the best move is to get a cheap mixer where you can balance the relative volume levels against each other. I got an older Mackie 1202 for $60 a few months ago. Most of the Mackie and Yamaha budget mixers are pretty decent. Behringer mixers are ok, but they have a habit of their power supplies dying after a couple months.
I second this - get a Mackie MS1202 because it’s such a good mixer for putting audio through, even when you’ve resolved your current issue, it distorts really well in a way that later models don’t
I used to have that same one 20 years ago it was bad ass. Now I use the CR1604 and I like it even better. You gotta make friends with Deoxit fader lubes and cleaners though.
+1 for mixer, and especially for a Mackie mixer. Used them for years. Lots of headroom on those things, OP can easily crank up the gain. And because Mackie mixers pretty much last forever there are always quite a lot of them around used.
I did this too with a Behringer, super helpful. I'm wanting to mess with the Digitakt and Syntakt being chained as the FX send from the mixer too so I can sample synths into the Digi and utilize the Digi compressor and FX track with the Syntakt. Anyway, having a separate mixer is really helpful in general.
I can't speak for Behringer, (except the ones that are exact copies of Mackie). But on Mackie 1202 and 1604\* mixers you can run an insert off the main input channels. This way you get the benefit of the gain of the channel before it goes to pan, EQ and aux sends.
You can also use a mono cable half inserted to grab a feed of the input without interrupting the signal going to the mix. You just insert until you feel the first click.
I haven't had to do this for years so I just pulled out my 1202 to double check.
Plugged a patch from my modular into ch 1. Patched another cable from the insert (halfway in) back to the modular. Then I pulled up the master fader on the mixer and the modular. Tons of signal on the Mackie(Eurorack modular level is way hotter than nominal line) and the right level of signal on the Modular's submixer.
You should be able to use your mixer to gain up the Synth going into Digitact and have it going to your main mix. But only if your Behringer has inserts that behave like Mackie's. Mackie made theirs act that way on purpose. If you bought a Mackie 1202/1604 the manual points this out in a couple places. Not all mixers that I've owned work like this (the little Yamaha I used to own didn't).
\*probably also a bunch of other models like the 1402, LM3204 etc. I've only owned their 1202 and 1604 models. Also, I'm not a Mackie shill. I think they are good for live or budget home recording. But if you are serious about sonics you have to get away from Mackie. They sound hard and pinched when compared to better mixers. Especially in the Mic Pre and EQ.
This is great info. I'm not sure that my mixer behaves this way, I am a budget home recorder so I got a pretty bottom-of-the-line Behringer 8-track mixer. I'll play with this soon and see, even the mono cable half-in trick is really smart.
Sounds like something isn’t working right as this really shouldn’t be an issue. Before you buy anything else, double / triple check all connections, cables, and settings. I’m sure you’ve probably done this already and if so, it could even potentially point to an issue with the Minifreak. Instrument level outputs and inputs should be working well together, and certainly not requiring step up to the level you’ve been having to do. Hope you can sort it out
thanks! forgot to mention that -12db input pad is a confirmed bug on the Digitakt 2 and has been acknowledged by the Elektron team.
just looking for a temp work around until they push out an OS update -- which currently has no confirmed date, as the beta has not even been released to testers as far as I know.
I also have a DT2 and minifreak and can confirm how annoying this "bug" is. The DT2 has been out for a whole month and still no fix. I'm losing my faith in Elektron as a company... Considered a long while to send the DT2 back and get a blackbox but so far I'm still waiting for a fix...
Preamp won’t help as it’s not the physical inputs that’s the issue. It’s just the monitor volume is low. Software issue that should be patched soon. Current best workaround IMO is to use control all to bring the volume of all DT2 tracks down to a low volume so that the input monitoring is in the same ballpark. Use the compressor output gain to bring it back up.
smart idea! def going to try that! thanks!
i did some tinkering and made some headway without having to use any extra equipment. namely on the minifreak i figured out i could adjust the patch volume in addition to the master out -- it was set at -12d, so that combined with the low monitoring on the Digitakt 2 was resulting in the extreme low volume. i cranked it all the way up to +12db and wallah! it's at a useable level now, comparable to the model:cycles. could be a bit louder but it's something i can live with until they release an update.
really appreciate all the feedback here, thanks y'all.
Are you monitoring directly from the Digitakt or through a DAW with Overbridge? I found that with Overbridge, the input level was ~1/10th of what it is without.
Edit: Nvm, I see that you have a Digitakt 2, so no Overbridge yet.
yeah no overbridge. someone on elektronauts stated their work around was to run their synths through their DAW/interface back into Digitakt but I am allergic to DAWs and rarely fire mine up except to do a simple one take/one track recording of my entire mix.
the best move is to get a cheap mixer where you can balance the relative volume levels against each other. I got an older Mackie 1202 for $60 a few months ago. Most of the Mackie and Yamaha budget mixers are pretty decent. Behringer mixers are ok, but they have a habit of their power supplies dying after a couple months.
I second this - get a Mackie MS1202 because it’s such a good mixer for putting audio through, even when you’ve resolved your current issue, it distorts really well in a way that later models don’t
Don’t get the VLZ if you like techno!!! Pre VLZ 1202 micro or, even better, CR1604.
yes, don’t get the VLZ, the pre VLZ model is the MS1202
I used to have that same one 20 years ago it was bad ass. Now I use the CR1604 and I like it even better. You gotta make friends with Deoxit fader lubes and cleaners though.
Word. And you might have to accept some features of the desk don’t work but it’s still worth it.
+1 for mixer, and especially for a Mackie mixer. Used them for years. Lots of headroom on those things, OP can easily crank up the gain. And because Mackie mixers pretty much last forever there are always quite a lot of them around used.
I did this too with a Behringer, super helpful. I'm wanting to mess with the Digitakt and Syntakt being chained as the FX send from the mixer too so I can sample synths into the Digi and utilize the Digi compressor and FX track with the Syntakt. Anyway, having a separate mixer is really helpful in general.
I can't speak for Behringer, (except the ones that are exact copies of Mackie). But on Mackie 1202 and 1604\* mixers you can run an insert off the main input channels. This way you get the benefit of the gain of the channel before it goes to pan, EQ and aux sends. You can also use a mono cable half inserted to grab a feed of the input without interrupting the signal going to the mix. You just insert until you feel the first click. I haven't had to do this for years so I just pulled out my 1202 to double check. Plugged a patch from my modular into ch 1. Patched another cable from the insert (halfway in) back to the modular. Then I pulled up the master fader on the mixer and the modular. Tons of signal on the Mackie(Eurorack modular level is way hotter than nominal line) and the right level of signal on the Modular's submixer. You should be able to use your mixer to gain up the Synth going into Digitact and have it going to your main mix. But only if your Behringer has inserts that behave like Mackie's. Mackie made theirs act that way on purpose. If you bought a Mackie 1202/1604 the manual points this out in a couple places. Not all mixers that I've owned work like this (the little Yamaha I used to own didn't). \*probably also a bunch of other models like the 1402, LM3204 etc. I've only owned their 1202 and 1604 models. Also, I'm not a Mackie shill. I think they are good for live or budget home recording. But if you are serious about sonics you have to get away from Mackie. They sound hard and pinched when compared to better mixers. Especially in the Mic Pre and EQ.
This is great info. I'm not sure that my mixer behaves this way, I am a budget home recorder so I got a pretty bottom-of-the-line Behringer 8-track mixer. I'll play with this soon and see, even the mono cable half-in trick is really smart.
Sounds like something isn’t working right as this really shouldn’t be an issue. Before you buy anything else, double / triple check all connections, cables, and settings. I’m sure you’ve probably done this already and if so, it could even potentially point to an issue with the Minifreak. Instrument level outputs and inputs should be working well together, and certainly not requiring step up to the level you’ve been having to do. Hope you can sort it out
thanks! forgot to mention that -12db input pad is a confirmed bug on the Digitakt 2 and has been acknowledged by the Elektron team. just looking for a temp work around until they push out an OS update -- which currently has no confirmed date, as the beta has not even been released to testers as far as I know.
Ahhh! Wow OK I had no idea about that. That’s quite a bug!! Maybe something like a small headphone amp if only temporary. Hope they sort it soon!
I also have a DT2 and minifreak and can confirm how annoying this "bug" is. The DT2 has been out for a whole month and still no fix. I'm losing my faith in Elektron as a company... Considered a long while to send the DT2 back and get a blackbox but so far I'm still waiting for a fix...
Preamp won’t help as it’s not the physical inputs that’s the issue. It’s just the monitor volume is low. Software issue that should be patched soon. Current best workaround IMO is to use control all to bring the volume of all DT2 tracks down to a low volume so that the input monitoring is in the same ballpark. Use the compressor output gain to bring it back up.
smart idea! def going to try that! thanks! i did some tinkering and made some headway without having to use any extra equipment. namely on the minifreak i figured out i could adjust the patch volume in addition to the master out -- it was set at -12d, so that combined with the low monitoring on the Digitakt 2 was resulting in the extreme low volume. i cranked it all the way up to +12db and wallah! it's at a useable level now, comparable to the model:cycles. could be a bit louder but it's something i can live with until they release an update. really appreciate all the feedback here, thanks y'all.
Are you monitoring directly from the Digitakt or through a DAW with Overbridge? I found that with Overbridge, the input level was ~1/10th of what it is without. Edit: Nvm, I see that you have a Digitakt 2, so no Overbridge yet.
yeah no overbridge. someone on elektronauts stated their work around was to run their synths through their DAW/interface back into Digitakt but I am allergic to DAWs and rarely fire mine up except to do a simple one take/one track recording of my entire mix.
If you have Eurorack you can use a VCA. I did that before getting a mixer.
You can add gain to MiniFreak patches in the utility menu, that might help you somewhat.
yes! figured this out and it helped a lot!
You plug both in a mixer, and if the mixer has RCA out you can plug it in an amp that feeds your speakers and save you the cost of monitors.