Whoopysnorp
New member
I have decided that I need to do something about my mixer situation. I currently have an old Tascam M320 that is mostly working pretty well but has a few age-related issues: there are constant crackles through the L/R monitor outs, I'm getting some low 60 cycle hum in the balanced bus outs, probably needs recapping, etc. I like the preamps and EQ, and I like the routing, but I don't like that all the I/O is unbalanced -10 except for the bus outs (it means I have to unbalance the output of my outboard preamps before connecting them to the line in of a channel).
I work for a music gear retailer and am considering taking advantage of the employee discount to buy a brand new Allen & Heath ZED420 (the only thing we have in my price range that looks like it's any good). It looks like the routing meets my needs, I hear nice things about the preamps and EQ, it has direct outs on every channel as well as six buses counting the stereo bus (a must for my uses), and at least all the channel I/O is balanced. It also has the advantage of some modern goodies like LED metering in various places that the Tascam doesn't have it.
My main uses for a mixing board are a) for spare mic preamps when I run out of outboard ones, and b) for submixing multiple inputs into groups before sending to my 8-track tape machine. I'm thinking I can either take my M320 in for comprehensive servicing or sell it off and invest in something new and modern. Does anybody have any opinions as of the relative merits of these boards against each other? The M320 certainly was a much more expensive item than the ZED420 when it was new, though times have certainly changed with regard to what quality manufacturers are able to offer at certain price points. I don't really have a notion of what it might cost to get the M320 brought up to condition, whereas assuming I can sell the M320 for what I paid for it, purchasing the Allen & Heath would probably set me back about $550 out of pocket.
I work for a music gear retailer and am considering taking advantage of the employee discount to buy a brand new Allen & Heath ZED420 (the only thing we have in my price range that looks like it's any good). It looks like the routing meets my needs, I hear nice things about the preamps and EQ, it has direct outs on every channel as well as six buses counting the stereo bus (a must for my uses), and at least all the channel I/O is balanced. It also has the advantage of some modern goodies like LED metering in various places that the Tascam doesn't have it.
My main uses for a mixing board are a) for spare mic preamps when I run out of outboard ones, and b) for submixing multiple inputs into groups before sending to my 8-track tape machine. I'm thinking I can either take my M320 in for comprehensive servicing or sell it off and invest in something new and modern. Does anybody have any opinions as of the relative merits of these boards against each other? The M320 certainly was a much more expensive item than the ZED420 when it was new, though times have certainly changed with regard to what quality manufacturers are able to offer at certain price points. I don't really have a notion of what it might cost to get the M320 brought up to condition, whereas assuming I can sell the M320 for what I paid for it, purchasing the Allen & Heath would probably set me back about $550 out of pocket.