LiveMix CS-DUO Digital Audio

Can musicians be trusted to mix their own monitors? If the system theyre using is as intuitive as this one, the answer might be yes.

Although the basic idea of personal monitoring has been around for a while, the method of delivery is becoming more flexible and sophisticated as more venues and performers turn to digital sound and all the added capability that comes with it. The Livemix system from Digital Audio Labs places control of monitor mixing firmly in the hands of the performers, and adds a few tweaks that most main mix consoles cant provide.

Before describing any physical or layout features of the CSDuo I should point out that it is actually two personal mixers built into a single unit, and is designed to be shared between two performers (or two groups of performers). It takes a single input (24 audio channels) from the Mix16 but has A and B outputs, each with full mixcontrol capability. This is an innovative and interesting approach, and has the obvious potential to halve the number of personal mixers and cables needed on stage, which not only keeps the stage tidy, but also means that you only need to purchase one mixer for every two performers, making Livemix an attractive option in terms of system cost.

The main functional ports (Ethernet from Mix16, and the Mix A and B analogue line outputs, which can be configured as stereo or balanced mono) are on the back panel, together with a footswitch jack and a USB port for updates. The two headphone outputs and an auxiliary stereo input appear on the front in the form of 3.5mm jacks. I can see that using 3.5mm headphone outputs gives greatest flexibility and compatibility with all types of headphones, but Id much prefer to see the larger and more robust standard 6.3mm connectors.

Condition 9/10