All user reviews for the Phonic Helix Board 18 FireWire

I will not dwell on the characteristics given that my colleagues in great detail

UTILIZATION

this mixer is what we ask the facility for firewire and very easy and drivers don 'have never dropped in XP

SOUNDS

the sound is neutral however forget the EQ
breath I do not know I do not amplifies sound I 'm that serve home-studio

OVERALL OPINION

I have 4 years I 'd before that a roland digital but I' ve not tried the other model I don 't use it for my songs, never live
that which I love most in this table that is its strength, we can say that we want, but I have used more expensive products that m 'is released after 2 years and yet it moves almost all more days my cat (again) s' relief over
for a few months tranches (the poor) gave no and then she is given to work
I can swing virtual instruments in his ASIO, do twenty track no problem turning it does not flinch
I am very happy to be across a seller who m 'proposed model for the budget which I never had I don' have been able to pay me a firewire with the number of entries in what is commonly available everywhere
I do not understand, moreover, that the big names do not offer this product, do like the color laser printers ever present in the store, it would make you hurt the competition?
I use that is the home studio I am using or EQ or effects, or subgroups, or pre-amp because it's the gadget and that I have what it takes already
it's just a matter of FAST and it's there that his strong point:
when you have 6 synths connected to it that you play the guitar, bass and you sing and you want to recover the signal of each, you don 'have that to choose your recording software entry you want and there ... you win forever
since I have, I spend almost four times faster on my components and enterprise of its bounce and too bad for those who want to use a pro I think we know what we want in life and propose a specific table for each user: composer for hackers like me this kind of table is quite what to
after I do not ask her to do that though coffee prices ....

The Phonic Helix 18 is a 14 channel mixer that will work with Windows computers running XP service pack 1 and service pack 2 and even Vista computers in 32 and 64 bit. You will just need to have a faster processor for it to work perfectly. These specs are very important with this interface because there are some driver issues and compatibility issues that can come about.

UTILIZATION

Setting up this interface is quick and easy, it does come with a manual that is easy to follow and understand. This unit is not rackable and does require wall power. You can connect this to you computer via USB or Firewire, but I prefer Firewire because it was a faster and more reliable connection for me on my Windows computer.

SOUNDS

There are over 100 programs and internal effects processing in this mixer and you can even expand it with daisy chaining 2 of these together to expand. You can use this with a Mac computer and form my personal experience it will work with just about any Mac running 10.0 or higher OS X. There are no MIDI ports on this unit but you can record up to 16 tracks at the same time. This interface is perfect for a larger set up, possibly to record live instruments with for a band or group. This mixer has never given us any problems out of the dozen or so times that we have used it.

OVERALL OPINION

Being that this interface has great preamps and over all sound, the distortion is also very low. I recommend all home studio musicians who want to record a lot of tracks at the same time get this. It is very affordable for the specs that it has. Even DJ’s will love this mixer and it is should cost more than what it does. It is very powerful and versatile.

See previous reviews, but I note it anyway:
- The 10-band equalizer that helps out live
- The parametric mid essential for every
- Two FireWire ports
- An effects processor that also helps out
- 14 + channels in simultaneous hand, although the répets to work.
The whole is relatively robust; metal knobs with plastic rather solid, only the faders have a little lateral play, but still enjoyable.

UTILIZATION

To use it is pretty simple; you can easily find its bearings, except maybe the routing of the room rtn ctrl and firewire which is not very clear at the beginning.
Another point: the switches have a white part that can quickly view their position, but as the table is light gray is not always that simple, and sometimes you have to look twice. Another color would be more readable.
I use it in win7 64bit. Well it works but it's not that simple. You must install the drivers from another helix board, because it seems to me that not mkII version is no longer supported. Once the drivers installed (Phonic_HB_FF_1394, it seems), the only persistent problem is that the table is not detected if the computer was turned off with it. We must then leave the phonic control panel and restart.
In the softs no problems. 6ms latency (4ms min) but with an exemplary stability, I never had any plays or other in my memory.

SOUNDS

Nothing special in sound, at this price it fulfilled its function completely in a home studio or répets / concerts.
It should be noted that against the ventilation is audible. The headphone that does not interfere, nor live. But for shooting sounds "def" near the console is dead. You need at least one panel. I make models with 50cm table, in the mix means nothing, so that nuisance will depend on use.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had about 4/5ans and, well, well it filled its purpose. I rather regret, in retrospect, not having bought the universal version (more expensive) with usb and more, because there is more instability problems there were at that time . So I need a pc with firewire, which is scarce (not counting on the arrival of usb3).

<ul>
Mixer Firewire rack.
6 mono channels with XLR / Jack, insertion effects, including strips 3 medium legalization semi parameter.
2-Way Mono / Stereo with XLR / jack, 3 band legalization.
2-Way Stereo Jack, 4-band legalization.
Two subgroups.
3 dparts of which an auxiliary to the multi purpose.
2 auxiliary returns.
A 24-bit multi-effects.
A "Control Room".
Power fantme 48 V.
A graphic equalizer 10 band.
FireWire (IEEE1394) 16 output / 2 inputs, 24 bits / 96 KHz.
Supplied with Cubase LE.
</ul>
More information about the [https://www.phonic.com/partner/modules/product_explor/products_detail.php?product_id=139]

UTILIZATION

This table is fairly easy to use for hand made auxillaires and multi purpose.
You should know that the effect of multi rglage gnral is assigned to "AUX2" while on the tracks is "AUX3" (???).
The installation of the software and drivers is fairly simple. However, it is to follow the procedure indicated in the manual.

SOUNDS

Premire uses for that I made this table seems to be good quality. The rglages are effective and the breath of the table it is not even noticeable.
The recording via firewire is of good quality. I'm just happy with paramtres 24 bits / 48 KHz.

OVERALL OPINION

I have been using less than a week and I am satisfied with the trs firewire functionality that can record 16 tracks simultaneously. The Helix Board gathers in a same device, a mixer and a good quality sound card 16-track 24-bit / 96 kHz for a price just fine. The latency is hardly noticeable making it possible to use direct effects of Cubase VST. It should be good enough sr and a computer for recording 16 tracks simultaneously, a fast hard disk.
Only complaint: the version of Cubase LE does not record more than 4 tracks simultaneously (the update to Cubase SL rated at about 250). We must therefore use other software for full functionality. This particular feature is not in the documentation prcise prsentation. For my part I use a free program, which has many features not sr Cubase, KRISTAL Audio Engine VST and ASIO website [http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/]
Positive: two types of drivers are provided, ASIO and WDM.

Features:
16 track mixing desk with eight XLR. Only lanes 1 to 8 have a gain trim setting ...
The 16 tracks are not really 16 because it has a stereo track for two. That said, all manufacturers in this range do this for marketing.
XLR connectors but not everywhere
48V phantom power (usually a switch)
Parametric EQ (sweep frequency mid)
Integrated effects of very average bill
24-bit/96kHz sampling
Not automated
And the (only) strength: FireWire allows 16 tracks to rock to the computer.

I put an 8 / 10 for Characteristics as they are attractive on paper.

UTILIZATION

The drivers are stable, the installation is done quickly.
I use it for two or three years on Nuendo in a "home studio", and directly on the sound system for live and rehearsals.
Manual: not really need. Some subtleties are taken into account with the buttons to assign firewire hand / to the. You just have to be careful that we pressed the right button when there was no sound rather than reviewing all the connections (I smell a story)
The exit to the Phones are not clearly written on the table, again, a bad point.

I put a 6 / 10 due to the use of returns headphones, trim gains as missing, and two to three buttons that we forget too easily.

SOUNDS

And that's where the bottom lies.
The preamps are absolutely horrible to be polite! The sound is flat, ugly, no life. We do not even understand what the singer tells! It does almost nothing is to buy a SM58 is too upscale for this console. (And say that my singer uses a Sennheiser 865S)
The effects are also to be avoided, they do not look like much.
The équalos, which is either -12 or +12, you do not feel the difference easily enough.
The rest of my gear is not to question: I had the opportunity to replace a Mackie Phonic by the rest of my stuff in Live, and there was a real sound.

I put 2 / 10 ... because I'm nice.

OVERALL OPINION

I bought this table because it was the cheapest of FireWire with many tracks (need 8 XLR phantom power for the drum recordings) by reading the features but without the try / listen. I made a big mistake that I regret bitterly.
At the same time at this price, you can not have a good ADC preamp + good + good + good equalos effects. Here we are served, there was none of the four.
So for value for money, it loses as there is no quality: money thrown out the window.
If I had to buy it? Definitely not. I turned instead on a Mackie Onyx 1640 or even better (but more expensive) an Allen & Heath ZED R-16.
That said, Allen did not exist when I purchased the Phonic. And even though I would have the money for Allen, I think I would add a preamp TL Audio 5050 for vocals and acoustic instruments ... (Why settle for good when you can strive for excellence)

I put 2 / 10 because the sound quality ruins everything on this table that presents yet, on paper, features quite honorable.