16 channel mixer suggestions wanted

[evhwanabe]

Hey guys, I am curently in the market for atleast a 16 channel mixer for recording purposes only. Want something with decent mic pre's, direct outs, tape in's, atleast 4 aux sends. Not sure if I want to go digital, might not be in my budget. Looking to spend 1k to 1,500.
I read a previous post about the 16ch mix wizzard from A&H and this looked like it would be fine for me, but just curious as to what else is out there.
Thanks

[Kurt Foster]

Not much else really. What you are asking for really doesn't exist. Anything in that price range is basically going to be a Mackie, which is not really that bad. Great, or for that matter even decent mic pres will not be on the menu.

Good pres can often run close to $1500 (or more!) apiece!

A real recording console is;
1. Very large, needs a lot of "real estate" to keep. 2. Very heavy.
3. Expensive to keep maintained unless you can perform the maintenance yourself.

This is why so many people (and even pro studios) are turning to DAWs and doing their mixing in the computer.. Aside from all the benefits of random access, editing, automation of all parameters in a mix, full recall of mixes, they can get by with an inexpensive mixer to handle headphone cues and monitoring chores and keep the real mix "in the box". Then they will purchase, as they can afford, great mics, mic pres and front end gear like compressors and Eq’s.

My feeling is that there are a lot of small mixers that are more expensive and sound a bit better than your garden variety Mackie, like the Midas and the Allen Heaths ... but in practical use, the improvements they yield may not be as significant than if you were to follow the route I suggest.

As in all things, in audio you only get what you pay for. Yes, there are some small improvements with the Midas and the AH boards over the Mackie types but I submit that you would get better results by experimenting with mic placement and selection, tuning up your performances and working on squeezing out a better mix out of something like a 1604 ... they really aren't as bad as many of us make them out to be and any benefit you may receive from using a more expensive small format mixer really will be pretty negligible.

[strngpkr]

I'm thinking of getting the new Mackie Onyx mixer. I think it comes out around april. Here is a link:
Mackie Onyx Press Release

around $1500 for the biggy model 1640.

[ February 03, 2004, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Kurt Foster ]

[evhwanabe]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Kurt, I already own a Mackie CFX-20 (well its my bands) but its more based for live sound although we are curently using its Pre's and then inserts out to my Motu828. The problem with that is it bypasses the eq and I would like to eq a little before going into the PC. I once owned an Alesis Studio 32 and wasn't happy with the quality of it but it did have some pretty extensive i/o options. Just looking for something that will alow me to tweak some knobs and actually get my hands on something. I curently use Sonar 3.1 Pro and do most of my mixing in the box, but I guess I want a little better front end, with say 16 or so Pre's and eq's, and still alow me to do all my monitoring and stuff like that.

[Kurt Foster]

That's a tall order. The 1604 gives you 8 direct outs, and then you can also use the buss's (aux and subs).. that will give you another 8 ... but the EQ in Mackies really sucks.. the mid sweep is so wide it is essentially unusable.. Perhaps if you were to add a few channels of outboard eq’s you could get by.

In regards to the new Mackie ONYX, the press release states that it is "the next generation in low-noise microphone preamp circuitry based on the XDR mic pre found in Mackies compact mixers."

For me, this does not inspire confidence it will be a substantial improvement. With the addition of Firewire and a (hopefully) more expensive 4 band eq, at basically the same price point as a 1604 mixer, I don't see how it really could be a significant improvement over the existing product line. Mackie is really good at reinventing their products and saying to the consumer, “This time we are serious”. This is about the fourth upgrade to a mic pre they have claimed all along to be “studio quality”.

[evhwanabe]

Yeah I guess that I should look at maybe a rack of 4 or so decent mic pre's and then another rack of 4 or so eq's. Then use the CFX for extra pre's and headphone monitoring. Thanks guys

[evhwanabe]

Kurt, I found 3 Amek 501 channel strips on ebay. Do you know if these are any good? The owner says that they would need to be rack mounted, is this expensive/hard?

[Kurt Foster]

Brett, Can you post or send me a link to the auction so I can look at them? Kurt

[evhwanabe]

Yup sorry
Amek Modules

[ February 03, 2004, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: Kurt Foster ]

[Kurt Foster]

Brett,
I am not familiar with which console those came out of. Racking modules can get expensive. besides racking them, you need to have a power supply built. I recommend these two 9098 mic pre eq's. I have a pair of them and I think they are very versitile and have a great EQ section.

Amek 9098

Amek 9098