Peavey Unity 2002-24 RQ Mixer. Live and Studio Use?

[DigitalDon]

My son has run up on what might be a good deal on this 24 channel mixer (even though he only needs 16 channels). He would use it for live work with his band. I'm curious as to if it would be useable in the studio too. What would be it's limitations for studio work? Is $588 a good price for the demo (excellent condition) in the store? In the studio it would feed an Aardvark Q10 (8 input). Pros? Cons? Got to be better than a Behringer

Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out:

http://www.peavey.com/products/proau...ity2002_24.cfm

Thanks Guys
DD

[Gidge]

havent used it but im going to make some wild assumptions......

based on work with Peavey in the past, for live use it will probably work great......

its hard to believe in the studio you would want to put anything in front of the Q10 though...their preamps are pretty much on par with Mackie XDR's, so unless you are putting a NICE preamp in front of it, id skip on using the mixer.....

i do see one on ebay with it "buy it now" for $500...maybe use that to haggle price......




btw, you always wind up needing more inputs than you thought you would

[DigitalDon]

Hey Gidge,
Yeah I love the preamps in my Q10. Have you hugged your Q10 today The only time I would use a mixer in front of it is for an "everybody at one time" type session where I would need more than 8 inputs. However, the main purpose is for live use. The Peavey's seem to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. There's also a Mackie CFX-20 (I think that's the right model number) available here in great condition for $600. Opinions between the two?

I hope to have another Q10 by the end of the year to bring my input count up to 16. Maybe by then the Q10's will come with Sonar instead of PA 9 so I can upgrade.

DD

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Electron Don:

I don't know much about your titled board; however, I have a Peavey headphone amp; it ran about 67 pezzutos back about 9 years ago; AND, it works great.

I think Peavey makes some good stuff but "I'm not an expert on Peavey." Come to think of it, I'm not an expert on very much except GOLF -- well, I'm fudging -- I'm a 20 handicap player.


Green Hornet

[Gidge]

down here, we LOVE our Peavey gear.....my first electric guitar was a Peavey and my first amp was a Peavey......

[DigitalDon]

Hey Green,
Yeah I've always heard Peavey stuff takes the knocks pretty good. I guess that's why there's so many beat up ones out there still working.

Golf. Not my game. The last few times I played (several years ago) it cost me more in balls than the course fee! Went through a set of balls and had to borrow from my brother-in-law. That and I'm too lazy to walk! Get me a golf cart

DD

[MISTERQCUE]

Originally posted by Gidge
down here, we LOVE our Peavey gear.....my first electric guitar was a Peavey and my first amp was a Peavey......

No doubt Gidge-mo!

My first amp was a 150 watt Peavy head with a Peavy 18", bass-reflex cab housing a Black Widow woofer!

Some time ago,I had sold the head but kept the bottom eventually loaning it to my dumb-@ss nephew who lent it to his friend who got busted for assault & robbery who then sold the cab to some-1 to raise bail money!!!!

I eventually bought another Peavy cab w. 18" Blk Wdw woofer (1985) and after 18 yrs, still kicks @ss!

[DigitMus]

Yep, Peaveys are just fine fo PA, but I wouldn't record with it. The price is good, too (& being a store demo, make sure they give you the factory warranty).

Scott

[DDev]

To echo everyone's comments, the Peavey mixers are great for live use and stand up to tons of abuse. For the studio, though, it is extremely limited on I/O options. The Mackie CFX would do better in this regards (but the Mackie, in my opinion, is a bit more fragile than the Peavey so it won't take as much abuse on the road).

Darryl.....

[mshilarious]

I have a 12 channel Peavey RQ, it's great live. The layout is very intuitive for live mixing; it devotes two auxes to monitor sends and gives you master faders for the mon mixes as well as separate L-R master faders which comes in handy for another mon mix or something else while using the other channel for the mains, or two separate mains (like for a subwoofer or something, or front/rear mixes)

Compared with the Mackie, which has an identical number of aux sends, but they are switchable, so flexible in fact that it could get confusing. I don't always have experienced techs, so the layout of the Mackie could be a problem. Thus the Mackie is more flexible but less intuitive.

The Peavey does have inserts on every channel, and one or two channels with phase switches, so it is designed to work in a studio as well. Having said that, I don't like it for studio work at all. The preamps are nothing special (to be fair, Peavey doesn't claim they are), but what is worst is that the unit is noisy, and I don't mean internally. Once I upgraded my mics to SM81s and a KSM27, the external noise of the unit was unbearable in my otherwise very quiet studio.

In conclusion, I like it a lot for live work--it's simple, powerful, durable, and cheap. However, I am in the process of equipping the studio with real preamps. I don't feel that the Peavey is a serious studio product.

[Axe4Yahweh]

Originally posted by Gidge
down here, we LOVE our Peavey gear.....my first electric guitar was a Peavey and my first amp was a Peavey......

Yep, two Peavey amps here for this ol Blues Rocker and lookin for an R6M Monitior Mixer. Love Peavey gear.

CR ><>

[ausrock]

DD,

I have one of the earlier Unity Series 16 channel mixers...........and from looking at the link here to the current model, there ain't much difference. Ours is strictly a rehearsal PA mixer and having "done" live sound, I wouldn't normally regard the Unity's as being roadworthy enough.

But, if you get a roadcase for it, have only 1 or 2 guys that put their hands on it, (these guys have to fully understand the level of build-quality AND realise the implications of the threat of having their nuts removed), then it will pass for live work.

They can't be compared to Peavey's earlier mixers......the old ones were rock solid, the Unity's are not. They work and sound ok, and have useable functions, etc.,..............their biggest weakness is the faders, there is very little strength in the mounting of the slider post, consequently it is wise to have spares on hand and plan to be TOTALLY dismantling the mixer every once in a while.

Please go in with your eyes open.

[Roker1]

Originally posted by DigitalDon
There's also a Mackie CFX-20 (I think that's the right model number) available here in great condition for $600. Opinions between the two?


DD

I've got a CFX 20...great board..Haven't used the Peavey, but by the specs and features, the Mackie is a bit in front I think...as long as you don't use their onboard effects...