Mackie Ultramix

Although aimed primarily at Mackie owners, Ultramix is an automation system that will run on other desks too with the aid of a modestly‑equipped Mac — promising the home studio everything but the motorised faders. Bernhard Speyer investigates...

Mackie's success in the project music sector of the market comes down to a combination of sonic performance, build quality and price, and to continue the philosophy of offering hitherto expensive features at affordable cost, they've introduced a powerful new mix automation system. Ultramix has been developed to add automation to Mackie's existing line of consoles, although in theory, it could be used with just about any console that has channel insert points. The system records and plays back fader levels and mutes using a high‑quality VCA system, as opposed to moving faders — but it's not an 'integrated' automation system, in that it doesn't work directly from the faders on your desk. This saves having to have the desk modified, as is the case with most other automation upgrades. The cost is thus significantly lower than a big‑name VCA or moving fader upgrade.

What You Get

The Ultramix system comprises three parts. The first is the 2U Ultra34 Cell Gain unit, which houses the 34 VCAs, and all the relevant audio inputs and outputs to connect to your mixer. The second component is Ultrapilot, the hardware user interface, containing 16 long through‑faders plus the necessary buttons. Lastly comes the brain: the Ultramix Pro software which comes on one floppy disk, bundled with the latest version of OMS.

The software runs on Macintosh computers only, but a relatively modest machine will do the trick, and with Mac users keen to upgrade, you could pick up a suitable second‑hand model very cheaply. The minimum requirement, however, is a 030 processor running at 25MHz with 6Mb of available RAM and System 7.1 or higher. I had Ultramix running on a Powerbook 180 with 8Mb of RAM without any problems, but I had to strip my system folder down to the bare essentials. Extensions Manager (a shareware utility) might be useful if you don't want to evict all those extensions and menu items permanently. Ultramix itself uses only 3Mb, but you have to allow extra memory for mix information and, of course, for your System software.

The Ultramix software talks to the Ultra34 Gain Cell unit via MIDI, with the Ultrapilot acting like a MIDI fader box. Because MIDI can only resolve 128 discrete steps, Mackie has used an extremely efficient smoothing algorithm to eliminate zipper noise. Setting up is a matter of installing the software on your Macintosh, connecting the Ultra34 to your MIDI interface and plugging up all the insert send and returns (including the master fader). The Automation hardware has its own insert points, so you don't lose the ability to patch processors into your mixer. Once the Ultrapilot is connected to the Ultra34, you are ready to try a mix.

Features

Once a basic mix has been recorded, you will inevitably want to make changes, and Ultramix supports an impressive repertoire of edit functions (see panel). In the top left‑hand corner of the main screen, shown in Figure 1, is the bypass section. Switching to Bypass sets all VCAs to unity gain and stops any mix information from playing back, but I would have preferred a hard bypass, to keep the signal path as short as possible during recording. Ext Sync switches between Ultramix's internal sync clock and sync from an external source (multitrack, or MIDI sequencer). Faders disables all faders, and Sequence stops playback of Standard MIDI Files (this facility is great if you favour the all‑in‑one approach, but I myself prefer to keep MIDI sequencing and mixing separate). The familiar transport controls include ten auto‑location buttons, together with a Loop and Rehearsal switch. Next to the transport controls is the SMPTE display, and directly underneath is a bar counter displaying the position of the SMF.

On the far right we find all mode buttons: Rehearse, Null, Trim, Mute and Automute. The little white line underneath the Trim switch displays the amount of available memory. Below the Main Window is the Session Window, which shows all 32 channels. Clicking directly above the channel number selects the channel (indicated by a small green triangle), ready to be cut, copied or pasted. Below the channel number are the Record Ready switch, a 'softkey' and a mute switch, together with the channel fader itself.

The system offers all the facilities you tend to find on other professional VCA mixing systems, and in some cases, Ultramix gives you more.

The 'softkeys' have two functions, but the basic default is Solo. Clicking on the softkey solos the selected channel, while muting all others. The second function, Fade In or Fade Out, can be selected from the faders menu. Switching from the fader display (the one currently displayed) to the meter display turns your monitor into a 32‑channel, full‑colour meter bridge, at no extra price!

The Ultrapilot can control up to four Ultra34 units, providing a maximum of 132 channels and 32 VCA groups using bank change commands. The Ultrapilot has sixteen 100mm long‑throw faders, above which are the Record Ready buttons, plus a row of softkeys. These softkeys, together with modifier switches (found on the right: Shift, Locate and Soft mode) give access to nearly all functions found on the main screen.

Mixing

If you have used an automation system before, you'll find Ultramix very straightforward. Before you start to record fader moves though, have a look at the on‑screen faders. There are two types: white or solid faders, and the transparent faders (see Figure 2). Understanding what these different faders do is vital. The transparent fader represents the physical controller position. If you move a fader on the Ultrapilot without being in record, you will see a transparent fader moving up and down the screen, but you won't hear a thing. The moment the Record Ready button and the Master Record button are pressed, the transparent fader turns solid white, and you will hear the sound. The solid fader shows the recorded or actual VCA level, whilst the transparent fader shows the controller position for that particular channel.

Because Ultramix is not an integrated mixing automation system, setting up a basic balance for a mix with Ultramix is slightly different from conventional systems. The first step is to set all channel faders on your mixing desk to unity gain, otherwise none of the moves you are going to record will be heard. Next, sort out all your tracks into logical groups, making sure that you don't have any groups spread over two banks, for example, 16‑17 or 32‑33 and so on. This is not a must, but it will make life a lot easier, so repatch the mixer inputs where necessary. Nearly all mixing can then be done from the Ultrapilot, or with the mouse (see below) with only your mixer's effects sends or EQ settings requiring direct adjustment.

Setting the levels for the first 16 channels is straightforward. Select Replace mode and Internal Sync, then set all tracks to Record Ready and press the Master Record button. This turns all transparent faders into solid white faders, which then follow every move you make on the Ultrapilot. Run the tape or your sequencer, and get a balance. Once you are happy with it, select Ext Sync and record a pass. You can then get the next 16 tracks up on your screen, and do the same. Obviously, you only have 16 physical controls on the Ultrapilot, and sadly, trying to get a balance for more than 16 tracks at a time is slightly inconvenient, as the Ultrapilot's bank switch command is destructive; if you switch from bank A to bank B, with all tracks in Record, you lose all VCA settings in bank B. The way around this is not to use the Ultrapilot for channels above 16, and resort to the mouse and screen instead to set nominal levels for these channels.

I spoke to Robert Tudor from Mackie (the godfather of the Ultramix software) about this problem, and he told me that there is a possibility that a future version of the Ultrapilot might have motorised faders, similar to the Yamaha 02R. Whenever you change a bank, the faders on the Ultrapilot will change their position to the new VCA settings, and not the other way around. This is the only real niggle I have with Ultramix — the other concerns the rather sparse preliminary manual supplied to early users, but by the time you read this review, the 'revised' manual will almost certainly be available.

Post‑Recording

What can you do with Ultramix once you've recorded your first 'pass'? Let's start with an Ultramix feature that makes so much sense, you wonder why nobody else has developed it: Automute. No need to spend hours cleaning up your tracks by hand. Automute listens to all the channel inputs, and if the input signal drops below a pre‑defined threshold, (low, medium or high), it mutes the respective channel until the level comes back up, just like a gate. I should mention that Automute events, manual mutes and fader moves are recorded separately. This means that if you decide halfway though the mix that you want to redo the levels for the lead vocals from scratch, but you want to keep all the mutes; no problem, simply select Replace mode, press Record, and all the VCA levels can be rewritten, leaving the mutes untouched.

Trim mode is used to update previous moves with new ones. The original mix data is kept, but your new moves either add to or subtract from the original mix level. Null mode is similar to the Replace mode, in that it replaces old moves with new ones, but with one crucial difference: no new data is written until the transparent fader level passes through the solid fader showing the actual VCA level. This way, Null mode avoids sudden level jumps when punching in. It would have been nice if the same principle could have been applied to the dropout, but there's always the possibility that a future update could include it if enough people think it is worthwhile.

Rehearsal mode does exactly what is says. You can try things out before you commit yourself, but one of the three record modes must be enabled for the software to know what it is you want to rehearse. There are also eight colour‑coded VCA groups at your disposal. All faders assigned to a VCA group will change their colour accordingly (nice touch!) and follow the moves and cuts of the designated master fader. This is very useful if you need to trim all your drums, or you want to create an interesting effect for a breakdown section. In a future version of Ultramix, you will be able to ungroup a fader and choose whether or not that channel should retain the group information. Basically, this means that you'll have access to an unlimited number of groups, by creating a group, recording cuts and fader moves, then un‑grouping the faders and retaining the group information. This way, you can use one VCA group over and over again.

Off‑Line Editing

Most of us are familiar with MIDI sequencers, and editing MIDI information. Edits in Ultramix are much the same — you can cut, copy and paste whole channels. For example, if you decide that you want to move the lead vocal from channel 13 to channel 29, all you have to do is click on fader 13, select Cut from the Edit menu, click on fader 29 and select Paste. Done. The same principle applies if you record some tricky cuts and fader rides on the first chorus, and you don't want to do the same thing on the second, third and fourth chorus.

All off‑line editing is done in the Event Editor as shown in Figure 3, with the exception of cutting and pasting whole tracks. You can filter out any unwanted events from the display (playback isn't affected) by checking or un‑checking, Fade in, Fade out, Mutes, Automutes, or Programs (Program Change commands). Now you can delete individual mute events, or shift them a few frames either way, extend or shorten fade‑in or fade‑outs, manipulate their starting or end levels, copy whole verses, and so on. If you have a large enough screen, or better still two monitors, you can leave the Event Editor open all the time. This way, you can monitor all the new moves you record. Most of the time you probably won't need the Event Editor, but it's good to have it there when you do need it.

Another great feature is Modify Levels, where you can select a channel and choose how much level you want to add or subtract. There are also more esoteric choices you can make, relating to things like minimum level, maximum level and fixed level.

Conclusion

The introduction of Ultramix will further narrow the margin between the 'big players' and the smaller project studios. The system offers all the facilities you tend to find on other professional VCA mixing systems, and in some cases, Ultramix gives you more. The system can be expanded by adding further Ultra34 units, and the sonic performance is excellent.

If you are used to integrated mix systems, it might take some time for you to get used to mixing from the Ultrapilot without touching the faders on the desk, but it all works fine. I feel that at the moment, nothing comes close to Ultramix in this price range.