Looking for nice, warm analog mixing console...

AumStudioBrian

New member
One thing that I never put importance on while building my studio was the mixer... I bought a 24 CH Behringer Eurodesk and called it good. But what I'm noticing now is just how dang important it is!!! More than words can describe. Since I've never been in the market for mixing boards, I'm interested to see what you all think are some great sounding analog mixing consoles. New or vintage. I want something to warm up my sound. The Eurodesk is a bit cold and kinda stagnant. Nice to have all the goodies though.--
 
Soundcraft is the way to go. The Ghost is great and if you need a smaller board the M12 is awsome. It uses the same type pres as those that are in the Ghost. Even the lesser expensive Soundcraft boads like the LX7 are warm and full bodied.
 
There are some ex-Soundcraft guys that bought the old facility - I can't remember the name - Creative Sound Laboratories or something too close to the sound-card company's name...

They'll change the op-amps and caps in the Ghost's preamps for under $100 a channel, and do the whole master section for like $500. The difference is absolutely stunning. I mean STUNNING. Night and day. A buddy of mine took half the strips from the old JEM Ghost and he just uses them for tracking (along with his Neve's, Amek's, Manley/Langevin's, etc.) and he loves them.

With the master section done, he'll sometimes use the console as a summing unit, but mostly it's (the master section) a glorified monitor control, which he ALSO says is night-and-day.

If I can come up with the website for these guys again, I'll post it. However, I'm going to be out of town for a few days (family crisis, if you will) so if you don't hear from me, I'll find it when I get back.

[EDIT] D'oh! I found it - www.creationaudiolabs.com [/EDIT]
 
AumStudioBrian said:
I'm interested to see what you all think are some great sounding analog mixing consoles. New or vintage. I want something to warm up my sound. QUOTE]

What is your budget? There are some great options in a pretty wide price range.
 
Ronan said:
What is your budget? There are some great options in a pretty wide price range.

Budget, or more like future asperation, of probably $10,000 and below.

Sounds like Soundcraft is the good stuff. Are there any vintage boards that are cool? Kinda how every guitar player yearns for a 1962 Stratocaster. Just curious if its the same for soundboards as well? I'll definetly be looking into Soundcraft since you guys recommend it so strongly.
 
AumStudioBrian said:
Budget, or more like future asperation, of probably $10,000 and below.
Tons of great options in that range. D&R Orian, Noetek Elan, Sony 3036 with a couple hardy or API upgrades. Amek has quite a few boards in that range. MCI 500 (including a few grand to get it in top shape.)

With 7-10 grand you have a lot of cool choices.
 
I know this question is pretty relative, but in your opinion, if I wanted a quick fix for my lack of happiness with my Behringer Eurodesk:

Would it be wise to sell my current Behringer and pickup a Soundcraft Spirit M12? I know its low end for Soundcraft, but would it even be worth the trouble? If its not going to be much better than the Behringer, than its probably not worth it. But I'd like to hear what you all think about the idea. Also, my question is concering sound quality, not features. Thanks--
 
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I know you're looking for an analouge desk, but with your $10k budget, you could pick up the new Mackie TT24- a Digital mixer that (I'm told) sounds very analouge. None of them have come out here (austraila) as far as I can tell, but as soon as I can get my hands on one, I'll have a play.

For sound quality, yeah, you could probably swap your beh for the soundcraft M12, depending on how many inputs/pre-amps you need.

Have you tried looking at the mackies/yamahas/tascams of similar size? There's a lot of choice there, and enough of them around for you to have a bit of a play with before you buy.
 
Well, my "budget" of 10k was actually just a ploy to get people to talk about which consoles in that range are nice, for general knowledge and interest in the subject...

But in the now, I'm loooking at selling my Behringer in hope to better my sound quality and not have to spend a ton more $. I'm currently looking at:

-Soundcraft M12
-Soundcraft LX7

Having the 16 channels of the LX7 would be ideal, but I'm not sure if the Pre's are as good. And right now, my biggest concern is sound quality! Let me know what you all think... is this even worth the trouble or should I keep my Behringer untill I have a better budget to work with?
 
i was seriuosly thinking about gettin the M 12... can they " hott rod" those preamps to make the night and day difference... or is that only a optrion for a ghost baord?
 
direct outs

I noticed on the LX7 specs, it says the first 16 channels have direct outs for multitracking, and 7 mixable outs. Does this mean that 'direct outs' is bypassing the EQ section, and the 7 mixable outs are with the EQ? With the 16 channel board, would I be able to get a live 16 channels w/ EQ for recording, or would I need to look into the larger board?

Thanks
 
HI guys I'm a Soundcraft dealer and Sound contractor so let me see if I can help.

The Direct outs on the Soundcraft are after the EQ. If you want a pre EQ out you can tap the insert. The 7 mix outs I would assume are you 4 sub groups, master and solo. You can also use your aux sends. Another way to get more direct outs is to tap the insert on the other channels with a TRS cable shorted out so the signal not interupted.

The Soundcraft M12 has diectouts on all channels which are after the EQ and pre/post fader switchable. The pres are also the same design as those found in the Ghost.

If your looking to buy a M12 I can let you have one for $575.00 which is a good deal. A 16 channel LX7 will run you $1350.00. You can email me at prosound@bellsouth.com (just refer to this post)
 
your gonna hate me but small format consoles suck including the ghost if i had 10 k id buy 3 trident tube tracks thats 24 channels of true tube valve mixing with eq thats like having 12 trident s20s the other 2000 would go to a daw mix in the computer daw is the way of the future the quality is not in the analoge board unless your way past the 10 k price point pluss you have to count the costs of repairing the boards high quality mic pres alow us to get the sound of the boards without the exspense of the full size consoles
but if i had to go with an analoge board id choose a midas venas over a ghost and they are only 2800 very sweet pres on that board and id still just use the direct outs into a daw
 
YOU could always just get a summing box and buy pre's that murder soundcraft pre's....more flexible and better sounding and depending on what pre's you buy might be less expensive
 
Teacher said:
YOU could always just get a summing box and buy pre's that murder soundcraft pre's....more flexible and better sounding and depending on what pre's you buy might be less expensive

Explian this to me... summing box is new to me? Also, what Pre's do you reccomend that would "murder" soundcraft pre's???
 
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