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Which mixing desk?


Al Krow
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Guys,

We've outgrown our little Allen & Heath ZED60-10FX, which we've been using these past few years, and are looking to get another mixing desk with more inputs.

The 'obvious' choice for us would be sticking to what we know and going for the ZED60-14FX (around £350) which has 8 mono inputs, two of which are high impedance and can take guitars without needing a DI.

But I'd be really keen to get your recommendations for alternatives, in particular something with:

  • 8 or more mono inputs and with similarly good portability;
  • the ability to store preset levels for each band member and mic to speed sound checks;
  • I don't mind spending a bit more if the additional quality / flexibility warrants it.

We go directly from the mixing desk into two active (RCF) PA speakers and currently use one smallish monitor.

Thanks in advance!

AK

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I suppose it depends if you want the old school style or whether you want a tablet driven mixer. We bought a new mixer last year and opted for a Mackie DL1608 which is iPad compatible, although I’m told that this is becoming iOS and android compatible this year.

We run 2x active Turbo sounds Milan m15s, 3 mics, Bass, drums, guitar and keys all Di in.

If you buy a cheap wireless router then you can also detach the iPad and go front of house to set up the mix.

https://mackie.com/products/dl1608-dl806

Works for us 😃👍🏻

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Silvie and I have just invested in a Behringer X Air XR-18 to replace both the desks we have been using for the last few years (a Soundcraft and another Behringer).

I say 'invested' but in fact the price has tumbled over the last 18 months, and we paid £340 for ours. We didn't need to buy any extra IT gear since we already have a laptop and several tablets knocking about.

Before you buy another old-school desk, I'd strongly recommend that you take a look at wireless control by tablet or similar. Bear in mind that you DON'T have to walk out front to operate it! We link ours simultaneously (1) to my laptop which sits on the rack case and works exactly like a normal desk for me to operate between songs, if I choose, and (2) to Silvie's tablet so that she can adjust volumes and mix mid-song if she chooses.

We've played our first two gigs with this rig over the weekend and we're loving it. All the weight is off my shoulders while I'm playing and I can concentrate on what I'm doing, knowing that if something goes horribly wrong then Silvie will fix it. In truth things very rarely go horribly wrong - we've been doing this a long time - but it's one less thing to distract me.

You can save as 'Scenes' both different setups for different bands (I play in several) and also different venues for a single band if you work a repeat cycle of venues over the year. 

It's early days yet, but we have been thoroughly impressed.

 

Edited by Happy Jack
The Usual Typos
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22 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Silvie and I have just invested in a Behringer X Air XR-18 to replace both the desks we have been using for the last few years (a Soundcraft and another Behringer).

I say 'invested' but in fact the price has tumbled over the last 18 months, and we paid £340 for ours. We didn't need to buy any extra IT gear since we already have a laptop and several tablets knocking about.

Before you buy another old-school desk, I'd strongly recommend that you take a look at wireless control by tablet or similar. Bear in mind that you DON'T have to walk out front to operate it! We link ours simultaneously (1) to my laptop which sits on the rack case and works exactly like a normal desk for me to operate between songs, if I choose, and (2) to Silvie's tablet so that she can adjust volumes and mix mid-song if she chooses.

We've played our first two gigs with this rig over the weekend and we're loving it. All the weight is off my shoulders while I'm playing and I can concentrate on what I'm doing, knowing that if something goes horribly wrong then Silvie will fix it. In truth things very rarely go horribly wrong - we've been doing this a long time - but it's one less thing to distract me.

You can save as 'Scenes' both different setups for different bands (I play in several) and also different venues for a single band if you work a repeat cycle of venues over the year. 

It's early days yet, but we have been thoroughly impressed.

 

Game changer, right?

You'll be going inears next ;)

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I've just seen the parallel thread that is looking at wireless PA options - and seen @EBS_freak 's really helpful post on that. 

However, I think Steve's post is where we are at i.e. we don't have a sound man and in the bands I'm in it's just one of the band members who sets the level (drummer in one, guitarist in the other), so keeping it simple is going to be the way to go. One of the bands gigs relatively infrequently so investing the time to get up to speed on something like the XR18 is maybe going to be a big ask.

On 20/02/2019 at 13:37, skidder652003 said:

We had the XR18, amazing bit of kit but way too complicated for us, as the drummer set the levels and then we just wanted to get on with it. We're just a 3 piece with no soundman so we went back to analogue desk (RCF). The XR18 is a learning curve, no mistake.

And maybe the XR18 is going to be overkill for our needs (8 mono inputs should more than suffice):

On 20/02/2019 at 09:36, Jack said:

Yeah. We went from an 8-channel Yamaha board that only ran vocals into two tops (5 xlr cables), to the XR18 that has everything through it with tops and subs (16 xlr). Going digital and wireless gave us...more wires.

Having said all that - I did find the QSC Touchmix 16 that EBS recommended to be strangely alluring with it's compact size and built in interface (and with a budget to fit).

The Mackie DL1608 ,which Paul recommended, could be an option but would require us to also get a dedicated iPad.

At the moment the simplicity of the Allen & Heath ZED60-14FX is still looking appealing, not least given our familiarity and being up to speed with its baby brother.

 

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15 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Silvie and I have just invested in a Behringer X Air XR-18 to replace both the desks we have been using for the last few years (a Soundcraft and another Behringer).

I say 'invested' but in fact the price has tumbled over the last 18 months, and we paid £340 for ours. We didn't need to buy any extra IT gear since we already have a laptop and several tablets knocking about.

Before you buy another old-school desk, I'd strongly recommend that you take a look at wireless control by tablet or similar. Bear in mind that you DON'T have to walk out front to operate it! We link ours simultaneously (1) to my laptop which sits on the rack case and works exactly like a normal desk for me to operate between songs, if I choose, and (2) to Silvie's tablet so that she can adjust volumes and mix mid-song if she chooses.

We've played our first two gigs with this rig over the weekend and we're loving it. All the weight is off my shoulders while I'm playing and I can concentrate on what I'm doing, knowing that if something goes horribly wrong then Silvie will fix it. In truth things very rarely go horribly wrong - we've been doing this a long time - but it's one less thing to distract me.

You can save as 'Scenes' both different setups for different bands (I play in several) and also different venues for a single band if you work a repeat cycle of venues over the year. 

It's early days yet, but we have been thoroughly impressed.

 

+1

The XR-18 is a fantastic bit of kit.It provides a full channel record output which allows you to re-mix the recording back at home on your PC with your preferred DAW software. The monitor outputs provide individual mix preferences so IEM could be rolled out band member by band member if they chose to do so. As Jack said each band member could have their own tablet and control their monitor mix or help out with FOH mix if problems arise. It shares the overall sound control responsibility! If you want something simpler then the XR-12 may fit the bill. There are masses of You Tube tutorials to help master all the features. If you really want to go "posh" there's the MR-18 which has studio quality pre-amps.

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4 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

 If you really want to go "posh" there's the MR-18 which has studio quality pre-amps.

The real big advantage of going to the MR18 is the 10 year warranty. For most people, the other equipment in their PA setup isn't going to allow you to reveal any advantages of those preamps.

Edited by EBS_freak
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