There’s a lot of talk about summing mixers and how they can transform the sound of your mix. But do they? Check out this video where that theory is tested.

What Is Audio Summing?

Audio summing is simply combining two or more audio signals together. Since the invention of digital audio workstations (DAWs) there has been a debate between summing inside the box or externally using a mixer.

Some suggest that the summing used in DAWs is inferior. For this reason an entire school of thought has been developed around an analogue summing workflow. Products have been created to support the position that analogue summing is superior to the process that takes places inside a modern DAW.

Some time ago we ran a blind listening test using various methods, here they are with the results:

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? First Test - Neve 8816 16 Channels

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? Second Test - Audient ASP8024 Console Stereo Mix

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? Third Test - Neve 8816 With Width

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? Fourth Test Audient ASP8024 Console

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? Fifth Test Audient ASP8024 Console With Tone Shaping

• The Audio Summing Debate - Can You Tell The Difference? The Results

Summing V DAW Tested

In this test, audio guru and top educator, Dan Worrall performs his own test to see how much difference an external summing mixer sounds compared to a mix straight from a DAW. The results are shocking.

So there it is, there are summing systems that do add colour and other non-linearities, but if you are thinking of adding one because you think your DAW is deficient in summing audio, then you might want to rethink that theory.

Photo by Caught In Joy on Unsplash