XR18 - how many USB _and_ audio channels?

[rymix]

Hello. I'm considering purchasing an XR18 primarily as an IEM mixing solution for my band. Our setup will include a mixture of live instruments and vocals, plus backing tracks sent over USB from a DAW (Reaper).

My question is: how many combined analogue and digital channels can the XR18 process? I know it has 18 analogue channels and I have seen documentation showing 18 USB channels. Are these independent, i.e. 36 channels in total, or do the channels compete (i.e. 18 in total)?

Thank you.

[pvannatto]

Hi @rymix, welcome to our forum. The XR18 has 21 channel strips. The first 16 channel strip are mono and the sources can be assigned analog or USB. The 17th channel strip is stereo and the sources can be assigned either the Line In L/R or a pair of USB. The 18th to 21st channel stips are stereo and the sources are by default the FX 1-4 returns, or these source can be assigned USB pairs.

The best way to evaluate whether the XR18 will fit your needs is to go to the XR18 product page and download (from the Software section to the right) the X-Air Edit app (for Windows, Mac, linux or Raspberry Pi).

[rymix]

Thank you, this is super helpful. Really helps me to understand. I'm just putting together a routing table now. We're only a small band and I think the XR18 is capacious enough, but it will be tight. It's all those blasted drum channels that eat up all the space.

Thanks, I didn't realise you could download the app without a purchase. I will do this now.

[pvannatto]

It's all those blasted drum channels that eat up all the space.

For smaller venues, I just mic the drums with a kick and 2 overhead pencil mics. You'd be surprised as to how everything picks up.

[kmitchell]

I've "cheated" a few times and used a separate mixer for drum mics and then fed that mix into a pair of channels on the XR18. You have to carefully plan your IEMs since your drummer could end up on an island with nothing but their own channels.

The "offline" editing capability of the X-Air Edit app is very useful for working through various routing scenarios.