Mixer? ($750 budget)

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JonathanRay

JonathanRay

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I've been using an old radioshack 8 channel mixer and it's time to upgrade.

I plan to be traveling and recording bands locally.

I've been looking at the Mackie CFX-16 which looks pretty cool. My budget is about $750.

Thanks for any help!
 
its 750? i thought it was 900... tell me where you can get it for 750
 
The Guitar Centers around Denver were starting to blow them out for some reason. I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered seeing them for around that price range, and the 32 channel model was around $950. Of course, it's highly probable that I'm talking out of my ass! Pretty sure that was right though.
 
distortedrumble said:
its 750? i thought it was 900... tell me where you can get it for 750
Click to expand...

Froogle found it for $750. It looks like a nice mixer.

I've heard Mackie is the top notch brand to go with, thats the only reason I'm looking in to it. My friend has a smaller Yamaha like the one listed above and it's alright. I'd still probably go with Mackie.
 
not the mackie....i was talking about the yamaha
 
You can get a Mackie Onyx for around $750-775, something like that. I personally would take that over a Yamaha MG series.
 
A&H Mix Wizards look nice. Most of those others are either missing direct outs or have crappy eq or some other limitations. The A&H boards have it all IMO.
 
I have that Soundcraft mixer, it's a real good mixer. My only complaint is that the effects returns are RCA phono jacks instead of 1/4" jacks. I thought that was kind of weird.
All of my outboard equipment has 1/4" ins and outs. Why would they use phono jacks? I had to purchase 1/4" to phono adapters.
 
Ooo, that Soundcraft M12 is nice! I wonder how it compares to the Mackie CFX-16.

Edit: Now that I think of it, I probably don't need an effects mixer...
 
JonathanRay said:
Ooo, that Soundcraft M12 is nice! I wonder how it compares to the Mackie CFX-16.

Edit: Now that I think of it, I probably don't need an effects mixer...
Click to expand...

I'll put it this way. I did an A/B with the Soundcraft M12 and Mackie Onyx and the Soundcraft won. The pres are smoother, EQ top notch, and the direct outs are pre/post EQ switchable - Mackie forgot about that one.

It has the same EQ and Pre design as the Ghost.
 
I'm really starting to dig my Mackie Onyx 1620. I haven't heard the soundcraft, supposed to be good, but the onyx pres blow my old Mackie 1202 away and my Alesis Studio32 which wasn't that bad. I paid $520 new for my 1620 @ GC. The M12 is what $650?. The problem for me was I don't need firewire, and the dsub snakes were about $90 a peice (2).

I really didn't like the features of the soundcraft, RCAs are useless. The EQ was only 3 band, and you can't switch it out. It will sound better than the CFX. It's taken a while to get over the fact that I can't use the EQ when D.O. tracking, but, the only time I ever did was Bass D.I., and the Onyx sound great without the EQ.

From what I've personally heard, and from what I read it was between the Onyx and the A&H 16:2 for me. And the A&H was $370 more ($899), and it didn't really sound any better, and it had those crappy Digitech built in FX. There's always something that sucks about budget boards.
 
JonathanRay said:
I've heard Mackie is the top notch brand to go with, thats the only reason I'm looking in to it. My friend has a smaller Yamaha like the one listed above and it's alright. I'd still probably go with Mackie.
Click to expand...

no offense, but thats pretty fucking hilarious. no man, mackie sucks. it really does. you would be much better or with an A&H mix wizard. i have a friend with one and he makes so REALLY killer recordings with it. i think even the new onyx is terrible.

really, the best bet for 750 is an older model soundcraft. they've gotten shittier in the last few years, IMHO. the old ones, however, are really cool. and cheap. i bet you could get 24 chanells for 750 easy. and those EQs are pretty workable, considering they arent that expensive. look in to it, see what you can find.

the best advice i can give is dont jump on anything. look around for a long time... thats half the fun anyway, the shopping. you'll find something sweet. deals always pop up. i just picked up a pair of earthworks mics for 400 bucks.

just wait, and keep your eye on ebay.

something like this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23785&item=7310175821&rd=1
 
One board you might want to consider is the Behringer DDX3216. This is a digital board with lots of options and features. Stored snapshots can be ideal for recording environments. We use a 32 channel version at church for different services and it works well.

Ed
 
The returns are RCA but that does not mean they are useless. Instead of a TR - TR you use a TR-RCA - It has no affect on audio quality. The EQ is 3 band w/ swipe mid.
 
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