Anyone have the Elite Acoustics Stompmix 4?

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by lkingston

Just for channels 3 & 4. Channels 1 & 2 have rather nice preamps.

I was hoping it would have 4 combo jacks and XLR outs but they would have been wishful wishful thinking considering the size.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by lkingston

One thing is that this mixer does something that seems to be common, but that I’m not crazy about:

It uses line level inputs, then allows you to compensate for the gain by adding up to 12db of extra gain from the individual mixer channels. If you look at mixer channel, the 12 o’clock position is 0db. All the way clockwise. With 24db ADC and DAC converters, this theoretically isn’t a big deal. Mackie does this and calls it “wide-z”. Behringer does this on the XR-12 and XR-16 line inputs. Korg does this on their KONNECT one piece PA.

I’m sure this approach saves money by reducing the number of preamps needed. I play fingerstyle guitar with no nails, and my guitar output is softer than most strummers. I find this approach to be a bit anemic, even with the mixer channel turned all the way up to 12db. It probably works ok for strummers.

Good point. My testing is strumming a Dreadnought with a heavy pick.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I was hoping it would have 4 combo jacks and XLR outs but they would have been wishful wishful thinking considering the size.

The outs are TRS balanced.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by lkingston

The outs are TRS balanced.

Elite told me the outputs should use mono cables.

[lkingston]

I just checked the manual again and you’re right. Both the 1/4” ins and outs are TS. Weird. I was so sure that I saw TRS on both.

[AeroUSA]

So who is this mixer for? A duo that wants to travel light or a guitarist with a dual source system that wants to blend the two pickups together? A solo singer/guitarist would probably be better off with a TC Play Acoustic right?

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

A duo that wants to travel light

Only if they have active pickups

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

A guitarist with a dual source system that wants to blend the two pickups together?

All two channel pickup blender have Hi-Z preamp stage to handle passive pickups... So I think it is not the target.

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

A solo singer/guitarist would probably be better off with a TC Play Acoustic right?

That is the problem... Aaron did you try a Baggs pickup? They have usually weak output (even being active). It would be interesting to know if a weak output active pickup is noisy with this device.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Only if they have active pickups


All two channel pickup blender have Hi-Z preamp stage to handle passive pickups... So I think it is not the target.


That is the problem... Aaron did you try a Baggs pickup? They have usually weak output (even being active). It would be interesting to know if a weak output active pickup is noisy with this device.

The Anthem has enough gain. I was surprised as I thought they were the lowest gain of all active pickups but it seems fine. I also wish that the EQ was parametric and the frequencies could be adjusted.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

The Anthem has enough gain. I was surprised as I thought they were the lowest gain of all active pickups but it seems fine. I also wish that the EQ was parametric and the frequencies could be adjusted.

Then it is very surprising... Then the singer-songwriter target is good providing they use an active pickup. I am not sure if they are very competitive against TC Play acoustic with less features (no looper, no harmonies). TC PA has a AUX input hich is probably stereo... so the inputs are nearly equal.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Then it is very surprising... Then the singer-songwriter target is good providing they use an active pickup. I am not sure if they are very competitive against TC Play acoustic with less features (no looper, no harmonies). TC PA has a AUX input hich is probably stereo... so the inputs are nearly equal.

I think it is good for a duo or a solo artist that may want to connect an additional singer since it has the two inputs. It is also VERY small and would fit on a pedalboard easily. Those are the main selling points.

[xomox]

I have a K&K mini in combination with K&K FantaStick under sadlle pickup wich i connect to Red Eye Twin preamp. For now it sounds good but will Stompmix give me better sound then Red Eye? i plan to add Yamaha Silent Nylon also to my live shows so StompMix4 would be also good option for that but... What if it doesnt give me good sound? And i must first Sell Red Eye before buying Stompmix (lack of money)

Is ith worth the trade?

TNX

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by xomox

I have a K&K mini in combination with K&K FantaStick under sadlle pickup wich i connect to Red Eye Twin preamp. For now it sounds good but will Stompmix give me better sound then Red Eye? i plan to add Yamaha Silent Nylon also to my live shows so StompMix4 would be also good option for that but... What if it doesnt give me good sound? And i must first Sell Red Eye before buying Stompmix (lack of money)

Is ith worth the trade?

TNX

It could be cool if you could process both outputs simultaneously...

[Cuki79]

Just noticed that the Stompmix 6 has

Nominal output levels (1 kHz): Aux out: -10 dBu Main Output: +4dB

where as the Stompmix 4 has only

Nominal output levels (1 kHz): -10 dBu

The fact that the Stompmix 4 does not provide a pro line level output (ie it has weak outputs) annihilate some benefit from it. You might not be able to use it to add channels to an amp or amplified speaker for example.

A small mixer like the Yamaha MG06x for example provides +4dBu pro line level output.

The TC Play Acoustic provides +2dBu outputs

Note that the BOSS acoustic singer also chose to go with -10dBu consumer audio level...
Note that Tonedexter has -9dB output (without the boost)...

Maybe someone should check what are numbers on the market

My problem is that most amps/amplified speaker don't provide a gain knob nowadays... So you are always stucked with a weak fixed gain stage. That's very frustrating...