Harrison unveil Mixbus 10

Published 23/4/24

DAW gains Atmos support & SSL mixer EQ

Harrison’s DAW software has long sold itself on its ability to emulate the process and sound of working on an analogue console. The company’s True Analog Mix Engine (TAME) equips each channel with compression and limiting along with a four-band EQ and filters based on the company’s iconic 32C console, while every bus is kitted out with tape saturation and compression processors that promise to help produce the rich sound that Harrison are renowned for. The latest major version has now arrived, bringing with it support for Dolby Atmos, a range of plug-in updates and more.

What's New?

The headline feature is that Mixbus 10 is now capable of creating and delivering Dolby Atmos content. The DAW is now kitted out with built-in object panning on each channel, and supports 7.1.4 monitoring on speakers, or on headphones via binaural processing. Mixbus 10 features an integrated renderer, so no additional software is required to export an immersive mix that’s compatible with Atmos-ready streaming services such as TIDAL, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Harrsion have included some comprehensive metering on the master bus to help users keep their mixes within the loudness specifications defined by their chosen platform.

The second major addition relates to the software’s channel EQ, which now offers an additional mode that emulates SSL’s 9000J console. It has been developed in close collaboration with SSL themselves, and can be switched on a per-channel basis to offer maximum flexibility. Finally, the company have also responded to user feedback, and implemented a pre/post-fader switch on every bus send.

The Pro version of Mixbus 10 can now mix and deliver Dolby Atmos content, and Harrison's own mixer EQ module can be swapped out for an SSL 9000J option on a per-channel basis.

Three Tiers

The software is currently available in three versions: Mixbus 10, Mixbus 10 Plus and Mixbus 10 Pro, and it’s worth noting that the new Dolby Atmos and SSL 9000J EQ features are reserved for the Pro variant. Both Pro and Plus, however, now include the full suite of Harrison’s XT Plug-ins for Mixbus — a collection of 19 premium compressor, EQ, effects and utility plug-ins that cost over $1700 when purchased individually — as well as a dedicated gate/expander module on every input channel. The new pre/post send functionality is included in all three versions.

Compatibility

Mixbus 10 is supported on PCs running Windows 7 or above, and Macs running macOS 10.14 and higher. It is also supported on 64-bit Linux systems with kernel version 2.6 or higher (Harrison recommend real-time audio focused distributions such as AVLinux, UbuntuStudio, or CCRMA).