Ivo Sotirov Tests the Tube Summing Mixer (Musixon)
- 15.05.2020
- Julian Moreth
- TSM
Music producer, recording & mixing engineer Ivo Sotirov has written a detailed review of our Tube Summing Mixer (TSM).
His review is not only covering analog summing. In two months of extensive testing, he also came across some alternative applications for our TSM.
Especially the combination of TSM and Creme took Ivo's fancy.
What Ivo Sotirov Writes About the Tube Summing Mixer
"Those tubes also make the top-end slightly sweeter than otherwise with a kind of smoothness often associated with valves." – Ivo Sotirov, Musixon, March 2020
"My favourite combo though is the TSM sitting just after the Creme. In that case, the low end feels slightly larger and rounder, while the valves of the TSM smooth out all the unnecessary harshness in the high-end." – Ivo Sotirov, Musixon, March 2020
"The TSM is a subtle processor that's perfect for anybody trying to get their hands on an affordable transformer/valve mojo-maker." – Ivo Sotirov, Musixon, March 2020
Tube Summing Mixer plus Bus Compressor: Why TSM and Creme Go Together
The combination Ivo liked is the classic division of labor at the end of a mix. The Tube Summing Mixer does the summing: 2×20 channels come out of the DAW, are combined in the mix stages built from tubes and transformers, and leave the unit as a stereo sum – open, defined and warm, without the TSM having any settings you would need to recall (just a stepped output switch in -3 dB increments). The Creme then processes that sum: an SSL-style VCA bus compressor that pulls the mix together, plus a passive Pultec-style equalizer with a bass boost between 20 and 200 Hz and a high boost up to 24 kHz – every value on a switch, so the setting stays reproducible. The alternative applications Ivo came up with beyond that are in his review.
What the Tube Summing Mixer Is
The TSM puts the summing section of an analog console into 2U: 2×16 balanced inputs on four sub-D connectors in Tascam layout, 2×4 on stereo TRS jacks, an active tube and transformer output stage, a mix bus up to +22 dBu, frequency response from 20 Hz to 40 kHz, 110 dB dynamic range. Mono signals go into the lower TRS jack of a channel pair and automatically land in the phantom center; several TSMs can be cascaded. What analog summing adds to a mix is explained by David Vignola in his video and Amazona.de in its review.
But don't take our word for it. Read the whole review here on Musixon.
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Learn more about the Tube Summing Mixer
Related: Amazona.de Reviews the TSM Analog Summing Mixer · What Does Analog Summing Add? TSM Video Review · Mixing and Mastering with a Little Creme
