Interface / Mixer / Mixerface questions
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 10:49 am
I love the flow of a recording console. This has really become apparent when doing all of my wife's voiceover auditions. Also, it's great for doing overdubs. I don't have to monitor though an on-screen interface mixer or deal with the latency of monitoring through a DAW. I hate those things. Plus, when playing around with musical ideas, it's great to be able to plug into a mixer that is connected to studio monitors. The mixer as the control center is amazing. I want that. I do not want to go back to just a 2x2 or 4x4 interface on my desk.
I've had both a 16x4x2 Soundcraft 200B (from TIm/Silkworm) and a Presonus 16.4.2 Studiolive firewire mixerface in my little studio. The Soundcraft had a lot of noise, crackly, and channel issues. I may fix it up one day, but not today. The Presonus is my interface, but it takes up a lot of desk space, the firewire is sometimes a bit flakey, and it technically belongs to my work. It's getting near end of life as an interface. I'd rather have a nice, smaller interface, and then a high quality, separate mixer.
I'm also realizing that I don't really need 16 channels. I maybe need 4 full featured mic channels, and maybe 4 stereo line level channels. But I really want a good "control room" section. I love having a talkback mic and being able to do separate headphone and control room mixes. I want some big console features in a small mixer. I'd love an SSL SiX, but have not found the right deal yet. I'm open to many options. I'd really like to avoid budget mixers or modern utility mixers. They'd be fine, but I want something better than fine.
So, recording nerds, I know there are "secret weapon" mixers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I just rarely hear of them. I know there are broadcast consoles, maybe edit suite mixers. Tell me your favorite small to mid sized mixers that may be outdated but good quality. Do such things exist?
I've had both a 16x4x2 Soundcraft 200B (from TIm/Silkworm) and a Presonus 16.4.2 Studiolive firewire mixerface in my little studio. The Soundcraft had a lot of noise, crackly, and channel issues. I may fix it up one day, but not today. The Presonus is my interface, but it takes up a lot of desk space, the firewire is sometimes a bit flakey, and it technically belongs to my work. It's getting near end of life as an interface. I'd rather have a nice, smaller interface, and then a high quality, separate mixer.
I'm also realizing that I don't really need 16 channels. I maybe need 4 full featured mic channels, and maybe 4 stereo line level channels. But I really want a good "control room" section. I love having a talkback mic and being able to do separate headphone and control room mixes. I want some big console features in a small mixer. I'd love an SSL SiX, but have not found the right deal yet. I'm open to many options. I'd really like to avoid budget mixers or modern utility mixers. They'd be fine, but I want something better than fine.
So, recording nerds, I know there are "secret weapon" mixers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I just rarely hear of them. I know there are broadcast consoles, maybe edit suite mixers. Tell me your favorite small to mid sized mixers that may be outdated but good quality. Do such things exist?