Producer’s SkilL: Moving On

Producer’s SkilL: Moving On

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14 NOVEMBER 2021

written by Mike

PRODUCER’S SKILL:

MOVING ON

Draft 1, draft 2, draft 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! Does it ring a bell?

Most people who work in creative industries ask the question – is this version good enough to release? 

Or should I spend a little more time on it?

Podcasting is no different. Even with the simplest podcasts, there is always something to adjust.

A little cut there, edit here, a bit of noise to clean up.

And while you do that, it feels like working, like you are doing something.

However, I would argue that after a certain point, the extra work is often counterproductive.

The question is, where is that point?

The answer is – it depends if you are an amateur or professional.

And let me make a distinction between the two. I’m not talking about skill, experience or knowledge.

When I say amateur, I mean a person creating the work for themselves, for free, or trying to start and work on a portfolio.

They can even make money from it, but it’s a side hustle, a little extra cash.

A Professional is someone who is working a job, and the work pays the bills. It is the primary source of income. So when someones ask – what do you do for a living? It is mainly that.

Before my first proper audio job – and I did small jobs here and there – I was an amateur.

I had no deadlines, pressures or incentives to finish the project. I could work on them till the end of the day.

Of course, the fear of being judged by others also played a part in that.

However, it was my job at the movie studio that opened my eyes to how professionals work.

And it was nothing like I ever expected!

Various documentaries, movies, and social media make us believe that we can sit in front of our piano, drawing board, or whatever, then wait until creative inspiration comes.

The magic happens, everyone comes in with incredible ideas, and the final product will bring us fame and fortune.

Maybe that was the case in the past when there were like two bands – Beatles, Rollings Stones – and everyone listened to them.

Today, content is king. And that means quality and quantity!

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Don’t get me wrong, and I still believe that quality wins over quantity. However, the overall winner will be someone who can do quality content with and release often.

That’s not easy.

Back to my job at the studio.

We worked on big projects, big blockbusting movies.

Before joining the team, I always thought that this kind of high profile work would be very organised, creative and magical.

When I look back at that time, there was magic to it, no doubt about it.

However, it was far from what I expected.

Chaos, stress, strict deadlines and last-minute changes were our everyday bread.

You couldn’t stop and spend hours on one tiny thing when you had a thousand other things to do – and the deadline? Yesterday morning!

I remember when I was unsure about something, I asked my boss – highly respected head of the sound mix department and one of the most brilliant people I knew. 

He said to me

‘If it sounds good, then it is good!’

Because it wasn’t just him working on the project. It was hundreds of people, and what it counted was to get the results before the deadline. 

As good as possible, of course, but still, it was a job to finish.

I took that advice and applied it to many things in my life – podcasts, of course, being the one.

When you produce podcasts as a job, it is not just you and your standards that matter. There is a team of people as well as listeners who expect the job to finish. The fact you would like to spend more time on the project doesn’t matter. The intention does not matter.

What matters is the final result.

If you’d ask me to listen to my old work – be it older episodes or projects I have done. I would cringe thinking, ‘how on Earth could I release it. I could make it so much better now!’

Yes, now. With more knowledge and experience.

But at that time, I did the best job I could do and moved on.

That’s the point. 

It is a point when you have done the best you could and know it is time to move on.

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I worked on an episode and finished it 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time, and it is just sitting there.

Do I go back and tinker? Adjust more? Perfect the mix?

No.

I know I’ve done the best job I could according to my schedule and deadlines, and I have to move on and get on to the next thing. Otherwise, I will never finish.

Or there was a different situation some time ago when I worked on a project with a deadline in mind.

It was stressful, I was doing all the production and music, and there were many fixes, drafts and re-does on the way. In addition, I was working morning to evening every day.

Then finally, we finished it! The last draft was ticked off.

However, then the deadline was moved by three weeks! This meant that suddenly, with my time to spare, I had extra four weeks!

Did I go back and start re-doing stuff, remixing or re-working my music?

No.

I’ve done the best I could at that moment, and even though I knew I could spend more time on it and tinker and adjust and improve, I didn’t go back.

It was time to move on,

I think you understand what I’m trying to say. 

When you work in the creative industry, your thinking and approach change.

It’s not about being a perfectionist and working on the project forever. It’s about doing the best you can, given the expectations, deadlines, budgets, limitations and thousands of other things you must consider.

It is the only way to stay sane and healthy. 

And don’t get me wrong. I want to go back; I want to improve these projects and make them better.

In my heart, I am still a perfectionist, but I counter it with realism and what is expected.

I do try to go above the expectations whenever I can, but I know where to stop.

The art of moving on is counterintuitive and extremely difficult, but in my opinion, it is the way to long and healthy success.

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Social Media & Podcasts

Social Media & Podcasts

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24 JULY 2021

written by Mike

SOCIAL MEDIA

& PODCASTS

I’m going to skip explaining what social media is and what platforms are available for podcasters.

It is safe to say that you are aware of what is happening out there, plus these platforms tend to change every few years.

What I’d like to do instead is to ask a couple of questions.

Do you need social media channels for your podcast, and if yes, which ones?

You may (or may not) be a podcast listener, and if you are, then no doubt you have a few favourite shows. 

When you want to find out more about a podcast, you either visit their website or a social media channel.

Here is how things get tricky.

Some shows have friendly websites and several social media channels (with a substantial following); other shows don’t have either!

No website, no Facebook, No Insta!

What is the deal here?

Before we move forward with the answers, remember that I’m speculating. I didn’t actually do any in-depth research, and I write these blogs for fun (and out of boredom, I guess).

Now that we got that out of the way let’s proceed.

For some podcasters, it makes sense to have an active social media channel; for others, it doesn’t. So there it is, the secret answer.

Podcasting is difficult – it takes time to write, record and produce a podcast episode. On top of that, you have to think about audio production, gear, podcast hosting and uploading the content.

With all of that, taking on social media may be detrimental to your show, as it will take time from the actual work on the podcast!

Of course, it all depends on the type of show that you want to do. If it’s something like Casefile, a continuous show, then social media makes sense.

You want to stay in touch with listeners and promote new (weekly) episodes.

However, suppose your show is a limited series with 8 or ten episodes. In that case, social media won’t be as critical – it can still be but in a different way.

Let’s say you are planning a second season. Then, keeping your social media presence alive makes sense.

However, if you are done after one series, then think about it. Will you keep posting content a year from now? Two years?

Unless, you as a producer, have your own social media account where you promote the show.

Or you have the whole network, with multiple projects going.

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As you can see, this is a bit more complicated than everybody thinks.

You also have to think about the actual content. What do you want to produce, and which platform is the most suitable for your ideas?

Looking at Casefile again, our host is anonymous, so Insta or Snapchat stories don’t make much sense. Not in a ‘classic’ mind anyway.

But if I was to start a Mike Migas podcast, then posting stories and vlogging would be much more suitable.

Then, think about what kind of content you want to post.

It would be a good idea that the social channels match the podcast. For example, if you run a financial podcast and then on social channels post videos of your dog, it doesn’t make sense for the listeners to follow you there unless there is an established connection.

A piece of content can either help or hurt your brand. Think about that!

The messaging should be consistent over all of the active channels.

It is a good idea that the feel of the social media content matches the actual feel of the podcast. So, for example, a serious show about murders posting funny images will be a mismatch.

Also, every platform is slightly different and will require a different look and content – some are all about videos, Twitter all about short messages, Insta about pictures, etc.

As you can see, at first, we may think that social media should be a no-brainer when starting a podcast. However, only after you realise how much work goes into that, you may want to stop and think if it is really worth it.

With Casefile, we didn’t really have a social media presence initially. It took us months to slowly get into the groove of things, and it is only recently that we have a cohesive strategy for that.

Your priority should be your podcast, so don’t spread yourself too thin with other channels, especially if it’s just you or two people.

Start with one or two and stick to it, and as you grow, you and when you start are getting ahead, then think of adding extra channels of communication.

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The good thing about social media is that you get direct and instant feedback, and this can be extremely useful at the beginning.

However, and this is only my opinion, the longer you do it and develop your podcasting style, social media can become a distraction.

Especially when you get a bit of traction – you start attracting trolls and negative, borderline abusive comments.

Personally, I’m not a fan of social media. I keep the apps off my phone, and I don’t use the networks for my own profile. However, I keep them for professional use.

When it comes to social media comments, we are fortunate enough to have people that moderate them. So I tend to check the initial feedback after releasing an episode – maybe for a day or two.

But then I stop and never look at them again.

One negative comment out of 100 can still affect me, even after a few years of dealing with that. Therefore I would rather not see them at all!

So bear that in mind as well when starting to post and engage on social channels!

It feels like it’s necessary to be everywhere at all times; the FOMO is real. 

However, I’d argue that we should stick to things that feel authentic and not bother what other people think or say.

The important thing is to have fun and enjoy the creative process. If you can manage that, I think that’s already a success.

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How to grow a podcast

How to grow a podcast

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17 APRIL 2021

written by Mike

HOW TO

GROW A PODCAST

After over five years of working in the podcasting space, we grew our main show Casefile to hundreds of millions of downloads and consistently feature on top of the charts. We also successfully launched several podcasts under Casefile Presents umbrella and hopefully continue to do so for a long time.

Exact success is never replicable because there are too many variables to copy. However, there are a few general rules that I think can help in achieving long term success. At least they worked for us.

I want to go through 3 of them and break them down further.

CONTENT

Content is and always will be the king. Podcasting is no different, and the content will always win in the long run. I want to discuss what I think is relevant to podcasts.

The first one is the voice. Podcasting is all about the audio and developing the connection through sound. And just like with radio the host or hosts’ voice is crucial.

The voice needs to be likeable, easy to listen to, soothing or fun, or dramatic – there are many angles to it. However, no matter the style, people have to like the voice and want to listen to it, sometimes for hours.

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The second part is storytelling. The most important part of the whole podcasting thing is the story – the rest supports this centrepiece. The voice, the production, the team – everything exist to help the story. 

It could be a comedy story, a true crime, fiction, an interview with guests, a chat show – whatever. However, there needs to be a point to the episode, a narrative and a timeline of what’s going on.

If it’s just two buddies talking about nothing, then it won’t be easy to keep the listener interested.

The story needs to grab from the beginning and hold the listener until the end. Don’t take anybody’s time for granted – it is our most precious resource.

And the third one is consistency. There are so many channels and platforms that a person who clicks on your show needs to know why they are here and what they will listen to. If you want to talk about true crime in one episode and then comment on movies in another and games in the third it will be pretty challenging to build a dedicated audience.

Big personalities or celebrities are exemptions to the rule and people tune in just to hear them talking about whatever.

However, for most of us, consistency will be the key to growth and developing a listenership.

Let’s now talk about

AUDIO QUALITY

Podcasting is all about sound. There seems to be an opinion, at least in some corners, that podcasting is easy – you record, upload and people will listen to whatever.

Now ask yourself this: 

Why would you spend your time listening or watching or reading some poorly produced thing?

There are plenty of good quality pieces of art or content that the bad ones don’t deserve anyone’s attention.

Now, don’t get me wrong – the story will always win. If you have the most expensive show with a bad story, the production quality won’t save you.

But if you have a great story with so and so audio quality, you can still get people interested.

However, to scale up and win in the long run you need both – great stories and great quality.

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Let’s start with recording.

Ideally, you have a nice microphone and a quiet set up. You also keep it in the same position and always use the same settings. It’s worth reading and watching basic recording tutorials and techniques. The way you speak to the microphone matters but the choice of the microphone matters even more! You don’t need a professional studio or a microphone worth thousands of pounds, but don’t think you can get away with a $20 one.

The second step is production. Audio production is not easy. The basics are not super difficult either but don’t think you can record and upload. 

What about editing, the volume levels, EQa and compression? 

You want your listeners to understand at least what is being said. If you want to add music on top of the dialogues, then at least you need basic mixing techniques.

You don’t need an expensive set up as everything can be done on your computer with a nice pair of headphones.

But production takes time and it’s slow work, so many people just skim it.

You wouldn’t believe the number of expensive shoes that I check and think to myself – did no one listened to this before the release? 

And that leads to my last point and that is consistency. As you learn you will upgrade your set up and make your show sound better but you should always strive for consistency. In volume levels, in recording settings, in your production template.

You want the listener to go from one episode to the next seamlessly and you don’t want them to adjust the volume during listening. You want people to have a smooth listening experience every time they click play!

TEAMWORK

The third leg of podcasting success, in my opinion, is teamwork. To grow and sustain a popular show, you will need a team of people who will support you and work together on bringing the episodes out.

It’s easy to start alone, but it’s rare, and I would argue, impossible, to achieve something great by yourself. 

A dedicated team of people makes it easier when times get tough.

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To have the right team, you got to have the right people – but once you gather them around your show, you also need to work on the team from within.

One is feedback – there needs to be an open feedback platform to give their opinion – good and bad. Feedback needs to be discussed by the rest, and if necessary, the changes implemented straight away. When team members feel like they don’t have a voice, they will grow in resentment and sabotage everything from the centre: feedback, even most trivial, needs to be heard.

The same goes for ideas. To stop growing is to die. You have to keep moving, keep experimenting to some degree and try out new things. It’s a fine balance between doing what is working and still improving and evolving. It doesn’t matter if a person is a senior or new to the team – ideas just like feedback need to be heard and discussed calmly.

Some will be good, some will be bad but don’t even think you found a winning formula and can now coast and relax. The thing that is winning at this moment may not be the best strategy in the future. Keep the team talking and brainstorming, and don’t criticise anyone for their ideas.

The last thing when it comes to right teamwork is dedication. You want people to care about the show and their work. To do so you need to learn what motivates each individual as it won’t be the same. For some is money, for others, flexibility and freedom, someone else thrives on getting the credit and so on. Once you discover the right incentive it will be much easier to get people pumped up to care about the work. Personally, I think that money is only the first and most obvious one, but once that is covered you still need to dig deeper and discover the why.

Those are the three elements that I think are needed for a successful podcast. However, there is something else that I value, and it is necessary to talk about.

LUCK

I’m a big proponent of randomness and luck. I do agree with the saying – the harder you work, the luckier you get. However, most of the things are outside of our control and are driven by random events. You can have the best team, work hard, produce awesome content – and still, no luck.

Or you can start a podcast from your bedroom and straight away grow and gain a huge audience.

Sometimes we get lucky or unlucky, and remembering that, in my opinion, will keep you humble.

Because if you do get success and attribute some of it to luck – you know that you shouldn’t be boasting or thinking you are the best in the world.

Same if you get unlucky even though you worked hard – it doesn’t mean you suck, it doesn’t mean you are stupid, it just means that this time it didn’t work out.

As the ancient saying goes, sometimes Lady Luck gives, sometimes she takes it away!

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FetHead Gain Booster for SM7B

FetHead Gain Booster for SM7B

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22 MARCH 2021

written by Mike

FetHead Gain Booster

for SM7B

Beginner podcasters are best off with a simple USB microphone. One that you connect to your computer and are ready to go.

That’s not just my opinion; many people who were starting their streaming channels or podcasts grabbed a Blue Mic (Yeti or Snowball) or a similar USB microphone.

There was one problem, though – these are condenser microphones.

Let’s back up a little bit.

There are two main types of microphones – condensers and dynamics and the difference is how these microphones capture sound.

Dynamic uses a voice coil and magnet, and it is a plug and play microphone; they don’t need external power to run.

Condenser microphones use capacitors, a thin membrane and a diaphragm that vibrate.

Condensers need external power such as batteries or phantom power to work supplied by an audio interface, 48V.

What we have to understand about condenser microphones is that usually, these are sensitive mics. They will pick up every little detail around you.

They are awesome for studio recording, but for home – well, a lot of people vented their frustrations about how everything from neighbours, cars or whatever was picked up by the microphone.

Hence why I always recommended dynamic microphones, even as USB. These are less sensitive, usually have cardioid polar pattern and overall are best for voice recording at home.

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Stop!

What does it have to do with the FetHead gain booster?

We’ll get to it in a second.

With time, podcasters, YouTubers and online personalities started to upgrade their gear and moved from USB mics to standard XLR microphones, the ones that need an audio interface to work.

Of course, the winner and the most popular mic was Shure SM7B – the legendary vocal microphone used by broadcasters and studios around the world.

I’m sure if you watch any YT vids, you are familiar with the microphone, from Joe Rogan to anyone.

And there is a reason for it – the microphone sounds great, it is relatively cheap, you don’t need a pop shield because the capsule is a safe distance from the top. It’s versatile, and it can take a lot of volume without distorting the sound.

However! 

There is an issue with it, and that’s its gain level. 

It is a quiet microphone, and it needs a lot of gain on input. When I record on it, I need to have my iD4 interface on 9, almost full 10, to have a decent volume. And I still had to boost it in post-production.

I had this microphone for years, and it served me well. I didn’t record much in the past, so I was okay with boosting the volume afterwards. However, as I started my Youtube channel and used the microphone more, the gain started to get annoying.

When we record from the camera, we use Rode boom, a condenser, then switch to SM7B, and the volume would be much lower. After recording a few vids like that, I knew I needed a gain booster.

What’s a gain booster? 

It’s a device that boosts your microphone gain with a clean signal, making it much louder at the source.

When it comes to boosters, the one that I always recommended for people was, of course, CL1 Cloudlifter. Which is a classic.

I went online. I put the Cloudlifter into the basket. However, I have to warn you, CL1 is quite pricy, over £100, leaning towards £150 in some stores.

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and a discount, so I thought to myself ‘I’m sure there are alternatives,’ but the thing is, I’ve never checked and always defaulted to Cloudlifter.

I emptied the basket and started looking online – low and behold, and there are many cheaper alternatives.

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I looked at Sub Zero, SE DM1 Dynamite, Klark Teknik CT 1 and FetHead.

These ranged in price, but one thing was sure, they were much cheaper than the original Cloudlifter!

All of them had good reviews and what I also noticed was that some of them were directly connecting to the microphone, which means that I wouldn’t need extra XLR cable like with Cloudlifter, which is an external box.

After doing a bit of research, I ordered FetHead from TritonAudio, which was £65 from Studiospares online shop.

Let’s look at specs:

TritonAudio products are made in Holland, and FetHead is advertised as a low noise gain booster or mic preamp with extra 27dB amplification.

One thing to remember is that these gain boosters need phantom power, just like condenser microphones. Even though your SM7B doesn’t need extra power, you need your phantom power when you connect it to FetHead.

FetHead arrived in a small cardboard tube, hidden in a pouch inside. It was much smaller than expected, which was fantastic as I was worried it wouldn’t fit at the end of my SM7B, sitting on the arm.

It did fit without any issues.

If you want to listen to my recording without Fethead and with it, you can view my video review on Youtube.

In short, Fethead does what it supposed to do. It boosts SM7B gain without affecting the sound, allowing for the mic gain on my iD4 interface to stay on the good lever.

And I don’t need to boost anything in post-production anymore!

Would I recommend it?

If you have SM7B or another dynamic (or ribbon) microphone and you find yourself lacking gains – then of course. Especially if you are podcasting or recording YT videos.

It boosts the signal transparently and cleanly, and you don’t have to drive your input gain to the top.

There are even cheaper alternatives. I didn’t want to go with the cheapest option, which had a few negative reviews, but FetHead definitely worth the money, and it is more than twice cheaper as the original Cloudlifter. Plus, you don’t need extra XLR cable!

Thumbs up from me, and you will hear the FetHead working hard on the future videos!

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Icon M+ Platform Control Surface for Podcast Production

Icon M+ Platform Control Surface for Podcast Production

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19 DECEMBER 2020

written by Mike

Icon M+

Control Surface for

Podcast Production

Are you looking for a control surface for your DAW but you are not sure which one to choose?

There are plenty to choose from; however, in this post, I wanted to talk about Icon M+ platform and Pro Tools. A control surface lets you control what is happening in your audio sequencer but with physical knobs and faders and buttons.

Is it necessary to produce podcasts? 

No. 

You can work with just a keyboard and mouse, and that’s what I’ve done for years.

However, as you progress and develop your skills, the longing for physical faders may start to grow – especially if you worked on proper consoles before. A simple control surface will be more than enough for podcasting, and there are plenty on the market!

Before I start, I want to mention that I upgraded my control hardware to Avid S1, but I wanted to make a review-post about Platform M+ as I used it for a long time.

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I mentioned it before, I started on mouse and keyboard and worked purely in the box when I began working on Casefile podcast. After a while though, I missed having something physical to be able to control automation during a mix – I worked on consoles in the past, but I didn’t want to spend money (as I didn’t have any) just yet.

So for a little while, I used a control wheel on iD4 interface that let me control a single automation parameter.

After some time, I decided to move up a bit and get a proper control surface with eight faders.

As I work in Pro Tools, my choice was limited. Pro Tools works on EuCon, and it’s a closed system, meaning 3rd party hardware can’t manufacture for it – only Avid can.

Of course, their hardware is costly – at that time the eight fader surface they had was Avid Artist Mix, cost around 900 pounds.

I didn’t want to spend that much money on my first control surface plus Artist Mix was quite old already, and they were gossips that they would stop supporting the system. It’s now officially up to 2024 that they will keep this control surface.

So looking for something more budget but still with motorised faders I found Icon M+ platform which is a modular control surface and works with many audio sequencers.

It works in Pro Tools too, but it uses the HUI system, which is quite limited.

For my work, I only wanted faders, knob pans and transport. M+ was less than 300 pounds, so I got it a couple of years back. 

I haven’t tested it on other software – only Pro Tools, so my view and my experience are limited.

The first issue was that the control surface didn’t work straight out of the box. I downloaded the software, updated the firmware and I remember that I had to spend quite some time online looking for a solution.

I did find it eventually; also, there is a document on their website that helps to set it all up. It’s not plug-and-play, definitely not with Pro Tools.

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But, let’s start with what I liked about the control surface first!

The Price

The Icon M+ surface is cheaper than some and cheaper than anything from Avid. The big selling points are the motorised faders  that move with the automation.

The Build

It’s a sturdy build, and it fits perfectly on the shelf under the desk, I also like the colours on all the buttons and how it lights up when you switch it on.

Motorised Faders

Faders are why I went for the system. It makes all the difference and gives you the feel of working on the proper console. They are touch-sensitive and are decent to track automation.

Let’s now get to the shortcomings of Icon M+.

HUI and set up

It wasn’t easy to set it up, definitely not plug-and-play. Also, HUI connectivity with Pro Tools is minimal. Master fader doesn’t work at all. Pan knobs also don’t work correctly, and it’s just not very intuitive with Pro Tools system. It feels restrictive.

Motorised Faders

The faders are touch-sensitive and motorised; however, sometimes they jump up or down when recording automation, they get stuck or block you from writing automation.

It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens, and I reckon that’s also because of HUI connectivity.

Apart from all that, the transport buttons work fine. It’s easy to move through channels, and at its core, the control surface does what it needs to do. I used it for a couple of years and got past the limitations, but it also put me off digging more into the system. Setting my shortcuts felt like too much hassle.

So I just used the essential functions of the surface.

The Select, Mute and Solo buttons worked fine, but knobs not working correctly with the pan is a big drawback. They let you pan to one side on a stereo track, but I didn’t know how to switch the knob to the other pan. I guess it would be ok for Mono or linked pans.

Again – all of it is because of Pro Tools and HUI connectivity. M+ may work much better with other software, but I haven’t tested it.

I said that I’m upgrading. Last year Avid released the successor to Artist Mix – S1 control surface. It’s a modular, eight fader system that works flawlessly with Pro Tools it’s a EuCon system. It also works with a tablet on top and their Control App – so a proper next-generation control surface.

I knew that I wanted to upgrade and I felt that I should still go for Artist Mix, but after a bit of research, it became clear that S1 is a superior system and Artist Mix now outdated.

Of course, there is a price tag with S1, I got for 1060 pounds, and that’s without a tablet! I did get an Amazon Fire 10 inch tablet and that works well with S1.

M+ served me well, but it was time to say the final goodbyes.

And of course, I will record video and post a review on S1 console once I spend a bit more time with it,

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