Mixer Recommendation

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

I have a Yamaha MG16XU that had S O M U C H head room. It would make a pair of cheap computer speakers sound awesome. The mic pre's are great, plenty of aux sends for monitors, XLR or TRS outs, USB connectivity, good effects. And best of all, on board one knob compression on 8 channels.

Good choice.

[Irish Pennant]

Originally Posted by zhunter

See above, Mixwiz, 4 aux outs. To clarify that translates into 4 monitor mixes. Each aux buss has independent channel volumes for each channel which means independent monitor volume mixes. L and R monitor outs still only gives one monitor mix.

hunter

Thanks for the heads up on the MixWix, I like my ZED mixers and if I was to need the capabilities of Mixwiz it would be on the top of my list.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

I have a Yamaha MG16XU that had S O M U C H head room. It would make a pair of cheap computer speakers sound awesome. The mic pre's are great, plenty of aux sends for monitors, XLR or TRS outs, USB connectivity, good effects. And best of all, on board one knob compression on 8 channels.

I have experience with owning the Yamaha MG10XU model, and I can't imagine needing much more from a standard format mixer. The price is excellent for the features and real gigging musicians can afford them and gig them regularly around my area. Mackie and A&H also have there adherents.



Another interesting option to consider are the digital (tablet controlled) mixers. I have no personal experience except witnessing them in action as an audience member. The Behringer X Air 18, or one of the less expensive versions has amazing power to sculpt every channel in terms of gain, EQ, effects, etc. The videos are impressive. In action, the sound tech was able to walk into the audience with an iPad and tweak everything. The biggest benefit is you can leave the mixer back stage and you don't need a large heavy board. The downside, as I can see, is for people who would prefer to turn a knob than fiddle with a tablet. Of course with the tablet, you can set it all up once, save it, and just plug everything into the same channels every time.


Some advice I was given when looking for a mixer is to buy a few more channels than the minimum you need today.

Good luck!

[buzzardwhiskey]

I was reading through this and other threads here and on PA specific sites and it appears as though the Soundcraft UI24R (a model that looked very good to me) is experiencing some birthing pains. There is even a Facebook group called Soundcraft UI Series Dissatisfied Users.

[midwinter]

Depending on your needs, the Yamaha, Mackie, and A&H analog boards are just fine. Get whichever one suits your needs (I have a couple of Yamaha boards and I'm getting ready to sell my old Mackie).

If you're tech savvy and have the tablet, I'd advise you to get a digital mixer. I'm never going back.

[dannyg1]

The Yamaha 01v is a great sounding mixer that can be had for peanuts these days. I've had mine for 17 years or so and I'm still as impressed with it as the day I got it. If there's one piece of electronic equipt that changed my life, this is it.

Its fully digital but won't interface with your computer these days, no iPad remote action or use as an interface either but I just saw one on CL in NYC for $100.

Make sure that you get a physical manual for it. In the beginning you'll be referring to it lots.

[gfa]

(Assuming you have powered speakers) I recently bought a QSC Touchmix 8 and am very happy with it. It also comes in 16 and 30 channel versions. You can configure individual monitor mixes with most (all?) of the same things available on the mains: FX, EQ, etc. I can't recommend it over other mixers because I'm pretty new & inexperienced, can only say that I'm lovin' it compared to my prior analogue mixer. Go digital, for sure.

[fotofantom]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this might be a factor for the OP to consider if he intends to plug acoustic guitars into the mixer. I have found that plugging my K&K Mini equipped guitar into my Peavey 8 channel mixer produces a thin tone lacking bass. The Peavey doesn't have Hi Z inputs, so I think the poor tone is due to impedance mismatch. Plugging into a preamp and sending that to the mixer improves the tone. How do Forum members feel about this? Do you guys make sure there is a Hi Z input for your guitars, and, if not, do you use a preamp or some sort of buffer?

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by fotofantom

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this might be a factor for the OP to consider if he intends to plug acoustic guitars into the mixer. I have found that plugging my K&K Mini equipped guitar into my Peavey 8 channel mixer produces a thin tone lacking bass. The Peavey doesn't have Hi Z inputs, so I think the poor tone is due to impedance mismatch. Plugging into a preamp and sending that to the mixer improves the tone. How do Forum members feel about this? Do you guys make sure there is a Hi Z input for your guitars, and, if not, do you use a preamp or some sort of buffer?

Great observation. Several of the new mixers include High Z inputs right on the board. But, you should check the input impedance for compatibility with your pickup. Some of the new mixers have adaptation/matching for varying impedance values.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Stratcat77]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Great observation. Several of the new mixers include High Z inputs right on the board. But, you should check the input impedance for compatibility with your pickup. Some of the new mixers have adaptation/matching for varying impedance values.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The A&H Zed mixers have a High Z that made for plugging in a guitar. Before I got my Baggs Venue, I plugged right into that channel and it really did sound great.

From their website:

Inputs 3 & 4 have a high impedance jack input capable of taking either a normal line level or a low level input from a guitar pickup. These newly designed inputs have been crafted with the aim of replicating the sound of a classic guitar or instrument tube pre-amp in a combo or head amp. An extremely high input impedance ensures loading on pick-ups is minimal and a Class A FET (field effect transistor) circuit powered from 48V is employed to give the valve-like gain stage. There is a gain “Boost” switch associated with the guitar inputs which boosts gain by 26dB to cater for instruments with very low level outputs and the overdrive characteristics of the guitar inputs are very similar to a valve (tube) circuit, being asymmetric and soft. All this makes for a wonderfully natural sound to be reproduced from the instrument, full of warmth and character.

[SteveA]

Originally Posted by pzamory

Hi. I am a member of a six-piece band. We are looking for recommendations, advice, etc. regarding a PA system.

We have the speakers, stands, etc. but just need a mixer.

We would like to have the following plugged in:

- 6 microphones
- 6 instruments
- 3 monitors
- 1 iPad

Any suggestions on mixers or whatever else we might need? I appreciate any advice that is offered.

I have the Allen & Heath QU 24 as a one man band....I use about 8 of the inputs, but I wanted this because of the flexibility versus the 16 channel version.

It is such a breath of fresh air. You can set up 100 different scenes or mixes so sound checks are minimal...I press a button for any setting and my faders all move to where I saved it to.....

Same thing with all MIX settings in a scene, such as monitors, effects levels, Compression etc....You just touch a button and it boves your faders....So easy to always dial in my sound once I have captured it

A ton of outs and ins....The effects are off the LIVE series...

The IPAD Integrates to let you mix from the audience as well....

[fitness1]

The OP hasn't been online on the forum for almost a month, and he's never told us if he wants/needs an powered or non-powered mixer. The recommendations
are probably falling on deaf ears that don't want to tell us what they need