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Which mixers have stereo XLR mic channels?


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If I was so inclined to want a compact mixer with XLR stereo mic level channels, where do they start (if they even exist)???

 

I consider mixers like the A&H Zed Series, the Soundcraft MFX or FXii class of mixers, the smaller Yamaha MG Series, etc. to be "weekend warrior" types of boards. They have great features and work very well, but they're certainly not high-end. Are there any "weekend warrior" mixers w/ stereo XLR channels or is this a feature just on your high-end boards?

 

Thanks in advance!

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i dont know of any boards with stereo XLR channels. they may exist; i havent seen them. why not use TRS?

 

 

Agreed. There may be a few boards with stereo TRS channles that have enough front end gain to use a mic (but no phantom).

 

How about digital consoles? Even the low end ones allow you to gang two channels together (where all functions are mirrored, except pan).

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This Soundcraft board is one such board with stereo XLR:

 

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product_extra.aspx?pid=123&eid=15

 

However, it's WAY more than I need.

 

I believe each channel is modular meaning you can pull the circuit board and convert a mono channel to stereo.

 

My hunch is the stereo XLR notion is just on your very high-end boards, but it's just something I wanted to think about before taking the plunge on another board.

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I'm pretty sure you can configure the A&H GL2400 to put the mic inputs from channels 15 and 16 into one stereo channel so it's on one fader. I haven't tried it simply because I'd generally use my dbx386 into a normal stereo channel in that situation. For all I know that may also be true on one or more of the MixWiz range.

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Old Sony MXP 390 and 390S boards. They were video edit boards in the old days but have stereo inputs on 8 channels. They were quite expensive when new but can be bought off Ebay for a couple hundred sometimes.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-MXP-S390-Audio-Mixer-20-Channel-12-Fader-/190403600717?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c54f0614d

 

I bought one for $150.00 and gutted it of all digital. I rewired for a little different monitoring and it's been running 365/24/7 in a broadcast radio station for the last 4 years. Sony = Good Stuff.

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What's your reason for wanting a "stereo" XLR input?

 

 

I'm in two bands. Main band is 6 piece, w/ one of the horn players being the leader. Side band is 4 of us from the main band, without the horn players. Even though much of the material is the same, side band kicks a** without the leader from the main band. He drags it down by singing off-key harmonies, playing the wrong notes, etc. His chops aren't what they were years ago. I have a hunch the main band has a couple years left after which it will be just the side band.

 

Anyway, in the side band, we like to run things in stereo whenever possible. I have a small Yammy mixer which I use when we go mono in small clubs, and a couple different larger mixers when we run in stereo at larger events. I want something smaller.

 

Unless it's a big event where a pro company is running sound, I run the mix from behind my drums. I'm getting tired of messing with w/ two trim controls, two channel EQs, two sliders, etc. when running in stereo. That's basically the reason.

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This Soundcraft board is one such board with stereo XLR:




However, it's WAY more than I need.


I believe each channel is modular meaning you can pull the circuit board and convert a mono channel to stereo.


My hunch is the stereo XLR notion is just on your very high-end boards, but it's just something I wanted to think about before taking the plunge on another board.

 

Yes, there's many boards available with (generally) optional stereo XLR input channels, but to my knowledge most (if not all) are modular type boards... generally starting somewhere north of $5K (maybe even north of $10K).

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Unless it's a big event where a pro company is running sound, I run the mix from behind my drums. I'm getting tired of messing with w/ two trim controls, two channel EQs, two sliders, etc. when running in stereo. That's basically the reason.

 

 

Have you considered something digital, like an o1v96, in which you can link channel faders into stereo pairs?

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This Soundcraft board is one such board with stereo XLR:




However, it's WAY more than I need.


I believe each channel is modular meaning you can pull the circuit board and convert a mono channel to stereo.


My hunch is the stereo XLR notion is just on your very high-end boards, but it's just something I wanted to think about before taking the plunge on another board.

 

 

The MH3 & MH4 don't have any TRS I/O (except for the balanced inserts). My old auditorium bought a 32 channel MH3 for $15k, though, so I imagine the MH4 would be much higher.

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I'm in two bands. Main band is 6 piece, w/ one of the horn players being the leader. Side band is 4 of us from the main band, without the horn players. Even though much of the material is the same, side band kicks a** without the leader from the main band. He drags it down by singing off-key harmonies, playing the wrong notes, etc. His chops aren't what they were years ago. I have a hunch the main band has a couple years left after which it will be just the side band.


Anyway, in the side band, we like to run things in stereo whenever possible. I have a small Yammy mixer which I use when we go mono in small clubs, and a couple different larger mixers when we run in stereo at larger events. I want something smaller.


Unless it's a big event where a pro company is running sound, I run the mix from behind my drums. I'm getting tired of messing with w/ two trim controls, two channel EQs, two sliders, etc. when running in stereo. That's basically the reason.

 

 

Thanks for the response.

 

So you're talking, keys, guitar, and such?

 

If you don't need a whole lot of stereo inputs (I don't imagine you need stereo kick... ) what about a small format mixer with the usual four sub mixes. It wouldn't solve the trim EQ issues, but it would give control over four stereo sources - everything else could be assigned straight to the mains.

 

And someone else suggested the stereo TRS channels that are now found on many smaller mixers. Maybe a combination of stereo TRS channesl with Sub groups....

 

Or tape a popsicle stick to both faders:)

 

Or probably as suggested, get a small digital board.

 

BTW, interesting what you said about your big band versus the scaled down unit. I've been in similar situations, and yea, sometimes you just have to ride it out.

 

Good luck.

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Have you considered something digital, like an o1v96, in which you can link channel faders into stereo pairs?

 

 

To mic everything up, I need a minimum 15 XLR channels: 2 for guitar, 4 for keys, 3 for vocals, and 6 for drums (unless I go back to a full electric kit which the guys and especially girl don't want me do to). The Yammy provides only 12 XLR channels. I thought about the PreSonus Studio Live, but the smaller 16 channel version is missing some things that they put into the larger 24 channel version (eg. 31 band EQ on all aux/monitor sends). If they come out with a Version 2.0 of the 16 channel board, that one could do it (although I don't know whether or not the channels can be linked).

 

I'll have to look at some of the boards that have 4 channels w/ stereo XLR, but I know that APB board is more than I want to spend.

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With the 01V you'd want to use an 8 channel card and put toms on it to open space up on the main 12xlr. Or I like putting the rack toms on 13/14 and panning them center, makes for more room...

 

The 01V will do stereo pairs, makes life easy if you have to mix and play. I can't imagine how hard it would be though to play drums and mix.

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With the 01V you'd want to use an 8 channel card and put toms on it to open space up on the main 12xlr. Or I like putting the rack toms on 13/14 and panning them center, makes for more room...


The 01V will do stereo pairs, makes life easy if you have to mix and play. I can't imagine how hard it would be though to play drums and mix.

 

 

Yah, the ADAT in on the unit is nice. A one space 8 channel unit would give you 20 mic-level XLR ins.

 

One other thing: a lot of units have balanced TRS stereo in, and if you are taking sends from KBs, then you don't necessarily need XLR ins to send the signal into a stereo channel.

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Yah, the ADAT in on the unit is nice. A one space 8 channel unit would give you 20 mic-level XLR ins.


One other thing: a lot of units have balanced TRS stereo in, and if you are taking sends from KBs, then you don't necessarily need XLR ins to send the signal into a stereo channel.

 

 

ALWAYS DI 1/4 inputs! Even if the keyboard player is 8 feet away! Sooo many problems go away when using a DI.

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ALWAYS DI 1/4 inputs! Even if the keyboard player is 8 feet away! Sooo many problems go away when using a DI.

 

I respectfully disagree. If the keyboard has balanced TRS outputs, as many do, there is no need for a DI. There may be no need for an XLR to TRS cable to go to the mixer from the keyboard, if the mixer has balanced 1/4 inch TRS inputs. Just use TRS to TRS cables. That way you never have to worry about sending phantom power into the keyboards.

 

If you have a ground loop, fix the ground loop. Keys take minimal power, so feed their mains off of the same circuit as the FOH board, especially if you are only 8 feet away. :)

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