Summing Box vs. Mixer?

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King_Cobra

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I have been reviewing a few summing boxes. Costing between $700 to $3000 for a 8 to 16 channel unit. If summing is the only thing it will do, what is the difference in using a personal mixer for the job? For exmple; a Soundcraft Foilo, Mackie 1202 or any Sound Workshop mixer. Would this be good enough, would it do the same job as a summing box? Can someone please tell me the difference between a mixer and a summing box? Which is better for mixing out the box?
 
King_Cobra said:
I have been reviewing a few summing boxes. Costing between $700 to $3000 for a 8 to 16 channel unit. If summing is the only thing it will do, what is the difference in using a personal mixer for the job? For exmple; a Soundcraft Foilo, Mackie 1202 or any Sound Workshop mixer. Would this be good enough, would it do the same job as a summing box? Can someone please tell me the difference between a mixer and a summing box? Which is better for mixing out the box?
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For all intensive purposes a mixer will work as an audio summing device. I mean, that's usually what they are intended to do.
But usually a summing box will be of higher quality than a mixer.
The summing box has only what is needed to sum the signals. They have no EQ or excess gain stages since the inputs are pre calibrated at -4 or +10.
Also the quality of components are in most cases superior in a summing box. Circuit designs in a summing box are also usually superior. Some have discreet class-A amplifiers instead of OP-Amps. In fact some are even tube amplifiers. In most consumer mixers there would not be enough room for discreet circuitry like that.
 
When you hear a mix summed through a cheaper board then through a good summing box back to back, youll know. The best one Ive heard so far was a friends SPL Mix Dream. The switchable transformers on it are pretty cool to.
 
I would not say that a summing box is of higher quality than a console. I think it really depends less on which summing box you mean, but more on what console you are referring to. Most people that I know that prefer the sound of analog summing LIKE the extra electronics that the signal goes through. In fact, that is kind of the goal for most of those people, to utilize the abilities of the console (and other outboard) and not just the pure fact that the 2 track is formed in the analog domain.

However, if you are purely JUST summing, meaning no level changes, no EQ, no outboard etc... I would most certainly prefer to use a Neve or API summing scheme then use a Mackie to sum the channels. Not all summing busses are equal and they each have their own sonic character to them. This includes consoles, summing boxes, and even to a certain extent software applications.
 
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