Mackie 802-VLZ3 mixer

There are mixers, and then there are Mackie mixers. I have used them many times throughout the years that I have been involved in professional audio and I can say, they bloody rock! Besides being very road-worthy, they produce very clean sound and are built like tanks. this one is no exception. It can be used very well as a small mixer in a home studio. This mixer uses potentiometers instead of sliders which means that they will last a long time than linear faders because pots are sealed. The first two channels are mono channels, featuring some very clean and quiet preamps in the XLR chain. The third channel is a stereo channel, as are the 3th and 5th. So, in essence, two mono channels and 3 stereo channels give us a total of 8 channels.

Each channel gives us HI, MID and LOW shelving equalizers, which means that we have better control on the EQ-ing. There is also an Aux send, level, pan and PFL solo on each channel, giving you greater flexibility. This mixer has so much crammed into one small package that I think that if you are on the lookout for a _very_ functionable small-format mixer, this Mackie might be just up your alley.

You can read more about this fine mixer here: http://www.mackie.com/products/802vlz3/

Yamaha Stagepas 500 mixer component

I think by now, people would have agreed that I am shamelessly promoting my Yamaha Stagepas 500 portable PA system to the skies. And it comes as no wonder because I find that this system is one of the the best out there. Today, I will show a close-up of what the mixer component is.

This little baby, which fits into the back of one of the speakers, is actually a powered mixer, dishing out 250 watts per channel. Not bad for a small little mixer too! On the top left-hand corner, you can see two jack sockets, which are meant for 1/4″ phono jacks. These are meant for powering the speakers. On the right of the speaker output jacks, there is a tape out and a monitor out. The monitor out is a very useful feature for connecting to external sound sources, like say, some external powered speakers or to an amplifier/speaker combination.

The button on the lower left (SPEECH/MUSIC) is pretty interesting. When toggled, it activates some pre-configured equalizers within the circuitry that optimises the system for speech or music respectively. If you are using the system for say a road-show, and will be talking a lot on a microphone, you would do well to set it to speech. If you were using it for music, like for say, an acoustic gig, you would set it to music. For me, I always set it to to music, even when I am speking on the mic as well. That is because I can set the equalization on the individual channels.

There is also a phantom power switch. That is right. You now can hook up your condenser microphones or active DI boxes and the phantom power will take care of it for you. There is also basic reverb but it is global, not limited to channels. There is no AUX function but then again, this is a small mixer board. You need to be running a bigger, more featured mixing board for such things. For portable PA, this is more than sufficient.

The Yamaha Stagepas. I like it and I own it. You should get one too!

Phonic MR 90/S DJ mixer

This was the third DJ mixer that I owned. Surprisingly, I could not find any information whatsoever on this mixer on the Internet. It was a great mixer and I bought it or rather, traded it in second-hand. It lasted me from 1993 till about 2004, a good 11 years of service. It was built like a tank and gave some very clean, loud output. I love VU meters on mixers. They are easier to read than digital LED meters and this mixer had two big VU meters.

There were 7 channels on this mixer. 1st channel was for the DJ microphone. Channel 2 and Channel 3 were for microphone or line. Channel 4 and Channel 5 were dedicated LINE channels. I hooked up my Denon DN-2000F to these two channels. Channels 6 and 7 were PHONO/LINE channels but I hooked up my trusty Technics SL-1200s to. The master output utilised two faders, one for the stereo left and one for the stereo right channel. The headphone volume monitor was a slider instead of a potentiometer like other mixers. There was also a 5-band graphic equalizer too.

Even though I sold this away to get myself my Tascam X-17 (which incidentally, I still have and is still working perfectly), I still, in some way, miss this mixer. It has been on many a DJ gig, has aided me in transferring songs from my LPs and singles to MP3 format on my computer, via an RCA cable from the mixer to my computer sound-card. A great mixer and to the person that bought it, if you are reading this, you bought a good and solid mixer.

Allen & Heath Xone:DB2

I had the chance to try out this new mixer at a club I am spinning it. I must say that the sound from this beauty is absolutely superb. It is pretty confusing to use but after a while, one can get used to it. There is a whole plethora of effects on this baby that can be used and I must say that the build of this thing is absolutely fantastic. Its a bit out of my league…price-wise, but I dare say that to a club, its worth its weight in gold

Alesis MultiMix 8 USB

In my quest for a small mixer to take around to augment my DJ controller, I came across this mixer on the Internet. I am not too sure about the cost of this Alesis mixer but I am pretty sure that it is around the $300 mark, or slightly less than that. It has a built-in effects unit and it uses potentiometers instead of sliders for the channel outputs. The specs are given below:

• Compact, affordable 8-channel analog mixer with USB
• 4 high-gain mic/line inputs with phantom power, 2 stereo balanced 1/4” line inputs
• 100 28-bit onboard preset effects including reverbs, delays, chorus, flanging and pitch
• Works with iPad via Apple USB Adaptor (sold separately)
• 3-band EQ per channel
• Separate 1/4” balanced main and monitor outs, headphone out
• Integrated USB audio interface
• Mac OS X, Windows XP (32-bit) or Vista (32-bit) compatible
  
• Steinberg Cubase LE included
• Easy to attach rackmount ears available

Not too bad for a mixer, that even be rack-mounted. I have heard that they are pretty clean-sounding mixers. I might keep this in mind.

Mackie LM 3204 rack-mount mixer

To be absolutely honest, this Mackie LM3204 is the kind of mixer that I have been looking for and I never knew Mackie made one. This series has since been discontinued. I was looking at the Alesis rack-mountable ones but for some reason, they did not look tough to me. They look like they would fall apart if I ever took them on the road. Mackies have a very tough reputation and that is one of the reason why I am kicking myself no for not having gotten one for myself earlier. I have seen some on sale but I do not and have never bought any mixers second-hand. One thing puzzles me is the inclusion of sliders for the main output but potentiometers for the outputs on each channel. What gives? I happen to prefer potentiometers (or pots as they are more commonly known) over sliders anyday but that is just me.

I sincerely hope that Mackie does indeed make ones like these again.

Rodec mixer

In 2001, I was stationed in a bar, taking over a friend who was the resident DJ there. They had this mixer installed in the bar and it was one of the cleanest-sounding mixers that I have played on in a very long time. I heard that this mixer is made in Belgium and they have been making mixers for many, many years so they have the domain knowledge. A bit expensive and a bit out of my range though but I must admit that I was very pleased with the performance of this Rodec mixer, and the fine sound it reproduced.

Yamaha MG124cx mixer

I have been using this mixer that has been hooked up the main FOH (front of house) system these past two weeks and i must say that I am pretty impressed with this mixer. Not only is it pretty compact, but the built-in effects on it are pretty darn good. Very clean-sounding and it just oozes Yamaha quality. It is hooked up to a DJ system and the live band that uses it makes it capable of handling anything you throw at it. Pretty inexpensive too…costs about $500 here in Singapore. Specs-wise:

• 12 Input channels (6 Mics + 4 Stereo line inputs)
• 3 band EQ (Ch 1-7/8), 2 band EQ (Ch 9/10-11/12)
• 4 busses (Stereo + 2 groups), 1 Aux send + 1 Effect send, 1 Stereo Aux return
• SPX Digital multi effect
• Neutrik™ XLR Connectors
• Light weight (3.2 kg)

So as you can see, it comes packed for a small mixer like this. I actually have my mind on a bigger mixer from Yamaha so this will be a pipe-dream of a wish-I-have.

Technics SH-MZ1200 mixer

I have been back in the club scene for some time and this is the mixer that I have been using. Pretty good one and it has Technics quality written all over it. I must say that I am very pleased with the sound and the durability of this mixer. But this mixer has its caveats and one of them is that it is pretty expensive. But anyway, features-wise, according to Panasonic’s website:

Optical Cross Fader
The unique four-channel play mode gives you complete control as you assign tracks to Right/Left Front/Rear.

Four Channel Surround Sound
Reinforced joints help prevent breakage in folding parts.

Twelve Inputs / Seven Outputs
The MZ1200 comes equipped with twelve inputs outputs (Master1/FRONT x 2, Master2/REAR x 1, Headphone x 1, Monitor x 1, Recording x 1, Digital x 1).

Send And Return Effects Loop
Effects controls include level adjustment, send and return, a pre/post switch and individual effect on/off switches for each channel. These effects can be previewed via headphone cueing.

Fader-Start Sync
Using stereo-mini-cord connections to digital turntables, you can trigger the decks to start and stop by operating the connected channel fader or cross fader.

More features

Each channel has its own 3-band equalizer with -24dB (12dB/oct) attenuation. Left/Right Split for independent fader and equalizer control over the left and right stereo channels. Separate output to send channel 1 or 2 to the front speakers, and channel 3 or 4 to rear speakers. Two digital inputs, one digital output, and reverse selectors for all faders.

Behringer EURODESK SX2442FX

Frankly, I am amazed at this Behringer Mixer. This has been the main mixer in the club where I DJ at and this is used by the live band. An excellent clean-sounding, value-for-money mixer that survived all expectations and has been doing so for the past seven years it has been at the pub. And I can attest to that. Specifications of the mixer are:

• 16 XENYX Mic Preamps
• Two stereo input channels with 4-band EQ plus 2 additional stereo input channels with Level and pre-fader Aux controls
• Neo-classic British 3-band EQs with semi-parametric mid band
• Two independent 24-bit stereo FX processors with 100 presets including reverb, chorus, flanger, delay, pitch shifter and various multi-effects
• High-precision 9-band stereo graphic EQ for monitor or main mixes
• FBQ Feedback Detection system
• Peak LEDs, Mute, Main mix and subgroup routing switches, Solo and PFL functions on all channels
• Inserts on each mono channel and main mix for flexible connections to outboard processors
• 4 Subgroup outputs and additional Mono output with sweepable Low Pass filter for subwoofer application
• 4 Aux sends per channel: 2 pre/post fader switchable for monitoring/FX applications, 2 post fader (for internal FX or as external send)
• Balanced Main mix outputs with 1/4 inch jacks and gold-plated XLR connectors, separate Control room, Headphone and stereo Tape outputs
• Solo-In-Place and Pre-Fader-Listen functions plus full-featured Talkback section
• Standby switch mutes all channels during breaks while background music is provided via CD/Tape inputs
• Long-wearing 60 mm logarithmic-taper faders and sealed rotary controls
• Internal auto-ranging power supply (100 – 240 V)

I want to see if Behringer makes smaller mixers. I might need one. Looks like their Eurodesk series needs some serious contemplating by me…