Mixer Advise

ptalsky said:
Okay, I'm sorry but Behringer is crap. I've told this story a few times, but it bears repeating here. Behringer was my first mixer. I upgraded my Behringer 1002 to a Mackie 1202, and when I first turned on the Mackie, I thought it was broken or something wasn't working. It was too quiet. The difference was that significant - and the Mackie is at the mid-range of the mixer food chain. (Maybe even the low-mid range). I picked up my Mackie used for a very good price on eBay - my other point - your equipment does not have to be new. You can get great deals on used equipment, just get it tuned/checked out before using it a production environment to be safe.

I just picked up an Alesis MultiMix 16 Firewire, and so far, I'm liking it. Yes, I know, you can't go you can go pre-fader out, but since I'm just starting multi-track, that isn't an issue yet. When it is, I will re-evaluate. I'll post on the Alesis at another time.

Phil
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Well I guess you had a bad one. I had many good ones, including an mx9000 we used for tracking in audio postand as I said many of the 12 to 20 channel boards. I also own and use an Allen and Heath 2400GL, just sold an O1V and have had several ALesis boards . I am not debating quality with you, nor am I basing my opinion a single experience that could have been caused by many things not only the board.
 
I would suggest getting a separate low-budget audio card such as the M-Audio 2496 and go with the Behringer Xenyx. I have never used any of the Behringer mixers, but they can get you by for cheap. If your clients do not care about what gear you have in the studio but you can get the job done, then you are good.
 
ozduc said:
I dont know of any computers that have a stereo 1/4" input jack. Most have a stereo 1/8" jack that I would avoid at all cost for anything remotely professional in the way of V.O. etc. Maybe you should consider one of the USB capable mixers. I would personally rather use one of these than trying to get a balanced stereo signal out of a mixer down to an unbalanced 1/8" plug into the computer.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...Mixer-with-USB-and-DSP?sku=630166&src=3WFRWXX
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Sorry, I meant out to an 1/8". Thanks for catching that. I was thinking about the Alesis. I was also loking at:

Yamaha MW10 10-Input USB Mixer
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-MW10-10Input-USB-Mixing-Studio?sku=630204

Mackie DFX6 6x2 Mixer
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-DFX6-6x2-Mixer-with-EFX?sku=634263
 
hey murphy? how is the mx9000?? pretty sweet for the price, I had a ub2442fx for a week but returned it cause it sucked. I like the concept of behringer but like theory does not work so well in the real world. too much tlc is required or you end up buying a new one in a year.
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go for a used onyx 1220 with firewire card. Its a bit pricier than the ones you listed but used could run about 425. Its sweet. great pres, and firewire. although the mixer sends prefader to the computer.
 
the thing about behringer is that they cram the features on with poor components to give their products a spec list above the competition. so don't be charmed by this.


I saw a pretty nice midas desk on ebay recently, it was like daylight robbery the price it went for, just a little bit more than a new equivelant behringer.. my guess is the seller had no idea what it was.
 
The mx 9000 is fine for tracking, the fact that for the money you get a meter bridge unlike the Mackie is a bonus. The preamps are descent and the eq is too. It is not nor will it ever be a big dollar Neve I t really depends onwhat you are doing with the desk.I used it for multi tracking to a 2x 2408 set up. along side a Mackie Control (running DP) It was great. WE all found that it got to be a pain doing a sim mix with a multi-level menu board and that access to everything with out having to do a hundred mouse clicks was what was needed. I aslo used it for confrences, it was great. The point here is well taken about buy stuff with features you don't need or use. People get "buzzed" by the look of some of the new low end mixers" They have this and that, I was not suggesting that anyone buy one of these. They are great for Hobby Studios and such. I was merely saying that I have had excellent results in the simple analogue class of Behringer Mixer.
kymera said:
hey murphy? how is the mx9000?? pretty sweet for the price, I had a ub2442fx for a week but returned it cause it sucked. I like the concept of behringer but like theory does not work so well in the real world. too much tlc is required or you end up buying a new one in a year.
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go for a used onyx 1220 with firewire card. Its a bit pricier than the ones you listed but used could run about 425. Its sweet. great pres, and firewire. although the mixer sends prefader to the computer.
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Plugging a mixer directly into your computer is murder.

Of course the Behringer mixers are going to be noisy direct. I have a Mackie 1402-VLZPro and a Behringer UB1202 and I can get a nice sound out of both of them when combined with my Tube Preamp and FireWire Interface.

I also have a Behringer B-1 Studio Condenser and I love it. Everyone musiciansfriend.com said it was crap, so I bought one just to prove everybody wrong and then return it to Guitar Center. I ended up keeping it because of how impressed I was. If you give your equipment some time and care, you can get results.
 
Bryan,

FYI - I've been happy with my Alesis MultiMix 8USB Mixer with USB and DSP, however I found my Heil PR40 microphone didn't have enough signal for the Alesis. FYI - my Heil PR40 is connected to a dbx266XL compressor/gate. If I crank up the gain on either the dbx or the Alesis to drive 0dB on my software (Sony Sound Forge), you can hear a slight amount of high-frequency distortion using high-end speakers, as well as a bit of low-end white noise (about -55 db).

But it turned out the problem was that both these units *must* have their amplifiers set in the optimum gain setting (around 0dB on the faders). So I purchased a pre-amp to boost the microphone signal. FYI - On my home page you can listen to a few of my audio recordings (run of the mill MP3 settings) without the pre-amp:

http://www.bridgehands.com

Warm Regards, Michael
 
I have a couple of Behringer B-2s in my mic arsenal and they provide a Neumann like sound with very little noise. Excellent value at about $140 each and they come with a shock mount.

Mike
 
I owned the old version of the Behringer MX9000. Personally I wouldn't recommend it. The eq was pretty harsh and the preamps were a little less than adequate in my opinion. I tracked and mixed about 3 albums on this mixer because it was all I had, but I wouldn't do it again. It would probably be ok for live sound or monitoring, but I really wouldnt track with the thing. Unless people REALLY have a need for analog mixing I think the vast majority of individuals are much better off buying standalone mic preamps, or a mic-pre with built in USB/Firewire. Unless you are talking about a truly excellent analog ( I'm talking Neve, API, SSL ) mixer, nothing is gonna compete with the digital mixer in your DAW of choice.

This advice mostly applies to recording. If you are doing live sound, for example, the need for a board is pretty clear.
 
serenity737 said:
I have a couple of Behringer B-2s in my mic arsenal and they provide a Neumann like sound

Mike
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Poll;

How amusing to you is this statement, on a scale of 1 to 10?

:D
 
ScoobySounds said:
Poll;

How amusing to you is this statement, on a scale of 1 to 10?

:D
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I will score it 6 / Delusional

:)


To relate it back to this thread however, I would say that I would probably prefer to record with a $150 Chinese mic and a good preamp than a Telefunken ELA m 251 and a Behringer mixer. The most likely scenario would be that I would beat you on the head with the Behringer and take your Telefunken :)
 
ScoobySounds said:
Poll;

How amusing to you is this statement, on a scale of 1 to 10?

:D
Click to expand...

Come on, guys. I see the big grins but I don't think there's any need to openly ridicule someone's opinion no matter what you may think of it. :engel017:

-Dan
 
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