Floydo Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Hi there. new to this forum and the world of recorded sound. I am looking for a STEREO analogue mixer for a small home studio. Comprising an 8 track recorder, 3 FX units, 2 compressors, a DAT machine and usual mics/ headphones etc. Ideally 8+ stereo channels or min 16 mono channels + on board FX & compression if poss. Question is what are the minimum requirements in terms of tech. spec and essential features required to look for in terms of functionality and considering that, what in yr opinion/ experience is 1. the best, no compromise solution for best audio quality and 2. what do you consider the best value-for-money in this set up (bearing in mind the only cash I have now is for a desk!). Also useful to know if there's something in between. So far I've looked at at YamahaMG166c, Mackie DXF12 12 and Behringer UB1622FX-Pro. Would be interested to know what Soundcraft have to offer and what else is out there. Most confusing. Cheers, and thanks for commenting! Floydo (London, UK) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervaka Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 right so, you want a "no compromise" solution, but you also want to be really financially conscious? I'm afraid its a sort of sliding slope, the two dont go hand in hand. you have to find the point on that slope that is the right price point for you. what is your budget exactly? it sounds at about the £500 from what models you're suggesting. you probably will have to compromise fairly substantially there I'm afraid. in my experience, the behringer EQs and faders on their desks sound and feel rather cheap, and I cant say I'd recommend those for a long term investment. yamaha and mackie though are a different story. from what models you've chosen though, I cant help but feel you're going to outgrow those desks pretty fast. in my opinion you'd need something with more channels, more auxes, and possibly more groups. consider a full 16 channel mixer with 4-6 aux channels instead of two. for example, the mackie onyx 1640 will last you a while, and has the option for a firewire card, should you choose to record onto your pc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 A few thoughts... First, I'm a bit unclear as to why you mention 8 stereo inputs as an option. For the most part, when working on home recording projects, you're using mono sources and mixing down to stereo later. With a few exceptions, it's not possible to use a stereo input as two separate mono ones and many/most don't even accept a mic input. The other way around though, it's easy to use a pair of mono inputs together to handle the odd stereo input. For this reason, I'm going assume you want a 16 channel mono board. Second, we can only guess at your work flow, but with an 8 track recorder I assume (always dangerous) that you will sometimes want to record multiple channels at the same time. This will push you in the direction of a desk with multiple outputs of some kind...either direct outs or simply lots of mix outs. Mervaka's suggestion of a Mackie Onyx with Firewire out would be a good one if you were using a PC, but with a standalone recorder, I guess you need outputs. Finally, effects and compression. Effects are fairly common (though you should have a listen...some built in effects units can be pretty ropey). However, for compression you're going to struggle in an analogue desk. You'll probably need outboard. What's the ideal, no compromise mixer? Well, for a home project studio it's probably not an analogue mixer at all. A small digital mixer like the Yamaha 01V96 is pretty much ubiquitous in professional project studios. You have all the effects and compression you could ask for...with compression on every channel. You have lots of flexibility on outputs, with a choice of analogue omni outs or various digital formats. When you get into it, you have flying fader automation for your mix down. However, you also have a fairly high price tag. Otherwise, you're probably into compromises...and the biggest compromise on a small desk is likely the number of outputs you get (as well as the compression issue). In terms of sound and reliability I can endorse the Yamaha MG series but you'll have to do a work round with auxes etc to get extra outputs. The other desk that could be worth looking at is the Soundcraft FX16ii which has very nice sounding Lexicon effects--and direct outs on each channel. ....or can the 8 track and get into PC recording with an Onyx (or A&H Zed) with Firewire/USB! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervaka Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 afaik, the zed is only a stereo in/out. its why I mentioned the onyx instead :) I'm usually an A&H fanboy, but I know they're always geared towards live applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 ... a small home studio. Comprising an 8 track recorder, 3 FX units, 2 compressors ... Finally, effects and compression. Effects are fairly common (though you should have a listen...some built in effects units can be pretty ropey). However, for compression you're going to struggle in an analogue desk. You'll probably need outboard. The second time I read it I realised that Floydo suggests that he already has these items Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 I find stereo inputs very useful - I've got 3 Roland rack synths, 2 EMU rack synths, a Yamaha rack synth, a couple of keyboards and some hardware rack effects - all which have stereo outputs - Nowadays, all 'real' audio is handled inside the PC and although there are 16 audio outputs, I again just use two of them as a pre-mixed stereo input to the desk. Al desk faders sit in a horizontal straight line, with mixing being done in the machine. All desk eq switched out. The only other job the desk does is getting the mic levels up to line, for quirting into the computer system. A small rack mount, combiner would do me just as well, with a separate pre-amp. Seems a bit of a waste to use a big mixer for this job, but I had one available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Interesting diversion on the topic here...stereo vs. mono inputs. In my case, I've pretty much eliminated all my old outboard gear and work almost exclusively within the PC. Where I do use something external, it's almost always inside my mixer (a DM1000) anyway. That said, with the DM I have the best of both worlds because, where I do need a stereo source (a keyboard for example) I simply "pair" two mono channels and they move in tandem, any EQ or other adjustments made to one carry to the other, and so on (and this pairing can be vertical, i.e. I can link channel 16 on layer 1 with channel 32 on layer two, therefore minimising the need to swap layers and (in a live situation) have control of something like a stereo FX return on two different layers. Anyhow, that's off topic but I'm curious about the workflow used by others...do you still have lots of outboard or is it mainly internal to your DAW? Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieR Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 THIS may be a solution for your 8 stereo inputs. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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