Members blkmonday Posted October 11, 2015 Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 the acoustic duo has gotten busy and im tired of bringing out the 16 channel board (besides looking overkill and putting wear on my board) we are simply looking for 3 or more inputs (1 acoustic guitar, 2 vocals) but we want two seperate monitor mixes and built in effects. i have powered ev elx mains, i use a powered floor monitor and the other dude uses in ears. any suggestions? i see Alto has something...but is Alto like Behringer quality? I dont want an entry level board...something decent. suggestions? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Louis Schwartz Posted October 11, 2015 Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 Look at The Soundcraft MFXi8 or the Allen and Heath ZED12FX. Or go digital. If you fancy controlling things with a tablet, there's the Behringer XR12 or the Soundcraft Ui12. Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted October 11, 2015 Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 Analog - ZED 14FXDigital - Behringer XR12 The UI12 is currently off of my recommend list due to connection issues and preamp noise issues. The former may some day be fixed by a firmware update, but the latter has been found to be a design issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blkmonday Posted October 11, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 def want analog. didnt even think of the allen and heath zed board...just wish the smaller ones had more mon sends, however that might do the job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted October 12, 2015 Members Share Posted October 12, 2015 Actually, looking more closely at the ZED, it only has one aux send The Soundcraft MFXi8 would fit the bill nicely then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 If one of your sends can be post "fader", then you could try the ZED10FX and use the Aux, maybe for the in-ears and Left for the mains and Right for your monitor. You basically have to use the balance and volume pots in tandem. If you've only got two vocals and a guitar it's probably doable. Otherwise there are one or two Soundcraft small formats that should work. Just be careful of which one you get. There's at least one that doesn't have an aux master. I've got an old Alto mixer that still works, but looking at the new ones (in a store) the price to performance ratio might be suspect - YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Louis Schwartz Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 def want analog. didnt even think of the allen and heath zed board...just wish the smaller ones had more mon sends, however that might do the job The ZED12FX has 3 aux sends. Fewer inputs (only 6 mono XLRs) and it's sort of big for a board with only that many inputs, but it's a nice mixer. The ones in the "Mini" series, like the ZED60-14FX have only one Aux. I love my little ZED10FX, but it's limiting. What Shaster suggests will work, but I'd hate to have to think about all that in the middle of a gig! The Soundcraft MFXi8 is a perfect compromise between the various factors involved for a small analog board with two Auxes and effects. Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 If you can find a way to live with a single monitor send, the Behringer RX1202FX is an interesting product in this space. It's a 3U mixer with most of the I/O and controls (including 100mm faders) you would find on a small desktop console. One way to make this mixer, or a the "mini" ZED mixers, etc, work might be to eschew the effects bus in favour of effects inserts on the vocal channels, then you can use the aux 2 send as a post-fader monitor send. Use a TRS cable in the channel insert with tip and ring shorted together, the other end of the cable would be TS. Plug this into your effects unit, and return the effects on an unused channel strip or two. So - really portable - Behringer RX1202FX plus Lexicon MX200 in a 4U rack bag. You would have plenty of inputs, a pre-fader monitor send, a post-fader monitor send, and a stereo output. If you wanted stereo reverb, you could use a Lexicon MX400 instead of the 200 (although it might be possible to do this with the 200 - not sure if its internal routing allows it or not). Or make it a 6U bag, throw in a power bar and a DriveRack PX, you've got yourself a decent throw-and-go small PA for use with powered speakers. The DRPX gives you a crossover, AFS, and (clunky) EQ in 1U. If you don't like Behringer, the Alesis MultiMix 12R appears to be substantially similar. Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 A long time ago when I was doing a acoustic duo thing we bought a Fender Passport 250. They have changed it since the first generation, but it's kinda the same with more more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 I agree that my suggestion of using the ZED10FX L/R out for an extra send is indeed a MacGyver solution (squared), but if you like rock climbing in an ice storm, then it might just be for you! As mentioned before the Soundcrafts make the right tool for the job, but maybe they aren't at the desired price point. I'm a little confused as to the need for two sends in a duo. Sure I used to do it, but that's when we gigged with 16 rack spaces of sound modules and amps, a 16 channel Mackie, JBL mains and monitors,a Yorkville AP3000 for the mains and a Yorkville AP1200 for the monitors. IIRC our 400 sub amp was bridged... Bloody loud! These days, even when I play in a trio of keys, guitar and lead vocalist, we just put the mains behind or slightly behind. Once in a while I bring a monitor or the singer goes overkill and brings his IEM's. We just use my ZED10FX and get good reports on the sound. Is there really a need for two auxes, or could a compromise work? I guess it comes down to space, price, need for flexibility, and maybe even the need for faders over pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Louis Schwartz Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 I agree that my suggestion of using the ZED10FX L/R out for an extra send is indeed a MacGyver solution (squared), but if you like rock climbing in an ice storm, then it might just be for you! As mentioned before the Soundcrafts make the right tool for the job, but maybe they aren't at the desired price point. I'm a little confused as to the need for two sends in a duo. Sure I used to do it, but that's when we gigged with 16 rack spaces of sound modules and amps, a 16 channel Mackie, JBL mains and monitors,a Yorkville AP3000 for the mains and a Yorkville AP1200 for the monitors. IIRC our 400 sub amp was bridged... Bloody loud! These days, even when I play in a trio of keys, guitar and lead vocalist, we just put the mains behind or slightly behind. Once in a while I bring a monitor or the singer goes overkill and brings his IEM's. We just use my ZED10FX and get good reports on the sound. Is there really a need for two auxes, or could a compromise work? I guess it comes down to space, price, need for flexibility, and maybe even the need for faders over pots. I second this. My duo and trio gigs are covered by a ZED10FX, and we usually just backline the speakers (usually actually just one). Our volume needs don't usually require more, but for larger gigs, I can see the need for monitors. Still one mix ought to be enough, unless your gigging partner just really likes his in-ears. Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted October 15, 2015 Members Share Posted October 15, 2015 There might be a point of pause where using your slightly larger (yet adequate) mixer makes more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hammondman Posted November 8, 2015 Members Share Posted November 8, 2015 The new Soundcraft Signature 10 looks like a very promising little desk! They have Soundcraft Ghost preamps, Sapphyre EQ, DBX Limiter and Lexicon FX! http://www.soundcraft.com/products/signature-10 I'm really interested in one of these to replace my ZED10 FX as I need two monitor mixes. I tried the Behringer XR12 and it offers a LOT of features for the money but I preferred the preamps and fx of the ZED. Having parametric EQ, compressors and two auxes on the XR12 are very handy though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted November 8, 2015 Members Share Posted November 8, 2015 Great mixers on the site. There's some analog ones setup to multitrack USB, 5aux and 4 band eq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 15, 2015 Members Share Posted November 15, 2015 The Yamaha MG12 has two aux sends but does not have built in effects. Although it is inexpensive, it sounds really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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