Small Board Suggestions

JimP0771

Well-Known Member
Hi all

I am looking to get a very small sound board. Something like 4 channel to be able to hookup in my room. Now I do have a Mackie VLZ 24.4 with Mackie Active speakers that I use when out doing sound for events or for my non profit theater company. But I would like to have a small board that I could hook up in my room that would not take up a lot of space that I could hook up to a computer to use for recording purposes. Nothing big and fancy just something small and cheap any suggestions. If none that is ok too.
 
Hi all

I am looking to get a very small sound board. Something like 4 channel to be able to hookup in my room. Now I do have a Mackie VLZ 24.4 with Mackie Active speakers that I use when out doing sound for events or for my non profit theater company. But I would like to have a small board that I could hook up in my room that would not take up a lot of space that I could hook up to a computer to use for recording purposes. Nothing big and fancy just something small and cheap any suggestions. If none that is ok too.
@JimP0771 If you're searching in the small analog world, here are a couple of sites to explore where you'll find a fair range of models with a variety of features.
https://www.rane.com/products/mixers

https://www.long-mcquade.com/43585/...le-Sound/8-Channel-Stereo-Rackmount-Mixer.htm
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I think about the best of the less expensive little analog mixers are the smaller of the Allen and Heath Zed series. They are not the cheapest to buy, but have better construction than most others (vertical channel PCBs rather than a single horizontal planar PCB, nice sturdy chassis, etc.) and work nicely and sound decent.

In matter of fact, I have on my desk at home a Zed 10fx for very similar duties. The effects are usable for basic live work but nothing spectacular; for purely project studio work I might suggest the non fx version to save a few clams. One really handy feature of this model is the record bus, a selectable per channel duplicate of the main outs. Another one for live use is the ability to pad down the main outs in the mixer to mic level so it can directly be used as a submixer easily.

John's suggestion of a dedicated audio interface (especially a multi-channel one) if recording is its sole function is excellent and worthy of a lot of consideration. Many of the little digital mixers now available can also work as multi-channel interfaces or recorders, for that matter, and offer feature sets that the little analog mixers can not touch.
 
I second the thought of a USB audio interface if all you are looking to do is record. Audacity software is free and powerful, and will run on a lot of computers. There are a lot of other contenders there as well.

~Dave
 
If you're looking for something that both functions as a standalone mixer and also an interface to your computer via USB when plugged in, you might want to have a look at something like the Mackie ProFX6v3

If you're recording only there are a lot of USB interfaces on the market with microphone preamps, line inputs and line outputs. If you need absolute least expensive maybe have a look at the Behringer UM2. Presonus AudioBox might be another option.

Another thought for audio software (multitrack) is Reaper, it's not free but it has a very very forgiving free trial period and it has many professional features.
 
Thank you all for the suggestions. It will be a little while till I can afford to buy one. Just bought a used computer for my young Cousin who needed a computer for school work so money is a little tight at this moment so I can still look and see for the future. What do you all think of the Mackie line of boards?
 
The little Mackies and Allen-Heath ZEDs probably mix/route more audio than anyone realizes and they tend to be very reliable.
 
I'll be honest, having used a lot of those, if its a recognizable name and not some random knock off chinese company (and I only say that because of questionable QC) they're basically all the same. I prefer yamaha's stuff or AH's Zed line, but really mackie, behringer, et all, its so basic and cheap that they are interchangeable without much noticeable difference.
 
The Mackie would do what it is designed to do adequately; but that may or may not be useful for what you want to accomplish. It doesn't have any sort of A/D converters built into it so you'd still need some sort of converter to hook it up to your computer (which may be built into the computer), and possibly an adapter if all your computer has is a microphone input. That particular mixer also has very, very limited routing options; but probably sufficient for what you'd need to connect one or two microphones to the computer. However, it would not give you any real flexibility over a dedicated audio interface equipped with microphone preamplifiers and the end result would likely be lower audio quality once you get to the computer if you connect it through a built-in or consumer sound card's analog audio input.
 
I've had pretty good results using the cheap little Behringer USB interface mixers at my desktop. I primarily use it as an interface for an XLR microphone for speaking, but I've used it as an A/D converter for recording. The limited metering on the tiny 1-channel version is a bit annoying for setting levels, but that's about it.
 
You can get a used Behringer XR18 for $400 or less, an X18 for cheaper (has a lot of 1/4" instead of XLR). 16 full channels + 2 w/o compression, FX, built in 18 (I think) track USB interface. Controllable by computer or tablet (don't use the built-in Wi-Fi at a gig - use a 5GHz router or access point).
 

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