An excellent (and affordable) new mixer from Elite Acoustics!

[AeroUSA]

I had the pleasure of reviewing the excellent ‘GigMix 4-1’ for Elite Acousitcs.

It’s out today and priced at an incredible $199.

[jklotz]

That's pretty cool! At that price, it will be a very handy little box for a lot of folks I'm guessing. Will it run off of a battery or pedal power supply, or does it have to be plugged in?

[Chriscom]

Another great review!

Aaron, I apologize if you covered this and I missed it, but can you connect only one mic with this? When I'm not solo, my basic need is two vocals, two instruments.

Edit: I originally said here that the manual mentions a battery warranty (it's buried in standard warranty language, standard boilerplate I guess), but Aaron notes that it does not run on battery. Hat-tip to Aaron; revised this post to avoid confusing anyone.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

Another great review!

Aaron, I apologize if you covered this and I missed it, but can you connect only one mic with this? When I'm not solo, my basic need is two vocals, two instruments.

Re jklotz's question, the manual I'm looking at brings up just two mentions of battery: That it's not covered by the one-year warranty, but it is covered by a 90-day warranty. So it can run that way or plugged into an outlet. Unless I'm missing something, very weird they don't even mention the battery's typical runtime.

These are not battery powered but I’m sure they can be run from a battery. The GigMix has one XLR input. For a duo you would want the StompMix.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

Aaron, I apologize if you covered this and I missed it, but can you connect only one mic with this? When I'm not solo, my basic need is two vocals, two instruments.

Just one mic preamp, from what I found on the AEA web site.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

These are not battery powered but I’m sure they can be run from a battery. The GigMix has one XLR input. For a duo you would want the StompMix.

Aaron you should define what you mean by Battery powered. Most people would think using a 9V battery.

the manual says
Power Supply: DC 12V 400mA or Higher - Included

Even if it worked with 9V, a typical 9V battery (500mAh) would not work more than 1h15min.

Digital pedals DON'T WORK with standard batteries, unless you buy and trash tons of them...

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Aaron you should define what you mean by Battery powered. Most people would think using a 9V battery.

the manual says
Power Supply: DC 12V 400mA or Higher - Included

Even if it worked with 9V, a typical 9V battery (500mAh) would not work more than 1h15min.

Digital pedals DON'T WORK with standard batteries, unless you buy and trash tons of them...

Yes I didn't mean a 9v battery. I meant a dedicated battery pack. Elite also make a rechargeable mixer in this format which would be a much better option for this.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Yes I didn't mean a 9v battery. I meant a dedicated battery pack. Elite also make a rechargeable mixer in this format which would be a much better option for this.

I run my stompmix4 on a battery pack!

I have GAS for the new cheaper one. I don’t use condenser vocal mic anymore (stompmix phantom voltage was noisy)

And the connections being on the back is so much more convenient...

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

I run my stompmix4 on a battery pack!

I have GAS for the new cheaper one. I don’t use condenser vocal mic anymore (stompmix phantom voltage was noisy)

And the connections being on the back is so much more convenient...

There shouldn’t be noise. I recorded my StompMix review using a phantom powered mic and it was perfect. Maybe yours has a problem.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

There shouldn’t be noise. I recorded my StompMix review using a phantom powered mic and it was perfect. Maybe yours has a problem.

Yes I should be clear with that. My pedalboard is battery powered. When the phantom power is on, the pedal draws harder on the battery pack and some hisses appear. It's also the case now that I've changed the BOSS RC-3 with a RC-5. It's a pedalboard problem too.

However if I remember well the phantom power was not totally noiseless, at least with the gain up.

Anyway, since then I bought a sennheiser E935 and I am very happy with it and getting rid of the IR pedal has lighten the current load on the battery pack.

So if I didn't have the stompmix 4 I'd buy the gigmix in a heartbeat.

[CASD57]

Birthday is next month..I'm throwing out little hints to the better half...

[rpmguitar]

If I use a preamp primarily for EQ, how noticeable is the difference in sound quality between my Zoom G3 and something like a Grace Alix or the EAE Gigmix that Aaron just reviewed? I am currently using 6 bands of parametric EQ on the G3 to pull out unwanted frequencies in my Rainsong WS1000 using the onboard Element Stagepro. I probably don't need that many bands, but they are available (actually up to 12 bands). I am running the output of the G3 into a QSC CP8. It sounds good to me, but I'm just wondering if there would be a noticeable improvement in the overall sound if I used a higher end preamp/mixer/toy. Would the sound be somehow cleaner or smoother or more pleasant in any way? Just curious before I start trying to justify spending more money in the quest for more pleasing tone. I know the audience doesn't perceive these nuances for the most part, but I read a great comment here that the main reason to seek better tone is for your own benefit because if you like what you hear, you will enjoy playing more and will likely play better.
Rick

[Cuki79]

Hi rpmguitar,

Zoom and Elite acoustic products are digital devices. Your signal goes through Analog-to-digital converters, are being processed and then converted back with digital-to-analog converters.

It means you will experience somekind of latency, loss of dynamic , low end and high end. Most people don’t notice. Some trains themselves enough to to notice or believe they can.

Grace design is studio quality stuff. They have 3 regulation stages just to transform the 110-220VAC in to DC voltage high enough, stable, fast and powerful enough to insure low noise, ultra low distortion performance.
Compare the figures you will see it is night and day with consumer product.

Can you hear it? Can you feel it? Well it also depends on the PA/amplifier. If you use an entry level speaker... you will probably don’t hear the difference.

All I can say is when you go along the « upgrade path » you will quickly realize EVERYTHING needs to be upgraded. As you train your ears to spot the problems, your expectations raise... and it becomes a never ending story.

So yes there is a difference. Is it worth it? This is your decision to make.

I know a guy on the AGF who was happy for 15 years with a Larrivée... decided to « upgrade », and bought probably 20-30 guitars after... with ever growing frustrations.

Ignorance is bliss.

My 2 cents,
Cuki

[rpmguitar]

Thanks for that explanation, Cuki. It makes sense. So I guess with the digital stuff, the quality of the analog to digital converters, among other things, can have a big impact on the losses you described. I guess the only way for me to decide if something is worth upgrading or not is to compare side by side with my equipment.
Rick

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I had the pleasure of reviewing the excellent ‘GigMix 4-1’ for Elite Acousitcs.

It’s out today and priced at an incredible $199.

Yeah, thanks a lot. Your review just cost me $199. However, I did include free shipping. That makes me feel better. Once again, the AGF gets in my wallet.