Phonic Helix18 FireWire MKII 18-Channel Mixer

Steinberg Cubase LE digital audio workstation software is included.

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Phonic Helix Board 18 Universal 18-Channel Mixer

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The Helix Board 18 Universal is part of the new generation of USB / FireWire mixers from Phonic. The Universal mixer features a FireWire and USB interface that can individually stream up to 16 independent channels of audio to the computer and return two tracks for monitoring, all at screaming fast transfer rates of up to 24-bit/96 kHz with a zero latency. Pre/post switches on each input channel ensure users can adjust the outgoing USB/FireWire signal between a pre fader and post fader signal with the utmost of ease. Learn More...

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Phonic Helix18 FireWire MKII 18-Channel Mixer reviews

Rate and Review This Product:

10 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 7 out of 10

 

3 People wrote reviews

Read all Phonic Helix18 FireWire MKII 18-Channel Mixer reviews...
* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

Phonic Helix18FW MKII Customer Review

Feature:
does everything i need it to, easy to use. dont like cubse, mainly cause i dont know how to use it, i use magic studio 7

Quality:
shell is metal, great feeling of the faders and knobs. super quality!!!

Value:
similar systems were $200+ above this one cant beat it

Desirability:
its a mixer... sorry but i will say its lived up to my expectations and then some!

Sound:
i used to run sound for a small club and i used my mackie cfx20, we got this for the band to record demos and practice. great sound quality i can say i dont hear a difference bewteen the boards and mind you i paid over $1000 for the mackie when i got it new 10 years ago.

Ease of Use:
super simple! installed drivers and we were recording within 30mins!

Support:
havent used it, but im giving it a nine because the instruction manuel was very easy to read and figure out

Overall:
super great starter into both live sound and recording. ive used much more "sophisticated" equiptment for both and im loveing this machine. but this now!!!

Submitted: 3/20/2008

Style of Music: Metal, Hardcore, Punk Rock


8 of 8 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10 zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

"This is the mixer you want!"

Feature:
OK, so it doesn't light up like a Christmas Tree...what are you, five? This mixer gets the job done and there's plenty of channels for multi-tracking, and the firewire I/O is amazing. As for the included Steinberg Cubase, I personally tossed that aside and used Sonar 4.

Quality:
I've heard people cry and complain that the "Sliders" (they're called FADERS, folks) have a little side to side give. Stop your crying and realize that this is not a DigiDesign board with automated faders. The faders are meant to go up and down, a little side to side give means you're not going to snap the faders off with your clumsy sausage fingers, and the up and down motion is snug.

Value:
You can not beat this mixer for the price. As I said, if you don't want to toast your wallet, get this mixer. It's great for recording and for live sound.

Desirability:
I give it a ten because when I look at it, I don't see a bunch of crap that's going to take me hours of reading the manual and months of practical use to get the hang of. This is a workhorse, plain and simple.

Sound:
For a beginning studio without alot of cash to spend, this mixer sounds great! Of course more expensive boards are going to sound better, bhut this is beyond what I expected for the price.

Ease of Use:
Plug and play all the way! One snag that I had was not a problem with the board or the drivers, but a problem with either Vista, my PCMCIa card, or my Dell laptop's PCMCIA "special" slot. If you're trying to use this mixer with a laptop PC, you will probably have some issues unless it has a firewire port built in.

Support:
Haven't had to call them. Their website gets a bit wonky from time to time though.

Overall:
I'm extremely pleased with this mixer! If I had a time machine and could travel back in time to the moment I bought this, I would tell myself to definitely buy this mixer...and to stop slouching.

Submitted: 2/9/2008

Style of Music: Rock, acoustic, metal


18 of 20 people (90%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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About This Product!
Description
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From Our Catalog
The Helix Board 18 FireWire is part of the new generation of FireWire mixers from Phonic. The MKII mixer features a FireWire interface that can individually stream up to 16 independent channels of audio to the computer and return two tracks for monitoring, all at screaming fast transfer rates of up to 24-bit/96 kHz with a zero latency. Pre/post switches on each input channel ensure users can adjust the outgoing FireWire signal between a pre fader and post fader signal with the utmost of ease. An onboard 32/40-bit digital multi-effect processor provides 100 popular programs, tap-delay, test tones (pink noise, 1 kHz, etc) and foot switch jacks.

There are 8 extremely low noise Mic preamps, each with phantom power, spread across six mono Mic/Line channels with 75 Hz low cut filters, and four stereo Line channels. Each Mic channel has a 3-band EQ (six with swept mid), and two stereo channels have a 4-band EQ. A 10-band system graphic equalizer can be assigned to Main Outs or Aux 1. Stereo RCA inputs and outputs make the addition of digital and analog playback and recording devices effortless.

Features
96 kHz FireWire interface for streaming 16 independent channels of audio to computer with zero latency

FireWire Pre/post setting for swapping streaming input channels to computer from pre low cut, EQ to post EQ, post fader

100+Tap 32/40-bit high-definition digital multi-effects

SPDIF digital audio output

8 Mic preamps

Steinberg Cubase LE workstation software included

Additional features include three Aux sends, two stereo Aux returns, input and output solo, two true subgroups and a rack mounting kit. Steinberg Cubase LE digital audio workstation software included.

Technical Info

FireWire Pre/post setting for swapping streaming input channels to computer from pre low cut, EQ to post EQ, post fader

18-input small-format analog Mixer with extremely low noise circuitry

96kHz FireWire interface for streaming 16 independent channels of audio to computer with zero latency

2 channels of monitoring from computer via FireWire interface, can be assigned to control room monitors, main mix and aux1

Channel 15/16 routed to Computer can be selected from main mix, group 1/2 and aux 2/3

DFX, our 32/40-bit high definition algorithm digital multi-effect processor with 100 programs plus tap delay, foot switch jacks and volume controls for sending processed signal to aux send 1 & 2

Six Mic/Line channels with inserts

8 extremely low noise mic preamps

Four stereo Line channels

3-band EQ with swept mid-range

75 Hz low-cut filter on mono channels

Three AUX sends, one with Pre/Post switch

Two stereo AUX returns, one with effect to monitor level control

+48V phantom power on Mic channels

Solo feature on each input and output

Two true subgroups with main L and R routing switches

Built-in switching power supply with universal connector, 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz

Rack-mounting kit included

S/PDIF digital audio output

Compatible with Mac OSX and Windows XP

Steinberg Cubase LE included
6 mono, 4 stereo inputs. Stream 16 independent channels to computer. 40-bit FX processor.

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