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M-Audio I/O
Okay
- so this model of M-Audio gear is now discontinued but as we
still use these in all of our productions - and as we have just
supplied one Pino Palladino (Jules Holland, Paul Young, BB King,
BeeGees) with a system based around this mixer along with the
Delta44, we think it is still worthwhile to let you all know
what an amazing little piece of kit this is.
I
know you can't wait for the verdict on the Omni so, I'll put you
out of your misery now by saying that I think the Omni I/O is
one amazing little box of tricks! How MIDI Man have managed to
pack so much bang per buck into a box not a lot larger than a
VHS tape goes to show just what planning,, design and
forethought has gone into this product. How am I going to
explain to MIDI Man UK that the review model they sent me has
been accidentally glued to my desk and cannot be returned? If
you own a Delta 44 or 66 - BUY ONE!
Before
My
setup uses the Delta 66 with it's own breakout box and a MIDI
Man Audio Buddy Mic/Line pre-amp which, while a good clean quiet
pre-amp, it's another box in the chain. All this was fed to an
external 10 channel mixer before being routed to a stereo amp
and speaker system for monitoring. That's three individual
pieces of kit needed to do what I am now going to do with just
one for this review.
After
Removal of yards of cable and three
intermediate devices, I instantly gained a system that was
quieter, cleaner and, way easier to use. And, all in a smaller
space.
Features Set
Essentially, the OMNI is pitched as a front end to the Delta
series of professional quality audio cards and so acts as a
replacement breakout box with an Audio Buddy built in but here -
the similarity ends. Altogether, what you have is ...
TWO
Mic/Inst plus 2 line level balanced/unbalanced analogue inputs
to the Delta 44 or Delta 66 soundcard. The two Mic/Inst inputs
are equipped with low impedance XLRs, phantom power, insert I/O
jacks, individual gain controls, gain reduction "pad" switch,
and signal/clip indicator LEDs. The low impedance mic inputs
provide 66dB of gain and utilize M Audio's ULTRA low noise DMP2
pre-amp technology. They are switchable to hi-impedance
instrument inputs with 46dB of gain, which makes them ideal for
electric/acoustic basses and guitars. Frequency response is
quoted as 10Hz to 200kHz although I didn't notice any reference
to +/- deviances on a curve plot but, it sure as heck sounds
ruler flat to me. It also boasts a low THD (total harmonic
distortion) of .0009%, and a dynamic range of 130dB. That's
pretty much a pro spec. Stereo effect returns are via 2.2 Mixing
Section (all balanced/unbalanced on TRS (tip, ring and sleeve)
jacks) and the Delta analogue outputs feed the Omni I/O's
ultra-quiet mixer. Additionally, stereo aux inputs are provided
for MIDI devices which are not being recorded and are known as
'virtual tracks' as well as 1 stereo effects return. The 4 Delta
analogue outputs can be used simultaneously as independent
balanced/unbalanced direct outputs and/or additional effects
sends, alternate mix outputs, or simply as feeds to another
mixer. Stereo Aux inputs 1 and 2 are routable to the line inputs
for quick and easy audio recording of MIDI instruments or other
device outputs. By the way - the XLR mic inputs are Neutrik dual
function connectors which can accept a male XLR or a 1/4" TSR
plug.
Finally, there is a Mix out L&R for recording to a mix down deck
(dat, mini disc, cassette etc.), 'Control room' L&R outputs with
totally independent level control for overall monitoring of
everything coming in and going out of the OMNI. There are also
two headphone outputs with their own individual level controls,
one mono effect send per Delta channel and L/R output
signal/clip LEDs which flicker in green for signal presence or
red for when signals reach clipping. The whole kit n kaboodle is
housed in a tough metal case and is powered by an external 9
volt AC 500 milliamp supply. A very thoughtful touch is that the
top of the OMNI's box has pretty pictures on it of all input and
output connections as well as a signal flow chart for easy
reference. The omission of many more controls such as auxiliary
return or effects return levels makes sense as most outboard
effects devices have their own input, output and mix controls
thus, replication of these controls has been avoided saving yet
more space.
Topology
The
OMIN I/O is not immediately intuitive until you start getting
familiar with the layout of the controls and connections and,
where and how everything fits in. The problem with me (and
others like me) us that I usually go enthusiastically head first
into these things and only refer to the documentation when I hit
white water but, a quick glance at the manual soon clears things
up. The first thing you are likely to notice is that it is
QUIET. You really have to crank your amp and speakers up to hear
any noise and if you do hear any - it is more likely to be
coming from your amp than the OMNI! The thing is just ultra
clean - cleaner than a lot of mixers I have worked on that cost
5 to 7 times more!
In
Use
My
setup consists of a PC running Steinberg's Cubase VST. There's
the Delta 66 PCI audio card which connects via a multi pin
connector to the OMNI, a Roland SC8850 module, a Shure sm58
dynamic microphone, and an Alesis NanoCompressor - the last item
being used carefully on the channel 1 & 2 inserts to help
regulate the signal peak on the way to hard disk as overdriving
a digital signal is not as forgiving on the ears as an analogue
signal gently compressing as it saturates on media like tape.
You can get away without a compressor but I personally prefer to
control the dynamic range of my signals just a bit while
recording as it makes life far easier at mix down. The only bit
you may find a bit tricky when you're new to all this stuff is
setting VST's recording options, the Delta's ASIO setup and
other bits but once these issues are sorted, you can then start
to enjoy and appreciate the OMNI whilst you lay down guide
vocals, overdub background vocals, adding live guitars or sax
parts - all the normal things one does with a larger mixer and
mutitrack combination - but, in a fraction of the space. Desktop
digital recording has well and truly arrived. Yes - it would be
nice to have a built-in compressor/limiter/noise gate, sweepable
eq, etc. but this would obviously make the unit bigger and not
so cute and the price would probably treble as these items don't
come cheap - especially in something as compact as the OMNI. I
know I've missed a thing or two. That is surely a sign that the
OMNI - despite it's micro size, has so much to offer - even to
the seasoned pro used to working on larger and more expensive
equipment. I personally don't need anything more in the mixing
department with the OMNI. It also handled the use of external
devices like reverbs and chorus units as well as any mixer I've
used. Given the low retail price and, the facilities that this
little beast offers in such a small box - I'd have to give the
MIDI Man OMNI I/O 14 out of 10! Incidentally - 14 is the number
of channels this mixer can provide as you can connect so much
into and out of it with very little re-patching.
The OMNI is primarily available as a bundle called the
OMNI-STUDIO where you get the I/O plus the Delta 66. At the very
least - you have to see one of these in use and scratch your
head as you wonder to yourself - "can I really do all that with
this little box?" The answer is most definitely YES!
More
information from
MIDI Man
J.R.O.
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