Mixers/Consoles Multi Use Desk for Small Black Box Theater, Recording, Broadcast....

[spotlightondance]

We are in process of fitting up a 50'X35' black box studio theater. While it's primary use is as a dance studio, we're planning weekend use of the space for intimate music, dance and theater performances.

I'm looking for a mixer that is good quality, minimum of 16 mic channels and can be used to manage the live mix and source a record feed as well as perhaps, live internet broadcast. It would be nice to have some half decent effects for the live mix.

My initial conclusion was the Allen & Heath Zed-420 (I know I'd have to get and outboard effects unit), but the Presonus 16.4.2 has peaked my curiosity too. It looks like a pretty interesting option but I'm not sure if the ease of use for "on the fly" mixing is there.

All recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[DaveySimps]

What is your budget for the new board? Will there be trained professionals operating it, or students / volunteers? How many outputs do you need?

~Dave

 

[TimmyP1955]

The Presonus is a nice board, but is not well suited for theater.

1) Scence changes have a mute in between.

2) If your changes involve fader changes (as opposed to channel mutes), in order to tweak a level during that scene you have to line the fader up before it becomes active.


If an LS9 is not within the budget, I'd look into an O1V96. However, I've not confirmed that the scene changes are "clean". Also, you are limited to 99 scenes, which we've exceeded on every show with our LS9.

 

[museav]

Between wireless mics and wired inputs to support a flexible performance space, 16 mic inputs total seems potentially limited unless you are patching wired inputs, have some inputs wired in parallel or have a fixed stage location. Think about how many mic and other inputs you might really need, and where they are located, if you are not only reinforcing sound in the space but also recording or streaming a performance. Also, it may be that you simply did not mention them but also think about tie lines, monitor sends and so on in terms of both cabling and how they may affect the mixer.

The PreSonus StudioLive 16.4.2 can be fairly easy to use for 'on the fly' mixing, it is in preset/scene save and recall that it has some potential deficiencies compared to other digital consoles, although the scene capability that is available may still be a benefit.

 

[metti]

As with all of the Yamaha mixers with which I have worked (LS9, M7, DM1000, 01V96), the 01V96 recalls without any artifacts, glitching, etc. Even if the SL16 recalled without the unfortunate muting, it still doesn't have moving faders so you are going to have a little bit of trouble mixing on the fly and using scenes in conjunction. Although I recently replaced it with a DM1000v2, I absolutely loved my 01V96. I really can't recommend it highly enough. If you combine it with a cheap netbook (or a not cheap computer) running Studio Manager, it is really pretty easy to use and it is ridiculous how much power and flexibility you can get for $1900 (or $2100 with an ADA8000).

 

[Cadmium6855]

Look in to the allen and heath ZED series, I love allen and heath boards, very nice, good quality, everything you should need.