Help me find my mixer!

viz

Has to have:

analogue
12 mono channels
good fx
48v individual per channel
good preamps
100mm faders
low cut per channel
aux etc
xlr out

Danny1969

A & H Mix Wizard ticks all those boxes Viz and you can get one used for around £300 

viz

Danny1969 said:

A & H Mix Wizard ticks all those boxes Viz and you can get one used for around £300 

Nice! They seem to be a bit more expensive but I'll keep my eye out.

Otherwise the Soundcraft EFX range looks good, but 48v applies to all channels.

Or the little Behringer xenyx look fun, same issue though. Plus the outputs are out the back, which I don't like as much.

Danny1969

viz said:

Danny1969 said:

A & H Mix Wizard ticks all those boxes Viz and you can get one used for around £300 

Nice! They seem to be a bit more expensive but I'll keep my eye out.

Otherwise the Soundcraft EFX range looks good, but 48v applies to all channels.

Or the little Behringer xenyx look fun, same issue though. Plus the outputs are out the back, which I don't like as much.

Having 48V on all channels isn't really a problem as the power is applied to both pins 2 and 3 ... so there's no potential difference across a directly coupled dynamic mic's capsule to damage it and most dynamic mics  are transformer coupled anyway and transformers block DC so it's not an issue there. 

I have seen iPods and iPad damaged by being plugged into mixers with phantom power turned on ... the headphone amp gets blown because there is a direct reference to ground there on both left and right and the full 48V destroys the headphone amp. 

Ribbon mics, if you're lucky enough to own any can certainly be damaged with phantom power too though  

viz

Ahhhh that’s very interesting, so SM58s aren’t in danger?

in that case I’ll probably go for a Soundcraft. I would get a cheap FX8 but the output’s not a balanced cable. 

octatonic

viz said:

Ahhhh that’s very interesting, so SM58s aren’t in danger?

No, you're safe.

viz

Cool, ta. I’ve never worried in the past but though if I’m getting a new mixer I might as well err on the safe side. Though I use condenser and dynamic simultaneously through my focusrite too and never had a problem. 

octatonic

viz said:

Cool, ta. I’ve never worried in the past but though if I’m getting a new mixer I might as well err on the safe side. Though I use condenser and dynamic simultaneously through my focusrite too and never had a problem. 

If you wanted to use ribbons then a good practice is to use a cloud lifter which will protect the ribbon and give you a level lift too.
Better than using external phantom imho.

viz

octatonic said:

viz said:

Cool, ta. I’ve never worried in the past but though if I’m getting a new mixer I might as well err on the safe side. Though I use condenser and dynamic simultaneously through my focusrite too and never had a problem. 

If you wanted to use ribbons then a good practice is to use a cloud lifter which will protect the ribbon and give you a level lift too.
Better than using external phantom imho.

Cheers, good to know! Mine are just SE thingies

Stratavarious

I like my Soundcraft MTK .. it also acts as a multitrack audio interface.  Lexicon FX, low cut, limiters, some Hi-Z inputs for DI..  Universal 48v but never had any issue even at festivals with all mic types and active DI boxes.

viz

Is that a 22 or a 16 or what?

Stratavarious

viz said:

Is that a 22 or a 16 or what?

Mine is 22. They do a 12 and a 16 without the audio interface.  But the 22 has a lot more mono XLR/combo inputs and two fx engines.

https://www.soundcraft.com/en/product_families/signature-mtk-series

https://www.soundcraft.com/en/product_families/soundcraft-signature-series

What is it for? Live or project studio?

The A&Hs look good though too.

Stuckfast

I have never seen a ribbon mic blown by phantom power. Many studios have phantom permanently active on all their mic lines and hot-plug all mics without any problems. I think it's one of those risks that is more theoretical than real, unless you have faulty cables.

viz

Cool. Cheers

Stratavarious said:

viz said:

Is that a 22 or a 16 or what?

Mine is 22. They do a 12 and a 16 without the audio interface.  But the 22 has a lot more mono XLR/combo inputs and two fx engines.

https://www.soundcraft.com/en/product_families/signature-mtk-series

https://www.soundcraft.com/en/product_families/soundcraft-signature-series

What is it for? Live or project studio?

The A&Hs look good though too.

It’s for live. I am tempted by the smaller MTKs. Why is this so hard?! I do have a fondness for Soundcraft though so I’m definitely going to try to get something from them if I can. Now it’s a toss-up between an EFX USB, and an MTK. 

Stratavarious

The Yamaha MG mixers are very good too. Bombproof.   Nice FX.

I have one in a little project studio but use it for rehearsals too.  See a lot in fixed kit in venues.

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/mixers/mg_series_xu_model/index.html

Roland

Behringer XR, or do you need physical sliders?

viz

Physical sliders please!

marxski

I would say this about the A&H Mixwizard as I own the 12-2 WZ4. They are built to last - heavy metal casing and each channel strip is a separate circuit board so designed to be maintained. They also have direct outs and insert points on the first 8 channels plus inserts on the stereo buss. There is also a mono master out and mono out line feed in addition to the stereo outs. I have found it very useful. There are 5 auxiliary sends and two digital effects auxes which sound decent - nothing spectacular but good and usable. 

Finally there are 48v switches on first 8 channels, 4 band EQ and there is an optional USB card for the later WZ4 models but this is only stereo not multitrack so I never bothered with getting that.