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Need advice for a mixer to be used outdoors


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Hello all. I am looking to buy a 32 channel mixing console for outdoor theatre production. The board will be used 4 nights a week for 7 weeks a year for a summer show. I have looked at the Yahama MG3214FX, Behringer SX3282 , Peavey 32FX 32, Mackie 3204-VLZ3 , and the Soundcraft Delta DLX 32.

 

Basically this is a non-profit local theatre company, so Allen & Heath and Midas are out. Really need to stay under $1,500.00 if possible. I am a musician, so I have experienced some Behringer stuff having quality issues after relatively moderate use. Our last board was a Mackie 24 channel and it is on the way out after 10 years. I am not sure exactly why they need 32 channels, but that is what they want. We use PCC's, body mics, and mic'd instruments. This board will have a road case, but will get bumped around a bit.

 

Please let me know what you think, or if I missed one. Thanks so much!

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I'd recommend the Peavey, Yamaha, or a used Allen & Heath. I despise Behringer and Mackie, and I'm not a huge fan of Soundcraft. I have experience with the others (of various sizes), and I'd recommend any of them. I kinda have a preference for the Peavey boards though.

 

I work with a community theatre that use a theatre with an installed 24 channel board. It's never big enough, and we don't use much wireless. I'm sure you'll fill 32 channels in a hurry.

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Question: How many mic pre-amps does the company need/want? The reason I ask is that some "32 channel" boards only have 24 pre-amps. If 32 mics are (potentially) going to be used, that will eliminate some of the boards under consideration.

 

You might consider making 32 mic channels via two MixWix3 16:2 boards linked together. If for no other reason, if one board should die, you would still have 16 channels to scrape by with to run the show. Overbudget, but maybe worth considering. Mark C.

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How many pre and post busses do yo need?

 

I have a real pro board looking for a home, complete with touring flight case. PM me if interested. 32 mono channels, 2 full stereo channels, all XLR in and out. It's roughly in your price range too. Where are you located?

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For theater, you really ought to be looking at a digital desk with motorized faders and scene recall, which will be way out of that budget. Even on a basic theater show, I often wind up with 100+ cues that all have to be timed rather specifically and that can be tough to do on an analog desk. I understand it being a non-profit (the churches and theater company I work with are all non-profits), but $1500 is the cost of only 1-2 of the wireless body mic's you're using. That's a bit small of a budget, no?

 

-Dan.

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For theater, you really ought to be looking at a digital desk with motorized faders and scene recall, which will be way out of that budget. Even on a basic theater show, I often wind up with 100+ cues that all have to be timed rather specifically and that can be tough to do on an analog desk. I understand it being a non-profit (the churches and theater company I work with are all non-profits), but $1500 is the cost of only 1-2 of the wireless body mic's you're using. That's a bit small of a budget, no?-Dan.

 

 

 

Depends entirely on the type of theatre being done. I have done A circuit theatre with a pro level analog board with no issues at all. It really is in general no big deal. There are some productions that CAN benefit from a digital board BUT within the regional and community theatre markets, that level of control is often not necessary and in fact can get in the way if something goes a little sideways on stage and you can not go with the flow.

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Depends entirely on the type of theatre being done. I have done A circuit theatre with a pro level analog board with no issues at all. It really is in general no big deal. There are some productions that CAN benefit from a digital board BUT within the regional and community theatre markets, that level of control is often not necessary and in fact can get in the way if something goes a little sideways on stage and you can not go with the flow.

 

 

Fair enough. My comments were based on how I like to design and run things, and I like to have a fair amount of control and to program everything ahead of time. I do get the sense that I'm a bit more obsessive than other folks at the same level.

 

-Dan.

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Fair enough. My comments were based on how I like to design and run things, and I like to have a fair amount of control and to program everything ahead of time. I do get the sense that I'm a bit more obsessive than other folks at the same level.


-Dan.

 

 

How do you handle the unexpected when something happens during the show? Since I do mostly one off touring dates where each venue brings it's own changes, usually it makes little to no sense to do more than some subgrouping of mics and of course generate a playlist of cues BUT every once in a while, something happens and I need to jump to another cue or skip a cue or add or remove a mic from a cue, or change a wireless mic channel due to a wardrobe or technical malfunction on the fly and this is where fully automated presets can bite you in the ass. The go button is a great thing until go isn't the right move.

 

IF you have a lot of control over your venue and your production, and the director tends to be very focused and controlling, and there are few opportunities for oopses, automation can allow you to do some things better or more efficiently. Knowing which way is better is a judgement call. For a professional show that's fully structured and reliable, automation is much more common, but I doubt that's what most folks here will encounter. One of my old techs has been touring with the Disney Group for about 20 years, that's a good example of where everything is structured and scripted and controlled to the nth degree. A digital console would be the best choice for that kind of scenario.

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How do you handle the unexpected when something happens during the show?

 

Same way you do: I know what I'm doing. :cool:

 

Since I do mostly one off touring dates where each venue brings it's own changes, usually it makes little to no sense to do more than some subgrouping of mics and of course generate a playlist of cues BUT every once in a while, something happens and I need to jump to another cue or skip a cue or add or remove a mic from a cue, or change a wireless mic channel due to a wardrobe or technical malfunction on the fly and this is where fully automated presets can bite you in the ass. The go button is a great thing until go isn't the right move.

 

Well, I didn't mean I wanted to be able to completely turn my brain off and it's not like there isn't any way to override things. If you have to permanently swap a mic channel, edit the soft patch for that channel and set the patching parameter to recall safe. If somebody backstage messed up and wired up the wrong mic for a certain scene, you can still push up the fader for the new mic.

 

Regarding skipping cues - on the systems I've used, you aren't forced to only cycle to the next cue in the list - you can jump ahead if you'd like. That's pretty trivial.

 

the director tends to be very focused and controlling, and there are few opportunities for oopses, automation can allow you to do some things better or more efficiently. Knowing which way is better is a judgement call.

 

Fortunately for me, I'm the most demanding one. The rest of the production company appreciates the results, but is forgiving when hiccups occur.

 

I just got done with a show in which the opening scene involved me dancing back and forth between the (analog) desk, the sfx computer, and an outboard delay unit, hitting mix & playback cues, while altering fx parameters at the same time. I (mostly) pulled it off, but it was a bit hairy and an extra level of automation would have been nice. Of course, I boffed one of the cues in front of the Tony-winning composer. :mad:

 

-Dan.

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Thanks everyone, but was looking more for recommendations by brand of board for quality and durability, (Yamaha, Mackie, Soundcraft, Peavy), not how to run the show.

 

 

How you run the show determines the feature set you'd need, which affects the models we recommend.

 

-Dan.

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I have a Yamaha MG3214FX for sale in brand new condition. Bought it new a 1 1/2 yrs. ago. Used it for one show, decided it was bigger than what I wanted to lug around. Bought a Mixwiz and a 6 channel EWI mixer. As someone stated above not all of these mixers are true 32 channel mixers. This mixer is 24 channels + 4 stereo channels.

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Thanks everyone, but was looking more for recommendations by brand of board for quality and durability, (Yamaha, Mackie, Soundcraft, Peavy), not how to run the show.

 

Two of the four companies you listed make pro level mixers AND crap. the other two make mediocre level gear and crap. If you want a good recommendation, either give us more information so that we can make a brand AND model line that would be appropriate or maybe go to some kiddie audio website where folks there do not understand the differences between model lines within a brand. :facepalm:

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Hello all. I am looking to buy a 32 channel mixing console for outdoor theatre production. The board will be used 4 nights a week for 7 weeks a year for a summer show. I have looked at the Yahama MG3214FX, Behringer SX3282 , Peavey 32FX 32, Mackie 3204-VLZ3 , and the Soundcraft Delta DLX 32.


Basically this is a non-profit local theatre company, so Allen & Heath and Midas are out. Really need to stay under $1,500.00 if possible. I am a musician, so I have experienced some Behringer stuff having quality issues after relatively moderate use. Our last board was a Mackie 24 channel and it is on the way out after 10 years. I am not sure exactly why they need 32 channels, but that is what they want. We use PCC's, body mics, and mic'd instruments. This board will have a road case, but will get bumped around a bit.


Please let me know what you think, or if I missed one. Thanks so much!

Sounds like AH might have a great deal for you and I second sticking with analog.

Because of the digital craze there sure is a lot of real nice analog consoles at real

nice prices out there to be had. Let me also add that some of the worlds best

BE's STILL request analog and prefer good analog over digital for many reasons.

The internet is filled with great deals on analog consoles.

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