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Compact mixer recommendations


Jakester
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Can anyone offer any recommendations for a compact mixer for live use?

 

We have a XR18 for bigger gigs where everything is mic'd and monitored, but it's a faff for small pub gigs. 

 

I was looking at a Yamaha MG10XU as we need reverb for the vocals, but we also run the guitars through the PA to limit stage volume. and my reading of the specs is that it only has 1 monitor output via the FX send, and if you use the internal FX that doesn't work, so the monitor out has everything coming out (there's no way to adjust what comes out in the monitors). We don't need guitars in the monitors (for obvious reasons!)

 

What we really need is a compact mixer with an adjustable aux outs and FX that's separate. The MG12XU seems to have it, but it also has way more channels that we need and is £££. 

 

The Behringer jobbies seem okay but have the same limitation - no way to control what comes out the monitors if you use the internal FX.

 

Any ideas/recommendations appreciated! 

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There aren't a lot of small mixers with both builtin effects and multiple aux sends - here's a Thomann filtered search. Looks like the Alesis MultiMix 8 FX or the Behringer X1204 are about the smallest devices with that combination. I've not used the Alesis but I've used other Behringer mixers in that range - the build quality is a bit cheap and cheerful, but they work fine and the reverb effects are surprisingly good.

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6 hours ago, atsampson said:

There aren't a lot of small mixers with both builtin effects and multiple aux sends - here's a Thomann filtered search. Looks like the Alesis MultiMix 8 FX or the Behringer X1204 are about the smallest devices with that combination. I've not used the Alesis but I've used other Behringer mixers in that range - the build quality is a bit cheap and cheerful, but they work fine and the reverb effects are surprisingly good.

Thanks - the Behringer looks like it fits the bill, and I found an open box one on Amazon for a good price, so going to give that a try. 

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4 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

I'm assuming you want analogue as the MG10XU is. Mackie, Soundcraft and Allen & Heath all offer compact mixers that should to the job.

Thanks - unfortunately none of those have two auxes. 

Edited by Jakester
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38 minutes ago, police squad said:

I have the X1204 and replaced it with the Allen & Heath Zed 10-FX. The Zed 10-FX has much better sounding pre amps in it. Much much more warm and musical.

Defo worth the extra money (I also have a  Zed 22FX, which is now 10 years old and still going strong)

Interesting. We currently use the A&H Zed60 14-FX, but its key limitation for us in thinking about going wireless is the lack of sufficient aux-out for individual monitoring. I guess we may face a similar sound quality trade-off if / when we swap over to a RCF M18 i.e. additional functionality of the digital RCF vs the component quality / warmth & musicality of the analogue A&H - perhaps not unexpected given the two units are the approx. the same price so something has to give!

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On 06/11/2021 at 13:52, Jakester said:

We have a XR18 for bigger gigs where everything is mic'd and monitored, but it's a faff for small pub gigs. 

 

In what way is this a 'faff'? 

 

On 06/11/2021 at 13:52, Jakester said:

We don't need guitars in the monitors (for obvious reasons!)

 

 

Is there a genuine reason why other than the backline being used as a monitor?  Our guitarists use smaller lunchbox amps in the 10-15w output range and keep the backline levels down, relying on the monitoring without swamping the FoH mix.

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5 minutes ago, DaytonaRik said:

 

In what way is this a 'faff'? 

 

Because I think it's a faff. It's more faff than using a 'normal' mixer. 

 

Less tongue-in-cheek, in this band I play drums. I also have the PA and so if there's a need for a level change using the XR18 it can be difficult to keep playing and change the levels. For bigger gigs, I can use a control surface next to me and the XR18 elsewhere on the stage etc, but for small pub gigs its overkill. 

 

Quote

Is there a genuine reason why other than the backline being used as a monitor?  Our guitarists use smaller lunchbox amps in the 10-15w output range and keep the backline levels down, relying on the monitoring without swamping the FoH mix.

 

What do you mean by "a genuine reason"?

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11 minutes ago, Jakester said:

What do you mean by "a genuine reason"?

 

I can't think of an occasion where band members don't want guitars in the monitor mix (at least their own) except when the backline is used as a monitor, and then the whole on stage and FoH mix gets out of control quickly with the almost invariable 'volume wars' of volume nudging! 

 

I completely get the 'jack of all trades' thing - I play bass, sing backing vocals and run lights with my feet as well as running FoH sound and adjusting monitor levels for various band members etc. with both an XR18 and X32 when we have a bigger space.

 

An iPad attached to a mic stand makes sure that I always have the 'desk' to hand, but even then, changes are kept to between songs rather than mid-song.

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16 minutes ago, DaytonaRik said:

I can't think of an occasion where band members don't want guitars in the monitor mix (at least their own) except when the backline is used as a monitor, and then the whole on stage and FoH mix gets out of control quickly with the almost invariable 'volume wars' of volume nudging! 

 

Well, I think the small pub gigs I'm talking about are just that - v small pubs, so there's no need for anything other than a vocal monitor (and that's mainly only for the singist). 

 

The main issue with the controllability is the ruddy singer pointing his mic at the ruddy monitor and/or FOH speakers - he's been told repeatedly not to do it, but he gets over excited....🙄

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8 minutes ago, Jakester said:

 

Well, I think the small pub gigs I'm talking about are just that - v small pubs, so there's no need for anything other than a vocal monitor (and that's mainly only for the singist). 

 

There are times when I wish gigs could be that simple but when you have IEMs involved then you really have no option but to mic/DI backline, which is the biggest PITA of the whole process!  From there you may was well keep the backline down and go for your monitoring option of choice

 

Edited by DaytonaRik
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  • 1 month later...

Well, for anyone that’s interested the Behringer is going back. Had the opportunity to set it up and have a play over Christmas and it’s so noisy as to be unusable. 
 

There’s a continuous high pitched (around 1.7khz) hiss which is unaffected by any EQ or the gain pots, and then random clicking and popping artefacts which just ‘happen’ with no input. Really not good enough. It’s a shame, as the effects were actually really good. 
 

I know Behringer suffered from a bad reputation for live sound gear but I thought they’d gone past that - certainly my XR18 had been great. 
 

So, back in the market for something else - the A&H looks good but is really £££. Current fave possible is a Soundcraft Signature 10 which seems around the same size as the ill-fated Behringer but has more auxes…

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On 08/11/2021 at 19:45, Dan Dare said:

Are you sure? I have an old A&H PA12 that has 2 and built in fx. The A&H ZED-12FX has 4.

Just to come back to this, I think part of it was I hadn’t done a deep enough dive! It depends how many channels and what spec you go for - the smaller channelled mixers from SC didn’t have more than one, the Mackie all the way up to a 12 channel don’t. As you and others have said the A&H does but it’s v expensive. 

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3 hours ago, Jakester said:

Just to come back to this, I think part of it was I hadn’t done a deep enough dive! It depends how many channels and what spec you go for - the smaller channelled mixers from SC didn’t have more than one, the Mackie all the way up to a 12 channel don’t. As you and others have said the A&H does but it’s v expensive. 

 

I picked up my AH quite cheaply used on eBay. They and SC mixers come up quite frequently. If you want new, the Soundcraft Signature 10 has 2 auxes plus fx and is available for around £240 at the moment. Looks ideal for your needs.

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3 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

 

I picked up my AH quite cheaply used on eBay. They and SC mixers come up quite frequently. If you want new, the Soundcraft Signature 10 has 2 auxes plus fx and is available for around £240 at the moment. Looks ideal for your needs.

Thanks - yep, that was the one I was going to go for!

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Soundcraft arrived today - sounds great, much quieter preamps. Interesting,y the sound ‘out of the box’ wasn’t as pre-eq’d as the Behringer, which suggests there is an element of tailoring to the cheaper mixer. 
 

It does weigh a bleeding ton though - feels heavier than my old Yamaha MG/16 and similar sized Mackie I had for a while. Seems the ‘compact’ part of my brief has rather gone by the wayside but it should cover everything but the largest gigs. 
 

One really weird feature though which I can’t really fathom is the lack of on/off switch - plug it in, and it’s on straight away. No idea why they’d do that… 

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21 hours ago, Jakester said:

Soundcraft arrived today - sounds great, much quieter preamps. Interesting,y the sound ‘out of the box’ wasn’t as pre-eq’d as the Behringer, which suggests there is an element of tailoring to the cheaper mixer. 
 

It does weigh a bleeding ton though - feels heavier than my old Yamaha MG/16 and similar sized Mackie I had for a while. Seems the ‘compact’ part of my brief has rather gone by the wayside but it should cover everything but the largest gigs. 
 

One really weird feature though which I can’t really fathom is the lack of on/off switch - plug it in, and it’s on straight away. No idea why they’d do that… 

Sounds good. I still miss the sound (but not the weight) of my old SC 24-4-2 mixer. They are very solidly built, the preamps are excellent and the eq is subtle and very useable. Does it use an external power supply? Some smaller SC mixers do. As long as you remember not to power up the PA until the mixer is on (and power the PA down before unplugging the mixer), you shouldn't have issues with the fact that it doesn't have an on/off switch. 

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