Broken mixer - repair/replace?

chrispy108

My Soundcraft Folio Notepad seems to be dying, the right channel has gone, from the main outs there is no sound at all (apart from a bit of radio when the jack is halve out?!), and the monitor out is very crackly. I'm guessing it's fit for the bin, as I couldn't see anything obvious to replace when I looked inside it.

If so, what should I look for? I bought this second hand and have had about a year out of it, but I guess it's a good few years old to start with.

I need:

3/4 pairs of inputs (1 pair on jacks from Zoom G3, the rest phono/jack adaptors from NowTV box, CD player, iPhone)

One main outputs - preferably on balanced jacks,

Headphone out.

Don't need anything else really, I'm struggling to find something that doesn't have loads of EQ/Effects/Compressor etc, which I just don't need.

ecc83

http://www.proaudiosystems.co.uk/allen-heath-zed-10-multipurpose-mixer-with-usb.html?gclid=CO6kzMf8wbwCFUj4wgod0VcAJQ

I have the 10FX version and it is excellent. There are decent products from Yamaha, Tascam, Mackie and others. I hesitate to mention the B word but technically they are not at all bad although I think you ARE looking for a cut above coming from a Soundcraft? They seem to have got out of the small, home projjy market?

Nice feature on the ZED10. High Z inputs are 10meg so ideal for an acoustic guitar.

Dave.

chrispy108

Looks good, but does way more than I want/need, and I don't really want to pay for features I won't use (Mic pre-amps, 3 band EQ, auxes, phantom power, USB). 

The dilemma is, that less features seems to equal worse quality, but maybe for my needs I'm better off replacing a £50 Behringer ever year or two?

I'm happy with this Soundcraft, it's just broken, and they only do massive great things, and I'm hesistant to buy another second-hand one that's maybe 10 years old?

IanSavage

A Behringer will do you fine, especially as you're not looking at gigging it or anything; I've had a few bits of Berry studio gear for years and they've been fine. As you've realised, next-to-impossible to repair if they do break / get damaged, but when you can get a Xenyx 1002 or a EuroRACK for less than sixty quid it's a no-brainer really.   

chrispy108

The main outs on the Behringer are unbalanced jacks, is this an issue?

The Soundcraft is on balanced jacks, and I'm using balanced jack > XLR adaptors then XLR leads to my monitors.

Will the Behringer be noisier?

ecc83

chrispy108 said:

The main outs on the Behringer are unbalanced jacks, is this an issue?

The Soundcraft is on balanced jacks, and I'm using balanced jack > XLR adaptors then XLR leads to my monitors.

Will the Behringer be noisier?

Not so as you should notice. Balanced op' only keeps down hum and other extraneous noise. I have and have had Behringer kit and it was quiet enough, not Great River but good enough.

Actually it is quite easy to convert the mixer main out to "impedance" balance. PM if you want  a schematic.

Dave.

chrispy108

Cheers for your help guys,

Got a Behringer 10 input sitting here for £50 from Amazon that's doing the job admirably!