i hate mixers

[fluxmonkey]

Looks like a DOD resistance mixer with a master vol pot, and a toggle to mute. I am curious why there is even a PCB in there. Odd.

odd for diy, but for production assembly board-mounted components eliminate hand wiring, which more than offsets the cost fo the pcb.

[howsthatsound]

in all likely-hood, it's for those mute toggles primarilly. notice the lack of apparent mounting hardware? they are PCB mounted. and if this dude is smart, so are all the jacks and all the pots. doing it that way is 9000 times easier than hand wiring, which is why most name brands do it that way. it's so simple a MACHINE could do it.

[joseghast]

Hey, thanks Stephen and Faster for your responses.

Any other options? I've been looking at the Tapcos but I didn't liked them as much as the Mackie.

[faster]

I know people who swear by the Soundcrafts. I used a Soundtracs Mini-Topaz for years & still have it. They didn't make them for long, but I really liked mine and I think they can sometimes be found cheap. English company, too, iirc. If you have more money, the Allen & Heath boards are the next step up from Mackies, though, afaik.

[grisha]

Roberto, I have a Mackie and though it's not as new as the model you're looking at, I would recommend them in general. I have used both the 1202 and 1604 models, and found them pretty pleasing.

Grisha - is this the one you bought?

i have Onyx 1202. it's big and heavy, but after a year of using Tapco, i certainly feel the difference.

[jkudler]

allen and heaths definitely sound great, have awesome pre-amps, etc., but if i recall from last time i was shopping, they don't really have a good mid-sized one for performances. i was close to getting on, but it just didn't make sense. i got a mackie 1402vlx (first gen of vlz). they are super-standard mixers - what can i say? pretty clean and quiet and "neutral" - most serious engineers don't respect the preamps, but they get the job done. are you using them though? if it's just for lines, you should be totally fine. surprised to hear about joe's - my experience is they are very sturdy and rugged and well-built. also, they have some mods you can do that are documented in the official manuals (or at least from mackie's site), which is nice. i am planning to get around to making all the aux sends pre-fader, whenever i get off my ass.

-jesse

[Dohol]

Has anything changed in the world of mixers these last couple of years? I guess I'm finally in need of one, but I have major budgetary restraints....

I found these at my local shop..



No bells or whistles (efx sends, etc), but it does have a USB output

and this one:



more of everything but no USB....(And it's a Behringer..)


any thoughts?

[evil_scientist]

You can use the Phone out on the Alesis as your extra output for loops whatsoever, but out of these two I'd still go with the Behringer. More EQ knobs and outputs to play around with.

I don't know about USB outputs, are they worth it? Do they sound good (better then simple line out) when recording to your computer?

[Dohol]

I don't know about USB outputs, are they worth it? Do they sound good (better then simple line out) when recording to your computer?

yes, good point..this is why I'm asking..

[Bonehole]

I use the very behringer for budget reasons also, and I'd recommend it. I've no complaints with it at all.

I also use one of these; a U-CONTROL UCA202

[Moon]

I use the MultiMix8 from Alesis and I think it's a great tool for recording.
Not the best mixer in the world, but all those inputs separately into the computer while still working as an ok analog mixer is great. I'd pick it over a regular multiple inputs sound card any day. But I wish it had multiple outputs..
And I've had some noise issues when using a low volume sound going into the computer and then amplified there, which suggests there's a hiss somewhere in the adc?

That behringer is pretty much the same mixer as my Alesis, except with fewer inputs and no usb. It looks really similar.

I would go for the Alesis so you'll be able to record and share with us

[Dohol]

.....so you'll be able to record and share with us

Such is my intention........

[orangettecoleman]

I had the 12 input behringer and it was alright. sounded ok but died after about a year, and I went to see the guy from earn play here in town and he had one and it died that night... last night of the tour. anyway it was ok except for a scratchy fader which wouldn't respond to terminal cleaner and the fact that you couldn't get a 100 percent wet signal since the aux sends were post fader. I got an Alto ZMX 852 which I've been happier with- 2 pre-fader aux sends and returns, sounds fine, and cost around 100 bucks new... never heard of the company but I expect it shouldn't be any worse than the low end behringer, pyle, or peavey mixers... anyway the features are better than anything else i've seen in the super-cheap price range

[p_ano]

ALLEN & HEATH!

i used a ZED-14 for the AMPLIFY 2011 sound system and it performed marvelously. it's versatile, rugged, and sounds great in a variety of contexts. for example, lescalleet redlined the mixer for an hour and it barely even broke a sweat. toshimaru nakamura pushed it even harder, with dynamics ranging from barely audible to downright apocalyptic. a few days later pisaro played through it, and not only was it crystal clear, i'm convinced that toshi's sets actually improved the frequency response. it now sits on my desk, and everything in my house runs through it, from netflix to tape machines. highly recommended.

on the topic of soundcraft, i did a side-by-side comparison with a soundcraft mixer a few weeks ago, and they do have a very different sound (subjective, of course). the allen & heath is warmer, and much more dynamic, sacrificing some amount of clarity in lieu of natural saturation. in contrast, the soundcraft is clearer and flatter, especially around -10db, but sounds rather fragile in the red. bottom-line: for post-production, classical music, room mic'ed recordings, field recordings, and controlled environments i would suggest soundcraft. for live situations, dynamic and/or extreme music, improvisation, and flexibility i would absolutely suggest allen & heath. these are just my opinions of course, and individual mileage may vary. trust your ears!

also, i wouldn't suggest using soundcraft or allen & heath for feedback loops. you can, of course, but it sort of defeats the purpose of buying the expensive mixer in the first place. aside from potentially destroying your investment, expensive mixers are designed to reduce feedback, and produce rather boring results. in contrast, cheaper mixers have low headroom, making it easy to achieve feedback, noisy components which introduce chaos, and non-discrete signal paths which allow cross-talk--spawning nth-order feedback and the wondrous bleepy goodness contained within. i'm using a behringer right now, but i feel like that territory has been over-explored already. any suggestions on another good feedback mixer?

[enterthemirror]

hey guys, i'm needing some help here. i have never actually used a mixer before as i'm primarily a guitar player. from what i've always understood from the world of conventional music, the mixer is used to simply control the levels of volume. however, from what i've understood from this forum and modern EAI, the mixer is used as a sound production unit. so is it simply the idea that the mixer is used to manipulate input sound (say, if i hook my guitar to it and mess with the sound it creates)? i'm aware people like toshimaru nakamura use mixers only but i'm thinking they are very special cases?

anyway, i'm sure this is a very bone-head and/or misunderstood post to a lot of you, but i'm just trying to grasp the opportunities present here.

[mono tony]

take an output, and route it to an input (on the mixer). this creates a pure feedback (signal) loop. route a second output to an amplifier. FYI, you can do this solely with an amp, an effects box, rack unit, etc. but in order to hear it, there must be at least two outputs. some units (old mixers, etc.) can make 'colored' sounds that may or may not be desirable.

[faster]

(but yeah, mixers are really made to sum multiple inputs, control volume/pan/EQ, and route outputs.

[jamess]

For my mixing needs (with input or otherwise) I'm using a Phonic AA220 and a Mackie ProFx8... I got each (on different occasions) just because they were what the shop I went into had in stock, that would suit my needs within my budget. I haven't really used enough mixers to tell if some makes are unfit for purpose. I hold fiercely to the adage that a bad workman blames his tools. I try to adapt to mine. I guess it's the result of working with quite unstable sound sources. If one day I have a lot of money to spend on equipment, I would probably buy lots of top of the range stuff. Until then, I'll keep buying what I can afford and making it work.

[faster]

Yeah, those are both fine unless you have specific needs. I've used both of those brands (and mainly use a Mackie now).

[jamess]

Yeah, those are both fine unless you have specific needs.

My needs are very unspecific. I get much enjoyment out of just fiddling around and seeing what I can do with new gear. Out of interest, what are you using mixers for?