Soundcraft 6000 desk or a Mackie?

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karambos2

karambos2

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I've just been offered a Soundcraft 6000 mixing desk for 800 euros (circa 960 dollars). I've heard of the make but know nothing about either them or this particular model. I'm in the middle of googling it now to find out more.

Apparently, it cost about 17500 euros (about 21,000 dollars) new in like 1975, or something. Anyway, two of the bus channels crackle and need repairing. Gentleman selling reckoned on about 300 euros (360 dollars) to fix.

Just for comparison I now have a Behringer MX2642A and was thinking of upgrading to a Mackie 24/8 (or 32/8)

Has anyone ever used one? What are they like? Any opinions on whether it's worth the money? Should I get the Mackie or the Soundcraft? If the answer appears obvious to you please be gentle with me - I have no idea about these things!

Thanks for any help.
 
What kind of music would you be recording on the board?

If the Soundcraft is in as good condition as you describe, I personally would go for that.
 
karambos2 said:
I've just been offered a Soundcraft 6000 mixing desk for 800 euros (circa 960 dollars). I've heard of the make but know nothing about either them or this particular model. I'm in the middle of googling it now to find out more.

Apparently, it cost about 17500 euros (about 21,000 dollars) new in like 1975, or something. Anyway, two of the bus channels crackle and need repairing. Gentleman selling reckoned on about 300 euros (360 dollars) to fix.

Just for comparison I now have a Behringer MX2642A and was thinking of upgrading to a Mackie 24/8 (or 32/8)

Has anyone ever used one? What are they like? Any opinions on whether it's worth the money? Should I get the Mackie or the Soundcraft? If the answer appears obvious to you please be gentle with me - I have no idea about these things!

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

As great as the Soundcraft sounds (in terms of a deal), the board is almost thirty years old. You are taking a chance of every pan pot, EQ pot, fader etc. being worn out. I would consider a Mackie over the Soundcraft. But, a much newer Souncraft would be far better than the Mackie in every respect. Soundcraft did make some great boards, but, a thirty tear old board with alot of use is worn out and not even a good deal for parts.
 
I would be recording my own music (pop/rock/electronica), my work for computer games (general midi stuff) as well as the occasional band. Hence I need 8 outs and 8 ins
 
I was torn between a possible albatross aka old Soundcraft (a revered but OLD board) and a newer (but way inferior) Mackie board a few months ago. My decision was complicated by the fact that the Soundcraft was a 24-16-2 with patchbay (gorgeous), and made the Mackie alternative look like a joke in comparison. But the pitfalls were there given the age and complexity of the Soundcraft.

After much contemplation, I opted for the Soundcraft. It's flexiility, feel, noisefloor and sound are head and shoulders above the Mackie 1604 I had been using, and other than a couple of intermittent patchbay contacts (easily DIY fixed thanks to the modular design), I think I made the right decision.

And about that modular design - despite its apparent exterior complexity, the Soundcraft 6000 does have an elegantly simple construction that allows channel strips, etc., to be pulled out for maintenance/repair purposes. For this reason, a lot of the slider/pot/swtich cleaning you could even perform yourself should it be necessary. In fact, if you're handy with a soldering iron, it wouldn't be too difficult to replace faulty pots, etc. While I wouldn't relish trying to trace a fault on a dead channel strip, I can pack it off to someone who can and continue to use the board sans that strip.

The Soundcraft mic pres are great and EQ is excellent. It's the difference between flying a Cessenar and a Boeing 747.

If you're not really bothered about absolute sound quality, and can live with less flexibility and would prefer the peace-of-mind of a more modern board, perhaps the Mackie's for you. I tend to live a bit more dangerously, I guess.
 
Just for the record, I had a Behringer 12-channel before the Mackie 1604, and other than the extra channels, I would be hard pressed to say which one I prefered!

If I were to choose one over the other (regardless of no. of channels), I might even say the Behringer (depending on the day of the week!). I experienced a slight increase in noise on the Auxes of the Mackie, which annoyed the hell out of me, since I'd been lead to believe that Mackies were at least super-quiet, and to my ears the Berry was a bit 'softer' sounding. The Mackie posessed a bit more punch and detail.....perhaps.
 
the soundcraft it is

I'm gonna have to go for the Soundcraft. If only for the simple reason that it's modular in design meaning if there ARE any problems I can take out individual strips and send them to get repaired.

I am definately NOT handy with a soldering iron or any other iron for that matter and am perfectly content to pay someone else to fix stuff. I prefer it this way because the times I have tried to fix stuff, it's taken 20 times as long, it's a 10th of the quality and looks 50 times as bad and inevitably break in half the time. (I'm thinking of the time I tried to build me a studio door........).

Plus I can envision the scenario with the mackie - I need a crackling pot fixing because it's driving me round the bend - I basically will never get it fixed because I won't ever get the chance (or the desire) to decouple the board from the rest of the studio and lug it down the local repair shop. So I'll just sit there fuming for eternity.

The Soundcraft wins. Many thanks to all for thier replies.
 
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