hey. i seem to have grown out of my Mackie CR1604 (not vlz) rather quickly... i have a DMP3 in addition to it and i still find myself wanting more preamps. I originally was going to get another standalone pre, but then the thought crossed my mind after seeing soundcraft touted highly here that i ought to upgrade my mixer instead. a wise decision, do you think? I have 8 mics on my drum kit but when my band is over and we want to record ourselves jamming i have to kill all my tom mics, which, though perhaps not absolutely nescessary, it would be nice to be able to use since i paid for them. Also, i can think of a couple other ways i could use more pres if i recorded my four toms onto one or two tracks thus freeing up more inputs on my soundcard...
but i digress. my real question is whether or not the Soundcraft Spirit M12 would be a nice step up from my CR1604 (which, if you're not familiar with it, only has 6 XLR ins and doesnt have mackie's VLZ pres.) Will i see a marked improvement?
Is there another mixer i should be considering? keep in mind my price range which is about that of the M12. Or, would it be worth saving more to get something i wont grow out of for a very long time? or is it moot since the M12 will serve me well for years anyway? Am i ever really going to need more than 14 (12 on the board + the dmp3) pres? then again, i never thought i'd need more than 8 when i got the cr1604 and dmp3... arg, decisions decisions.
lastly, do you think i'd be able to get around 350$ for the CR1604 on ebay or wherever? it's in excellent condition for it's age.
but i digress. my real question is whether or not the Soundcraft Spirit M12 would be a nice step up from my CR1604 (which, if you're not familiar with it, only has 6 XLR ins and doesnt have mackie's VLZ pres.) Will i see a marked improvement?
Is there another mixer i should be considering? keep in mind my price range which is about that of the M12. Or, would it be worth saving more to get something i wont grow out of for a very long time? or is it moot since the M12 will serve me well for years anyway? Am i ever really going to need more than 14 (12 on the board + the dmp3) pres? then again, i never thought i'd need more than 8 when i got the cr1604 and dmp3... arg, decisions decisions.
lastly, do you think i'd be able to get around 350$ for the CR1604 on ebay or wherever? it's in excellent condition for it's age.
