Allen & Heath Mix Wizard. Likes / Dislikes?

rjm · Post by **rjm** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:50 am

[b]Just wanted some opinions on the Mix Wizard. I've heard nothing but good things so far from owners. Basically, how are the pre's and EQ on these things?[/b]

Rick Hunter · Post by **Rick Hunter** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:14 am

the eqs on the mix wizard are pretty sweet. the pres not bad but not great. the great thing about the mix wizard is its flexability. lots of routing options on that bad boy.

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:38 pm

Pre's are very, very clean, if that's a good thing. EQs are wondrous.

Overall, you're going to think that compared to other small boards of its caliber these things are BRIGHT sounding, not that you can't compensate.

Taking mine out on the road alot, it's developed a few quirks, like sometimes a channel will come in full force, bypassing the fader. Just little things. Since I'm only using it for monitoring, is cool, mon.

nathan · Post by **nathan** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:32 pm

mine always did everything i needed it to and i thought it sounded a little better than the soundcraft i had before it. i'm trying to get everything down to a minimal portable rig at the moment, so if you're interested i have a 14:4:2 for sale with absolutely nothing wrong with it. masterofyeoldepuppets@gmail.com

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:36 pm

I found the sound of the preamps to be great, but the ease of over-driving them a little frustrating. They clip at a relatively low level so you'll want to run them a little lower just to be safe.
Other than that, the boards are great. When used right, even the on-board effects are really great, and I put many mixes together for clients using only the on-board EQ and FX.
The newer versions have had a lot of really cool additions that would have been nice on mine - independent phantom power, lamp socket, I think they put a pre/post switch for the direct out up top, and a bunch of other goodies.
And the built-quality is great. I had a channel go out, but I think it was because of me resoldering the pre-fade direct out patch. But it is built with multiple verticle circuit boards instead of a single horizontal one which means it can takes twists and torques better, and one damaged channel won't effect another (depending on the type of damage).

-Jeremy

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:00 pm

I have one of the previous generation of MWs, with 8 pres and a bunch of additional line-in channels.

I like it -- not that it's got some WOW vintage-premium sound, but it's not obnoxious.

The EQs on this one are high & low shelving plus two sweepable mid channels; with the four bands, very easy to carve out the sound you want. I like it a lot on synths, which is mostly what I've used it for.

It's a very CONSIDERATE board; they try to make it easy to do different stuff, like mixdown, without having to change three million settings first.

I think the individual channels sound better than what happens when you sum them together. I wish I could unplug two channels to make a little stereo pre with EQ . . .

Hope this helps.

ctmsound · Post by **ctmsound** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:02 pm

ya, it's entirely a modular mixer underneath the metal face plate. Each pot has a washer to the top for more stability and longer life. Push down on one knob on a mackie and watch them all move, you'll see the difference. 100mm faders on the mix wiz. Very smooth and acurate! FX sounds great, Pres sound good. EQ sounds good and is very responsive. The direct outs are switchable via internal dip switches. It's factory set to post EQ, pre fader. Only thing I wish my 16:2 version 3 had is some groups. A 4 buss would be fantastic!

red cross · Post by **red cross** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:33 am

Retiring my Soundcraft 200b soon. Any thoughts on the Mixwizard vs. the Mackie Onyx 1620? Anyone?

ctmsound · Post by **ctmsound** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:56 pm

Onyx has nice mic pres and better EQs than the VLZ. Very colorful.

The Real MC · Post by **The Real MC** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:49 pm

The channels strips on the MW and my gl2200 appear identical, less subgroup assignment depending on MW model. If the circuitry is the same, FWIW the preamps and EQ on my GL are excellent.

E Baxter Put · Post by **E Baxter Put** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:03 pm

The pres are great and the eq is really cool, as everybody has said. It doesn't sound that good when mixing down though. It's great for tracking, but I usually dump the taped tracks into protools rather than mix them through the MW board. It's analog summing is kinda weak.

i am monster face · Post by **i am monster face** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:32 pm

I agree with all the above - I love the EQ and enjoy the clean pre's. The only thing I'm not thrilled with is the non-true bypassable EQ. It's not really a problem, since I almost always use them, but I would like to be able to switch the EQ in and out if possible.

The routing is great in a board that size.

Ian

ctmsound · Post by **ctmsound** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:38 pm

E Baxter Put wrote:The pres are great and the eq is really cool, as everybody has said. It doesn't sound that good when mixing down though. It's great for tracking, but I usually dump the taped tracks into protools rather than mix them through the MW board. It's analog summing is kinda weak.

I noticed that too. I tried a mix without running seperate channels through the board and I was happy with the difference. I was using different monitors to mix with, but the final CD was much better sounding.

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Allen & Heath Mix Wizard. Likes / Dislikes?

Allen & Heath Mix Wizard. Likes / Dislikes?

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