Small mixer for recording?

[Grahambo!]

Used to have an old Ramsa WR8616. Sold it to finance my wedding.

Now I just have my trusty Audiofire 8. Looking for a mixer of some time to use for pres. Was looking at old Mackie 1604s. The Onyx series (firewire might even be a good option, though I doubt the ad/da is as good as the Audiofire...). The new VLZ3s. MixWizrd from A&H. Soundcraft M12. Not sure what to get.

I need something with more than 8 channels in case I want to combine some drum tracks down into a stereo track whilst retaining some tracks open for simultaneous guitar/bass recording, etc.

Thought about getting some outboard pre's instead and just putting it all in a rolling rack, like a Sytek, GAP73, etc. but I don't know if I can quite afford that.

Any good boards out there? I'd probably buy used. I heard the Onyx preamps are nice.

[KennyLusk]

I can certainly see going for the SC M12 board but personally, the A&H ZED pre's have slaked my lust for outboard pre's for more than 4 years now. I already have a pair of EH 12AY7 pre's that I use for some things as well, but in combination with the ZED pre's I've been so happy.

[wren]

A&H ZED seconded. I'd recommend it over a MixWizard, and I'd recommend it HUGELY over any Mackie. I have no personal experience with that model of Soundcraft.

[Nick Sevilla]

Anything Allen & Heath.

Stellar Mic preamps.

[Jeff White]

I mastered a record for friends of mine 18 months back who recorded nearly EVERYTHING on it through a Mackie Onyx-preamp-based firewire interface and totally swear by them They are a bit of a cut above the VLZ preamps.

Listen here: http://creepingweeds.bandcamp.com/track/sirens

Jeff

[kayagum]

A&H ZED R16 also has 16 channels of more than decent AD/DA in addition to the 16 channel mixer. If your Audiofire has lightpipe, you can add it to the board for 8 additional ins.

[Lost in the Audio]

I'm currently using a Mackie 1620i. It's a pretty straightforward operation that I've been satisfied with. They're listed new around $800-900 but you can find used ones for about $500 often with the firewire card already installed. You could either mix-down in the DAW of your choice or route it back into the Mackie mixer and try out the mixing board eq etc. Also works as a liver mixer which might be convenient for whatever your set up is.

[Lost in the Audio]

Listen here: http://creepingweeds.bandcamp.com/track/sirens

Reminds me of Wilco. Awesome tracks. But I'm afraid I'm going to go with Neil Young's new golden rule and hold off on the purchase for a while.

[vvv]

Also works as a liver mixer ...

I hate liver.

[Grahambo!]

Is the mic preamp in each A&H Zed series the same? I'm looking at the r16, but I think the price is just way too steep. I wonder if the Zed24 is more in my range.

[Grahambo!]

Looking at the Zed24. The r16 is too much money.
Thoughts on Zed 24 + Audiofire for ad/da VERSUS a Soundcraft M12 + Audiofire?

Or either of those versus selling my Audiofire and getting a Mackie Onyx i-series?

Mainly looking for sound quality here.

[kayagum]

Search for KennyLusk's positive comments on the Zed14.

Since you already have the AD/DA, hard to go wrong with any of the ZED series.

[KennyLusk]

Is the mic preamp in each A&H Zed series the same? I'm looking at the r16, but I think the price is just way too steep. I wonder if the Zed24 is more in my range.

The pre's in the ZED series are all the same but when you get into the ZED R series I haven't seen anything to indicate the pre's are the same "DuoPre" that's in all the others. On the other hand I haven't seen anything that denies they are "DuoPre" amps. A&H seems to imply the ZED R series may use upgraded components in the pre's. Other than the R series though, yes, they are all the same.

The DuoPre is very fast though with super low distortion and actually handle being slightly driven very well. The EQ section is quite nice IMO and based on the EQ design on their GL boards. Having Q control for the mids is a bonus I appreciate too.

BTW, I don't work for A&H, nor am I a vendor. I'm just a ZED user.