Compact, Versatile Rack Setup

F

firedancer414

New member
Hi! (first post!)

I'm looking to purchase a mid-range setup for
- Live singer / songwriter performance
- Home recording

Current equipment
- Martin DC-16GTE (built-in pickups)
- Beta 58 and SM58
- Old Acoustasonic Junior amp

The features I would like
- Compact (probably wouldn't need more than 4 inputs)
- Reverb effects
- Some digital output (either USB / Firewire / PCI-e) interface to my MacBook Pro
- High sound quality

Things that I don't really need
- MIDI
- Multichannel effects (just want to add reverb so doesn't really matter)
- Multichannel digital interface
- "All in one" -- I don't care how many boxes I carry around

I was looking at the Allen Heath ZED FX-10 ($240 new). But I was also thinking about shelling out a bit more for the Soundcraft EFX8 ($350 new) or Soundcraft MFXi ($420 new). The built-in Lexicon effects are so awesome, but not clear if it's worth the additional few hundred bucks I would need to shell out since I would need a separate digital interface. The Mackie ProFx8 I was originally interested in has serious issues with the USB.

Are there other options I should be considering -- for example, separate effects / mixer, etc.? Other suggestions that I'm not thinking of?

Should I be considering adding some sort of condenser mic to the setup, or, given my setup is mid-range, will it not make much of a difference in terms of recording quality?

Budget ~$500.

I really appreciate the help!

Brian
 
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One thing to consider if you get the Soundcraft with onboard effects is, can you route different channels (vocal, guitar, etc.) to different effects? Of course you'd have the same problem with most standalone effects units too - you can only run one signal at a time into them. My solution was to get a couple of cheap standalone units on Ebay (a QuadraVerb and an SPX90). You may or may not want a standalone analog compressor too. The digital multi-effects units usually include a compressor. Depends on your preference.
 
Thanks for the reply. I altered the original post, but ultimately I don't really care if the FX are just one channel since I just want to add reverb.

Thanks!
 
If you only want reverb, you should probably consider getting a good dedicated reverb unit. That said, the algorithm for digital reverb is pretty standard. In a mid-range setup, I don't think you'll see a significant difference between units. The Lexicon reverb in the Soundcraft would be a safe bet.
 
I'm fond of the old Tascam US-428, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for easy setup. It's a major pain to get it set up with Reaper under Windows. I don't know if it will work on a Mac either. I'd better let a Mac user who enjoys dicking around with DAWs and interfaces answer that one. :laughings:
 
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