from the AUX knobs on the console.
when you sum the 16 channels to the program mix buss, and pan them each hard left, hard right… are the channels therefore - channel 1 left, channel 2 right in the mix? Or are they down the center, and panning just separates them to be used as mono sum channels?
It depends on how you send stuff from your DAW, but you are correct. If you send a mono source from your DAW (panned down the center inside your DAW) to Channel 1 on the API, that source will be panned hard left if the API Console channel is panned hard left. I generally keep the API Console channel groups panned hard left and right when I'm mixing. Any source inside my DAW (regardless of being mono or stereo) gets sent to a stereo sum group on the API console when I'm mixing, so I do all my panning inside my DAW. It just makes recalls a lot easier and quicker for me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with sending mono sources to a single channel on the API and doing your panning on the console though!
@@MillSounds yes right So I watch a product review from NAMM and the api guy said you have to pan each summing channel for mono input sources - that you have 16 channels, but doesn’t that mean that the only option is then channel 1 hard left, channel 2 hard right… etc So then you have no pans really as mono sources are just fixed hard left or right to the mix bus? With the use of stereo sources yeah you can use the pans to do anything you want which is good Am I understanding that all correctly? I know with the RND 5060 centerpiece people are not happy with the fact there’s no pans… that’s why I was looking to see how the api console deals with it
@@caminglis53 You're overthinking this a bit. Are you planning on using this console with a DAW? Inside any DAW, you can choose to route a mono source to a mono output or a stereo output. If I have a mono source in my DAW, I can either send it to a mono output or a stereo output. In ProTools, if you send a mono track to a mono output, you will loose the ability to pan inside your DAW. If I send a mono track out of ProTools to summing track 1 on the API Box, the track will be panned whatever way you have your pan knob set on the console. If you send a mono source to the API Box Summing Channel 1, I can just pan that channel to the center on the console if I want that source centered. If I send a mono source out of my DAW to a stereo out to a pair of Summing Channels one the API Box, it will still be in the center if it's panned center inside my DAW and the pair of Summing Channels on the API are panned hard Left and Right.
@@MillSounds is the api console 16 stereo inputs on the summing section? or just 8 stereo inputs.., because if it’s 8 that’s why pans need be be hard left & right, to segregate the inputs… stereo stems are fine clearly. But if you have 16 mono drum tracks and you only have 8 stereo channels on the api, then on the mix bus program output you would have to have hard pans set correct? If you have 16 input sources into the api to mix down the drum group, how do you choose the stereo placement for the 16 channels if they are all panned hard left & right? That’s what I don’t understand… )) Maybe I am overthinking it haha
@@caminglis53 There's 16 mono inputs on the right summing side of the console. You can also run into the 8 mono channels on the left side for a total of 24 mono summing channels. All of those channels have individual pan knobs. So 24 total summing channels with faders and pans. You can choose to make those stereo if you with (which would be 8 stereo summing channels on the right side, and 4 stereo summing channels on the left side).
Can this console also be used for mastering? Does the built in compressor also serve as a limiter function that can get the levels up to radio standards? I'm also confused about tracking when it comes to this, would I run my mics directly into this? I mean is that part of what people are paying for? Or if I already have a BAE 1073 2 channel mic preamp, that I use on a guitar amp mic'd with a 57 and 121 ribbon, would I patch that in somehow on this console as an insert or something? Or does the console replace needing something like the BAE 1073 mic preamp? What 500 series modules do you recommend for the empty slots? What do you recommend for converters? The console does not have any converters on it's own does it? Is the Apollo good, or should I be looking at dedicated Burl B2 DA and AD converters? When tracking does one combine individual tracks into a stereo stem before bringing it into the console? Or how does that work? Say, I track 8 tracks of one guitar through 2 separate amp heads, using 2 different cabs on each, so track 1 is a 57 mic on a vintage 30 going through a friedman head into a 412 cabinet with greenbacks, track 2 is a royer 121 mic going through that same friedman head going through a 412 cabinet with vintage 30s, track 3 is a 121 mic on a vintage 30 going through a friedman head, and track 4 is a 57 mic on a greenback going through a friedman head, and then tracks 5-8 are exactly like that but only with a different amp head. So would I track that into the DAW and then mix that down to 1 stereo stem? Or would that be tracked directly through the console? Thanks in advance!
I've tried a few things in the 500 slots, but ultimately can't make up my mind. Because I'm running a Universal Audio Apollo, it's quite easy for me to run a lot of their EQ's/Compressors on tracks and print into them just like hardware. That holds me over during tracking for the time being (I've decided to invest in some other outboard stuff for my 2 buss like the HendyAmps Pollock ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aYS73wWKs5I.html). I did try the RND 542 Tape units and enjoyed them, I might save up for a few of those. Also considering some API EQ's as well, we'll see!
@@MillSounds yes, I rely heavily on my Apollo 8 and a Satellite for my UAD plugins. Those 542s sound interesting. Going to get a couple of MAAG eq2s. Apparently they have more head room if you lose 2 eq bands. Besides I love em for the ‘Air’ at 15k. Going to be parsimonious until I’ve bought an API The box 2
We FINALLY got around to releasing this song, haha... Check out "Camelot" by Another Kingdom (open.spotify.com/album/2tg4PJQb52FyRgRRBhpI1a?si=3XW2b8uWSFmqH_rq7uBA2w&dl_branch=1)
To me? Yes, absolutely. It makes recalls more difficult and time consuming, so there's definitely a lot of considerations if you're thinking of moving to a console.
@@preciseaudioblog I think it sounds great, but there's plenty of cheaper summing racks and great sounding plugins out there! I thought it was worth it. It's more than the sound though, The Box console is going to be a great platform for me to grow my setup and start incorporating more outboard gear.
I got it used, so I got a pretty great deal. It ended up being significantly cheaper even compared to buying everything inside the console separately at used prices. Still a tough buy! Not going to lie, I made a few lists of all the other stuff I could have gotten. The API made more sense right now though, horses for courses though!
I'm releasing a new video series this month comparing API Hardware to the UAD Software. Here's Part 1: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Oe-HnxKiPrU.html