Replacing a Board

[greghouse]

I just joined a new church as the sound volunteer and they have an old board. A Mackie 1642VLZ is set to be replaced with an Allen & Heath WZ3 14:4:2. Is this a good upgrade or should I kill the plan? I sit on the comittee and pretty much have control of what gets purchased, but I am inexperienced and would like some guidance. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you!

[mbenonis]

What condition is the Mackie in? Does it have any issues yet, or is it still good? What else is in your system, and what condition are they in?

The Mixwiz isn't a bad choice, but if the Mackie is in good shape there's no need to replace it IMO. I would look for the weakest link in your system and upgrade that first.

[DaveySimps]

Tell us more about what your are using it for. What sort of mics / playback devices will be used with it? What are your monitor / effects / output needs?


~Dave

[museav]

I agree with Mike, the value of such a change is very dependent upon why they are doing it.

[cjthedj]

Originally Posted by greghouse

A Mackie 1642VLZ is set to be replaced with an Allen & Heath WZ3 14:4:2.

With this trade you are actually losing some channels. can you afford to do this? How many and what kind of mics do you use?

Are there any alternatives to what kind of board you can purchase, can you direct them towards another model?

I would get a Mackie CFX20 mkII. You gain 4 more mic inputs and you are already familiar with the Mackie interface. They also cost about $350 less than an A&H MixWiz.

[TimmyP1955]

You don't want the MixWiz 14:4:2, you want the 16:2. You can do without groups (unless you are using them for something other than simple submixing). Yes, the CFX20 has more channels, but it has fewer auxes, and the A&H has MUCH better channel EQ.

But again, one should ask why the current Mackie is being replaced (not that I wouldn't much rather mix on a MixWiz).