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MC2404 any good? Or too old to be worth it?


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Title pretty much says it all. Yamaha MC2404 going cheap on ebay, is it worth a serious think? I reckon it will cost about A$400, which is about what you'd pay for a behringer xenxy 1832fx. I'm looking for a cheap 24 channel mixer.

 

ive heard good things about these but aware that its seriously old.

 

heath

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I have an old MC 1202 I use for my personal band rehearsal since I retired it about 6 years ago. It's a good sounding board but the parametric pots and faders have needed work in the past. There is a similar sized Ramsa board on the PSW for sale for 450 OBO. I have a few older Ramsa boards in my recording studio and I think most Ramsa boards are a step above the MC series. Here's the Ramsa link. http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/53478/21711/

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There was nothing wrong with either the Yamahas or Ramsas, but both are long in the tooth and parts for both are really getting hard to find. The Ramsas were discontinued well before Yamaha's and Panasonic has had a really crappy track record for supporting their products with parts. Anybody still have an SX-1? Great board, no support.

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In its day that was an entry-pro board. IF (if if if) it's 100% it's a pretty good deal, especially considering Oz prices. I found an old (Aug '09) listing for a clean one asking $700USD.

 

If it's not 100%, it's almost worthless due to the parts issues Andy posted. You really don't want to get into the business of buying old MC's in order to cobble one working unit...

 

If it's close enough to visit, bring along enough gear to test it, and check every path and control. Figure on it taking a good hour or more, just so you can let the seller know.

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I mix on a 2404 quite regularly, I agree with the general consensus that you should only buy it if it is in great condition and your getting a mega deal on it. 4 aux's is limiting, the EQ is half decent, but it is very easy to clip the mic pre's IMO.

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Back on these things again.

 

Just how old are they? The one i am seeing available now is grey and has 4 band EQ (the previous one was black with 3). These things seem to become available every now and then here.

 

As a secondary qn but related: I am looking for a cheap larger (24 XLR channel or more) mixer... thats why i'm looking at the MCs... don't want to spend a fortune because its for a few gigs a year but hire is such a hassle here. Would buying an old MC, lets say it cost me thereabouts to $500, would that be a better buy than buying something like a Behringer 3242 for say, $800?

 

Is the Yamaha in that age group actually going to sound better than the Behringer in real use? Is it going to be any more reliable?

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The black faced ones are the series 1 and many parts are getting hard to find or even impossible. The Gray ones are newer and a little easier to get parts for. Both are easy to service (time consuming though) IF you can get the parts. I stock all the electronic parts but it's the mechanical parts that are the deal killer.

 

Too bad you are in AU, I have an ideal console for you though a little more expensive.

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sounds like a good board... shame i am in aus.

 

I basically need something for the handful of gigs that my 16 channel won't do. Which are usually outdoors.

 

Back to my other qn... if i had the choice of an aging but decent in its day mixer, like the 2404, compared to a modern (with warranty) but cheapo mixer, what would be best?

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I've got a PM-1200-24. I love it, but I got it out of a theater for free here in town, so it didn't have a case. I just don't know if I want to buy a case for it.

 

 

It's a fantastic board, easy to rebuild and maintain (for a service shop), parts are easily available, they are simple and quick to get around on, extremely reliable, quiet and sound good too. All XLR in and out everywhere.

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Back to my other qn... if i had the choice of an aging but decent in its day mixer, like the 2404, compared to a modern (with warranty) but cheapo mixer, what would be best?

 

 

Tough question. Since I run a full pro audiio service shop, repairs are not an issue for me but they can be a big deal if you have to pay for a rebuild.

 

If you find a good clean older board, then that can be the best value BUT if you get a lemon it can be hopeless.

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The black faced ones are the series 1 and many parts are getting hard to find or even impossible. The Gray ones are newer and a little easier to get parts for. Both are easy to service (time consuming though) IF you can get the parts. I stock all the electronic parts but it's the mechanical parts that are the deal killer.


Too bad you are in AU, I have an ideal console for you though a little more expensive.

 

 

The series 1 gain structure was wierd, you could light every clip light, and it would still sound OK. The series 2 is more conventional.

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aged, you'd probably be the person to ask this one...

 

the 2404 that i am currently looking at, is from in darwin - darwin is the northernmost city in australia, hot humid and tropical. The owner says it has been in storage for 10 years (in road case). That would be a bad start, in term of the likely reliability of the mixer wouldnt it?

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You would need to test it out very carefully. Especially the input switches (pad, HPF, etc) and the routing and mute/PFL switches. This is a big problem with these consoles and I do not know if Yamaha still stocks them. They may be available through an OEM distributor (in large qualtities) but the labor to replace is substantial so at that point it would fall into the complete rebuild catagory if the unit was in good physical and cosmetic condition. Is it worth doing... that's up to you to decide.

 

Regarding the gain structure, it was a little conservative and I have an output line driver modification that made the balanced line drivers work more uniformly be eliminating the positive tracking feedback between inverting and non-inverting halves.

 

 

aged, you'd probably be the person to ask this one...


the 2404 that i am currently looking at, is from in darwin - darwin is the northernmost city in australia, hot humid and tropical. The owner says it has been in storage for 10 years (in road case). That would be a bad start, in term of the likely reliability of the mixer wouldnt it?

 

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