suggest new "mixer"

[J.Paul]

 

Anyone want to suggest a replacement? I've been using a Line6 X3 bean as my main preamp/mixer for my vocals and acoustic. It is now changing parameters by itself and is time for a replacement... (yes I could do a "reflash" and restore the programs for the umpteenth time on yet ANOTHER Line6 piece , or I could just go get something that isn't a toy).

 

The reasons I like using it and what I need in a replacement are :

 

~ 3 lines in (bal. vocal, unbal guitar, unbal loops)

 

~ "channel" for vocals has : preamp, compression, delay, verb, eq

 

~  sub mixes out (mono is fine) into the house system or my powered speakers

 

sounds like I just need a mixer but there's always some effect that is missing in a mixer that is 4 to 6 channels.. I don't want to get into an outboard unit for compression or delay ~ I want it to be small... all of my production (except speakers and power) fits into a briefcase. So the "mixer" can be virtual or digital as well (which might also fall under the "toy" category as well...not sure) ...

 

More info-

 

I'm using an Iphone for drum loops and I'm using an Ipad (for lyrics only), in other words I do have the port available on the Ipad for an Irig application. I'm gonna do some searches here and elsewhere, in the meantime: fire away

[Bob Dey]

Compression for mic and sub out will be the problem in a small mixer. Don't know what to suggest there.

[J.Paul]

 

beautiful weekend here in Nashville,

the kind that makes you crabby having to stay inside and do research....

OK. Here's what it looks like so far :

 

~ loops and acoustic into channel 2 and 3 of Yamaha MG82CX

~ vocal into the Irig-Pre (Iphone Vocalive App = compression + verb + parametric eq)

into

~channel 1 of Yamaha MG82CX (8 input, 2 compressors, shelving EQ, reverb)

 

~unbalanced line out of the Yamaha  into powered mains (Alto TS115) and powered monitor (not sure yet)

 

------------------

I like that this mixer is small, has compression on 2 channels, and DSP, but I do NOT like that there isn't a balanced out. The next model up from this has it as an option but it's a little bigger than I wanted.

 

I like that IK Multimedia doesn't force you to use THEIR microphone (Irig Mic), but offers an option to use your own mic with their interface (Irig Pre). I do NOT like that you HAVE to have a battery to power it (and there isn't info yet on using a rechargable). I don't expect much from the Irig Pre but hope it's usable. All their demos are direct/studio demos and NOT live through a PA. BTW my Irig guitar interface works with the Vocalive app but there's some unusable hiss. Hopefully the Pre is cleaner.

 

I don't like that there isn't a graphic eq on the mixer, so maybe I'll experiment with that as an insert... not sure yet

[Voltan]

---

J.Paul wrote:

beautiful weekend here in Nashville,

the kind that makes you crabby having to stay inside and do research....

OK. Here's what it looks like so far :

 

~ loops and acoustic into channel 2 and 3 of Yamaha MG82CX

~ vocal into the Irig-Pre (Iphone Vocalive App = compression + verb + parametric eq)

into

~channel 1 of Yamaha MG82CX (8 input, 2 compressors, shelving EQ, reverb)

 

~unbalanced line out of the Yamaha  into powered mains (Alto TS115) and powered monitor (not sure yet)

 

------------------

I like that this mixer is small, has compression on 2 channels, and DSP, but I do NOT like that there isn't a balanced out. The next model up from this has it as an option but it's a little bigger than I wanted.

 

I like that IK Multimedia doesn't force you to use THEIR microphone (Irig Mic), but offers an option to use your own mic with their interface (Irig Pre). I do NOT like that you HAVE to have a battery to power it (and there isn't info yet on using a rechargable). I don't expect much from the Irig Pre but hope it's usable. All their demos are direct/studio demos and NOT live through a PA. BTW my Irig guitar interface works with the Vocalive app but there's some unusable hiss. Hopefully the Pre is cleaner.

 

I don't like that there isn't a graphic eq on the mixer, so maybe I'll experiment with that as an insert... not sure yet

---

i have been using a yamaha MG124cx for a little over a year now in a duo... yeah, it's a little bigger but it offers two more channels with compression,  4 more xlr/balanced ins... and i'd much rather have a few extra channels than "just enough"...  

 

[J.Paul]

 

So here's where I am 72 hours later......

 

The Yamaha is clean but anemic. Nothing is wrong but nothing is stellar either. It's plastic and feels like a toy, which is not an issue for me, it's mounted in a briefcase and reinforced w/ foam. If I was flying I'd be concerned (but I'm not, this is just for local dates). I feel good about my purchase.

 

The "speaker and monitor outs" are NOT unbalanced (which is what I said in a previous post). I feel much better about this. I am only using 3 channels BTW: vocals, acoustic guitar, drum loops. The 12 channel version doesn't justify having the XLR out for all that unused space (for me).

 

The Irig Pre IS much cleaner that my Irig Guitar interface and sounds great (via the Ipad w/ headphones)....

coming out into a live mixer and through speakers  ..... not so much. The signal to noise ratio is a slight bit much for me (although it might be a judgement call for some....). Too much hiss. This was my concern (as previously posted). There are numerous points for "level in adjustment"~ the Irig Pre's gain, the Ipad/Iphone volume itself, the Vocalive's recorder mixer, the Vocalive's  mixer level in, the gain channel of the Yamaha ,,,,, and what seems like just as many for "level out adjustments". That's too much. That equals hiss which = not clean. FAIL.

 

I ended up using channel 1 of the Yamaha as a preamp for beef and limiting and then sending it by insert into channel 2 which I compressed lightly and ran flat. That made the tone on the vocal fuller and fatter and was still pretty clean with very little hiss. I liked the verbs on the Yamaha, so I chose that as my (one and only) DSP.... if I wanted a delay or doubling I was SOL. Or was I?

 

So then I ran the Yamaha's FX send to the Irig Pre's Vocalive and returned it at 100% effect. I sent delay (with the tempo sync on) and doubling. NICE ! ... I didn't using the Irig Pre/Vocalive in this context. It was clean, didn't rape my dry tone, and was only sending effects. I suspect this would be non-effective if I was using the extreme effects that Vocalive offers (choir, morph, auto tune.....) but I don't care about those. The Irig Pre requires a 9V battery (whether you're using phantom power or not). I like the idea of only losing some delay if my battery goes out during a show. I also like the idea of using less real estate by using the Iphone or Ipad for effects (any pedal or combination of pedals is space and don' forget their power source, that's space too...although there WAS a Nanoverb in Craigslist today. Hhhmm). I plan on using rechargeble batteries. Not sure if this is frowned upon as there isn't a digital footprint of this yet for anyone to Google, I'll let ya'll know if something blows up or melts or malfunctions in a few weeks.

 

Oh yeah, the 72 hours also includes :

~trading (researching and testing) my Mesa Boogie F50 for a Rivera TBR1

~replacing my loop on /off switch on my Paul FM pedalboard (getting rid of the Boss LS2 Pedal and using a custom WOBO).

~losing my LS2 meant losing a 9 v power cord (since I daisy chain to and from another device ). So I added a 1 Spot 5 multi onto my DC Brick.

 

Today was "Sunday neighbors are home" volume.

Tomorrow is full power, which could be enlightening and sad or victorious.

[Voltan]

what speakers are you using?

[RoadRanger]

 

---

J.Paul wrote:

 

 

[...] Yamaha MG82CX [...]

 

I do NOT like that there isn't a balanced out.

They sho' 'nuf are. I use TRS to TRS cords with mine usually but you can also use TRS to XLR cables.

[J.Paul]

so I've started using this thread as a journal for my progress on the mixer and rig

[J.Paul]

I made some changes during last night's 2 shows : ~ The "preamping from channel 1 by insert into channel two" is now fired, that was too harsh. Channel one sounds fine by itself w/ a different mic. ~ I fired my SM58 last night. It's pretty old and sounds weak compared to a new SM58 (I guess they DO go bad eventually....lol). I used an EV last nigh and have a Senheiser e835 I'm trying tonight. ~~ the Vocalive app comes and goes. I suspect the cords. ~~ one of the shows was a big room. I sent a submix out of the Yamaha to my Carvin and used some extra wedges as front fills for the bigger room. It worked fine..... actually it worked GREAT considering I drive a Geo Prism and don't have the kind of vehicle you would normally use to haul meaty production around in (van, suv, truck...). ~~ I replaced all my snakes (pedalboard to PA,- mixer to speaker) and replaced the guitar line and Ipod line with balanced cables. ~~I replaced my Iphone w/ an Ipod (since the Iphone is now designated as effects from the Vocalive). I bought an old classic Ipod. It ran for over 10 hours in the store before I bought it (that's what they said), but lost power an hour and a half into last night's 1st set. I suspect the preferences. I had the screen on 100% and the backlight set to "always on". Got it on "30 seconds" and 60% now... running for 80 minuetes and power hasn't moved... checking it again at 3:30

[daddymack]

---

J.Paul wrote:

 

I made some changes during last night's 2 shows : ~ The "preamping from channel 1 by insert into channel two" is now fired, that was too harsh. Channel one sounds fine by itself w/ a different mic. ~ I fired my SM58 last night. It's pretty old and sounds weak compared to a new SM58 (I guess they DO go bad eventually....lol).

---

 

Sorry about your SM58, they really shouldn't go 'bad'. You may just need to clean it (especially the grille) and check the connections.

[RoadRanger]

---

J.Paul wrote:

I bought an old classic Ipod. It ran for over 10 hours in the store before I bought it (that's what they said), but lost power an hour and a half into last night's 1st set. I suspect the preferences. I had the screen on 100% and the backlight set to "always on". Got it on "30 seconds" and 60% now... running for 80 minuetes and power hasn't moved... checking it again at 3:30

---

Yup, the backlight draws like 10 times the power of just playing music .

[J.Paul]

~ I let the Ipod play and clicked through it at random through out the afternoon (to engage the backlight). It had 3/4 power left from 10-4... should be fine. ~ registered and got the free doubling effect from Vocalive but is distorted on my Iphone (3G lol). It sounds great on my Ipad and doesn't seem to be an input clipping. It's one of the main reasons I'm using Vocalive.... my guess is that it's too much for my phone and if I would come into 2013 with a decent 4G or 5G Iphone it would be fine. So... see below ~ I decided I liked the chorus on the Yahmaha and am using that now (as well as the Vocalive for delay/verb).

[Potts]

Hey Paul! I "liked" your Facebook page. Great stuff dude! Your Taylor sounds great and your tracks do too. Are you recording those tracks live or purchasing them?

[J.Paul]

 We just got off a week's run with Chris Cagle and it looks like they were using the same thing....

....not sure of exactly what they were using it for.

[daddymack]

FYI, based on this thread, I picked up a Yamaha MG82cx yesterday. Preliminary tests are favorable. I wanted the ability to expand easily in case I went duo or trio, which the 82cx will accomodate, plus run 'break music' on an MP3 player.  The reverbs are reasonably good; I don't care about the other efx (flanger/phase shifter/chorus/distortion).The compression is a nice feature to have available, as is the phantom power(although it is not channel assignable). Actually, for the street price of this unit, I couldn't find anything (except maybe Behringer) comparable, and Yammies are known for quality and longevity. I will be running full tests with the SA220 over the next couple of weeks as time permits.

I'm not crazy about the plastic housing, but I can certainly find a briefcase that will accomodate it for transport.

[sventvkg]

Hey man, since I've played through and heard your setup and know what you do, I would say you need a simple, clean setup that's really easy to use and fast to set up. The rig I just got will replace your entire rig, pedalboard and everything sans your ipad, guitar and Mic...This all you need....KILLER Vocal effects, KILLEr guitar Effects, both independant, Looper, Everything tweekalble, 500 presets available, killer presets downloadable for many of the tunes on your list...Set your volume for vocal and guitar very easily..Aux in for your tracks...Flexible output routing..

http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicelive-play-gtx/

Get that and the switch 3 pedal and YOURE DONE!...Straight out into powered speakers.

[J.Paul]

---

sventvkg wrote:

Hey man, since I've played through and heard your setup and know what you do, I would say you need a simple, clean setup that's really easy to use and fast to set up. The rig I just got will replace your entire rig, pedalboard and everything sans your ipad, guitar and Mic...This all you need....KILLER Vocal effects, KILLEr guitar Effects, both independant, Looper, Everything tweekalble, 500 presets available, killer presets downloadable for many of the tunes on your list...Set your volume for vocal and guitar very easily..Aux in for your tracks...Flexible output routing..

http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicelive-play-gtx/

Get that and the switch 3 pedal and YOURE DONE!...Straight out into powered speakers.

 

---

Yeah ! Very cool.

I'll be looking to scale down soon and will check that out.

The stuff I'm using (other than the mixer) was all pieced together from gear I already had until I was ready to make larger purchases. ..... now if I could just make some money.

[Potts]

---

sventvkg wrote:

Hey man, since I've played through and heard your setup and know what you do, I would say you need a simple, clean setup that's really easy to use and fast to set up. The rig I just got will replace your entire rig, pedalboard and everything sans your ipad, guitar and Mic...This all you need....KILLER Vocal effects, KILLEr guitar Effects, both independant, Looper, Everything tweekalble, 500 presets available, killer presets downloadable for many of the tunes on your list...Set your volume for vocal and guitar very easily..Aux in for your tracks...Flexible output routing..

http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicelive-play-gtx/

Get that and the switch 3 pedal and YOURE DONE!...Straight out into powered speakers.

---

 

 I want one of these but there's no way in the world I could perform without a board. I use a little Mackie and I'm always goofing around with my vocal, guitar or tracks.