New mixer? Something else?

[John Koch-Northrup]

I'm not thrilled with my current mixer and might replace it. Recommendations? Stick with hardware or shift more towards working inside the pc? (I'm a little more partial to hardware - but I'm open to suggestion...)

I have a Mackie 1604 right now that's not really clean enough. I'm not sure what the deal with it is - it's just not quite right. The best part about the 1604 is the 6 aux sends (4 simultaneous).

[åpne sinn]

Mackie makes a nice product, but they're a little rough around the edges and don't really stand up to extended use particularly well. This is the meat and potatoes of what I do for a living; capital expenditures of av gear for use in the live environment.

My advice, for what it's worth, go with the Midas product. They're amazingly durable boards, sound excellent and have very high quality technical support. The Venice 240 is just about perfect for any application, but if that's too much board the 160 is a pretty sharp unit as well. I'm not sure how they'll stand up to a studio environment, or how they rate compared to computer-based programs, but they absolutely kick ass on a show site.

You can find them at http://www.midasconsoles.com/venice.php

[John Koch-Northrup]

Wow! Those are fantastic looking mixers!

Unfortunately - that's way, way (waaaaaayyyy) beyond my limited budget. :(

I think I'll need to step down to consumer / prosumer level equipment! :)

Loved the 8x8 matrix mixer.

[peter james]

hardware of course depends on how much s p a c e you have ;-) i've just "inherited" a fantastic bit of kit - a soundcraft DC2000. the eq is awesome, super flexible routing, plenty of aux's and other useful stuff, scene memory, recall etc etc.. as i say - it's an awesome desk - sadly it's an awesome weight, and size wise more like furniture, it's huge. i'd have a look on e-bay, john. what used to $4000 a few years back could now be a quarter or less than that. the soundcraft? $500!! how cool is that. (actually it's a shame you don't live just down the road, as i also have a beautiful retro desk that needs some mild attention (beyond my skill), it's an old allen and heath system 8 16/8/2 (which i'm trying to get rid of, one way or another). they just don't make 'em like that anymore, sadly.

[Mark Tamea]

You can work with a computer, running a DAW (Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, Reaper etc...) - and use a hardware controller (or two) mapped to control your virtual desk along with some AD converters as inputs. Personally I don't miss my (big) old hardware mixer - I save a lot of space and my setup, automation and routing is so much more flexible. However, this all depends on your budget and requirements, but there are a lot of solutions out there, including some well crafted software hardware partnerships from Steinberg/Yamaha and DigiDesign.