Soundcraft signature 22mtk for mixdown

[first7letters]

Hello,

I am in need of a new mixer for my analog home studio setup, my old Mackie cr-1604 has too many issues. I have a couple of projects tracked to my Tascam tsr-8 and 424 that will be getting mixed down soon.

I am actually looking at the Soundcraft Signature 22mtk right now: there are a lot of them out there that are not too old and they are in my price range. But the feature I am looking for most in mixer is the 4 band eq with two sweepable mids.

I like the 22mtk over the signature 16 because it has the option to use as a multitrack audio interface. Although I am not doing digital tracking now, it would be nice to have that option.

I know a limiting thing about these signature series is no channel inserts, but I have all my gear hooked up to a patchbay where I can insert there. Or am I missing something?

I do not have a tape deck to mix down to at this time aside from my Tascam 424mkii, and honestly have not gotten to do any serious mixdowns yet with my projects. I may mix down to vhs, or maybe just to the DAW. I like to record and mix analog because I like the work flow and I am a bit of a Luddite. And even if I use the DAW for this, I would mix OTB and treat the computer like a 2 track. Eventually it will get digitized to share with others, and maybe a limited cassette release.

The Soundcraft gb series and Allen and Heaths fits the bill with 4 band eq, but are more expensive. Will the Signature series' limited patching options be a problem, even though I have a patchbay?

I usually only record solo or with one other person and I don't see myself really getting a band together at this stage in my life.

Here is the rest of my setup:
Neutrik 24 channel patchbay
Art Pro Channel i channel strip
Art Pro VLA ii compressor
DBX 160A compressor
Klark Teknik DN 410 EQ
Alesis Midiverb iii fx
Lexicon MPX 500 fx
and I use a Mackie 1202 vlz pro for a control room mixer.

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[sr71rules]

The lack of inserts would be be an issue for me.

If you're tracking via external preamps, you could go from Preamp to compressor and then into the line input on the board, allowing you to use the board's A/D interface.. That's not a problem.

But, if you are hoping to use the PC as a multi-track tape machine feeding the inputs via USB for mix down, the lack of inserts is an issue. You'll be able to send audio to the board via the PC, and you can use the onboard EQ, but you'll have no way to insert a compressor on a given channel in the analog world. Once the audio hits the board, you can't get it out except via the buss outputs.

This is not a board I would consider for use for mix down.

I'd want analog inserts on the channels, and ideally on the busses to.

 

[first7letters]

The lack of inserts would be be an issue for me.

If you're tracking via external preamps, you could go from Preamp to compressor and then into the line input on the board, allowing you to use the board's A/D interface.. That's not a problem.

But, if you are hoping to use the PC as a multi-track tape machine feeding the inputs via USB for mix down, the lack of inserts is an issue. You'll be able to send audio to the board via the PC, and you can use the onboard EQ, but you'll have no way to insert a compressor on a given channel in the analog world. Once the audio hits the board, you can't get it out except via the buss outputs.

This is not a board I would consider for use for mix down.

I'd want analog inserts on the channels, and ideally on the busses to.

Thanks for your input! I went down a long rabbit hole, and at the end was me ordering a new Soundcraft lx7ii. I know it's more of a pa mixer, but it had all the stuff I was looking for.