What do you need the mixer to do? Is it for monitoring purposes only? Or will you be doing final mixes on it? If so, WHY?

Mixes done in the box will be much better than anuything done of an inexpensive small format console ... that's the whole idea of DAWs.

how about the tascam 2400 control surface? it has 25 100mm faders!one is master!
it seems a great tool for people who like to feel the knobs and can't get those expensive ones...
but i'm too thinking if it's worth under my budget cause if i have to choose between having good mics for drums, vocals, etc, and the control surface i don't have a doubt what to choose!
i can take twice the time without a control surface but i'll do fine!

Well, I'm planning on using it to track, mix, monitor, etc. I've been told by numerous people that adding a decent analog front end board to your DAW system will improve your sound in a variety of ways. I've mixed "in the box" for a while now and I've also worked with nice analog consoles and tape and, being the amatuer that I am, I assumed combining the two would a "best of both worlds" kind of thing...considering cost and everything. I guess that's why I asked. ;) Thanks...

fontenel wrote: Well, I'm planning on using it to track, mix, monitor, etc. I've been told by numerous people that adding a decent analog front end board to your DAW system will improve your sound in a variety of ways. I've mixed "in the box" for a while now and I've also worked with nice analog consoles and tape and, being the amatuer that I am, I assumed combining the two would a "best of both worlds" kind of thing...considering cost and everything. I guess that's why I asked. ;) Thanks...

Well you have been told right ... a good console can add a sonic quality to a mix that can not be attained in the box .. The catch is the operative words here are a good console. Nothing you are going to get for less than several thousand bucks is going to be that good. A bare minimum would be an old Trident 65. Better would be an old 600 series MCI or a Sony 3630 ....

IMO, no table top or small format mixer (excluding the Trident 65) will be better than what you can get out of the box.

If you want something smaller take a look at the Manley 16X2 channel rack mount mixer or perhaps a Dangerous 2-bus .... Boutique audio also makes a table top that is a lot like the old UA610 consoles in appearance. All pretty pricey though..

Cool. Thanks a lot.

Actually I'm even more seriously looking at the newly updated Soundcraft LX7II to use as an analog front-end for recording, but also for practice/rehearsal/jamming in the studio (no venue travel for it). For a recording front-end, I'm looking for more musicality and attitude than the run-of-the mill Mackies and even some 'budget" digital boards that are so blandly invisible to the point of irrelevance. (might as well run direct to DAW.)

I took notice that Soundcraft pulled it out of the "Spirit" line to which the original LX7 belonged, moving it into the mother brand. It may be a purely marketing move, but given Soundcraft's reputation, one could draw the conclusion it's got more in common with their "more serious" offerings like the MH and Ghost series.

Has anybody on the list auditioned this new version of the LX7 board and any evaluation of its "sonic stamp?" If anyone has seen the inside of them, if you could comment on its build, that would be great.

(I think I asked this question last May--but found out soon later that Soundcraft hadn't shipped any yet.)

Thanks

--Bob

I have to disagree with Kurt when he says "IMO, no table top or small format mixer (excluding the Trident 65) will be better than what you can get out of the box. " Check out a Venice 240 or 320. And check out the thread "Bang goes entirely in the box" at the GearSlutz forum. Bang was proud of his ITB mixes, then he got a Venice 320 and now he, too, is a Venice convert.

Now, a Venice will cost you 4x a Mackie, which means they are not cheap. But they are small format, and they are dynamite for people looking to do better than baseline ITB.

I do agree the Venice is interesting looking .. I didn't mention it because it is not a recording mixer .. It is made for live PA work and it doesn't offer recorder monitoring .. So if you want to record 24 tracks at once, you would need 48 channels. 24 for ins and 24 to monitor the recorder. Does the Venice come in a 48 channel configuration? The largest one I have seen is 32 channels. In any case, the Venice is much more expensive than what fontenel says he is willing to spend ($2000).

I also have my interest peaked by the Crest X series but they don't offer 24 channel configuration either .. but would be great for a msaller system.

Thanks Kurt for your knowledge on this thread.

Other than un-earthing a studio from the 1970s or 1980s or investing a small fortune on soundbroker for an old Neve / Trident / SSL, are there any other boards?

What do you think of the Amek 'BIG' console? 32x8

Amek Big is a pretty nice console for the price. A good one's gonna run you between 5-10K, though. I'd be pretty wary of one that's 2K. Even if it's been in the "non smoking adult studio" that's the audio equivalent of "highway miles" - caps and stuff wear out just sitting so it'd need some attention, IMHO.

A good MCI or Sony 303x will run you a few bucks and they do require some upkeep. Not only that, some of the parts are now unobtainium or veryhardobtanium.

Then you run into the issues of digital guys mixing on analog gear. There's no such thing as an instant full recall on an analog board in that price range. The only thing that'd maybe come close is a beat to hell Euphonix, and even that'd be somewhere around 25-35K in poor condition.

I mix ITB and I'd love a control surface, but unless I'm going to be making a major investment in console hardware, the "bargain" stuff is rarely so.

I had a friend who had a BIG .. it had a lot of bells and whistles .. but didn't sound anywhere as good as my MCI 600 did ... and it required just as much maintenance as the MCI.

There's a lot that goes into a great sounding analog console. All of these remarks are the driving reason many people now mix in the box ... Good sounding analog consoles are expensive to buy and maintain.

The money you save on a console can go to purchase some great pres.

FWIW, I have not had any problems with summing issues in my DAW and I have read recently that this is an issue primarily in PT systems.. so perhaps the best work around on this is to not use PT ... ???

Kurt Foster wrote: FWIW, I have not had any problems with summing issues in my DAW and I have read recently that this is an issue primarily in PT systems.. so perhaps the best work around on this is to not use PT ... ???

Kurt, you are relentless! :D :D :D :D :D

maintiger wrote: [quote=Kurt Foster]FWIW, I have not had any problems with summing issues in my DAW and I have read recently that this is an issue primarily in PT systems.. so perhaps the best work around on this is to not use PT ... ???

Kurt, you are relentless! :D :D :D :D :D

I'm innocent I say! I know it looks bad in view of the other threads going but it really was intended only in the context of this thread as to the need for a mixer .. I swear it!