All in one mixer? Can anyone help?!

M

Morson182

New member
So after reading through some of the stickies on here I'm glad I signed up, as i've found some great info for mixers, but finding one that will suit my needs seems to be a different story... I am in the process of planning a home recording/rehearsal space for myself and my band, which will require a multi purpose mixer to do everything I need.

So what I'm after basically is a mixer I can multi-track record on, whether that be through a USB or through line outs, I have a Tascam US1800 interface with 10 inputs, so connecting the line outs isn't an issue.

The other way I intend to use this mixer, is for live rehearsal with my band, So on days where we play out loud, guitar 1 will be going through a kemper amplifier into one input, guitar 2 will be going through an amp that may be mic'd up incase we decide to record live, bass will be going DI from either an amp or DI pedal (SansAmp BDDI) into the 3nd input, electronic drums will be done through the line out from the module into input 4, and then there will be 3 microphones in use also. So a minimum of 7 inputs will be required for when we practise out loud.

I realise I can already achieve all of this with my audio interface, however the problem comes when we can't play out loud and decide to use headphones.

We have tried this before with my current setup, however it seems that nobody can ever agree on one mix setting, so for headphone use i would need 4 aux sends that I can adjust accordingly so each person can have their own headphone mix.

The way I envision the chain is:

Headphones practise:
Instruments/vocals > mixer > aux sends

Recording and out loud practise:
Instruments/vocals > mixer > interface

The only mixer I have come across is the Mackie 1642 VLZ4, which seems to be able to do everything I require it to do, and at £500 is affordable for what I want it for, however I have read good reviews and bad reviews, so I wondered if there was anything else on the market that would achieve what I require?

Any mixers out there that can do all this, and maybe even have 2/3 main outputs to avoid a monitor controller? (Will be running 2 pairs of monitors and a headphone amp)

Thanks in advance, and if this post is in the wrong place please redirect it to the correct place!
 
I know you could do this and more with a QSC touchmix, probably the touchmix16, but the price may be too far away for you. However it does multitrack record and you can overdub and mix on it too. I own one as a live PA mixer, but have multi tracked a few show on it as well, a fried is using one as a home studio.

Alan.
 
Allen& Heath, PreSonus, and behringer all make mixers that will probably fill the bill. There are other manufacturers products that will work but I don't know them enough to advise. I have an old Mackie 1604vlz but I never used it for anything like that. I have the subs and mains all sent to different monitor systems, all my inputs are cabled to a patchbays, so primarily that's what I use it for-monitor and input switching. Check out some manufacturer websites like those I've mentioned
 
I finally jumped from analog mixers to digi (QU16 in this case) -for much of the flexibilities you mention (live and in home studio. Not to mention my piss poor record with Mackie reliability issues. :rolleyes:
Another key for me was now I can do three stereo phones mixes. (or more if it was ever needed.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies, after doing some more research I've come across the Allen and Heath WZ4 series, I'm thinking the 14:4:2 sounds great however is rather pricey, so naturally I started to look for a used model and came across a WZ3 series model with more or less the same functionality going for £400!!

So, what is the deal with the upgraded model? Is it worth buying the new one for what it's worth? Or is the WZ3 worth it at a 1/3 of the cost?

Thanks again guys
 
From Sound on Sound review " this, the fourth incarnation, has such desirable mechanical features as individual circuit cards for the channel strips (rather than having everything on one big circuit board), pots fixed to the front panel with nuts rather than just poking though to the panel, and jack sockets with metal nuts as opposed to plastic ones". I think their website has reviews of both the 3 and 4 series. Check it out Allen & Heath MixWizard WZ4 14:4:2 |
 
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