looking for a good mixer

[dvsDave]

I am in charge of finding a good mixer for an organization on campus....

But I refuse to go with Mackie... the mere fact that their boards are one single pcb board and not modular and therefore a pain to repair....

So, I've had my eye on some of the new peavey powered boards(so the organization don't have to lug a seperate amp unit around), but I wanted to see if anybody else knew of a really good board that fits a standard rack unit (has to be portable)

Any ideas?

[wolf825]

Originally Posted by dvsDave

I am in charge of finding a good mixer for an organization on campus....

But I refuse to go with Mackie... the mere fact that their boards are one single pcb board and not modular and therefore a pain to repair....

So, I've had my eye on some of the new peavey powered boards(so the organization don't have to lug a seperate amp unit around), but I wanted to see if anybody else knew of a really good board that fits a standard rack unit (has to be portable)

Any ideas?

Good choice to nix the Mackie option right off. They don't last very long and sound like @$$. But Peavy isn't much better then Mackie IMO...I would suggest you check out the Spirit Folio's by Soundcraft (powered or un--and they are tuff little mixers) and the new Crest rack mount portables (unpowered)... If you need a Crest dealer for dealer cost pricing, just let me know...

-wolf

[delnor]

I would defiantly agree about the soundcraft board, we have one and it kicks ass. The modular design makes repair easy, and its a great board to operate. Spirit is a great series, and like Wolf said they are defiantly tough mixers. I highly recommend them and also can get you a price if need be.

[digitaltec]

If it was me, I would go with a Mitas Herritage 3000, but thats just me. :D Yamaha & Soundcraft consoles are good for HS and shows that are on the move. Also they are in your budget. Mackie boards are not worth the money. How many channels do you need, maybe I can help you from there.

[DMXtools]

I'd go with an unpowered mixer and powered speakers, if possible. Long speaker cables of a heavy-enough gauge to handle a decent amount of power are more weight to drag around than XLR cables of the same length.

With powered speakers you get an amplifier matched to the drivers, meaning less likelihood of an over-powered amplifier smoking your woofers or an under-powered amplifier generating distortion that'll take out your tweeters. You also get an amplifier tailored to the frequency response of the drivers, meaning you have less to do to EQ the system properly.

I'm somewhat a fan of Peavey. No doubt there's better sounding gear, but Peavey stuff is very reasonably priced and pretty tough. It seems to hold up pretty well over time. Mine has taken an awful lot of abuse - I'm a concert sound-and-lighting guy who does mostly local-band punk-rock shows. One night I'll be at a skate park in Rockford, the next at the Knights of Columbus hall in Arlington Heights, then it's off to a church basement in Downer's grove. Load-in, set up, run the show, tear down and load out. Lather, rinse and repeat. It gets banged around a lot and pushed pretty hard, sometimes on pretty flakey power. My Peavey mixer is 7 years old. Two of the XLRs have started to get a little flakey. Not bad considering all the abuse.

John

[wolf825]

Originally Posted by DMXtools

SNIP
I'm somewhat a fan of Peavey. No doubt there's better sounding gear, but Peavey stuff is very reasonably priced and pretty tough. It seems to hold up pretty well over time. Mine has taken an awful lot of abuse - I'm a concert sound-and-lighting guy who does mostly local-band punk-rock shows. One night I'll be at a skate park in Rockford, the next at the Knights of Columbus hall in Arlington Heights, then it's off to a church basement in Downer's grove. Load-in, set up, run the show, tear down and load out. Lather, rinse and repeat. It gets banged around a lot and pushed pretty hard, sometimes on pretty flakey power. My Peavey mixer is 7 years old. Two of the XLRs have started to get a little flakey. Not bad considering all the abuse.

John

I have to agree with ya there--Peavy gear while not the best quality sonically compared to Crown or Crest WILL take a TON of the worse situations and still shines on thru and just doesn't give up on ya. where I've had Crown amps die cause of bad power issues, Peavy--never quit. I used to have 8 old CS800's for amps--over the years they got all beat to heck, overheated, abused, some I had bought 'used' for cheap and who knows what abuse they went thru before me, and they never ever failed me once in 10 years. Durable tuff stuff you could always count on...

-wolf

[wemeck]

Originally Posted by delnor

I would defiantly agree about the soundcraft board, we have one and it kicks ass. The modular design makes repair easy, and its a great board to operate. Spirit is a great series, and like Wolf said they are defiantly tough mixers. I highly recommend them and also can get you a price if need be.

I would have to agree with Delnor. Soundcraft boards are really rugged. We have a Soundcraft K2 in the auditorium and a Soundcraft Spirit LX7 for our portable system.

Our sister school has a tascam digital board that is driving them nuts with Bose speakers.

[cruiser]

I forget where it was, But i remember using a Yamaha Digital Desk and it was great =) It realy made things alot easier.

I also used a semi digital one, that u could stack cues like a lx desk, but it had a few issues, but was still a good desk. I forget what make it was though!

[wemeck]

Originally Posted by cruiser

I forget where it was, But i remember using a Yamaha Digital Desk and it was great =) It realy made things alot easier.

AT LDI they had a Digitrac for the Meyer sound stage on the Live Tour lot. It ws really cool with fiber optic channels. It was nice if you have $130,000 to blow on the console alone. All digital!

[delnor]

There is a lot less equipment needed for that particular board, because everything was digital the entire system is condensed down to the board, amps, wireless receivers, and the PA speakers/monitors. No need for separated EQs, CD decks, Condensers, Effects creators or anything else. With a few presses on the touch screen LCD panels you have all that stuff in its digital form at your exposure, it was nice.