I've owned/own or have purchased for different organizations a bunch of mixers this size, including a small
Yamaha, a bunch of Mackies, a Tapco and even a small Behringer or two. One thing to look for is that the
power supply is
built in to the
mixer, rather than a separate
wall-wart or
wall-wart in the middle of a cable - the separate
power supply is a pain in the
butt to position and pack and if someone forgets to bring it along, you're screwed, while you can find an
IEC cable almost anywhere.
The small Behringer mixers were crappy (I have no
bias against the brand, per se, I'm very happy with my X32 Rack). The small
Yamaha 10
channel sounded good, but lost a
channel early in its life, while everything else continued to work.
Of the bunch, I've had the best luck with the small Mackies - still own two of the little 12
channel VLZ-Pro mixers and one each of the 14 and 16
channel VLZ-Pro series - they work well and are reliable and durable. The 1402 is the smallest they make with sliding instead of rotary faders. In addition to the 1402 I own (and which is probably my most frequently used small board), I bought several for local non-profits and they've done a great job and are still in service after a number of years. Some people dislike
Mackie, but their small mixers have been one of their standout products for a long time for good reason: they deliver excellent performance and durability for a decent price.
A 1404 with six mic preamps might seem a little large for your needs at the moment, but you'd have room to grow and you can frequently find lightly used units on Craigslist for a very good price.