looking to spend up to $5000 for mix. desk

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frequency_

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hello, i have a samick 8ch. mixer at the moment and i ve had enough of it, so now that i have the money i m thinking to get a decent mixing desk, im not sure if i go for analogue or digital but i m recording mostly rock songs, i started looking for behringer but changed my mind, now i m looking at some tascam and mackie...24 channels would be good i guess. can any of you guys help me out? thanks
 
Check out some of the Allen and Heath stuff. They make AWESOME mixers.
 
yeah the Allen & Heath stuff, the older stuff I mean is fantastic but then you have maintanence costs etc. I've ownded the GS1. GS3, SABER and worked on the GS3000 and the GL series. All great mixers
 
I would look at something like the Toft http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com/atb.html or even a Soundcraft Ghost. Just stay away from behringer and mackie! What are you recording to? Hard Disk? Computer? Tape? It depends on how you are recording. You may not even need a mixer!
 
Orrrrrrrr....you can save up 5000 more clams and buy a used trident in good condition ;).


That's so going in the first studio I decide to waste my life on.
 
what's wrong with Mackie? I was looking at getting a Onyx 1640 with the firewire card added, that looked really cool.
 
fldrummer said:
I would look at something like the Toft http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com/atb.html or even a Soundcraft Ghost. Just stay away from behringer and mackie! What are you recording to? Hard Disk? Computer? Tape? It depends on how you are recording. You may not even need a mixer!


Thanks for the info guys they re all very intresting......i m recording on computer, and i need enough channels to be able to record a rock band live.
 
I've heard some good stuff come out of the Macky Onix boards. I think people are still down on them because of the lower Macky boards.
Soundcraft Ghosts are pretty cool though. I wouldn't mind having one.
 
LeeRosario said:
Orrrrrrrr....you can save up 5000 more clams and buy a used trident in good condition ;).


That's so going in the first studio I decide to waste my life on.

Trident? Lke this one?

DSC_0018.jpg


P.S. This isn't my studio... It's a local one called ReFraze
 
all that stuff seems graet, but i cant see any good words about any digital desks... should i assume that there are disadvantages on digital desks? or more than $5000 would be required for a decent digital mixer? thanks again
 
digital decks?
well, you can get a Yamaha O1v for less than 5k. But if you're recording onto your computer then you really only need the mixer for its preamps. in that case i would go with a soundcraft or allen and heath
 
A Trident 80B like that one would sure be nice! Good luck finding that for 5k

So you are recording to a computer... What converters are you using or what do you plan on using? Do you like using a mouse or want a digital desk as a controller?

If you are just tracking and need 24 channels that can run into the computer I would look into just getting good preamps. Well.. It depends on if you have the mics and room to make it worth it. I would count up how many mic's I would really use at a time and look into getting some pre's instead of a mixer.
 
fldrummer said:
A Trident 80B like that one would sure be nice! Good luck finding that for 5k

So you are recording to a computer... What converters are you using or what do you plan on using? Do you like using a mouse or want a digital desk as a controller?

If you are just tracking and need 24 channels that can run into the computer I would look into just getting good preamps. Well.. It depends on if you have the mics and room to make it worth it. I would count up how many mic's I would really use at a time and look into getting some pre's instead of a mixer.


about the converter i m planning to go for a digidesign, dont know which one yet...and i m used to the mouse so far, but i ve used a control24 a bit which i liked a lot. i need a mixing desk i guess instead of just preamps. i ll be using around 16 mics at the same time sometimes and i have a control room and a live room already, so i m hoping to get as well FXunit a compressor and an equalizer, i wont be only working with plugins
 
So you want to use a Pro Tools HD rig? I hope you know how much $$ thats going to run. Expect to spend at least 8k just for Pro Tools PLUS converters.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTCoreHD1/

If you are going all out with PT might as well get some real converters then those Digi ones
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/ad16x.php

Why dont you just get a Control|24? I think it only has 10 or 12 preamps on it so you would still need more. You don't need a mixer unless you want a digital one to use as a controller.

Preamp>converter>computer
or
Preamp>eq/comp>converter>computer
or
computer>converter>fx>converter>computer

You can use pro tools as a mixer.
 
peritus said:
Trident? Lke this one?

DSC_0018.jpg


P.S. This isn't my studio... It's a local one called ReFraze


bingo!

In my opinion, an awesome way to start off in the record studio business.
 
frequency_ said:
hello, i have a samick 8ch. mixer at the moment and i ve had enough of it, so now that i have the money i m thinking to get a decent mixing desk, im not sure if i go for analogue or digital but i m recording mostly rock songs, i started looking for behringer but changed my mind, now i m looking at some tascam and mackie...24 channels would be good i guess. can any of you guys help me out? thanks


Alright, I notice things are starting to get confusing, so I'm going to break this down as easy as I can, so you don't throw away 5 grand:


-When you buy a mixer, you first want to make sure the mixer your buying is a studio desk and not a live desk. They are *not* the same thing.

Both versions are tailored for thier specific uses. Design might include different I/O options and routing capabilities.



-When you buy a mixer, you buy one for it's sound, it's reliability, tech support and it's flexibility.

You never buy solely based on brand names. That's just politics in marketing. The day you see Bob Rock endorsing Beringer mixers, then you know he's receiving a super silly amount of money for his appreance and his blessing.


So the best way to shop around for a mixer is to look up credible ratings. Anywhere there's a professional engineer outlet would be a good place. As much information needed as possible.

I would tell you to visit your local recording studios, but you have to act like you're going to be a customer. Plus you'd have to act rather unintrusive.

I've seen no limit to the shit guys would get when they started asking the producer I worked for all these silly technical studio questions. It was always a quick FU and on to bussiness.

So don't expect a warm welcome if you have a million questions.

Anyway, in the 5 thousand dollar range, you already know you can start leaving the "consumer bullshit" brands and start looking at entry/project/ occasionally professional level stuff.


Some brands that are worth looking at in order of quality (analog):

starting at the bottom:

-Mackie Onyx (have yet to review this one) or VLZ Pro series (XDR preamp series sound very favorable. The EQs are not as convincing to me.)

-Yamaha (they have a few good desks)

-Tascam (not a fan, but some worth checking out)

-Soundcraft (the ghost console is a heavy contender. Very capable EQs)

-Allen and Heath (some of the lower end models sound pretty good)

-Trident (already reaching the extreme top of the list, great sound.)

-Studer (I've heard of a console magically priced in the 5-10k range, but I find that highly unlikely).

Then already at the extreme top end you start going into API, Neve, SSL, Allen and Heath and Studer. (10k+ range)

These would be a good starting point and would cover the compact to medium format analog console range. Up until the trident, you're looking at 5k-10k in monitary value.

Considering that it would be advisable to buy external wordclocking and A/D conversion units if you're going digital
 
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Take a look at a little Midas console as well. You won;t find a better sounding new console for less than $5000. Used however there are a lot of good options.
 
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