best analog mixer for eq for under $400?

what is the best analog mixer for eq to use alongside my 2000xl for under $400 ??

im looking for something with decent effects

you could probably find one of those 16 channel mackie mixers for around that price.. unless behringer has changed at all... I would avoid getting one of their mixers unless noise and cross talk is the type of effect you're after.

mr_debauch wrote:you could probably find one of those 16 channel mackie mixers for around that price.. unless behringer has changed at all... I would avoid getting one of their mixers unless noise and cross talk is the type of effect you're after.

thanks i will check into it...is 16 channels necessary? i was thinking 8 would be fine but if i can get 16 for under $400 then why not...and oh yea I already have the 8 outputs aswell

I reckon you could cop 16 channels of used mixer for that money, you'd be better off in the long run. You dont want to run out of inputs off the bat, do you?

yeah but for some reason, when you get smaller mixers... you get less than 8 fully featured channels... sometimes on 12 channel mixers you will only get 4 or 6 identical channels... some mixers cheap out on the EQ offering less bands/sweeps, no xlr, and more sometimes... where as for the most part, the 16 channels seem to usually have the first 8 channels being the same, and the other 8 are less featured versions.. if that makes any sense. also, what clint said is another big point.... buy once, instead of having to buy another mixer later.

Also, stereo channels are counted as 2, so an 8 channel mixer really only has probably 6 channels, with 2 of them being stereo.

And what mr debauch is saying, a simple example is the behringer xenyx 802 - it's called an 8 channel mixer, but it practically only has 4 - 2 mono, and 2 stereo. They also count the aux in as another 2 channels, even though the ONLY controls for it is a gain knob...

Keep that in mind.

I'd recommend a mackie mixer, just because they're built like a tank, and have a good set of features for an inexpensive mixer. Also, definitely go for more channel than you think you'd need, so you can expand in the future. I got my first mixer, a 12-channel, thinking it would be more than I needed, like last year, and I've already had occasions where I wanted more...

agree on the mackie.

a 1642 vlz is a good start (8 mono channels + 4 stereo channels = 16 total)

buy used.

dont worry about the fx - youll get a better mixer if you spend that money on a mixer that is mixer only vs mixer + fx.
you might even have money left over to buy a better fx unit anyway.

thanks a lot guys

i appreciate everybody's help one more thing....im new to tracking out so im not sure if i will need anything else...i will be tracking out to ableton live 8/pro tools so will i need anything else besides the 16 channel mixer,mpc 2000xl,macbook pro ?

you'll need an audio interface to record from your mixer into your computer.

maybe you should save up a little more and get a mixer that is also a firewire interface...

A USB/firewire enabled mixer could give you the advantage of multi-track recording.

Using a separate mixer and audio interface might give you more general flexibility, but you'd have to either record a single master out or record each track separately.


I've got a mackie 1202vlz and a mackie blackjack interface, both of them I like. The blackjack is only 2 channel, but it's good quality and very well built, and the size is convenient. (good headphone amp too, I've been using it for listening to music)

sciguy wrote:A USB/firewire enabled mixer could give you the advantage of multi-track recording.

worth noting that most every fw/usb mixer ive used, especially in this price range, only provides usb/fw output on the master bus - a stereo channel.

tapedeck wrote:

sciguy wrote:A USB/firewire enabled mixer could give you the advantage of multi-track recording.

worth noting that most every fw/usb mixer ive used, especially in this price range, only provides usb/fw output on the master bus - a stereo channel.

Hmm, yeah I thought I had seen a few at some point, but I just looked for some and they're not as common as I thought.


If the usb/fw mixer is only gonna get you a stereo channel, I'd definitely go with the separate mixer+interface, for the added flexibility. You won't want to have to lug the mixer around if you just want to record something that's not at your normal setup.