best used 4-channel mixer?

Justin Kuhn

Justin Kuhn

Veteran
I have a Zoom H4N I'd like to upgrade by getting a good used mixer, preferably a 4-Channel that costs less than a Mix Pre. So far I've narrowed it down to the Rolls MX410 or a Shure FP42, both for about $250-300. Which do you think would be a better buy, or is there anything else comparable I should be looking for?
 
I used to own a FP42 15+ years ago.
Stay away from it. The needles move slower than mud, and the sound quality is painfully average.
That said, I would take it in a heart beat over anything "rolls".. so
you can come to your own conclusion about those 2 choices.


*edit to say, I looked on ebay at the FP42 because I remember selling mine in the 1990's for $300 or so dollars so I thought your price was a bit high.
Seems like you can get them on ebay for less than half of the price you mention.
 
Arguably.. the best 'used 4-channel mixer' would be a SD 442 which basically has four input channels, four direct outs and two main outs.
This would not be a good front-end for the H4n for a number of reasons. The most serious being the H4n does not accept pro level (+4dB) inputs. The 442 does have (-10dB) Tape out (or mic level out, depending on the firmware version) but only on the stereo mix. IMO, the H4n is a limiting factor in any scenario.
 
Rippie said:
I used to own a FP42 15+ years ago.
Stay away from it. The needles move slower than mud, and the sound quality is painfully average.
That said, I would take it in a heart beat over anything "rolls".. so
you can come to your own conclusion about those 2 choices.
Click to expand...

+1 Yeah, where did they get those meters ballistics .. a pain and a trap for newbies.

Cheers.
 
Justin Kuhn said:
I have a Zoom H4N I'd like to upgrade by getting a good used mixer, preferably a 4-Channel that costs less than a Mix Pre. So far I've narrowed it down to the Rolls MX410 or a Shure FP42, both for about $250-300. Which do you think would be a better buy, or is there anything else comparable I should be looking for?
Click to expand...

What are you trying to do with it? Do you need MONO or Stereo?
 
If the FP 42 is like other shure mixers you can re-calibrate the VU meters to make them more useful, I did this on several M367 mono mixers so that 0VU corresponds to 0db line up for broadcast and they were a bit better but I must admit I also re-calibrated the limiter to come in at +6db so when the limiter light flashed you knew the levels were just about right.

Personally I use Twelco mixers as my budget stereo brand and they have served me well, Istvan sells them direct on e-bay as factory refurbs and they are excellent value, this is his three channel version but I have the four and six channel ones: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TW-LP432-...?pt=US_Live_Studio_Mixers&hash=item3cd29963f2

Also think do you really need stereo and four channels as the ASC MInix can be bought second hand for very low cost and has some very nice features, I just bought my second one for £50 off e-bay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbZNpZNGkUA

If you can live with a mono mixer the shure M367 is also very good value second hand: http://www.sisme.com/arcfile/Shurem367_m.pdf

There is a few on e-bay inc the removeable rackmount for less than $200.

Or if you just want a basic stereo mixer and can rig something like this on location it is battery operated and cheap as chips: http://www.behringer.com/assets/1002B_P0A04_M_EN.pdf
 
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If all you are doing is feeding the H4 with the mixer, then consider upgrading to the H6: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...g&matchtype=&gclid=COvLmpKGgrgCFWYV7Aod3l4AOA

It would probably allow you to do what you want to do, which is recording three or four isos that you can "mix" in post. You can even upgrade later to 6 tracks.

If this is for your own purposes then the Shure is ok. I would look for a used one of these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/438841-REG/Sign_Video_ENG44_ENG_44_Field_Audio_Mixer.html

Opinions vary on all of these units. To me the most important thing is clean preamps and routing flexibility. Other people have other considerations and probably experience with more gear than me.
 
I started with one of those sign mixers when I had my Z7 and it was good value and did the job, switches were a little fragile so best have a look at one before you buy if you can.
 
I owned the Sign 44 mixer for about 1 year, then upgraded to the Sound Devices MixPre. ( the MixPre-D has since replaced it )

Huge quality difference between the Sound Devices MixPre and the Sign 44 mixer, but at the time I didn't know any better.
 
say no to Rolls... I bought one and thought it was good until I compared it to a Shure 3 channel mixer. The Rolls 442 is NOISY. And now I would rather have saved my cash and bought a Sound Devices 4 or 5 channel mixer. The higher quality preamps make for a much better mixer.
 
Would you guys say the Sound Devices separate pre-amps, like the MP-1 or the MM-1, have the same audio quality as the pre-amps in their mixers such as the MixPre-D?
 
Yes, the preamps in the single-channel MM-1 and MP-1 are the same as in the MixPre-D. Cheers, Roland
 
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