I am trying to put together a decent project studio to record my band. For now we will be recording to a Firepod, but I would also like to build groups, especially for the drums and room mics. I'm looking for a mixer with at least twelve XLR inputs and four group busses. My current budget is $5-700, which brands should I look at? Would you recommend new or used? Thanks for your help.

At that price, you should look at Soundcraft mixers. I got a 24-channel 500 series for 500 bucks about a year ago, and it's been a champ -- good-sounding and dependable, an excellent value. It (and the 200, 600, and 800 series as well) has everything youre asking for.

There are, of course, other mixers that could meet what you need at your price point. Soundtracs and some of the smaller Allen and Heath mixers come immediately to mind. That said, I love my Soundcraft.

tom g vitter wrote:i'm also looking for something in this price range. i've heard good things about mackie desks. seem to be pretty solid.

I dunno. Mackies are "solid" in that theyre pretty reliable. I dont think they sound good, and the channel eqs in them are beyond worthless, but I guess theyre "solid."

I got a 16x8x2 Soundcraft 800B mixer on ebay for something like $630 about 1.5 years ago and love it. They don't sell for that cheap very often at all, but if you get lucky and the timing is right, there ya go.

I don't think I would voluntarily buy a Mackie. I would buy a Yamaha before a Mackie. In your price range, you should be able to pick up a Soundcraft 200B no problem. That's what I would buy if I was looking for a mixer in your price range and didn't wanna wait around for 6 months or however long it might take for a deal to pop up like endofanera or I got on our mixers. The 200B you should be able to find on eBay within a week or two. The nice deal on a 500, 600 or 800B, those you can't really predict. Could be a week, could be a year, could never happen again, who knows.

I would think next month (January) is gonna be a GREAT time to buy shit up on eBay. People are tapped out from spending money at xmas, so there's less competition, plus all the people who charged up their credit cards are gonna start getting bills and start selling stuff they didn't wanna sell but now have to. I would think January and February should be good months for buying shit on eBay. We'll see!

get a soundcraft anything over a mackie or behringer. an older yamaha 1000 would be awesome for that, soundtracs are also inexpensive and small format. soundcraft is my vote.

i saw this harmony central:
Studiomaster 16-16-2 Mixer
Asking Price: US$200
Condition: Fair
Age: N/A
Description:
I am selling my old Studiomaster mixer. It has 16 ins and 16 outs. I am upgrading my studio and have no need for this mixer anymore. E-mail me for pictures and arrangements for pickup, the mixer is desk size and would be very expensive to ship. Thank you.
Seller: Stephen Greenberg, 609-240-3547
E-mail: stephen (Profile)
Location: Princeton, NJ
Post Date: 1/4/2006

if you have a working knowledge of electronics you could buy, recap, and rechip a ramsa for under $700-- it'll sound decent. better than a mackie or yamaha, probably better than newer soundcrafts too.

Hmmm, speaking of Ramsa boards, I've got a WR-T820 for sale.
$1000 Canadian (That's cheaper for you). It's 20x8x2, 2 AUX's,
I have the LED/VU combo meter bridge. It comes with a road case,
and I even had two spots for beers cut out in the foam (I used to use this for live sound). These boards have a bad rap, and I'll never understand why. The reason Ramsa died out is because they never really marketed their products too heavily in north America. Call me a crackhead, but I find the channel EQ's on this board to be quite 'musical'. I've also got a smaller Ramsa board for sale, but I can't remember the model number right now. I'm getting a new live sound console, so these boards are no longer of value to me. Shit, there's also a Soundcraft monitor console (600B if I'm not too drunk to remember) that's ready to leave. It's got enough AUX's to hurt you if you're not careful.

If anyone's interested, get in touch - kevin@capitalsoundandlight.com
I'll be away for 6 months, but someone here could help you out.

PS - Yes, I will ship these. Buyer pays shipping (unless you feel like taking a road trip out to Ottawa Southpark-style)

PPS - There is more than one road in Canada, and our heads are firmly attached to our bodies.

bassovado wrote:I am trying to put together a decent project studio to record my band. For now we will be recording to a Firepod, but I would also like to build groups, especially for the drums and room mics. I'm looking for a mixer with at least twelve XLR inputs and four group busses. My current budget is $5-700, which brands should I look at? Would you recommend new or used? Thanks for your help.

I dunno if this has direct outs or anything, but might be worth looking at.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/msg/123217592.html