Summing Mixers, Yes or No?
April 27, 2025
Are summing mixers worth it? It’s a question many people have asked themselves at some point, and for those who didn’t grow up working on analogue consoles, it’s often an idea that gets dismissed without much thought. I’ve wrestled with this question for years, the concept has always made sense to me, yet my past experiences with summing mixers never fully convinced me of their benefits. Despite this, I could never quite let go of the idea. A recent purchase of the SPL MixDream XP finally delivered the revelation I had been seeking. (Read the review here)
An introduction to
Summing Mixers
Anyone considering a summing mixer is doing so because they mix ‘in the box’ with the DAW of their choice, whether it be Pro Tools, Luna, Mixbus, Logic, or another. If you are working in the box, it is almost certainly because of the cost effectiveness it offers, along with the absolute recall that in the box mixing provides. If you are thinking about adding a summing mixer to your setup, it is probably because you are not completely satisfied with the sound of your mixes produced entirely in the box. Very few of us can afford a Rupert Neve or Solid State Logic console in a home or project studio, so a summing mixer becomes the most logical and achievable solution.
When trying to choose a summing mixer, the decision is made even harder by how difficult it is to properly audition one with your own mix. Running a single stereo track through a summing mixer will not give you any indication of how well it actually sums a mix, regardless of what one author from a well-known and highly respected audio magazine recently claimed. What matters is how the stereo pairs are summed together, so simply playing a finished stereo mix through a summing mixer tells you nothing about its real performance.
A plethora of choice
Which summing mixer to Choose
Many will argue the benefits of summing mixers like the Neve 8816 or the new API ASM164, both offering a wealth of features, but this writer is not convinced by these designs. There is no doubt they are superb summing mixers, yet the extensive feature sets they offer, which you inevitably pay for, are simply not necessary. This is where SPL got it right 25 years ago with the SPL MixDream.
While reasonably well featured, it avoided adding any ‘mixing’ options like pan and volume controls. The simple reason is this: you mix in the box for incredibly easy recall from one song to the next. Introducing a second layer of mixing with a summing mixer by adjusting pans and volumes removes that absolute recall, unless you set and forget the controls, in which case, why pay for them at all?
The Neve 8816 does offer recall, but that is a rare exception, and I am not aware of any other summing mixer that provides this feature. It is also important to remember that you are paying a hefty premium for that functionality alone, and it still raises the question: why would you want a second set of pan and volume controls at all?
So for me, summing mixers like the SPL MixDream XP, Rupert Neve 5057 Orbit, Dangerous 2-Bus XT and a few others make the most sense. They are more coest effective than the fully featured summing mixers, which makes them within reach of modest home studios and they can be put to use in a varitey of ways in the studio and even offer expandability in some cases.
No pan or volume controls anywhere in sight, and that is a good thing. However, for me, the SPL MixDream still has too many features for my needs. The Neve 8816 shown below has far too many features, including pan and volume controls, which I believe are simply not necessary, regardless of its ability to recall settings.
Summing Mixers
The Cost of Entry
The cost of entry for a summing mixer does not end with the purchase of the mixer itself. You will also need cables, which in most cases are DB25 to either TRS or XLR. If you do not already have an audio interface with 16 or more outputs, you will also need to invest in an additional or larger audio interface. The costs can quickly add up even for a modest setup, but with a number of well-priced audio interfaces available today, it remains a significantly more cost-effective option than buying a quality console and takes up far less space.
This is the beauty of a summing mixer and DAW based workflow, it offers much of the sonic benefits of a large console for a fraction of the cost. Can you imagine having a Rupert Neve console? We all do, right? The cost is way out of reach for most of us, but the Rupert Neve 5057 Orbit offers a close resemblance to the larger Rupert Neve consoles for a couple of thousand dollars, which is very appealing.
Setting up your
Summing Mixer Workflow
With your new summing mixer, cables and audio interface all set up in your racks, there are a few ways you can use your new gear and enjoy the benefits of analogue summing. Let us look at a couple of the options, starting with the most basic setup. Take the 16 outputs from your audio interface and plug them directly into your new summing mixer. In your digital audio workstation, send your stereo subgroups out to each pair of outputs from your audio interface.
For example, send your stereo drum mix to outputs 1 and 2, your bass to outputs 3 and 4 and set it to mono mode on the summing mixer if available, your stereo keyboards to outputs 5 and 6, your stereo guitars to outputs 7 and 8, your stereo vocals to outputs 9 and 10, and your reverb to outputs 11 and 12 and so on. Now enjoy what this setup can do for your mix. The separation between instruments will improve, with each instrument having greater space around it in the mix, and elements like stereo reverbs becoming more defined.
This is how I use my new SPL MixDream XP, and these are the benefits I notice with this setup. It is fantastic, as the SPL provides a very transparent sounding mix. If you were to choose something like the Rupert Neve 5057 Orbit instead, you would end up with a more coloured sound, and by coloured, I mean that desirable Rupert Neve analogue character that is so highly valued. Think along the lines of the classic Sound City console sound.
So how does one get the final output of the summing mixer recorded? If, like me, you have an external recorder such as the Fostex DV 40 Master Recorder, you can send the summing mixer’s output directly to the recorder. Because I use the SPL MixDream XP, which offers two outputs, I send one to the Fostex and the other back into my audio interface and record it onto a stereo track in my digital audio workstation. By bringing it back into the digital audio workstation, I have the opportunity to add a master buss compressor or equaliser for that final polish. For me, however, I plan to add a real stereo buss compressor such as the Drawmer 1978 to the output of my MixDream, so that whatever goes back into the digital audio workstation or the recorder is a fully finished stereo mix, ready for mastering.
In my system setup, I have a MOTU 16A which is a 16 channel audio interface, and the 16 ouputs feed into the SPL MixDream XP via DB25 to TRS connectors. You need to subgroup stereo pairs such as the drum mix, guitar mix and so on, to feed the outputs of your audio interface.
I have one stereo output connected to inputs of the MOTU interface, and record it back to a stereo channel on my DAW. The second stereo output feeds a Fostex DV40 Master Recorder.
Another option, if you are using a bit of outboard gear for your reverbs or effects, such as a Lexicon PCM 70 and an Eventide H3000 multi effects unit, is to connect them directly to the summing mixer. Rather than using inserts within your digital audio workstation, connect the outputs of the Lexicon directly to inputs 13 and 14 of your summing mixer, and send outputs 13 and 14 from your audio interface directly to the inputs of the Lexicon. If you want reverb on anything in your mix, simply send it out through outputs 13 and 14 of your audio interface. Repeat the same method for connecting the Eventide H3000. This setup eliminates the round trip delay of going out of your audio interface and back into your digital audio workstation, and also reduces unnecessary conversion stages.
An alternative option is to connect some of the outputs from the audio interface directly into your hardware effects, and then feed the output of the effects into the summing mixer. You will need to set up your stereo effects sends within the digital audio workstation and route them out of the audio interface to the desired effect processor.
Connect one stereo output to the inputs of the audio interface and record it back to a stereo channel in your digital audio workstation. The second stereo output can either feed an analogue reel to reel recorder for that full analogue experience, or remain unused.
Choosing to add a summing mixer to your workflow is a decision that should be based on the type of music you produce and the sound you are aiming for. While the benefits may be lost in heavily compressed genres, for well recorded and dynamically rich material, a summing mixer can add real depth, separation and musicality that in the box mixing alone often struggles to achieve. It is important to weigh up the costs, the required supporting equipment and the actual gains to your sound. When matched carefully to your needs, a summing mixer can be one of the most rewarding additions to a modern hybrid studio, bridging the best of the digital and analogue worlds in a simple and highly effective way.
