Best Mixer For HD24 Rig?

bileshake

bileshake

Member
Here ya go boys, I'm looking for advice on what 24ch console to use as a mixing desk (not just a batch of pre's) to work with a HD24. I was interested in an Onyx 1640 which would probably be suffice for simult. inputs but that won't be enough for actual mixing everything from the deck. Lets hear your stories.

Soundcraft, Allen and Heath, Mackie, I don't care let me have it. Here's the platform to show your love for your console.
 
I use an old Allen & Heath System8 with mine. I like it well enough. It's a bit light on the Aux sends (only 3) and most of the patch points on it are unbalanced, but it gets the job done. I think you'd be good to go with a 24x8x2 console from any reputable maker. The HD24's input normalling function is really nice...with an 8 buss console you can send any console channel to any input on the HD24 without repatching (though you might have to get creative if you're using multiple busses to the HD24 at the same time). I'd eventually like to move up to a bigger board like a Ghost or an AMR or something if my budget allows and my skills and needs demand it, but for what I do now I'm more than content with it.
 
I'm starting to see how this works. You start looking at bigger $$$ consoles to get what you need and push your budget then you think "if I'm gonna make that kind of investment I might as well go automated..." BAM! Now your spending 5 or 6 grand. :eek:
 
The Soundcraft Ghost mentioned above is a great console offereing a decent combination of price, sound quality, and features. You should be able to find a 24 channel Soundcraft Ghost LE with no meter bridge for around $2000 used. That gives you 24 mono channels and 24 tape returns (inline format). That is a very convenient layout for pairing with an HD24. If you do buy used though, be aware of a few things. The Ghost in specific does not seem to be quite as durable as other Soundcraft consoles. In a typical studio environment, this is not a huge deal. However, if it has been moved around, used in clubs etc... It may have some issues. Luckily, most of the issues are not major repairs, and with a little knowledge can be done yourself. First, the Ghosts seem to be more prone to taking preamp damage due to smoke and dust. Good news is that with an hour of dissasembly and 25 dollars of Caig, all but extreme recurrences of this can be fixed. Ghosts also use Soundcraft switches which are notorious for getting noisy. Sometimes they can be cleaned, but usually not. Luckily they aren't too expensive, but can be a real pain to solder on to the PCB since the Ghost was designed in a very tight little package.

As for Sound Quality, the Ghost is pretty decent. The older SOundcraft stuff sounds much nicer in my opinion, but the Ghost has a quieter noise floor. If you don't need all of the features, there are some other consoles that definately sound better in similar price ranges. You can have a used TAC scorpion, which is a very different sound which I prefer, but I can certainly see how many others would not. There is also the Allen Heath GS3. Same features, better EQ (IMO). Then there is the older system 8 like mentioned above. Very vintage sounding. Does not have quite the HF extension that a lot of consoles nowadays have, but beautiful warm EQ and preamp sound. You may even be able to find an Allen Heath Sabre in your price range. However, I still think the Midas Venice is king in the under 10 or 15k price range. Awesome preamps and EQ's, but it is setup for live use and you will lose some routing features. Not really the board for everyone unless they are ready to live with it's logistical restrictions.

I amy also have a vintage Seck 1882 up for sale. It's an 18 channel board with tape returns. Sounds pretty decent, and has just finished getting fully restored.
 
Ford Van said:
The Soundcraft Ghost is easily the best under $10k (new) mixing console ever made.
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Bollox! They have a habbit of breaking down, noisy switches and the EQ is a bit anemic compared to the older A&H boards

Good call on the A&H GS3 and Saber. I've owned both and preffered the sound of the latter but it's a BEAST of a desk if you ever have to move it anywhere. It has a seperate monitor section with access to all 6 aux sends, 1&2 are pre post switchable. The 6 auxes have their own knob on the channel strips and share 4 knobs in the monitor section with 3/5 4/6 switching. 2 of the 4 stereo returns can be sent to any of the 16 busses 3&4 to the L/R mix. The EQ is really usefull, +/-15Db or it might be 18...my memory fails me. Hi band switchable between 6 & 12k, 2 swept mids Lo switchable between 70 & 140Hz high pass at 80Hz and you can switch the EQ right out of the signal path. The pre's are more than useable and give a nice colour when pushed. S.O.S. magazine called it the best 16 buss in its price range. If I had the space I'd have one back in a heartbeat.

On a cheaper scale there's the Soundtracs Topaz project 8. Not nearly as many features as the Saber but a great sounding little desk with top notch EQ
 
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I'm having a hard time finding decent new board that do what I want for this setup. Either they're short on channels, too much $, or are out of production. Mackie has a 24ch Onyx but it's too much cake. Anyone know of a good place in Ontario between London and Toronto that might have used boards?
 
A Tascam DM24 w/ some ADAT cards will work very good and can be had for around 1k. You may also want to look into the DM32.



I'm selling a Soundcraft Series Two 32 channel mixer but I'm asking $4800.00 for it.
 
deepwater said:
A Tascam DM24 w/ some ADAT cards will work very good and can be had for around 1k. You may also want to look into the DM32.
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I was looking at the DM24 a little over a year ago and they were a bit over $2K, now you can get them for less then $1K on Ebay. I like what I settled for, but I need to get some external mic pre's.
 
I use an AMR PRODUCTION SERIES

console by Peavey...yes Peavey. it has 36 input and a 24 monitor section. I know a guy in my town,Rochester, NY ( 3.5 HOURS FROM tORONTO) that had one for sale. I'll bet you could get it cheap if he still has it. :)
 
Thanks guys, you rock. Those are the kinda boards I'm looking for something to get me rollin. I need alot of other gear before I decide I need a $4000 console.
 
You could probably get two small format mixers and patch them together... Like 2 of the soundcraft m12's or 2 of the allen and heath mixwizards etc...
 
bileshake said:
Thanks guys, you rock. Those are the kinda boards I'm looking for something to get me rollin. I need alot of other gear before I decide I need a $4000 console.
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I know I will get slammed but... Get a Behringer DDX3216 and two Adat Cards.
We ALL know that Behringer is not top of the line, but with all the bells and whistles this board has to offer, it will get you up and moving quickly. I have found this board to be VERY user friendly with a low learning curve. Having this board will allow you to buy higher end effect processors, compressors, etc. as you get the money. Once you get enough of the higher end out board gear where you don’t need to rely on the inboard gear of this mixer, you can upgrade to a better mixer at that point. Behringer is NOT the Bee’s Knees, but this mixer works great with the Alesis HD24 and it provides the basic tools to get you started.
 
The Behringer digital mixer is actually easy to use and easy to learn. However, it still sounds like a Behringer. What that means is that every track you preamp though it will get that "behringer sound which to me sounds like a low and hi pass filter at 100 and 8k. Not to mention the mucky undefined midrange. However, it does offer a lot of features for the money. Then of course there is the flimsy faders that just love to stop working properly and jitter like you would not believe.

My experience with the Tascam is similar with the faders. They are cheap and flimsy, break often, and jitter a lot.
 
xstatic said:
The Behringer digital mixer is actually easy to use and easy to learn. However, it still sounds like a Behringer. What that means is that every track you preamp though it will get that "behringer sound which to me sounds like a low and hi pass filter at 100 and 8k. Not to mention the mucky undefined midrange. However, it does offer a lot of features for the money. Then of course there is the flimsy faders that just love to stop working properly and jitter like you would not believe.

My experience with the Tascam is similar with the faders. They are cheap and flimsy, break often, and jitter a lot.
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I have not had problems with the faders, but thanks for the warning.
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bileshake,

If you do go with this mixer, I would start investing in a great monitoring system next before adding new outboard gear, and then go from there.
 
another A&H board I've worked on and loved the sound of was the GS3000, the one with the two patchable valve pre's. I think I read somewhere there were problems with the earlier power supplys but that console sounded sweet.
 
I have a Tascam M-2600mkII that I use with the HD24. I think it's a very "under-rated" console that was " over-shadowed" by Mackie and their hype when they first released the 8-Buss! :mad: ... I've heard many reputable engineers that feels that the M-2600 out performs the Mackie sonically and the EQ is usable! You can get the 2600 pretty cheap used also. :cool: (YMMV)
 
The more I research consoles I realize that I'd like to find a 24ch 6 or 8 buss board with 24ch of adat I/O. The catch is I'm partial to analog channel strips, I don't want to cycle though menus to tweak the eq. I guess if I were to find something like that I'd be paying dearly for it. Anyone heard anything about the Toft Audio consoles that are to be released this spring?
 
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