Small Cheap Sound Board?

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Hi, I'm a highschool student from nothern Illinois. I'm looking for a 4 to 6 channel mixer that is good quality for a good price. I don't want to spend more than 75 dollars. Can anybody recommend a good board from me? Thanks in advance.
 
I don't know that you'll find too too much in the price range you're looking at. However, if you go up to, say, $150 you'll probably find a few mixers with mic inputs that will work relatively well.

Take a look at the Tapco gear, though - I don't know much about it but it might fit your needs.
 
I ran a Tapco console 10 shows per day at Cedar Point summer of '82 and never had a single problem with it. But things were built better back then. I also never had any problems with the motorized autotransformer dimmers.

Is the Mackie 1202 still a viable option? It was, 15 years ago, but I think MSRP was $399.
 
Behringer is known for being one of the lowest of the low when it comes to audio. At least get a Tapco.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tapco-Mix.120-Compact-Mixer?sku=630265

Tapco was known for a long time as a top quality brand, or so I thought. I remember considering a dj mixer from them 20 years ago. Bought a Rane instead. Anyway, was Tapco ever any good or am I just losing my memory?

To respond to the original question:

If you can't afford decent quality, I'd suggest you hunt around for rentals until you can. Buying junk is never a good idea, and $75 likely won't get you very far. If you're buying a mixer to make money mixing a show or something, make sure what you get paid is worth your time and the cost of equipment you need to rent. If you're using it for a student project or for something else you're doing for fun or education, you're probably better off making do than suffering with crap.
 
Stay away from Behringer. Not only does Behringer blatantly copy designs from other companies, they manufacture their products with the cheapest of parts and labor. One time they even copied the user's guide and forgot to change the support phone number.

Thats amazing! DO you know what product it was for ?
 
Tapco was a completely different company 20 years ago - an EV company, per previous post. Now, they're basically Mackie's minimixer brand.

My favorite Behringer story is the Onyx-Xenyx story. The Mackie Onyx series of mixers came out. Then, at the next audio tradeshow in Europe, Behringer released the Xenyx series. It was clearly a complete ripoff of the name Onyx. But the funny part is that the Xenyx mixers didn't even look like the Onyx mixers. They didn't even bother to update the mixer enclosures! They simply focused on what they thought was the best part of the Onyx - the preamp. They simply came out with new "xenyx" preamps and popped them in the old mixers and gave them a new coat of paint!

Oh, and the great part about the UB, SL, and Xenyx mixers is the bleed and crosstalk. You can't kill a channel with the mute button or by bringing the fader all the way down! The funniest install that I saw was one where they spent loads of money on some good Sennheiser wireless units and dbx compressors, but apparently they didn't care what happened after that, because they bought a Behringer SL!
 
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I use the behringer mixers for small installs and they work fine, unlike their awful lighting desks[these are an original design but they would have done much better copying absolutely any other desk], however with these low cost desks when they fail, dirty faders or drink spill you throw them out, it is not economic to repair them, so for my own use I go for used better quality gear and learn how to do minor repairs and fader changing etc.
 
Back to the question Phil asked, what do you need? How many mic inputs and how many line inputs? Any stereo inputs? Do you need phantom power? Mono or stereo out? And auxes or other sends? Do you want channel EQ? These type of factors may narrow down the options.

From the Pro Audio Names page on Rane's web site,
TAPCO Technical Audio Products Company, Greg Mackie's first audio company founded in 1969, acquired by Electro-Voice, who retired the brand name, and was subsequently bought by Telex (now owned by Bosch Communication Systems). Name recently recovered by Greg Mackie and reissued by Mackie in 2003 as a new acronym for Total Audio Production Company.
TAPCO was Greg Mackie's original company and TAPCO mixers were known for being very basic and relatively inexpensive but also very reliable and durable. Basically, the first mixers made specifically for bands and the MI market. TAPCO was acquired by E-V in the late 70's who continued it for a few years, despite Greg's leaving to found AudioControl, before retiring the name. Then Greg brought the TAPCO name back to Mackie. I unfortunately don't have any experience with the new TAPCO products, but would probably try them over Behringer.
 
Tapco was a completely different company 20 years ago - an EV company, per previous post.

At least I'm not completely senile. Thanks for the info.
 
At least I'm not completely senile. Thanks for the info.
Does this look familiar Len?
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Don't buy the Behringer. Not only is it likely to die on you soon, it's just bad for your Karma. You know the whole guilt about shopping at Walmart because they are an evil corporation... well Behringer is far worse when it comes to evil business practice.

Sweetwater has several Tapco options in your price range. If you can go to $100 they've got a nice little Yamaha with built in phantom power. Notice Sweetwater doesn't carry Behringer.

Nady and Sampson also make some funky cheap gear. It's not great either but you can at least buy it guilt free.

Or give CB member BillESC a phone call/P.M. and see what he can do for you in your price range.
 
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