Best mixer for P.E. recording/live?

[.:Will:.]

I need a new mixer and I wanted to get thoughts on what to get next. Best for recording? Live?
I don't want to spend a ton of money but I don't want to just get a cheap Behringer either.

Thanks

[tiny_tove]

behring sucks. I have been using for many years ,changed several, but when with too many inputs it saturates and cust essential frequencies

allen heath or mackie are on my top ist

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I personally love Soundcraft the EPM8 for instance.)

[BTR]

+1 for Mackie.

The only other mixer I've used that I really liked was the Boss BX8. The gain controls on each channel add some nice grit and it has two effects loops.

[Coma Detox]

I've been using the same Mackie mixer for 10 years.  It's plain and simple,  and the sound is nice and punchy.

[Cementimental]

if Behringer Xenyx is good enough for Hijokaidan/Incapacitants to a) use and b) feature on their picturedisk it's good enough for any of us to use for reciting MS Word printout lyrics about serial killers thru a delay pedal and a flanger.



I'm using this at the moment, sounds pretty great and has decent features/number of channels vs size. Weirdly it's bulked up a lot by a kind of plastic bumper around the edges. Once the warranty runs out i'm considering simply sawing it off to make it much more compact :D

[DSOL]

been looking to get a new mixer in the next couple of weeks, looks like I'm going to go with a Mackie based on some of the recommendations in this thread

[a_2_g_2]

I found a mackie mix 8 used for 50 bucks and its great. I'd recommend it.

[l.b.]

I'm using this at the moment, sounds pretty great and has decent features/number of channels vs size. Weirdly it's bulked up a lot by a kind of plastic bumper around the edges. Once the warranty runs out i'm considering simply sawing it off to make it much more compact :D

+1 for the A&H here but you dont like the big plastic bumper? how do you frisbee it around the room??

[Cementimental]

warming to it, it works well as a handle when picking it up :D

I also have an old Samson MixPad9 which I like a lot for noise, it has 2 sends, clips nicely and is very compact, but then again the power supply is the size of a half-brick which kind of defeats the point :-/

also a Spirit Folio Notepad which is another nice and good sounding basic small mixer, has a weird top-connecting very flimsy power connector tho


At the moment i'm frustrated by the fact that all small mixers i've used either have just a single post-fader send, or 1 post and 1 pre. I only ever want 2 x pre-fader sends. :S might have to just modify them some day

[dodecaphonic]

i've used allen & heath zed 12fx - for industrial type things the onboard fx are surprisingly good to, reverb etc,
the eq's are good for beefing up whatever you put into it - reasonably quiet preamps too

also akai mg614 - really nice for adding extra warmth dirt and saturation to your mix - onboard tape recorder too kind of hard to find one working with the tape recorder these days though.

mackies have a nice flavour and attitude only used them live and it was great - mackie onyx sounds like it might suit you.
You can push them pretty hard also

[brutalist_tapes]

i can confirm that allen & heath mixers are good! also mackie. behringer can be used, but build quality is, mildly put, not great. on the other hand, of course it is nice to have solid gear, but it is noise music we are talking about, hehe... if you are just starting out you don't need the fanciest stuff. cheers

[THE RITA HN]

I made the switch to Yamaha some time ago.  It's been great.

[WhiteWarlock]

good suggestion is grab an old mackie 1202VLZ series
they are built for battle like a tank
the pots get scratchy easily on 1202
pull it apart for getting at buttons/potentiometers
spray it down with deoxit
solder any shorts on jacks if need be
that mixer actually has good loud punchy preamps
plus it is a work/warhorse
$100 or so is the average price
besides the common scratchy pot syndrome and jacks shorting
my only other gripe is volume knobs instead of sliders
yet you will get the feel for it
even with heavy abuse it will serve you well for years
for the record also works fantastic as submixer