mixer question

hey, so i did a lot of reading and i think im a lot more farmiliar with the whole setup of a rig. my question with regards to the mixer is about the inputs. ive been looking through ebay and found the behringer xenyx802 to suit my needs. it has a built preamp with phantom power for my condenser mic (rode nt1-a that im planning to purchase soon) but the thing is, it says that it has 6 channels. when i look at the picture of it, it has two clear inputs for mics with prempas, but then the other 4 channels are what confuse me. it says line 3/4 and underneath it there are two input things (sorry dont kno the terminology), one labeled L the other labeled R, then it says line 5/6 with two input things underneath labeled L and R. Then underneath, the effects part knobs are split in 4 columns. at the very end it says 1, 2, 3/4, 5/6. So my question is, how is this a 6 channel mixer if the knobs affect 2 channels at a time, and how come the inputs for the channels are L and R, I mean that doesnt seem like its two channels, it seems like its one with a left and a right. So is this actually a 4 channel mixer? lets say i had a turntable and a cd player that im gonna hook up to those two channels and one mic im gonna hookup to the preamp slot. (not gonna use 2 mics), is this a good enough mixer for me? Any help is appreciated.
Heres a picture i found on google of it.

It's six channels because of the two single channels and the two stereo channels. They were nice enough to accomodate space so they put your L/R inputs (same as if there were two mono) on one stereo channel.

That's the best I can discribe it at the moment.

dabmeister wrote:It's six channels because of the two single channels and the two stereo channels. They were nice enough to accomodate space so they put your L/R inputs (same as if there were two mono) on one stereo channel.

That's the best I can discribe it at the moment.

so the two inputs with the mic preamps are the two single channels that you mentioned? and the 3/4 and 5/6 are the two stereo channels that u mentioned? so ur saying that a stereo channel is equivalent to two channels? also, how come one knob controls both channels? what does that mean exactly, can i put two things into that one stereo channel such as a cd player and a turntable or no?

the level pot on 3/4 and 5/6 control both channels because, technically its only one channel strip on the mixer, but in reality it's considered two channels because it is split into left/right channels as opposed to being a mono signal.

i dont see why you cant input two different audio sources, one left and one right.....although im not sure that's really the intention...

notice the difference between the mono and stereo channels. The mono channels have Pan pots and the stereo channels have Balance pots. On the mono channels, the pan pots would let you pan the mono signal strictly to the left or the right. It seems the stereo channels allow you to mix two audio signals, wether they are from the same source or two different sources, and the Balance pot will let you mix the two signals together more/less.

and yes, it looks like the mic preamps are present on the two first channels. Hope this helps.

I personally wouldnt connect 2 pieces of gear to the one stereo channel. If you are sampling a record that has the drums on the left and the guitars on the right, but you use only the left you'll be missing audio for the sample. Also, you wont be able to simply connect the turntable to this mixer. It needs to have a phono preamp (which is not the same as the mic pre)

personally I wouldnt even bother with the Behringer mixer. A presonus monitor station or mackie big knob will probably be better suited for what you are trying to do. They both have 3 stereo channels, phono inputs, 3 monitor outs as well as a main and mix out.

poundaproblem wrote:I personally wouldnt connect 2 pieces of gear to the one stereo channel. If you are sampling a record that has the drums on the left and the guitars on the right, but you use only the left you'll be missing audio for the sample. Also, you wont be able to simply connect the turntable to this mixer. It needs to have a phono preamp (which is not the same as the mic pre)

exactly

Thanks to everyone, you all helped out. I guess i'll change my question then to:

If i want to be able to connect a condenser mic (nt1-a), a turntable, and a cd player to my MPC, what mixer/equipment should i get. i looked at the mackie big knob and im not sure how it works since i didnt see anything about mic preamps or phantom power. thanks

correct, the big knob is not designed to run the mic directly. See at both my home setup and studio the mic runs through its own dedicated preamp. True you can get some nice pre's on the mixers but in my experience you will get a better result if you pair the mic up with a stand alone pre with some adjustment. I see what you want to get accomplished but the question I have is what can you afford to spend? Keep in mind a pre amp is one of those things where you're better off buying something of higher quality compared to low price. A good pre will be usefull for more than just vocals if you pick the right one.

well, like pound said, it depends on what you're willing to spend. it sounds like you dont have a huge understanding about audio equipment so I would do some research first before jumping up and buying a dedicated preamp if you dont even know why you're buying one. I like to tell beginners that its good to start off small and work your way up as opposed to spending big and having a powerful machine and you dont even know how to use it. Not to mention, if you buy something that does 10 things and you only really need it to do 1 or two things, it seems like a waste of money to me. Yes, the quality of the preamp will most likely be great on a dedicated preamp, but if you dont need that right now, i wouldnt even try. But of course, there are those that dont mind spending the money and need super quality for their projects, so they spend more. Still though, I dont recommend spending your money unless you're sure you need that gear.

A mixer with at least 6 channels should suffice. Compare a few mixers of 6+ channels and check the specs on the mic preamps. Find the one that suits your needs. You should read up more before jumping on anything and spending your money.

Pound is absolutely right, by the way. However, this is an expensive hobby and not one to just spend money on if you dont know what you're doing.

Mike Anthony wrote: this is an expensive hobby and not one to just spend money on if you dont know what you're doing.

+1

Well i'm not ready to spend 400-500 on a dedicated preamp. im just looking for a mixer to do that for me. so im looking for the best mixer that has a mic preamp so i can connect my condenser mic and a turntable and a cd player. what mixer should i get? my plan is to connect this mixer to my mpc, and have studio monitors connected to my mpc ( i dont have a keyboard yet and prolly wont for a little while). also im gonna hook up my mac laptop to the mpc. quick question on that. if im using the mpc setup, what use do i have of the mac? what can it do for me (lets say editting my music for example, wat program is best)

I have that exact same mixer and was wondering the same thing...thank god someone asked it lol

Since u didn't buy the mic yet ur still full of options u can also go dynamic in the budget range it doesn't make much off a diffrence....
But from experience i can add behringer is cheap but it's not up to par.

Allen & Heath ZED14 - 6 Mono / 4 Stereo that's what i intended to buy but as things are going right now it's too small for me and i'm going for the zed 16 firewire

Dunno about the phono amps tough on the thing but can tell ya from experience that it's way better as behringer stuff.