Budget Mixer Suggestions?

[it's robb]

Does anybody have a recommendation for a mixer to use with my 8 track that's a little better / more fun to use than a mackie 1604 vlz?

What should I expect to spend?
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a Soundcraft 200 series.. am I on the right track?

Thanks Tape Opers

[calaverasgrandes]

I think the 200b is a great mixer, but if memory serves right it only has inserts and submasters not DI's for each channel. I'd also keep an eye peeled for old yamaha PM series rackmount mixers. The PM1000 and 1800 are great, but gigantic and heavy. There are also lots of good Allen & Heath.

[getreel]

There are also lots of good Allen & Heath.

Yes, look at the A&H System 8 or old Studiomasters like the Mixdown Classic or Gold. I just got one of the little Yamaha rack mixers from inverseroom and it seems to sound very nice so far. It's a PM180 and I bought it for a pre to track guitars and snare. I don't think 1 of those little ones has enough features for you though. The older Yamaha consoles like the M916 and RM2408 are also good sounding and sell very cheap. They are not PM1000s but are still cool.

[calaverasgrandes]

the PM180 is my main pre. Its too simple to really be a mixer. But I love it for guitar and bass, drums and vocals. Its not for everybody though. Its got a kind of knocked out mid, transformer-y sound. Not a lot of headroom, and the EQ is just hipass, treble and bass. But it makes most things a little thicker. I find myself using less dynamics or EQ on things that pass thru it.
There is another rackmount Yammie that was made later than the PM180. Its got decent pres and more eq. It also has a few sends and stuff. I think it actually has 8 channels!
Forgot about the studiomasters. I passed on those for a mackie back in the early 90's. I thought they looked cheesey and kind of similar to a peavey. but they do have good pres and nice eq.
I draw the line on later yamahas just because I'm an asshole. A lot of the later stuff uses perfectly decent ICs and is built very well, but I like the crusty older stuff because of its simple topology. The discrete transistors and hand wired craziness is cool too. Its so neat to pick up a PM1000 channel and look at how someone used a single string to bundle up all the wires. No zip ties or plastic clips, just white string. And you really cant argue with a 44 volt power supply! I have yet to find anything I like better on kick than a
PM1000 preamp. But again, it only has 4 busses, no master buss, 2 sends and the infamous lame eq points, 1k, 2k, 4k? WTF.

[wren]

I second the Studiomasters. I have a Trilogy at home and a Mixdown Classic at work. They're both cool boards: great EQ, plenty of routing options, and cool-sounding pres. Most go for quite cheap (rarely more than $500) on ebay fairly regularly.

I have a PM170 (unbalanced version of the 180) in the mail on the way to me, so I can't recommend that with the same certainty as calaverasgrandes and getreel, but I may come back and give it a thumbs-up too in a day or three.

[it's robb]

Thanks for the info dudes,
this is exactly what I was hoping to hear!

Robb

[calaverasgrandes]

interesting. what are you going to use the PM170 for? I assume it is the same topology minus the trannies. I have considered getting one just to run my korgs thru. But I wonder if it would do the same thing for the sound without the "iron".

I just remembered another one, the Ashley MX-508. I've never recorded with one, just used them for some PA gigs. they are quiet and clean. I wanted one for along time but somehow forgot about them.

[wren]

interesting. what are you going to use the PM170 for? I assume it is the same topology minus the trannies. I have considered getting one just to run my korgs thru. But I wonder if it would do the same thing for the sound without the "iron".

Dunno. It was cheap; I decided to get it and see how it sounds. From my glance at the manual, the 170 pre is the 180 pre minus trannies (outputs look a little more different from each other, but not too much more). I'm very comfortable with a soldering iron but completely new to modding pro audio gear and reading schematics; I figured that at the very least, trying to balance it (and possibly adding direct outs later) would be a good project to get my feet wet.

[roygbiv]

3rd the Studiomaster recommendation - I've had a Studiomaster 8 X 4 for morn' 20 years now. They have a nice "thick" sound, and reasonably good EQ/ routing options. Not a lot of headroom though, and the headphone amp is kinda noisy.

They don't seem to get as much love (probably for good reason) as Soundcraft or Allen and Heath, but they seem to be in a similar ball park (the older ones, at least). You can find many Studiomaster models on Ebay for $100 or so (in fact playonbrother had one for sale here on the TOMB not too long ago - he may still have it). Some of them were in multiples of $1K range when new (mine was anyway, although I got a steep discount on it 'cause it had been in a fire. Long story).

Side note - just picked up a second Studiomaster mixer today off the local Craigslist. The mysterious "Star" system. So mysterious they have deleted almost all references to it on the Googleweb. Could it be the next blackface Radioshack EQ?

It sits half vertical/half horizontal (like an old Korg modular synth). Is that zany or what?
http://www.studiomaster.com/hp9.html
(it's on the lower half of the web-page)

So bizarre I couldn't pass it up. Problem is, no manual - so this will be fun to figure out. Or not. Anyway, if anyone knows anything about these, please let me know, I'd really appreciate it.

[calaverasgrandes]

noisy headphone amp, thats why i didnt like Studiomasters! pretty much my only experience with them was doing transfers thru one. I think it was called a triad or something? That and the name is just pure cheese. Its like the AT PRO series mikes that mostly are junk.
I totally remember those star systems being advertised in PSN or Mix. they had optional modules like reverbs and delays I think. Awesome form factor. I bet its a bear to work on.

[Roboburger]

Just CL'ed for the LA area and searched on Mixer, there's an allen and heath 16 channel for 250. Go man Go.

[endertak]

Along these lines, I really like the Soundcraft EPM12...
I know that it's above the orig. price-range, but I suppose I wanted to know if anyone had any other suggestions of a better (or equivalent) mixer for it's range.

430.00 seems totally reasonable, right?
Thoughts?

Thanks,
e