Mackie, Soundcraft, or Other

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris Fallen
  • Start date Start date

What's the best mixer overall (IYHO)?

  • Mackie

    Votes: 81 25.5%

  • Soundcraft

    Votes: 149 46.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 88 27.7%
  • Total voters
    318
There are no direct outs but the mackies usually have an insert on every channel with a preamp so you can accomplish the same thing.

Mackie are known for loosing a bit of low end if you push the mix buss to hard. Fletcher was recomending to mix pretty low and use a good, clean line amp to boost the signal. That is probably being over picky for most users here especially considering the type of amps he is talking about cost 5x as much as the mixer.
 
how would i use the mix buss? Woudln't i just go directly out of the inserts to the soundcard?
 
Chris F: How are you wiring the unbalanced direct out from your Soundcraft into the 1224's balanced ins?
 
verticalplunge said:
Chris F: How are you wiring the unbalanced direct out from your Soundcraft into the 1224's balanced ins?
Click to expand...


As it turns out, the direct outs on the M12 are balanced, but you have to use the pres a bit to get the level up to a point where the 1224 likes it. It sounds great to me.
 
Balanced? Really? According to the manual they are unbalanced. I emailed Soundcraft about this and was told that all i/o was balanced and I replied that the manual said otherwise, but never heard back from them.
 
horizontalslide said:
Balanced? Really? According to the manual they are unbalanced. I emailed Soundcraft about this and was told that all i/o was balanced and I replied that the manual said otherwise, but never heard back from them.
Click to expand...


Take all techspeak from my end with a grain of salt, since I'm definitely NOT a techie. :) But the direct outs on the M12 are definitely TRS, and they work well and silently with the balanced ins on my MOTU 1224. I did notice that the manual that came with the 1224 was a bit outdated...
 
It wasn't the 1224 manual but the Soundcraft M12 manual which states very clearly that the direct outs on the M12 are unbalanced. Take a look at your manual to confirm this. How are you so certain that, in contradiction to the manual, the direct outs on the M12 are balanced?
 
Sorry, I should have said that the M12 manual was outdated, and not specifically written for the M12. I thought they were balanced because they are TRS, and because the studio guy I consulted with to help me set up my system said they would function as balanced outs, but with a slightly low output signal. Other than that, I'm not sure. :)
 
Thanks Chris. I've sent another email to Soundcraft and I'm still waiting for the reply. I'll post back when I hear from them.
 
Wow, I'm suprised this thread is still around!

I still haven't bought anything big yet, just an omni studio and some mics. I think I'm going to get some action with my tax returns, so I'm wittling down the choices.

I'm thinking of getting an M12 and a Delta 1010. I'm also thinking about an Allen/Heath MixWizard 14:4:2. I like the busses. Mm mm. Anyone have any opinions on the Allen/Heath mix wizards? Anyone know where I can find some good prices on them (lowest I've found is $1,099 on 8th St, but I've just started looking)?

I've also started thinking about getting a digital mixer to use as an interface for the program I use (don't know what I'm going to get yet, but right now I'm using Cool Edit Pro and N-track). Any suggestions on cheap ($1,000 or less) digital mixers?

I just realized I said 'cheap' and '$1000' in the same sentence.
 
M12, SPDIF baby. You will want that. Plus the M12 uses the same pre design as the ghost pres in their high end boards . Not totally the same as the ghosts but just as clean with just less headroom. This equates to +4 vs +18 (that's what their site says)on their high end consoles. Most of us live in this world however. Also 100mm faders. The AH looked like the run on their faders was smaller. Couldn't find the spec however.

On the Allen Heath you get more professional routing however and if you are going to do analog tracking and analog mix downs this may be the way to go. The final decision would have to be the summing buss. Which one is better? The only way to know is if you mix on both awhile.

EQs look the same, hi pass filters at 100, so how much do you want to spend? I think I would opt for the M12 and take my $300 diffference into some effects or mics.

Good Luck!
 
Middleman said:
Also 100mm faders. The AH looked like the run on their faders was smaller. Couldn't find the spec however.
Click to expand...
Nope, A&H mixers all have 100mm faders as well.


Middleman said:
EQs look the same, hi pass filters at 100, so how much do you want to spend? I think I would opt for the M12 and take my $300 diffference into some effects or mics.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Nope, M12 have low and high-shelving, and 1 mid sweep. A&H has 2 mid sweeps + an EQ-bypass button per channel.

I myself have also being looking at both these mixers, I do think the A&H offers more, but I've heard it might be noisier than the Soundcraft...
 
Soundcraft

I fell in love with Soundcraft when I sent it off to get a fader repaired and had to use a Mackie untill it returned. As soon as I started working with the Mackie I noticed that the sound was very thin and had no warmth. Soundcraft's British pre's are great. In fact they like the one's that A&H use. Thus all the mentions of A&H.

I also hate the fake aux sends that all Mackie boards have. If I buy a board with 6 auxs I want 6 true aux channels. Soundcraft far better than Mackie.

PS: Let me give a shoot out for Crest. These are great boards to if you've got the money.
 
Wow, a year later and you still havn't purchased your new mixer! :) I feel sorry for you when it comes time to get married, or buy a new car or house, etc. :) LOL!!

I read all the replies here. Based on your comments and others I would run and go buy the Spirit M12 from here:

"Give Joel Pare at Full Compass a call if you're looking for the M series. He quoted me the best price on an M12 I've found by almost $100. 800-356-5844 ext 1116. "

I purchased mine from Full Compass last year for a little over $600.00. I have no idea what the going rate is now.

The board looks excellent, can be rack mounted easily, it sounds frickin awesome. If you want the clean direct sound of SPDIF it's ready to go, if you want the analog outs they're there too.

I did a TON of research on mixers last year and the general feedback was, if money was no object go buy a high end Mackie or AH board, but for the low to mid range stuff (up to 1000.00) the Soundcraft boards were the ones to get.
 
So what's up with the Crest boards???? how much do they go for?
Anyone check them out yet
T
 
Well my M12 is getting shipped tomorrow, along with a FMR RNC. All for $747 and free shipping. Hell yeah.

"Give Joel Pare at Full Compass a call if you're looking for the M series. He quoted me the best price on an M12 I've found by almost $100. 800-356-5844 ext 1116. "


If you get a chance do that for anything, the guy is awesome.
 
FX16

I recently required a soundcraft FX16 for $600 CND!:eek:
 
I have been a full-time musician for the past 11 years. A couple of years ago I looked into upgrading my stuff and was searching for a new mixer. My top three were the Mackie 1604. The SoundCraft M12 and the Allen&Heath MixWizard stuff.

I purchased the Allen&Heath. And I have been VERY happy with it. Some of the reasons I went with it are these:

1) They are quite rugged. Meant for the road. Also, they are very easy to work on (not so with the Mackies). Also, I've been told by repair guys, that the SoundCraft's don't like to be moved around alot. That is, they don't hold up well on the road...

2) Sound and flexibility (this should actually be number 1...if I were listing these in order of importance). The sound of the board is much warmer than the Mackies. It also has 100mm sliders. Also, there are 2 sweepable mid EQ's per channel. A VERY cool feature, if you've never used a board with it! Also, I was told by a tech guy at Allen&Heath that the MixWizard uses the same preamps as their GL 2200 series.

3) Direct outputs and 6 aux's. Direct outs are a MUST if you want to use this board for recording. The aux's are also group into 2's with switches for Post/Pre Fade.

4) Individual channel phantom power switches. This might not be a big deal...unless you run condenser mics...and have lost power on a universal Phantom Power setup...

And, though I didn't find this out until later...5) Tech support. Allen&Heath have been very helpful. I had a little trouble (nothing that couldn't be fixed) with my originanl board. And, seeing as I am full-time and cannot afford downtime, I was in a bit of a quandry as to what to do. Allen&Heath shipped me a replacement (as in, brand new) board and allowed me to keep mine until it was received. Since then, I was having trouble with the faders on a couple of channels. Allen&Heath sent me the parts (enough to replace EVERY fader if I so chose) talked me through the problem and allowed meto fix it myself (which was very easy, by the way)

So, as I have stated, I am very happy with my Allen&Heath and would highly recommend it.
 
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