Hardware Mixers, etc.

This past year I got a couple new hardware mixers for my home studio and would like to share my experiences. This post is for anyone using an mpc with multiple outs and no mixer. I got an Ashly LX-308B Stereo Line Mixer, on the cheap, and I cannot say enough good things about this unit. Sounds awesome, multiple outputs, eight stereo inputs. I use this to sum all my sampling sources to avoid wearing out hardware inputs. Would also work great for summing samplers, synths and turntables for recording. Also picked up a Soundcraft Spirit M8, this mixer is waaay more sensitive than my old Mackie but, I guess this is a good thing. It can sometimes take some fiddling to get levels right but, its worth it. The main point of this post is, if you are like me, and are not using the multiple outs on your mpc, you are missing out. I'm using the 2500, with eight mono outs and one stereo pair. The M8 has eight mono inputs and four stereo pairs. I use SONG mode when building tracks and the M8 is a game changer in this setup. I route all outputs to the M8. This gives me the ability to mix a track while in SONG mode. I cannot stress enough how different this is, the mixer becomes your controller in SONG mode. You can adjust levels, panning, eq, effects sends all in real-time, individually for each sample while your track is playing. So you can hear how changes fit into the overall mix without stopping. Very intuitive and hands-on. If you have multiple outs and you're not using a decent mixer, get one. On a side note, seriously considering picking up another 2500 or a 1000. It would be good to have a back-up, if god forbid, my 2500 ever dies. But what I'd really like, is to use them as a single unit on a single track. 256mb ram, 32pads and I can run my favorite old OS (v1.81) along side the newest OS version. As a cheaper alternative, I was thinking of picking up a Presonus Atom controller and using that with the JJ Sequencer. Anyone using the JJ Sequencer, have not gotten around to trying it out yet. Cheers.