Mixing board
- Thread starter dmraco
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The board you get will depend largely on what you want to use it for ...
Live boards don't necessarily make great recording boards and vice-versa. Judging by the fact you are looking for a board with built-in FX, you're gonna use it for live? But built-in USB makes me think recording.
Personally, I'd stay away from Behringer stuff ... every now and again you'll get a decent piece, but their quality control is really suspect .... so caveat emptor if you go that route.
Mackie makes pretty solid stuff ... but you won't find built-in FX, and their computer interfaces are firewire (which I personally like better).
If you can find one in good shape, I'd look for and old Soundcraft board. Can be used for live and/or recording, great sounding EQ's, and built like tanks. However ... you'll need to get external FX units, and/or an interface to record with.
Live boards don't necessarily make great recording boards and vice-versa. Judging by the fact you are looking for a board with built-in FX, you're gonna use it for live? But built-in USB makes me think recording.
Personally, I'd stay away from Behringer stuff ... every now and again you'll get a decent piece, but their quality control is really suspect .... so caveat emptor if you go that route.
Mackie makes pretty solid stuff ... but you won't find built-in FX, and their computer interfaces are firewire (which I personally like better).
If you can find one in good shape, I'd look for and old Soundcraft board. Can be used for live and/or recording, great sounding EQ's, and built like tanks. However ... you'll need to get external FX units, and/or an interface to record with.
I've used the Mackie Onyx range quite a lot, and like them for the budget. It's firewire though, not USB.
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyxiseries/
What are you trying to achieve with the USB?
Multitrack recording? Some of the USB mixers I've seen will pass a stereo only out (main outputs or a switched aux or similar) The Firewire ones tends to do real multitracking. The Mackie one definitely does, we ran it into a mac laptop running logic to record our (crappy) Christmas party that I'm not letting anyone hear :icon_tongue:
The interface itself works great though.
Edit - AndyG posted while I was replying.... +1 to everything he said :icon_thumright:
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyxiseries/
What are you trying to achieve with the USB?
Multitrack recording? Some of the USB mixers I've seen will pass a stereo only out (main outputs or a switched aux or similar) The Firewire ones tends to do real multitracking. The Mackie one definitely does, we ran it into a mac laptop running logic to record our (crappy) Christmas party that I'm not letting anyone hear :icon_tongue:
The interface itself works great though.
Edit - AndyG posted while I was replying.... +1 to everything he said :icon_thumright:
dmraco said:
WARNING: Stay away from the Behringer! IME (and that of friends) it's flushing good money down the drain!
Carvin, OTOH, has served myself and others VERY well! They have all the features you mentioned and could hope for in their 16/4/2 and 8/4/2 boards. Great pricing, and built like tanks. I, personally, wouldn't buy/use anything else.
Volitions Advocate
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I use this:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/2222FX.aspx
yes, its behringer but it has never failed or had any problems, I would stay away from behringer if you're talking amplifiers or crossovers. But its just a mixing board. It doesn't have a direct USB in though.. it has a usb adapter that uses the RCA in and outs on the mixer. Nothing fancy. no ASIO drivers or multitracking available, its just stereo in and out to your computer, but if you're not worried about getting down and dirty with mixing in the software that shouldn't be a problem. Edirol has a product that does the exact same thing and i think it costs 80 bucks or something like that.
the downsides:
"all or nothing" phantom power. pretty standard actually, and not an issue if you're not using ribbon mics.
plastic sliders and knobs.. which is the same as a mackie
the name.
its a good mixer. dont' hate on behringer so much. I also got it for a lot less than whats advertised on that site. and brand new with warranty.
Have had it for 18 months and use it constantly. no problems.
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/2222FX.aspx
yes, its behringer but it has never failed or had any problems, I would stay away from behringer if you're talking amplifiers or crossovers. But its just a mixing board. It doesn't have a direct USB in though.. it has a usb adapter that uses the RCA in and outs on the mixer. Nothing fancy. no ASIO drivers or multitracking available, its just stereo in and out to your computer, but if you're not worried about getting down and dirty with mixing in the software that shouldn't be a problem. Edirol has a product that does the exact same thing and i think it costs 80 bucks or something like that.
the downsides:
"all or nothing" phantom power. pretty standard actually, and not an issue if you're not using ribbon mics.
plastic sliders and knobs.. which is the same as a mackie
the name.
its a good mixer. dont' hate on behringer so much. I also got it for a lot less than whats advertised on that site. and brand new with warranty.
Have had it for 18 months and use it constantly. no problems.
Volitions Advocate said:
You're one of the lucky ones, then.
Like I said, Behringer's biggest issue is quality control. We had one of their comp/limiters in our studio, and, yeah, no problems. But a buddy of mine bought one of their 16-input Mackie 1604 "clone" mixers, and returned it 3 times before he got one that worked. Their stuff works well for the price .... WHEN it works!
I have always loved trying new gear ... cheap and expensive. To date, in the "home studio" market, very few companies have impressed me like Mackie. But every company has interesting products to offer. All depending on your budget.
dmraco
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this will be mostly live stuff with some mixing on the computer...small session stuff.
I will mostly use it for 2 guitars and 2 mics but want a little room to expand to more mics and a bass.
this is what I was looking at...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProFX12/
I will mostly use it for 2 guitars and 2 mics but want a little room to expand to more mics and a bass.
this is what I was looking at...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProFX12/
Behringer has a couple nice pieces of gear that I use (like a headphones amp and a small mixer that's holding up quite nicely after 10 years of abuse) but B. wouldn't be my first choice when it comes to mixers. They really have less than stellar reputation and I'd keep as much Behringer out of the signal chain as possible. (I use my headphones amp and mixer solely in the monitoring chain during tracking so that's less critical).
I agree with AndyG: Soundcraft would be a good buy. If you want to record to computer, I'd get a separate recording interface instead of something built into the mixer. At least that's what I did.
I agree with AndyG: Soundcraft would be a good buy. If you want to record to computer, I'd get a separate recording interface instead of something built into the mixer. At least that's what I did.
dmraco said:
Well, like I said, Mackie makes some good stuff.
However, with that board, you're mixing everything INTO the computer, which kinda precludes any mixing after the fact. Plus, adding any effects to the recording is not undoable in any way.
However, you'll never find a board/interface that's any good at that price that will allow you to multitrack.
You have to consider what your future recording will entail. If you envision it getting any more sophisticated or complicated, I'd actually get the interface first. There are a bunch that have at least 2 mic preamps built in, and FX you can always add via the software.
If your intentions are really just recording live off the floor, the Mackie will serve you well. However, overdubs are going to be difficult, if not impossible due to latency issues as the stuff playing back from the drive will not sync up with what you play live ... again, depending on how everything is hooked up.
Isn't recording in the digital age fun?
Ahh, compression, the misunderstood effect that everyone hates to love and loves to hate!dmraco said:
Compressors are the most useful tool in any audio engineers' box ... when it is used properly. When recording digitally, distortion = distaster. Unlike analog, where distortion happens gradually, going over zero in the digital world will render your signal unusable. So having a compressor as a safety net is not a bad idea.
For compressors to be used as a creative, tone-shaping tool, you need more than one. Lots more. That way the different instruments can be compressed to different degrees; as much or as little as your tastes desire.
You couldn't really use a compressor with that Mackie as a safety net, because there is no mix insert ... which is where you would want the compressor to live. If something clips hitting the A to D converters in that board, your signal's toast. Some digital boards (the Yamaha 01V comes to mind), have a bunch of assignable compressors, including (I believe) one for the mix output, but that's a lot more $$$$$$$$$, and it uses a lightpipe (ADAT) output, so you'd still need a computer interface that can accept it.
I'm not sure if that really answers your question, except to say that, yes, IMHO, having a compressor when recording is essential.
dmraco
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AndyG said:
I figured that would be the answer. I am having a hard time finding the combo of features I want together. There is a nice Alesis but it only has 8 channels. There is also a real nice Behringer with individual compressors on the 1st four of 12 channels...but it seems like there are some quality issues with that brand. Folks either love them or hate them
as mayfly suggested, you might find something suitable from Yamaha. I think they do have some decent product quality, and are clearly a step (or two) ahead of Behringer.
Take a look at this Mixer.
Don't flame me for the guitar center link, it was just to get the street price in the US... :glasses10:
It has USB, built-in compressor for 6 channels, built-in FX (Yahama SPX, good!) and quite a few other nice things and routing possiblities.
In my experience, their stuff is quite good for the money. Been using a 24-channel powered mixer from them for years now without any problems. And the SPX reverb is really good sounding, IMO.
Take a look at this Mixer.
Don't flame me for the guitar center link, it was just to get the street price in the US... :glasses10:
It has USB, built-in compressor for 6 channels, built-in FX (Yahama SPX, good!) and quite a few other nice things and routing possiblities.
In my experience, their stuff is quite good for the money. Been using a 24-channel powered mixer from them for years now without any problems. And the SPX reverb is really good sounding, IMO.
That's a really feature-packed mixer for the money. Very nice. And I also have no problem with Yamaha ... been using their FX stuff for years, and I've mixed more suff than I'd care to admit on an 02R :laughing11:toronado said:
Once again, the only thing you need to be careful of is latency issues for overdubbing ... and if you want to record a "mix" of what you're playing, or individual tracks.
O
OzziePete
Guest
Surprised no one has mentioned Allen and Heath. Their Zed series mixers seem moderately priced and well optioned, small to mid sized mixers.
http://www.allen-heath.co.uk/zed/zed-R16.asp
http://www.allen-heath.co.uk/zed/zed-R16.asp
