New Carvin C1644P Mixer - Sweeeeeeet!

[Smitty-PNS]

I bought a new Carvin 1644P mixer after selling my Behringer PMX5000 a couple of months ago.

 

I've had the Carvin 1644P for about a month now. I wanted to give it a good workout before forming an opinion of it.

 

Well... This is one sweet unit. It is exactly what I wanted the Behringer to be, but wasn't. The Carvin 1644P is powerful, incredibly clear and whisper quiet. It has plenty of power to drive my Carvin PM15 speakers as monitors. It even has enough power to drive the PM15s as mains for most environments of up to 300 bodies.

 

The Carvin is a significant improvement over the Behringer. The biggest improvement is in intelligibility of the sound. It is like someone hit a clarity switch. The vocals come through crystal clear with the Carvin 1644P through the PM15 speakers.

 

From a pro sound (live band) perspective this has it all over the Behringer. The Carvin has 4 monitor mixes and 4 sub groups.

 

I was concerned because someone here mentioned they thought the "3 BAND EQ/MID SWEEP" knobs were too close together. I have not had any problem accessing the knobs, but then my hands are a somewhat normal size (not particularly large).

 

I have not had a chance to record with the mixer yet as my iMac smoked a system board a few weeks back. I should be getting one within a month so I'll let you know how it is for recording.

 

While I have no complaints about the Behringer PMX5000, I am extremely pleased with the performance of the Carvin 1644P. I feel the Carvin 1644P is a better overall value and provides a real edge vs. the PMX5000.

 

P.S. The Carvin has some very useful features. I especially like the way the 4 internal amps can be configured as monitors and mains.

 

Here is a link to the unit I am talking about.

 

http://www.carvin.com/products/mixer.php?ItemNumber=C1644P

[daklander]

I like the C1644P too. A good friend recently purchased one to replace the old BFW he had. He got it because I've had such good sound and dependability from my Carvin CX630 powered mixer.

For the music they play, Southern Rock, Blues and some Country, it does an excellent job and sounds great.

We run his old pair of BFI loudspeakers as bottoms and a pair of Avatar 15" loudspeakers on poles above the BFIs.

Depending on circumstances we'll mic vocals, guitars and the kit.

So far so good both indoors and outdoors, getting plenty of coverage and great sound outdoors.

Other than the problem they had with the speaker jacks being out of place they seem to be a solid unit and do the job.

[GCDEF]

I'm happy with mine too. Enough power for smaller clubs. 4 monitor mixes. Since we use two active and two passive monitors and powered subs, for small clubs that one box is all we need. Very convenient. For bigger clubs, just add a bigger amp and you're good to go.

[Smitty-PNS]

Daklander,

 

your comment:

 

"Other than the problem they had with the speaker jacks being out of place they seem to be a solid unit and do the job."

 

Are you referring to the 1/4" jacks?

 

I noticed my 1644P has all four of the 1/4" jacks along the top (where as the older unit had them 2 per side vertical on the outside of the speakon connectors.)

 

They must have redesigned the back panel for easier access to the 1/4".

NOTE: the link I gave above shows the older back panel placement of the 1/4" jacks. (At least it did when I posted this comment).

 

I think I remember GCDEF making a comment about this problem also on the older units.

 

GCDEF, did you ever get a new 1644P. Seems you mentioned something about one a while back after using something else for awhile?

[GCDEF]

 

Originally posted by Smitty-PNS Daklander, your comment: "Other than the problem they had with the speaker jacks being out of place they seem to be a solid unit and do the job." Are you referring to the 1/4" jacks? I noticed my 1644P has all four of the 1/4" jacks along the top (where as the older unit had them 2 per side vertical on the outside of the speakon connectors.) They must have redesigned the back panel for easier access to the 1/4". NOTE: the link I gave above shows the older back panel placement of the 1/4" jacks. (At least it did when I posted this comment). I think I remember GCDEF making a comment about this problem also on the older units. GCDEF, did you ever get a new 1644P. Seems you mentioned something about one a while back after using something else for awhile?

 

 

Yeah, I've actually had four of them. The first one I got had monitor sends 2 and 3 sharing a send knob. They'd specifically told me they'd be seperate. Back it went. Got a replacement that was fine. Had the old style speaker jack placement, but I didn't have any trouble with it. Sold it eventually and went to seperate mixer and amps.

 

Missed the simplicity of the C1644P, so ordered another about two months ago. This one had the old style speaker jack placement, but two of the 1/4" jacks and all of the speakon jacks were too low in the case to plug anything in to. Ordered a fourth unit, which so far has been trouble free.

 

The real pisser in both cases was that Carvin made me order a second unit, then issued a refund when they received the first one back. Kind of a cheezy way to do business, especially with the defective unit that you couldn't even plug speakers into. Seems like the try to pass off their old buggy stuff and hope you'll take it and only send you the good stuff if you complain about the crap they send you first.

 

When you get a good one, they're great. If another company made anything comparable for the money, I'd buy from them, but there really isn't anything out that that compares favorably.

[daklander]

 

Originally posted by Smitty-PNS Daklander, your comment: "Other than the problem they had with the speaker jacks being out of place they seem to be a solid unit and do the job." Are you referring to the 1/4" jacks? I noticed my 1644P has all four of the 1/4" jacks along the top (where as the older unit had them 2 per side vertical on the outside of the speakon connectors.) They must have redesigned the back panel for easier access to the 1/4". NOTE: the link I gave above shows the older back panel placement of the 1/4" jacks. (At least it did when I posted this comment). I think I remember GCDEF making a comment about this problem also on the older units. GCDEF, did you ever get a new 1644P. Seems you mentioned something about one a while back after using something else for awhile?

 

 

Yes, GCDEF covered the issue well.