The Yamaha you mention is old, big and heavy. It has only one pre-fader aux send so only one monitor mix. The Unity Series mixer is okay, but for a little more you get a new mixer with built-in effects, some extra stereo channels and USB connectivity. I'd go with the PV-20. Use the USB to record your rehearsals and shows for later criticism and you'll start getting better faster. The only disadvantage with the PV-20 is that it only has one effects send, but if you're mixing from stage you don't really want more distractions anyway.

Also, look around for a used Allen & Heath Mix Wizard 16:2.

Based on what you've mentioned so far, I'm assuming you need something like 16 mic inputs? How many auxes do you need for monitor mixes and effects sends?

I have an old Yamaha MC2404 from the 80's in my stable of gear. They're a workhorse mixer, but very large and very limited compared to what you could buy in a new Yamaha such as the MG206C. (or the USB version for a little more) The MG series are a pretty solid dollar value for a smooth sounding mixer.

If you're shopping for used on eBay or Craigslist, you can find a Allen Heath ZED-24 in your budget.

And you could also be looking for an old-school Mackie VLZ. They're still a reasonably good mixer and going dirt-cheap used these days on eBay.
I don't think there will be much to choose from in the newer Mackie Onyx mixers with 16 mic inputs, but who knows - you might get lucky.

If you don't need anything really fancy, the Soundcraft MFX, EFX, MPM, EPM series also sound good for the price. But you'll still have to find one used to hit your pricerange.

Good luck.

re

im confused what exactly was wrong with the unity? I thought that used to be peavey's hi end stuff. the allen and heath is nice but i have found one in my pricerange and it was on ebay and im a lil sceptical of buying one on ebay used sight unseen without testing it first as far as what we were wanting to run we at most would run 2x15 mains2, a sub, and 3to possibly 5 at most monitors so yeah just let me know

iaddrummer, post: 355773 wrote: im confused what exactly was wrong with the unity? I thought that used to be peavey's hi end stuff. the allen and heath is nice but i have found one in my pricerange and it was on ebay and im a lil sceptical of buying one on ebay used sight unseen without testing it first as far as what we were wanting to run we at most would run 2x15 mains2, a sub, and 3to possibly 5 at most monitors so yeah just let me know

Unity was Peavey's compact/affordable series. Their RQ mixers were bigger and did more. Now they have the PV and FX series.

A&H Mix Wizards are nice, and pretty reliable. There was an issue with lifted grounds on the faders which made them act wide open, but that was corrected with the WZ3 version, and it's a fairly easy fix if you get a WZ2 with the problem. A WZ3 16:2 offers up to four monitor mixes.

I'm used to Mackies, for better or worse. I can operate a 1604VLZ blindfolded. They are a little quirky, have shortish faders (60mm vs. A&H's 100mm) and tightly packed knobs, but I like the features. They can be had cheaply on Ebay or Craigslist. The U.S. built VLZ Pro version is my favorite, but they got less reliable when production moved to China. Even then worth considering. I have two, one U.S. built and one probably Chinese. Both work fine after years of abuse. On balance a friend has a VLZ (pre Pro) with issues. You will only get two monitor mixes out of a 1604VLZ of any variety. Avoid the original CR1604.

Well, the aux or sub outputs could be utilized as monitor mix outs on the Mackies too. Mackie and A&H are good options. I am not a Peavey fan no matter the line but that is just me.

TheJackAttack, post: 355880 wrote: Well, the aux or sub outputs could be utilized as monitor mix outs on the Mackies too.

My solution is a 16-channel mic split and the second Mackie. I put the monitor board's auxes into post fader mode and get four mixes. The channel fader acts as a master for all the aux sends on the channel. I can eq channels for monitors separately from the house, and I can compress the heck out of the main mix channels without screwing with the monitors. Counting the main board's monitor sends I can get up to six monitor mixes (the two from FOH getting compression and channel eq of the main board). The monitor board can be positioned at FOH or next to stage.

Normally I just run the one mixer an two monitor mixes, and the other mixer is a backup. If a band can't deal with two mixes at a bar gig they should get a different hobby.

so i decided to spend a bit more money and get the allen and heath board something in the fx series which ever one is 799 new. Now my question is this is that board good enough to take the place of a recording interface if i use it in conjunction with cubase? i know im a noob and your tired of answering me but i am trying to get a good investment rather than go cheap so if this is a good way to kill two birds with one stone thats gonna save me more money in the long run and i will only have to cry once as was so adequetly posted in a previously posted

lol-
The recommended Allen & Heath boards for recording are the ZED R16 and GS R24. Probably any of them are better than the initial brands you were looking into though.

Re

I was looking at the Allen and Heath zed-22fx it's a lil over my inicial budget but if it takes the place of needing an interface or 2 for that matter it oils be worth the investment so I need to know if that will work for recording too

I haven't used one of those. A&H has a great reputation though. Our British cousin Boswell may chime in with some knowledge.

A+H makes some good-quality boards, especially for live use, but the recording capabilites vary widely with model. The Zed-22FX has a USB interface for recording the main mix and some buses, but does not record the direct outputs of each channel. In the low-medium end of the A+H range, you would have to go to the Zed-R16 or the GS-R24 for that function ("R" for "recording", I presume).

By the way, pricing on the GS-R24 has been announced, and for a fully-equipped board with fader automation it's considerably higher than I was initially led to believe. Not that it does not represent value for money, but it takes it out of the league of project studio owners or live sound engineers who may have been looking for something like an R16 but with more channels.

So I wouldn't be able to make decent recordings with it?

You can make good recordings with it I imagine. The difference is that you won't be mixing anything after the fact like you would on a true recording board. Instead of recording each channel individually you will be recording at best, a bus grouping and the main L/R mix. That means whoever runs the FOH board has to get the mix correct the one and only time through.

R

Wouldn't I do that with Cubase on the computer?

Except that the only thing being recorded with that board will be the final fix-NOT the individual mic's.

If you want to mix on your computer using Cubase or any other DAW program, you need the individual instrument and vocal tracks as your mix sources. Now, depending on your way of working, this may be possible using a standard (non-recording) mixer like the Zed-22FX by laying down not more than two tracks at a time while replaying via headphones what has already been recorded so far, and building up your song in that fashion.

In purely technical considerations, this method is OK for a studio, but is of little use for live recording, where the best you can do, as Jack indicated, is record the two-track pre-mixed output of the mixer. Depending on your performers, the result of using a build-up technique may be a somewhat plastic feel to the performance, where the whole band does not swing together.

To do multitrack recording you need a Firewire mixer. The Mackie Onyx Firewire is a decent mixer and six or seven hundred dollars cheaper than the Allen & Heath Zed firewire.

You can also buy an interface and use direct outs of a standard Allen & Heath Mixwizard, or use the send portion of the channel insert jacks on just about any mixer. Most USB mixers only send two channels.

The problem is with typical USB mixer interfaces, not what software you are using.