By Jokuvaa
Wed Aug 05, 2015 11:58 am
hi! Can you recommend any mixer to me? I want to record 8 tracks from my mpc..
By MPC-Tutor
Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:05 pm
Mackie VLZ series has always been good to me. You could also get an audio interface with 8 ins and record your 8 outs directly into 8 audio tracks in a DAW.
By RevolutionInTheHead
Sat Aug 08, 2015 5:13 pm
I was going to use a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro I had laying around but I needed one with both post-fade direct outs (to go to my recorder (Roland VS1880)) AND channel inserts, so I could stick my Klark Tenik quad compressor over the 4 outs used for drums. Unfortunately the 1202 channel inserts can only be either/or insert/direct out and only then pre-EQ/fade if used as direct outs. Plus there are only 4 inserts/direct outs anyway. So I had to look for something else...
I also wanted a mixer with the same thing as the Mackie 'Mute/Alt 3-4' function. I have a Kaoss Pad that I use for serial effects (as opposed to Aux) like filters, and I wanted to put the Pad on the 3/4 outs and feed it back into a stereo channel, therefore routing any single/multiple channel(s) thru the Kaoss just by hitting ONE button per channel - basically like a switchable post-fade insert. Alas, though, Mackie didn't put this feature on any of their bigger mixers with both inserts/directs - I could've, instead, used the Sub bus outs in the same way, BUT this would've meant pushing two routing buttons at once PER CHANNEL (turning off 'to main' and on 'Sub 1-2' or whatever) when switching the Kaoss in - not very handy for a quick switch if bringing the Kaoss in over my 4 drum channels!
So, after a long search I settled on the SOUNDCRAFT SPIRIT FOLIO SX - it ticks all the boxes for inserts/direct outs (switchable pre- and post-fade too!) BUT it is one of the very few mixers that has a ONE BUTTON push on each channel to route them to a pair of Sub outs and therefore to the Kaoss Pad, returning to the mixer via the 2TR inputs, routable, via a 'level' pot, to the main outs.
The only thing it's missing normally found on mixers is a Solo switch on each channel, which would be handy for some things...BUT, instead it has channel on/off switches which can, in effect, be used... as a 'mute track' instead of doing it on my MPC; for cutting off tracks that are going thru my Space Echo (on Aux), leaving just the repeats going, dub-style; and, if you can hit all the necessary buttons at once (7's not too hard), you can still solo channels. They're also dirt cheap (in the UK at least) and have a swept mid, which the smaller Mackies don't.
Sorry, rambled a bit there! But I guess it depends on what you need, routing wise, and how much you use the mixer as an 'instrument'. Mackie and Allen & Heath are good, dependable brands. If I didn't need all the routing and all the direct outs and all that, I'd get an old early 80s Tascam deck, for some of that sweet analogue mojo!
I also wanted a mixer with the same thing as the Mackie 'Mute/Alt 3-4' function. I have a Kaoss Pad that I use for serial effects (as opposed to Aux) like filters, and I wanted to put the Pad on the 3/4 outs and feed it back into a stereo channel, therefore routing any single/multiple channel(s) thru the Kaoss just by hitting ONE button per channel - basically like a switchable post-fade insert. Alas, though, Mackie didn't put this feature on any of their bigger mixers with both inserts/directs - I could've, instead, used the Sub bus outs in the same way, BUT this would've meant pushing two routing buttons at once PER CHANNEL (turning off 'to main' and on 'Sub 1-2' or whatever) when switching the Kaoss in - not very handy for a quick switch if bringing the Kaoss in over my 4 drum channels!
So, after a long search I settled on the SOUNDCRAFT SPIRIT FOLIO SX - it ticks all the boxes for inserts/direct outs (switchable pre- and post-fade too!) BUT it is one of the very few mixers that has a ONE BUTTON push on each channel to route them to a pair of Sub outs and therefore to the Kaoss Pad, returning to the mixer via the 2TR inputs, routable, via a 'level' pot, to the main outs.
The only thing it's missing normally found on mixers is a Solo switch on each channel, which would be handy for some things...BUT, instead it has channel on/off switches which can, in effect, be used... as a 'mute track' instead of doing it on my MPC; for cutting off tracks that are going thru my Space Echo (on Aux), leaving just the repeats going, dub-style; and, if you can hit all the necessary buttons at once (7's not too hard), you can still solo channels. They're also dirt cheap (in the UK at least) and have a swept mid, which the smaller Mackies don't.
Sorry, rambled a bit there! But I guess it depends on what you need, routing wise, and how much you use the mixer as an 'instrument'. Mackie and Allen & Heath are good, dependable brands. If I didn't need all the routing and all the direct outs and all that, I'd get an old early 80s Tascam deck, for some of that sweet analogue mojo!