Harrison Mixbus 10

Harrison celebrate the 15th birthday of their flagship DAW with the release of Mixbus 10.

It’s been quite a while since we last checked in with Harrison’s Mixbus DAW (the November 2017 issue to be precise) and, with this year being the 15th anniversary of Mixbus’ original release, and also the first Mixbus release since Harrison joined forces with Solid State Logic (both are now under the Audiotonix Group, who also own Slate Digital), it seems more than timely for us to take a look at the latest iteration of the software: Mixbus 10.

Mixbus grew out of Harrison’s undoubted expertise in building top-tier hardware recording and mixing consoles, and had a deliberate design intention to replicate as closely as possible both the workflow and sound their consoles offered. It’s a context and history that has always given Mixbus a distinctive feel. Yes, you can easily argue that the feature sets of all the mainstream DAWs have converged over the years (Mixbus included), but this legacy is still very much intact within Mixbus 10.

Mixbus Revisited

Mixbus is available for Windows, macOS and (more unusually) Linux. The full functionality is now divided across four main pages — Rec, Edit, Cue and Mix — and it’s the last of these where the virtual console experience lies. The UI lays out the controls across the individual audio/MIDI channels and the 12 pre-configured mix buses (although you can add more aux channels if you wish) in a way that faithfully recreates the tried-and-tested ergonomics of a console. This includes the ability to see your EQ or compressor settings on every track at the same time. When making complementary mixer moves — for example, EQ on kick and bass — it’s these kinds of seemingly small details that are actually a big deal. With excellent EQ, gate, compression, drive and send options available on every channel, there is less necessity to reach for additional third-party plug-ins. Yes, you will find exceptions (a creative effects processor or your choice of pitch correction, for example) but the vast majority of your processing needs in typical mixing scenarios are right there within each Mixbus channel strip.

The Cue page provides features for those that like to work with audio and MIDI loops within a clips and scenes framework that is not dissimilar in concept to that found in Ableton Live.

Support for MIDI/virtual instrument channels was added in Mixbus 3. More recent releases have added a dedicated Recorder window (in Mixbus 7) to make multitrack recording more like an analogue tape-recording session. In Mixbus 8, Harrison expanded the MIDI editing and arranging options and also added the Cue page to provide an audio/MIDI ‘clips meets scenes’ music creation workflow, similar in concept to that found in Ableton Live. With Mixbus 9, Harrison made some significant refinements to the mixer, both in terms of the UI and the underlying analogue emulation. They also added multi-output support for virtual instruments.

The Edit page provides a conventional timeline view of your project with full audio and MIDI editing capabilities.

The Mixbus Edit window provides you with a familiar timeline-based view of the audio or MIDI clips within your project. Project management includes options for mixer store and recall, templates, playlists and snapshots. There are comprehensive features for tempo mapping, transient detection, automation and time/pitch stretching. A dedicated monitor section lets you handle foldback for performers in a recording session. VCA fader functionality is also included as well as support for video playback. There is also a very useful Loudness Analyzer and Normalizer module for the master bus. And, depending upon which tier of the software you plump for, a selection of additional Harrison plug-ins and audio/MIDI content are included alongside the core application.

Therefore, even before we get to Mixbus 10, we can see this is a mature DAW with a feature set suitable for recording/tracking, for creating music with loops, for music‑to‑picture work, or for an authentic console-style mixing experience. Mixbus will do any of these things with some considerable flair.

Attention On 10

Thankfully, Harrison don’t seem to be resting on their laurels and, to celebrate its 15th birthday, Mixbus 10 also brings further developments and improvements. This includes a rebranding of the product into three tiers — Mixbus 10, Mixbus 10 Plus and Mixbus 10 Pro — with a progressive combination of pricing and features. There is a very useful summary of the differences between each tier on the Harrison website and, for the purposes of review, I was using Pro. However, if you want to get a sense of what Mixbus has to offer, the standard Mixbus 10 tier lets you get that console-style experience at an attractive price and with upgrade paths available. In addition, for those on the tightest of budgets, do keep your eyes peeled: Harrison are not averse to the occasional sale.

A large screen (or screens) is obviously an advantage when using Mixbus, but for anyone with more limited screen space, there’s a list of toggle buttons available to open/close specific sections of each channel strip. This now has two new entries in v10. I’ll get to the second of these later, but the new ‘Procs’ button allows you to open/close the Processor section. This is where any send controls appear for user‑added audio buses, as well as insert effects, whether from Harrison’s own plug-in collection (the Plus and Pro versions include the bundle of 19 Harrison XT plug-ins offering additional EQ, compressor, modulation, gate, delay, reverb and de-essing) or other third-party options you might own. If you don’t want to use external plug-ins, or you do and just want to start your mix process without the distraction, you can now hide this panel and focus just on that rather wonderful Mixbus console experience.

If you do regular multitrack recording sessions, the Rec page provides a customised view for managing your hardware inputs, helping the tracking session to run smoothly.

The Processor section already allowed you to reorder your plug-in signal chain via the usual drag and drop method, and this includes the option to place plug-ins either pre- or post- fader. Added in v10 is the ability to place Mixbus’ pre-assigned 12 console mix buses either pre- or post-fader. The default behaviour is post-fader but right-clicking on any of the send knobs opens a pop-up allowing you to make the pre/post choice. A small arrowhead icon appears alongside any sends that have been switched to pre-fader. It’s a useful additional option to have and, for example, opens up some interesting creative mixing possibilities in terms of how reverb or delay processing is handled within a mix.

Mixbus 10 Pro now offers a choice between the Harrison 32C and SSL 9000J EQs within the console channel strip. A sign of more Harrison and SSL collaboration to come, perhaps?As noted earlier, Harrison and SSL now sit under the same Audiotonix ownership, and a quick tour of their respective websites reveals some obvious cross-pollination between the brands (and also with Slate Digital). It’s therefore very interesting to see that, in the Pro version, Mixbus 10 brings a very obvious example of that developing relationship; the inclusion of an emulated SSL 9000J EQ module. Within the Pro-version mixer, therefore, the user can now select between the original Harrison 32C EQ (accurately modelled from the 32C console) or the SSL 9000J (emulated from SSL’s J Series consoles, originally introduced in the mid-1990s). This EQ was branded as ‘SuperAnalogue’ and noted for being somewhat more hi-fi than the EQs on SSL’s earlier E and G Series consoles, with more bottom end and a cleaner, better-defined top end. It certainly found fans: the J Series consoles, just like Harrison’s own 32C, have been used to track and mix material by an extensive A-list of pop, rock and hip-hop artists.

I’ll let those better qualified than me explain the technical differences between these EQs but, in their emulated form here, the 32C and 9000J do offer something distinct. To my ears at least, they also seem incredibly forgiving. You can push the controls pretty hard and, while they don’t stop you making the wrong EQ moves (in the context of the overall mix), it’s really difficult to make an individual instrument sound ‘bad’. Incidentally, I could make similar comments about Mixbus’ various dynamics and saturation processing; very satisfying and very easy to use.

The 9000J EQ is also a very obvious sign of the closer relationship between SSL and Harrison. It’s great to see and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now thinking about what other SSL console components I’d like to see offered as optional modules within the Mixbus ecosystem (a certain mix bus compressor springs to mind...).

Immerse Yourself In Sound

In terms of Mixbus 10’s new features, perhaps the standout addition is that the Pro version now offers Dolby Atmos mixing capability. Mixing in the Atmos format is currently something of a niche activity but it’s no accident that a number of the major DAWs have recently added Atmos functionality. The audio world has seen other spatial audio (surround sound) formats come and go over the years, but Atmos has undoubtedly gained some significant traction. This is primarily because its technical structure makes it so much easier for audio creators to render a single immersive audio mix that can, via a suitable Atmos playback system, be reproduced on very different speaker configurations. The fact that Apple have put their weight behind the format has also had a significant impact. Of course, building a full Atmos mixing room is a significant undertaking (see the article by Sam Inglis in the November 2022 issue). However, you can at least explore the Atmos format in its Binaural form using standard headphones where, on playback, the full Atmos mix is rendered using spatial audio techniques that attempt to recreate a 3D sound experience around the listener’s head. While creating Atmos mixes using just headphone monitoring is perhaps not ideal, at present, binaural playback is also by far the most common way that consumers listen to immersive audio.

Sends to the main mix buses can now be configured either pre- or post-fader.

Whether you have a full Atmos-ready monitoring system, or just headphones, you also need software that allows you to create an Atmos mix. Mixbus 10 Pro now does that. Indeed, it makes it incredibly easy to do as Harrison have taken some deliberate — and very shrewd — design choices that make Mixbus incredibly simply to configure for Atmos mixing.

This review isn’t really the place to get into the technicalities of how Atmos works (see that November 2022 article if you need a starter on that). However, Harrison have implemented an approach that makes use of just Atmos Objects and, in this first iteration at least, avoids the additional complexity of Atmos Beds. Both Beds and Objects allow you to place a sound into the 3D immersive space and, while there are some technical reasons for using one rather than the other for specific tasks (for example, in film audio, Beds are often used for the score, while Objects are used for effects), Objects provide plenty of creative options when it comes to mixing music for Atmos. This is therefore a very pragmatic approach and, as we will see in a minute, means that immersive mixing within Mixbus is incredibly streamlined. And, as Mixbus still exports a full Beds+Objects ADM file from the mix, the consumer still gets your music in its full immersive glory.

Impressively, you can house both a stereo and immersive mix within the same project. And, providing you have the project configured for 48kHz and a 512-buffer size (both minimum requirements for working with Atmos), engaging Mixbus’ Object-based immersive mixing features requires just a single click; from the Session menu, select Immersive Panning. This then opens an Immersive Pan panel on each channel/bus strip (the Immrs option is the second addition to the set of panel toggle buttons mentioned earlier). It also adds a dedicated Dolby Atmos master channel with both binaural (for mixing with headphones) and speaker output support. Even if you only monitor via the binaural output, the display shows you level meters across each of the speaker outputs in a full 7.1.4 configuration. You can get full control over your output routing, including the binaural settings, via the Routing Grid accessible at the bottom of the Atmos master channel.

Using an Objects-only approach, Harrison have added what must be the most accessible Dolby Atmos mixing capability of any current DAW into Mixbus 10 Pro.

These immersive panning and output options coexist with the standard stereo pan and master outputs within the same project. You can alternate between your two mixes by muting the relevant output bus. Panning created by the Immersive Pan and the standard pan are totally independent of each other. All other mix settings are applied to both mixes/outputs.

The functionality within the Immersive Pan panels is very well thought out. Very usefully, if you do need to adjust the relative levels of specific channels once they are placed within the spatial mix, the Immersive Pan panels each contain a dedicated Trim control. The In button, when active, sends the channel directly to the Atmos master bus; toggle it off and the channel’s panning is defeated, and its contents will only be heard if it is also being routed via a send to one of the mix buses. In this case, the panning is also controlled at the mix bus.

With mono channels, you can simply drag the red node around within the panner to place it into the spatial mix. With stereo channels, the two red nodes are linked (by default with the Mirror X setting) but you can change how this link works via a simple drop-down selection that includes options for moving each node independently. While the panner obviously locates the sound in the horizontal X and Y dimensions, the Z (vertical) dimension is controlled via a combination of the Auto height setting (by default, set to Dome) and the Elevation slider. The latter lets you set the ‘height’ of the channel’s signal manually. The former automatically applies a height based upon the surface shape selection — Dome, Wedge or Ceiling — and you can see this vertical dimension represented in the graphic of the X/Y pad as you move the nodes. The binaural mode can be switched between Mid (the default), Near, Far and Off, and each of these produces a somewhat different end result in the rendered output file.

By default, the panner nodes define a precise location for a channel’s audio. You can, therefore, place a specific sound so that, on playback, it’s likely to only appear within a single speaker. However, increasing the Size setting will then expand the spatial area from which the sound appears to originate. This allows you to make a sound feel like it is either very focused in space or distributed around the listener. The latter is useful when applied to a reverb effect inserted on to one of the mix bus channels, letting the reverb feel like it fills a large part of the immersive space. This is the kind of task you might conventionally use an Atmos Bed for but the Size option provides a very usable workaround.

Recommendations for target loudness within Atmos mixes tend to be somewhat different than for other music-only playback targets. Usefully, therefore, the Atmos master bus includes a dedicated VU meter, a LUFS display, and both Input and Output Trim controls. You can, therefore, configure the final LUFS level of your Atmos mix independently of the loudness of your standard stereo mix.

Once your Atmos mix has been configured, exporting it as a full Atmos ADM file is simply a matter of picking the required options from the Session / Export menu. No fuss — it just seems to work and the file should be ready for any Atmos playback environment including streaming services that support the format.

Maybe a few more demanding users will feel that they are missing out on some of the technical elements Beds provide, but I have to say that I think Harrison’s approach in this first iteration of Dolby Atmos mixing within Mixbus is an absolute triumph of both design decisions and practically. It makes it incredibly easy for anyone to experiment with Atmos mixing, regardless of their previous experience, but it provides enough features to do some pretty sophisticated stuff.

The Mixbus EQ and dynamics sound really (really!) good. Put those sweet and forgiving processors into the true-to-life console workflow and it makes for an incredibly satisfying mixing experience.

The rationale and features are also very thoroughly explained within the Mixbus PDF manual. If this is your first Atmos experience, it is well worth a read. It also hints at more features to come but, if your needs are simply to generate an Atmos mix of your music once the conventional stereo mix is in the bag, Mixbus 10 Pro now offers a means to do so within what must be the most accessible Atmos mixing implementation currently available.

Where We Are At

So, where are we at with Mixbus 10? During the course of this review, aside from having a lot of fun with some audio and MIDI loops within the Cue page, I mainly explored the software using a couple of different projects. One was entirely audio-based, while the second was built primarily from virtual instruments (with a few additional audio tracks of guitars and vocals). In both cases, I found the experience to be very straightforward and very solid. Yes, there were undoubtedly a few occasions when I had to dip into the (very good) PDF manual to find out how to do a task that would, in my usual DAW of choice, be second nature, but that’s only to be expected when you transition to a less familiar DAW environment.

Compared to my experience when reviewing Mixbus 4 back in 2017, it was very obvious that the support for virtual instruments felt much more mature. No, Mixbus is not the most fully featured MIDI editing environment available, but it’s also not cluttered with an endless suite of features that the majority of users might never need. As with the way Atmos has been implemented, MIDI is handled in a pragmatic, streamlined and very effective manner. The core MIDI recording and editing features are complemented by a series of MIDI plug-ins/filters that offer additional options such as scale snapping of notes, arpeggios, MIDI chord generation, quantise, key range splitting, and MIDI CC remapping. It’s also worth noting that Harrison don’t claim Mixbus is also an all-in-one source of virtual instrument sounds. However, the compact selection of simple synth and drum options are more than adequate for sketching musical ideas or auditioning MIDI loops within the Cue page.

If you are looking to move on from your existing DAW, or you are currently looking to purchase your first professional DAW software, Mixbus 10 should absolutely be on your contender list.

When Mixbus first launched, the unique selling point was the console-style workflow and the console-style sound. Both of these features remain highlight components of the Mixbus package. I think the claims about the workflow element are undeniable. I absolutely love the way the Mix page looks and operates and, while using a mouse is not the same as putting your hands on an actual hardware console, it brings many of the advantages of the real thing. What about that ‘console sound’? Well, in the absence of some controlled tests in a forensic audio science lab, you only have your own ears to go on. Yes, almost every major plug-in manufacturer now offers emulations of classic console channel strips, but don’t forget that Harrison actually built some of that classic hardware. It’s not beyond the bounds of reality to think that they might know quite a lot about what’s involved and be in an ideal position to translate that into the virtual world. While I make no claim that my own ears are in any way ‘golden’, the Mixbus EQ and dynamics sound really (really!) good. Put those sweet and forgiving processors into the true-to-life console workflow and it makes for an incredibly satisfying mixing experience.

Console Yourself

Adopting a new DAW is not a trivial decision. However, if you are currently considering your options on that front, whatever your current experience level or approach to recording, editing or mixing music, Mixbus 10 deserves consideration. It offers a powerful suite of very carefully selected features you will use and isn’t cluttered with lots of things you won’t. Bring your own virtual instruments, and perhaps a very small list of ‘must have’ plug-ins, and Mixbus 10 — especially in the Pro tier — brings everything else.

Some 15 years after its inception, Mixbus retains those console-style elements that have always made it unique, but it has evolved into a mature and very well-featured environment for the recording and mixing of music in almost any style, whether in stereo or — in Mixbus 10 Pro — in Dolby Atmos. If you are looking to move on from your existing DAW, or you are currently looking to purchase your first professional DAW software, Mixbus 10 should absolutely be on your contender list.