Best Mixer brand?

[Atkron205]

Whoa there!

I'm not a Behringer basher--I own some of their gear and am very happy with it--but the question was "what's the BEST brand". While Behringer represent good value for money and pack a lot of feature in for the money, they hardly make the BEST analogue mixers.

I certainly wouldn't describe their pre-amps as "awesome"...more like adequate with a tendency to noise when pushed hard.

I certainly wouldn't discount the Behri if it's what the OP's budget dictates but he shouldn't buy it thinking it's "best".

LOL, I use my console as a preamp so my levels on the board are low, the best brand can mean a 100 things, best for budget? best for quality? best for sound? if money was no object I would have a 60 channel digital 250,000.00 console. but I will never have that option, so I choose what works best for me with what I can afford. I guess it is what pleases you. I love my console, others may hate it.

 

[Bobbsy]

No problem. I just take "best" as an absolute (albeit it'll still be somebody's opinion) as opposed to "best budget mixer" or "best value for money with a budget of $x" or "best when I need 32 mic inputs cheap" or so on.

For the money the 4882 is a good mixer--I've not used one myself but I've seen it used. (I once did the live mix for an event that was also being recorded and the recording guy had a 4882. His results were fine...though I was giving him line level direct outs so it wasn't a test of the pre amps.

However, since the OP wanted a 12 to 16 channel mixer and specified "best" my own take would be that it would be better to spend half the money on a really good 16 channel board. Everyone's needs and wants are different though.

Me? I went digital a few years back with a board that can do up to 48 channels but I only ever record 32 at a time via 4 channels of ADAT. That works for me.

 

[Atkron205]

No problem. I just take "best" as an absolute (albeit it'll still be somebody's opinion) as opposed to "best budget mixer" or "best value for money with a budget of $x" or "best when I need 32 mic inputs cheap" or so on.

For the money the 4882 is a good mixer--I've not used one myself but I've seen it used. (I once did the live mix for an event that was also being recorded and the recording guy had a 4882. His results were fine...though I was giving him line level direct outs so it wasn't a test of the pre amps.

However, since the OP wanted a 12 to 16 channel mixer and specified "best" my own take would be that it would be better to spend half the money on a really good 16 channel board. Everyone's needs and wants are different though.

Me? I went digital a few years back with a board that can do up to 48 channels but I only ever record 32 at a time via 4 channels of ADAT. That works for me.

yeah thats the issue with wanting 12-16 channels, most of the bells and whistles come with larger stuff. I will be going digital in a bit but it will drag me kicking and screaming lol. My board has direct outs for each channel as well as the groups so I will keep it more than likely, plus I can do 6 headphone mixes which is a plus. thinking of getting interfaces for 24 channels and running the direct outs into them. Thanks Bobbsy. great points

 

[ecc83]

"Seriously though, how many interfaces of even average quality operate at less than +4dBu reference level these days?"

Morning Bobbs. Ref above, I cannot see what the OP is feeding a mixer into?
I picked a few AIs at random....

Surprised that the US 1800 was switchable from -10dBV to +4dBu? Good on Tascam then!

F'rite 18i6 wants just +10dBu for 0dBFS, so that stands watching whereas the flagship 18i20 is proper +4 inputs and a +28dBu max point (don't tell you the calibration though)

Presonus' line inputs will handle up to +21dBu but that at 0.5% thd so you don't want to be anywhere near that!

M-Track Eight: max line in +16dBu.

Odd also that many AIs have a max line output of just +10dBu. Ok I suppose since most monitors have more than enough gain but could be a problem with some "pro" outboard gear?

Then almost no interfaces that use combi XLRs will have a +26dBu headroom and almost nobody (F'rite, once!) tells you how stuff is calibrated but almost nothing I bet is +4=-18dBFS?

Dave.

 

[jokerone]

I'm using an EMU-1212m PCI. For some reason these things have fallen out of favor, and I assume it was because people having to get use to the Patchmix software.

I had a lot of problems with the drivers for the Alesis Multimix USB 2.0 and finally just completely disconnected the USB do to the crappy audio driver issues.

I was hoping EMU/Creative labs would make an upgrade, but they have not and I will probably upgrade at some point to another USB interface because the PCIe interfaces are so expensive.

 

[Bobbsy]

I'm using an EMU-1212m PCI. For some reason these things have fallen out of favor, and I assume it was because people having to get use to the Patchmix software.

I had a lot of problems with the drivers for the Alesis Multimix USB 2.0 and finally just completely disconnected the USB do to the crappy audio driver issues.

I was hoping EMU/Creative labs would make an upgrade, but they have not and I will probably upgrade at some point to another USB interface because the PCIe interfaces are so expensive.

The EMU interfaces were very good--only good thing Creative have ever done. Alas, you've put your finger on why they've gone out of fashion: despite a lack of any announcements, they seem to have stopped any development and not issued any updated drivers in 4 or 5 years. If you go to their user forum, you can find quite a few angry posts and one guy from EMU who posts every few months ignoring the problems and trying to reassure people.

Too bad. They were good interfaces but the most recent driver update (at least for the models I know) was a very late Beta version for Windows 7...about 5 years ago.

 

[jajsound#5]

Best Brand at what Price Range....that is the question ?

$3,000 - $5,000 range hear is a good You tube CLIP OF A M32 X32 SHOOTOUT (Behringer vs Midas)

Midas pre amps have always been killer....

 

[jokerone]

Best Brand at what Price Range....that is the question ?

$3,000 - $5,000 range hear is a good You tube CLIP OF A M32 X32 SHOOTOUT (Behringer vs Midas)

Midas pre amps have always been killer....

$1K or less. Analog too.

thanks.

 

[jokerone]

The EMU interfaces were very good--only good thing Creative have ever done. Alas, you've put your finger on why they've gone out of fashion: despite a lack of any announcements, they seem to have stopped any development and not issued any updated drivers in 4 or 5 years. If you go to their user forum, you can find quite a few angry posts and one guy from EMU who posts every few months ignoring the problems and trying to reassure people.

Too bad. They were good interfaces but the most recent driver update (at least for the models I know) was a very late Beta version for Windows 7...about 5 years ago.

I loaded the Beta driver. its no more stable than the other previous one. I blue screen about once a month via audio apps.
This is another reason I'm thinking about updating.
I'm going to start a new thread on this.
thanks.

 

[ecc83]

I loaded the Beta driver. its no more stable than the other previous one. I blue screen about once a month via audio apps.
This is another reason I'm thinking about updating.
I'm going to start a new thread on this.
thanks.

Have you considered doing what many (inc' moir!) have done in the past and simply having a dedicated XP computer for the legacy gear? The XP machine can be permanently off line and so no need for anti-V or other such software. Fit a smallish SSD for OS and DAW and a USB 3.0 card to connect an external bigger drive.

The W7/8/ (10?) PC can be linked via S/PDIF (duplex) and thus you have all the "benefits" of a current OS but the Emu card is still a part of the system.

(you could network, Copper! The computers but you would need to know how to keep internet ***t out of the XP machine, although I have such a setup and have no problems at all).

Dave.

 

[jokerone]

Have you considered doing what many (inc' moir!) have done in the past and simply having a dedicated XP computer for the legacy gear? The XP machine can be permanently off line and so no need for anti-V or other such software. Fit a smallish SSD for OS and DAW and a USB 3.0 card to connect an external bigger drive.

The W7/8/ (10?) PC can be linked via S/PDIF (duplex) and thus you have all the "benefits" of a current OS but the Emu card is still a part of the system.

(you could network, Copper! The computers but you would need to know how to keep internet ***t out of the XP machine, although I have such a setup and have no problems at all).

Dave.

I hadn't thought of it. I realize tech is a rat race sometimes. thanks.

 

[MCI2424]

I think a Behringer would be about like my current alesis. thanks.

Behringer bought Midas a few years ago. Their current mixer line (I don't know which ones) are reported to be way good because they are Midas designed. Build quality is a whole other issue though.