which mixer do you use

[moofi]

You can still create post-master-ouput inserts, aswell within a combinator, so you regain the master insert control knobs and buttons. Especially since we got the Masterbus compressor within the rack.

I was pretty happy with how R11 kept tweaking track by track in the rack and fitting it all together in the SSL separate.
While I like R12 the removal of the insert Fx panel from the SSL has wrecked the way I used it.
Tweaking and mixing are different things in my head. I had templates with my own mix combinators set up so I could just concentrate on all the tracks at once, using a touch screen laptop. It wasn't perfect but it was the best laptop touch workflow I have found.
Not any more. Any channel effects tweaks now dumps me back to the rack.
I gather that control hardware people are even more screwed.
I can't see why they couldn't have retained it as optional but with the insert fx panel mapping knobs 1-4 and switches 1-4 in a cmb2 with a button to goto the rack. Rather than just eliminating it.
So as an alternative I have moved to Waves Mixhub. While it's not a 1:1 replacement it's a pretty interesting take on an SSL mixer. It allows you to mix 8 channels per group by 8 groups. I haven't seen this in another plugin before.
While the reason SSL is spotlessly clean, waves have gone the full analogue modelling route and sounds pretty good for it.
Waves plugins are extremely touch friendly - supporting multi-touch in the same way cakewalk does.
The downside is it only supports waves plugins in the mixer inserts where I really would like to keep using the reason effects for CPU efficiency.

[BumCuddle]

Always use the SSL unless it is creating a combinator that requires the others.
On a side note, why do my old tracks seem to sound better running through the 14:2? When I 'update' the track by deleting the 14:2, selecting all devices and creating channels in the SSL even when the channel levels are duplicated it doesn't sound as 'punchy' as the 14:2....or maybe it is some aural conditioning thingy?

From what I remember, the 14:2 and 6:2 mixers use +6 dB pan law, while the SSL uses +3 dB. That might explain it.

Ahah! That may well explain it!
Thank you.

[Futz]

You can still create post-master-ouput inserts, aswell within a combinator, so you regain the master insert control knobs and buttons. Especially since we got the Masterbus compressor within the rack.

I think I understand what you are saying and while I might have to adapt to a vertical rack-centric mixing technique, it is really nowhere as elegant as the traditional horizontal way I could work in the R11 mixer.
Being able to see 16 faders/meters/pans while using the touching the Show/Hide buttons to flick between dynamics and insert/mix effects panels, and hitting F2 to use the floating EQ is a very comfortable way to focus on listening and tweak any track without ever leaving the mixer view.

Even using the smallest custom combinator size I can only see a maximum of six vertically stacked effects combinators at one time in the rack at 120% zoom.
And at that combinator size the knobs are smallish and you cant really use the sliders.
If I want to work on tracks that are farther apart I have to scroll up and down or reorder the rack.
And the FX sends/returns are not replicated in any way in the rack as far as I understand.
Jumping between the rack and mixer does nothing to help with actually focusing on mixing.

I just wish that the Mixer insert effects panel had been retained in some way.
It can't have been that difficult to have maintained some backwards compatibility.

[moofi]

Yes, I see what you mean. And I currently cannot think of a way to get you those insert effect panel knobs and switches back into the mixer section again. Already tested somehow incorporating the send effects ins/outs/knobs yet that didn´t really work

Then, if you insert a mix channel containing the insert effects after the masterouput and link the mix channel´s direct outputs to the hardware interface, you at least gain mixer access to that Insert channel in terms of a mix channel´s functionality. For the control knobs and switches you would still have to work within the rack using a combinator though.

You can still create post-master-ouput inserts, aswell within a combinator, so you regain the master insert control knobs and buttons. Especially since we got the Masterbus compressor within the rack.

I think I understand what you are saying and while I might have to adapt to a vertical rack-centric mixing technique, it is really nowhere as elegant as the traditional horizontal way I could work in the R11 mixer.
Being able to see 16 faders/meters/pans while using the touching the Show/Hide buttons to flick between dynamics and insert/mix effects panels, and hitting F2 to use the floating EQ is a very comfortable way to focus on listening and tweak any track without ever leaving the mixer view.

Even using the smallest custom combinator size I can only see a maximum of six vertically stacked effects combinators at one time in the rack at 120% zoom.
And at that combinator size the knobs are smallish and you cant really use the sliders.
If I want to work on tracks that are farther apart I have to scroll up and down or reorder the rack.
And the FX sends/returns are not replicated in any way in the rack as far as I understand.
Jumping between the rack and mixer does nothing to help with actually focusing on mixing.

I just wish that the Mixer insert effects panel had been retained in some way.
It can't have been that difficult to have maintained some backwards compatibility.

[jam-s]

I really hope they fix this regression in a later release of R12 as I'm also not happy with the way they implemented this.

[Hazel]

I just try to have everything on separate tracks in the SSL, although I very often use a 6 channel mixer as the last device before it hits the SSL, using only one of the channels, so I can have control of the volume and panning automation while still leaving the SSL controls open to adjust if I need. The 14 I only really use if I need to convert a very old Reason file. I just leave it there, move each channel input to an SSL channel, then use the direct output from there into the input of the 14, so I can just keep all of the automatons and effects I already had there, but utilize the SSL for everything else. It gets a little confusing as the master out from the 14 has it's own SSL channel, so muting and soloing and whatnot you have to do from the 14 mostly. Only other time I'd use the 14 is if maybe I was designing some kind of crazy many channel experiment where the SSL would just not work the way I'd want to do it.

[Social Exodus]

I use another DAW (Cakewalk) for mixing. Reason's mixers are inferior.

And how is this helpful to someone asking about mixers in Reason?

[Social Exodus]

ok so i was wrong all the time using the 14:2 mixer
since i have the 11 version of reason i'm totally wrong
and is it easy to get along with ? i mean does it take time to understand this new mixer ?
all these buttons i must say , they are a little scary ..
thanks

To help with information overload in the SSL mixer, I have found it very useful to collapse the different sections and have the one I'm working with the only one open. You just have to understand that there are many sections to it, dynamics, EQ, sends and returns, etc so if you're EQ-ing you're only looking at that.

For what it's worth...

[Benedict]

I use the SSL but not all the parts of the SSL. As Selig says, the SSL experience is wonderful as a workflow. The Mix EQ on the F2 is fabulous. I am horrified that in most DAWs you still have to open every device like and EQ per Track. Uungh. Fine if you like it that way I guess. The F2 windows just tracks what I am doing.

I also really like that the processes I do have are in the Rack so I can see them much better as I work on each Track or from Track to Track, Bus to Bus.

Nothing against the 14:2 or 6:2 but they are now just Line Mixers for inside Combis.

Take your time and learn just the one strip. And even then, just what you need as you need it.