8/12:4 small mixer, best sounding eq possible, not for its pres, but for mixdown..

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creatureofhabit

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Hello there folks,

i'm on the look for a "small" mixer..there are plenty of things i'dd like for it to have, but here's the essential...

It has to have 2 stereo outs, as i need one to mix down to the soundcard, as well as another to monitor at the same time.

It would also be imperative that its equalizing section was warm and musical, as much as possible. I really don't eq that much or that often, i just want it to sound very good when i do use it.

I need at least 8 mono ins (line or XLR i guess it'll end up the same considering i will keep the gain down), 2 aux, and inserts would also be nice, but not imperative, since i'm coming out of the soundcard anyway.

Wood side panels would be great as well..eh!

Might be good to add that i have some experience with vintage mixers, and that, for some reason or another i feel i still haven't found "the one". I've had an allen & heath 1221 (didnt think much of it to be honest, eq didnt sound particulary good and the bloody thing was huge), soundcraft 200BVE (i hated rack mixers with back connections from the moment i started using this, very good eq section though, but rack mixers have no place in my analog middle age dreams) and Yamaha M512 (thought this one was good, but i had to let it go for an incredible offer. Not up there with the 200BVE though).

I am interested in old stuff with character, so that should make any sugestion hard enough. These new things from behringer or mackie onyx or whatever just don't do the trick for me. At my age, i figure i need to get what i envision. Stuff like tascam m308, m30, old ramsa stuff, studiomaster (less), etc looks interesting enough, but these are all things i have no info about whatsoever. The tascam or teac ones look particularly good, but i understand that they have (mostly) rca connections, wich might proove a little weird/too much work for me, if in the end i'll need more than a simple rca to balanced jack cable. Ramsas are hard enough to find in Europe i'm afraid. Studiomaster stuff doesn't get to to 4 tape/monitor outs until you start dabbling 16 channels territory. 16 is too much, i'll top at 12, 8 would be ideal.

I won't use its pres, or very rarely, so the focus here is the eq and the wood side panels (just kidding...or am I..), and the imperative 4 outs (2 stereo outs) - unless there's a little box somewhere that will double my outputs without chewing my signal up.

Any sugestions are widely thanked for and apreciated.

Cheers everyone.
 
What kind of budget are you looking at here? Can you afford an API or Neve sidecar? If not, maybe look into a new Midas Venice, or an old Calrec mini console. Maybe even a Trident Fleximix or something similar.
 
Greetings xstatic, thank you for the reply!

Well, not mentioning a budget was clearly a bad mistake, i'm afraid. Especially given the price point of most of the things you mention there haha.

Actually i'm on a very sensible budget, think 650, 500 dollars - i believe that's more or less right in terms of conversion. That's why i'm thinking of old tascams and teacs (abundant in the UK and France), and that sort of thing.

Might be worth mentioning as well (I just read my initial post again and it's not there), that it has to be analog.

Cheers for that, and please keep it coming if you will. Much apreciated.
 
Yeah, budget makes a big difference. All of my suggestions were analog because I had a feeling that was what youw ere looking for. PLus, there really aren't any digital desks that are known for their EQ. In fact there are very few even in the really high budget segment.


Maybe you should look for a TAC bullet?
 
I recently Picked up a new 8CH Mixer on E-Bay for $60US from a Little Known Company called "BST" which is a German Company I believe and has a Good Reputation in Europe....The Mixer is a "BST Lab36 8CH Professinal Mixer"..

This Mixer has 6 Ballanced XLR Ins, these Ins also Have Stereo 1/4inch Inputs and 1/4inch Ballanced Mono Line Ins...It has 2 Stereo/Mono Line ins (selectable) and also has a "Talk-Over" Channel...It has 2 sets of Stereo Recording Outs and a Stereo Monitor Out and a Stereo Sub Out and an effects send return and each Channel Has Ballance, 3 Band EQ, Gain,Effect, and there is also a Digital Echo Chamber......

So Far this Mixer has served me well and it has a Very Good Sound with absolutly No Backround Humm that you get with most analogue Components and it is Pretty easy to use and for $60 You can not go Wrong as this Mixer sells for $385 Euro"s in the UK.......

You can also get a Mackie 12CH Mixer for about $300 on EBay and These are Pretty Good mixers as you Probably know......

Cheers
 
xstatic said:
Yeah, budget makes a big difference. All of my suggestions were analog because I had a feeling that was what youw ere looking for. PLus, there really aren't any digital desks that are known for their EQ. In fact there are very few even in the really high budget segment.


Maybe you should look for a TAC bullet?

Again, thanks for the sugestion Xstatic. Amek stuff gets pretty high, i believe 'cause of the R. Neve association right? BUt i'm looking..
 
Minion said:
I recently Picked up a new 8CH Mixer on E-Bay for $60US from a Little Known Company called "BST" which is a German Company I believe and has a Good Reputation in Europe....The Mixer is a "BST Lab36 8CH Professinal Mixer"..

This Mixer has 6 Ballanced XLR Ins, these Ins also Have Stereo 1/4inch Inputs and 1/4inch Ballanced Mono Line Ins...It has 2 Stereo/Mono Line ins (selectable) and also has a "Talk-Over" Channel...It has 2 sets of Stereo Recording Outs and a Stereo Monitor Out and a Stereo Sub Out and an effects send return and each Channel Has Ballance, 3 Band EQ, Gain,Effect, and there is also a Digital Echo Chamber......

So Far this Mixer has served me well and it has a Very Good Sound with absolutly No Backround Humm that you get with most analogue Components and it is Pretty easy to use and for $60 You can not go Wrong as this Mixer sells for $385 Euro"s in the UK.......

You can also get a Mackie 12CH Mixer for about $300 on EBay and These are Pretty Good mixers as you Probably know......

Cheers


Cheers Minion,

I'll keep my eyes open for those BST mixers, thanks! Smaller mixers however are quite abundant and i've tried a few. The mackie is really not something i want to get myself into i'm afraid. In that (similar) department, i've tried soundcraft folio stuff and it was ok, and soundtracs topaz macro stuff, wich was more or less in the same league. I understand that Mackie goes even lower than these. But either way, smaller mixers are not something i've ruled out, just something idd rather not invest in again, this is really not something to get the job done, i'm looking for a very definitive desk, hopefully an old and "magical" one. Budget doesn't help i know.
 
Actually, I have seen 12 channel Bullets sell for well under $1000. Also, TAC consoles really aren't AMEK's, and Mr. Neve really did not have much to do with a lot of the TAC stuff.
 
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