Hello,
MixSat is contraction of "mixer with satellite" referring to the 2 channels where you can load filters and modulate them.
It could be confused with saturation because the first version had an automatable EQ which actually poroduced saturation. Some people liked that saturation and said the SAT was referring to saturation, which was OK with me. But in the new version, I removed the EQs and it can't refer to saturation anymore (i removed the eq, to make the audio circuit load on 1 dsp (the mixer loads on 1.5 dsp or less).
I began doing mixers long ago, when i discovered something bad with other mixers, and this bad thing happened on a very important recording with someone famous (actually he became famous 1 year after, when his record got produced by peter gabriel) and is due to that particular mixer and it happen in a aleatory way and i can't tell why myself : so it was, and will remain ever after : never again.
That's why i make (and use) my own mixers, because i build them specifically to avoid this issue (point 1).
2. MixSat project answers an additional request: being able to assign CCs and have them to remain assign EVEN when the project is closed and reloaded: as you may have noticed , by default , this is not necessarily the case with devices, including some SpaceF devices : the problem is that CCs remain asigned, but the control doesn't work; you have to unassigned and reassign CCs which is twice the work and the annoyance. So MixSat was to go beyong that. What you assign will remain assigned whatever happens. and this had to be extended to most controls (99% in fact, including things like page changes and other things less common in general: what is not controllable is the loading/selecting/unloading of insert effects).
So you assign the CCs once, save a project, and the CCs will be back and working fine whenever you reload that project (** digression: i began this with DXD, which has already assigned most of the 119 ccs numbers available as soon as you load it, a bit like in Noah. But why would you like my way of assigning CCs. I abandonned this to leave it to each user to make his own CC assignments, rather than trying to change mine which may be totally wrong with another user).
3. of course, and that's how i do it since the Omix and STS mixers in 2000 (or so), it had to have STEREO AUX SENDS as we are dealing with Scope which is a software where it is more easy to "dual-mono-ize" a stereo channel than the contrary (using dual-mono inserts for example. For MixSat C2, such a module exists (it is called "S2M": ie, stereo to mono and works like an insert, with midi nd presets aetc). Having stsreo aux sends allows to use stereo effects straight away and mono if you want (rather than the contrary).
There are other details too, one of them is the absolute request (from my part) to minimize the number of connection from the input to the master. This is why you have only 1 insert slot per channel, and 1 gain (as opposed to 2 gain controls as found in most mixers).
Good surprise: after I made the MixSat, I realized that it fitted perfectly on a BCR2000 or Mackie rotary control. It allows a very convenient layout for the main controls. It was not specifically made for those controllers, but it was a good surprise.
You are right that there is no up to date info on MixSat C2 "b" (which is pictured somewhere in this thread, look above). You can have a litle bit more info here on the old pages:
http://www.spacef-devices.com/BlackBox/ ... t-main.htm
The FP mixers add the possibility to link/unlink mono channels gain (and a variation also allows to link/unlink mono inserts). Nothing special except that it is built to the same "spacef midi standard" (ie, midi cc assignment survice swxitching SFP on/off). The FP mixers actually come from a custom mixer (the FAT BASTARD (a tribute to a famous sentence by someone very famous here) or FB 5 as you may have heard, which include a Valve emulation on every channels, hardwired, not an insert).
The valve at the begining, was designed to produce a drive, but it derived into something that does more than just this. And I think it works fine (you can produce a fine drive if you want, with normalized sound source (ie, something with peaks between -6 and 0dB). Pleasently enough, it can be used on already mastered tracks, and will add a lot of gain without sounding too compressed. Myself I have become an addict of this and there is nothing i can't listen anymore without the that "valve" effect (in fact, I don't think tubes are fat, i think tubes can be fat, and that you can get the fat out of the drive, just like with butter
. For example, you know that - for example - the best companion of a Tube microphone is not a tube preamp. I kind of agree with this. It keeps the original drive "more pure" (is "purer" an english word? lol).
The FP mixers (the "current lightest", the FP8 which is pictured on my site's frontpage, takes a bit less than 3 dsps, or less, i have to check again to be precise) also adress people who actually use their daws as a main mixing/grouping "device", and Scope as a final group mixing , which i personally find the best method for everything using compression. Also, in comparison to MixSat C2, all channels can receive either classic mono/stereo effects or FIlters that can be modulated. Modulated filters can also be used in stereo channels with a special insert). In comparison to the FB 5, the FP mixer doesn't have the FAT on every channel, but an insert instead. It allows to save 5 dsp on this 6/8/3 mixer.
Wow, I just realize I have written a lot. I hope it answers the question or shed some light on what it different in those mixers.
Sorry if I sound radical sometimes, but that's just the philosophy used in those devices and as you can see, it blows the classic rules away (for me mono aux is not because "that's how they make it" it is more probably because traditionally, effects were more often mono than stereo until quite recently).
By the way, if someone want a demo of FAT or the FP8 mixer, please email/PM me and I will take care of this quickly. Otherwise, it may take more time because i am making some audio work for another company and it takes time too (+ no news from....so...).
Many thanks for reading; if you arrived here, congratulations
here is a picture for you :
