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