Members One_Dude Posted September 21, 2009 Members Share Posted September 21, 2009 I play in a Praise & Worship group and we have been slowly improving our sound system. We are now at the point where we want to add a mixer large enough to route everything through it and find a full-time sound man to run it. I have some experience running sound and have my own system that I use for small jobs, but I don't want to leave my equipment at the church and I also don't want to haul it when I'm not getting paid. With the Praise & Worship group it's quite difficult to play in the group and also run the sound. We currently have a Yamaha 8 channel powered mixer that runs our FOH speakers and the monitors, and also feeds an overhead house system. The house system is powered by a QSC amp, but only has two undersized elevated speakers. We want to add a non-powered mixer with at least 12 XLR inputs that we can feed into one of the Yamaha channels. We have vocals, keys, bass, guitars (2 sometimes) and percussion. A constant problem is the relative volumes in the mix, with the keys being way too loud most of the time. We currently have a separate amp for the keys and the bass; the keyboard player will turn down when we ask him to, but in a short time he returns to his previous level. Some mixer brands that we are considering are; Yamaha, Mackie, Peavey, and Allen & Heath. Of these choices I have confidence in all but the Mackie. It seems like they had a really good track record a couple of years back, but I have read several threads where folks are not happy with the current models. Of course, money is always an issue, but we are willing to spend a little more for good equipment rather than spend the least and waste our money; therefore Behringer is not an option. It seems like we can get pretty close to what we want for about $700; can folks out who have experience with these brands offer up some evaluations? Thanks, JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomis17 Posted September 21, 2009 Members Share Posted September 21, 2009 A lot of people on here will recommend the A&H Mixwiz 16:2 as it will be a reliable mixer and will last you a long time. I would look into it to see if it has the features you need. If it is a little out of your price range I think the Yamaha MG166CX is a nice mixer also. Whatever you do stay clear from the Mackie mixers. Only ones worth looking are the Onyx series mixers, but for the price I would go with one of the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted September 22, 2009 Members Share Posted September 22, 2009 IF price is not an issue...buy the legendary Midas Venice mixer. This mixer makes many other mixers sound like whimps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUSound Posted September 22, 2009 Members Share Posted September 22, 2009 A Mixwiz might be a little north of your budget, but it's hard to beat the it's value. You can find them for about $850 new. The used market could be a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted September 22, 2009 Members Share Posted September 22, 2009 IMO, the difference in "sound" between the various mixers in this class are insignificant. The Venice may make you feel better at night though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted September 23, 2009 Members Share Posted September 23, 2009 agedhorse...I AB'd the Venice with a Made in USA Mackie 1604vlz. Woh...no comparison! The Mackie sounded so dull and 'flu- like' with its nasty high mids and harsh highs but the low mids are choked....even with totally flat eq setting. The Venice sounded smooth, gorgeous highs, well defined mids and chest thumping lows...again...with totally flat eq setting. I used the same CD player, same CD, same speakers and same amp to AB both mixers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted September 23, 2009 Members Share Posted September 23, 2009 I have not experienced such a dramatic difference between any console frankly. Even across platforms, nothing as dramatic as you describe. Not even my designs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted September 28, 2009 Members Share Posted September 28, 2009 So long as it has enough channels, a MixWix is always my first choice in an analog console. Between the channel EQ, the ease of repair, and the affordability (especially used), it just can't be beat IMHO. If I wanted to splurge, I'd get the baby APB Dynasonics. If you want the advantages of digital (even better channel EQ, comp and gate available on every channel, "sends on fader" monitor mixing, scene store and recall) the O1V/96 would be the ticket. I've done about as close to an A-B comparison as one can between an A&H GL2200 and a Venice, and heard nothing that made me think that it would be worth putting up with the Midas' overly-fast channel EQ pot law (a common Yammie analog problem), goofy master layout, and stupid aux/monitor layout. If the MixWiz is too small, the GL series is the way to go. The Soundcrafts are nice as well, but I prefer the A&H channel EQ. If the O1V96 is too small, it can be expanded with external preamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.