Good 16 channels mixing console,,, help please

[socratez]

Im looking for a good mixer with 16 channels and 4 or more subgroubds,,, wich sounds damn good at an affordable price.

I had a Mackie 16 once but it didnt have any headroom at all..

i want to use the mixer for mixing my outboard gear and route it to the inputs of my M-audio

I hope you can help me out

[GrantB]

What is afforable?

[socratez]

Originally posted by GrantB:
What is afforable?

$1000 and under

[Kenny Carvajal]

Socratez,

I used to have a 1604 vlz and thought it sounded great. I know a few producers who uses the 2404 vlz (same board more channels obviously) who are releasing quality records with no problems.

Mackie came out with a newer 1604 which supposed to have improved the headroom. Might be worth a look.

Kenny

[socratez]

I dont need 24 channels so it might take up a litle to much space.

I can buy a 24-4VLZ for a nice price,,,, does the 24-4 have the same amount of headroom as the 16-04VLZ???

[O'love]

sorry to be so honest but Socratez, it seems you're always trying to find faults of your production in the gear....i think you have to look more into your way of working.... the mackie mixer is rather decent, especially compared with the mixers people tend to work with 2 decades ago...... you really should have enough headroom in a mackiemixer to make good-sounding mixers, as Kenny already mentioned......

i don't want to be mean or something, it's just something i notice in your postings...your kurzweil doesn't have good sounding pianos, your PC cannot be used to make phat beats, softsynths don't sound good enough, and now a mackie mixer doesn't have enough headroom ....

peace, Olaf [img]graemlins/beerchug.gif[/img]

[ January 09, 2004, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: O'love ]

[socratez]

Its a matter of choice,,

When i can choose between a mixer with a not so good sound, and a mixer wich sounds good, then i would take the last one.

I do think the right gear for the right person is important in production. I dont like making music on the pc, and i dont know much about hardware so i need to learn that stuff. Answers like: You dont need gear, you just need talent,, aint gonna help.

[ January 09, 2004, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: socratez ]

[O'love]

ok let's specify the question:

if you want to have a significantly better sounding mixer you probably have to spend at least twice the amount you budgetted...so what's more important to you? the headroom or the soundquality? ie do you prefer a very good sounding mixer with a little less headroom than the mackie over the opposite?

a friend of mine has the soundtrac topaz 24, it can be found second-hand for a little over 1000 euro's if you're lucky...does sound really nice, although the metering isn't really accurate.....

D&R mixers are also known for good headroom and nice sound..

peace, Olaf

[Kenny Carvajal]

Originally posted by socratez:
I dont need 24 channels so it might take up a litle to much space.

I can buy a 24-4VLZ for a nice price,,,, does the 24-4 have the same amount of headroom as the 16-04VLZ???

Socratez, the 2404VLZ is practically the same mixer as the 1604VLZ only it has more channels. I used to own one and really liked it.

My suggestion is just to record things a little hotter and don't increase the gain knob too much. Instead, make the signal going into the board louder to avoid unwanted noise.

Hope that helps!

Kenny

[socratez]

Thanx man,,

I got an option on a mackie 24 right now. I hope it will work out.

[Kenny Carvajal]

Sound good Socratez. As an FYI, Dino & Terry, Sean Smith, and I think Johny Fiasco uses the same board. If it works for them, I'm sure it'll be just fine.

[img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

Kenny

[variable]

Im about to buy a mixer. I was going to get a Beringer, can someone tell me why they are so cheap? And what is Headroom?

[martino]

yeah, not sure about the "headroom" thing. Might want to look at the way your mixing your tracks down, cause i've almost never clipped on a mackie. i have a mackie, and i've had one forever. not crazy about the sound actually. gives everything a bit of a "tin" quality to my ears at least.

[Kenny Carvajal]

Which Behringer mixer were you considering? I was looking at Behringer mixers a few years ago but never saw any reviews on it so I'm not sure.

Maybe with your budget, you can get something better or a used one.

Just a thought.

Kenny

[socratez]

DAMN it wasnt my lucky day,,, The 24-04VLZ has already been sold :(

The next option is a Allen and Heath G2 16channel and the Tascam 2425 16 channel...

Tascam would be very nice because it has 8 subgroups, wich will be perfect for routing to the inputs of my soundcard.

Anyone got any experience with Tascams???

[variable]

Originally posted by Kenny Carvajal:
Which Behringer mixer were you considering? I was looking at Behringer mixers a few years ago but never saw any reviews on it so I'm not sure.

Maybe with your budget, you can get something better or a used one.

Just a thought.

Kenny

Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO Mixer its 299. But what makes a mixer "better"? These Behringers have the same features as most Mackies. I cant find anyone who says bad things about them. So why not buy one?

[Kenny Carvajal]

Originally posted by variable:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kenny Carvajal:
Which Behringer mixer were you considering? I was looking at Behringer mixers a few years ago but never saw any reviews on it so I'm not sure.

Maybe with your budget, you can get something better or a used one.

Just a thought.

Kenny

Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO Mixer its 299. But what makes a mixer "better"? These Behringers have the same features as most Mackies. I cant find anyone who says bad things about them. So why not buy one? [/QUOTE]Very very true. Although, one important feature that I would look for is a very good eq section.

For $299, sounds good to me.

Kenny

[socratez]

Used Behringer consoles are very hard to find over here in Holland,,,

The only Behringers im interested are new over $1000

[Kenny Carvajal]

By used I was actually refering to a used mixer besides Behringer.

I take it back though. The Behringer digital mixer I heard is very very good. Comparable to the Yamaha 01v.

Kenny

[O'love]

if you are looking for shitloads of headroom you have to look for a 32bits floating point digital mixer....... of course the sound and the way of working is different, i guess it's not really your prefered way of working?

Olaf

[socratez]

Ive looked it up, and the 01v got 32bit floating point... I can buy one for 800 euro wich is a nice price i guess.

I do prefer analog consoles but they to expensive, especialy in Holland. Im still thinking about what im gonna do,, its tuff.

[variable]

Originally posted by O'love:
if you are looking for shitloads of headroom you have to look for a 32bits floating point digital mixer....... of course the sound and the way of working is different, i guess it's not really your prefered way of working?

Olaf

I know I need a late pass but what is Headroom.

[GrantB]

Originally posted by socratez:
Ive looked it up, and the 01v got 32bit floating point... I can buy one for 800 euro wich is a nice price i guess.

I do prefer analog consoles but they to expensive, especialy in Holland. Im still thinking about what im gonna do,, its tuff.

Since you are in Holland, you might try to find a used D&R. Very clean sounding consoles and well made.

[socratez]

I had one, they sounded nice but theyre way too big, its like having a BMW in you bedroom. Also, the conole only had xlr inputs wich is very tricky. Buying spending 150euros on cables while the console only costed 300 was to much for me.

[GrantB]

Originally posted by socratez:
I had one, they sounded nice but theyre way too big, its like having a BMW in you bedroom. Also, the conole only had xlr inputs wich is very tricky. Buying spending 150euros on cables while the console only costed 300 was to much for me.

That makes no sense to me. 450 Euros for sound that smokes any board in this thread VS $1000 for prosumer junk? I hear you on the size thing but man... I would sleep on the couch if I had the D&R. Different strokes I guess...