Originally posted by GaryP:
I'm a just out of school engineer and a first timer on the site. I've got a small project studio in the works. I decided on a mackie sdr24 for tracking, digi01 for editing and possibly mixing. What I wanna know is how much difference in quality for tracking is there between MX900 and mackie 24x8. Price is 1300 vs 2600. Is it justified? I've heard a million people bash the mx9000 based solely on the behringer name, but how many have actually tried both. I'm not looking for an SSL. I'm working with a budget here
Advice?
Gary P.

Based upon where you are (jsut out of school)...I'd say get the cheaper of the boards.
Behringer & Mackie are (in the big picture) not that far from each other. Plus, the money you save can be used for some more compressors, or mic's (both important).

sorry,
i have to say ,stay away from Behringer.

I've serviced and used both Mackie and Behringer and i can tell you the Behringer stuff looks like it was made in a kitchen by a housewife.

Just my opinion of course. :D

digi01 for editing and possibly mixing.

Get yourself more educated about the gear before you start spending your hard-earned cash, Brother. Digi001 is an over-priced dinosaur. Get a system that is expandable and more professional.
The best advice I can give you is to hang-out here on RO for a few weeks before you make your buying decisions. See what other guys are using and consider all of your options.

look at the Aardvark Direct Pro or LX6. That's what I use. I'm poor too, so I spent weeks reading reviews before I made THAT simple buying decision ;) RME Hammerfall if you can afford it rocks. It all costs money.

Peace.

Doug

I have a Behringer MX2442 and it gets the job done. For the money, it makes a nice general purpose board. If I were you, I'd save even more money by losing the meter bridge on the MX9000 and going with a less expensive model.

themidiroom

What about the Beringer DDX 3216 it has gotten good write ups and its digital with automation with optional interface you can have 32 ADAT or SPDIF io's so you have a 32x32 board for $1200.00

People can shit on it all they want to.

Behringer products exceed their cost by a factor of X2.5 in all areas, maybe not road rugged, but performance wise, they simply sound good and that is all that matters, good sound, good vibes, big tone/.

All I have worked with met or exceeded expectations for the cost.

I'm gonna monkey wrench this whole setup. This is a situation where you're gonna hear a different opinion for every reply that you get, though.

I use 001 for everything in my project setup. I go into it through a Yamaha 01V. I'm not sure why you'd have a DAW and a hard disk recording system in a budget constrained project studio. Remember also that if you use 001 for mixing, you're gonna need a control surface, unless you sub-mix everything down to 8 outputs and use the board, since you only have 8 TRS outs on 001. But then you have no automation at the board, just in your mouse clicks in 001.

SO, all that to say I'd look into an 01V ($1700 including your choice of an expansion card, +/-) and digi001 for everything. Your choice of an expansion card in the 01V (I use the ADAT Lightpipe card, as digi001 has 8 channels of Lightpipe I/O) will give you additional I/O that will allow you to utilize all 18 simultaneous channels of I/O in 001. If you used an 8 bus board into either SDR24 or 001, you'd be limited to 8 channels of output from the board. Plus, with the 01V, you have onboard eq, dynamics, and fx. They may not be the best, but this is a budget setup, right? This is important because every instance ofplug-ins(EQ's, compressors, delays, reverbs, anything else), in 001 is gonna drain your computer's resources slightly. With some creative signal routing at mix, you can use the 01V as an outboard fx unit to cut down on drain. Now, we've saved some money by eliminating the Mackie recorder, so let's pick up a control surface for 001 for mixing, and maybe a good project level microphone or two. Just an idea.....

Hello Gary,

I know you are asking about the Behringer and Mackie consoles but I have another suggestion for you, something to get you a little more confused, lol. We have been using a Phoenix (formally StudioMaster) Pro 326 console. Great sound, british EQ and build. I think it goes for around 1500.00 list. Check and see if someone in your area carries them, if not I know a company that does. They will give you a great deal on it. We just purchased a touring system from them, they had the best price and the service is great. Just my .2 cents, hope it helps you.

TJ

hello .
i will tell you what i think -- i hope the other members wont kill me for this.

since you want to start record and mix bands and maybe your oun projects i suggest you start with a cheep mixing desk (cheep doesn"t mean bad it means "its doing an o.k job for the price of it")
and progress in time.
that way you"ll learn what fits you best.
i worked on alot of mixing desks some of them were fun some ofthem i hated.
when i design studios one thing i always bare in mind " the budget that i have".
i have at home a berhinger mx8000 in-line mixing desk (they dont make them anymore but its similar to the mx9000 just with some different stuff)
i am happy with it.
i also have a mackie console at work .
i like them both .but you can save some money and spend it on other stuff.
like compressors and effects and pre-amps if you need any.
i have a pulsar sound card for my pc .
its good but i never trust computers (and i never trust a klingon) so i try not to push its limits.
also another thing i recomend is to
get yourself a good compressor (not expensive and does the job.-check out TLaudio they have great stuff and not expensive)
i recomend the FAT 1 and the C-5021 i have them both they do a great job for me.
and a good set of near feild monitors (and a mic if you need any.
this is what i say to people who build there oun studios
go by your pocket(budget) -you can always upgrade your studio.

hope this helps

cheers-maor appelbaum

I have a Beringer MX9000 and have found it's a pretty decent board. It's quiet, clear. The EQ quality is good too. It's not really well made though, I guess that's why it's so cheap. I've had it a year now and no major problems. I just have to hit some of the buttons a few times to get them to stay switched and the board must warm up before a couple of the chanels will work properly, but I can put up with this for a while.

Bradley H