Ask Slashdot: Affordable, Functional Audio Mixers?

hfcs asks: "I'm looking for sources for an affordable, 4-6 channel, compact, stereo, line-level audio mixer. In my office I have 4 PCs (Linux, W95, NT, Mac) and CD player, each demanding their own speakers for audio output. Low end pro-sumer stuff (Radio Shack & the like) start at $200 for this, but it's huge. Decent mixers start well above that. A master volume would be nice, but since each device can do it's own output level, so I don't need channel level control. I just want to be able to hook everything up to one nice set of amplified speakers rather than 4 independent mediocre sets without damaging any of the sources. Any suggestions?"

Comments

Re:Mackie

[Trepidity]

I do all sorts of sequencing stuff...I'd suggest taking a look at some of the various trackers (MOD/S3M/IT/XM/etc)...they're a lot more flexible than MIDI is. Of course, an Amiga is the best place to do this type of stuff, but some of the PC-based trackers have gotten quite good as well. I've done some MIDI work, but I find it to be too limiting...

Mackie

[jfm3]

You won't get decent under $200. You'll be really unhappy with any mixer you buy at Rat Shock.

You will get a Mackie 1202 ("classic", not "VLZ" or "VLZ Pro") on eBay for around $200.

You can have my 1202 when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. They solve one million problems. I'm using one right now to run 3 sound cards, 3 synths, 3 effects boxen (side chained), 4 cdrom drive audio outputs, and a phone!

I think MIDIMAN makes tiny analogue mixers... but I'd still suggest the Mackie. A Mackie will last you for the rest of your life in both maintainability (bulit like a tank) and usefulness.

Good luck!

Re:Mackie

[DonkPunch]

Wow! I had just submitted my post singing the virtues of Mackies and found yours right there with it. This guy's gonna think we're being paid off by Mackie. :)

Vendors...

[Red Leader.]

You might want to look at Daddy's Junky Music. They sell used equipment, typically have lots of good stuff, too - and are well known. They have a store here where I live, and can pull in stuff from all over the country from their other stores. If your town doesn't have a store, you can also do the mail-order thing through the link on their page, or Used Gear by Mail.

Re:Just chain them together.

[SEWilco]

OK, then do it digitally. Feed the audio to machines which digitize the sound. Then just select which sound server you want to play.

Midiman Mixers!

[instant]

I had the exact same problem. I bought a 10-channel Midiman mixer from my local MARS store for $100. It's about the size of a VHS tape, and it works very well.

Configuration:

• Channels 1 & 2 use 1/4" phono jacks (selectable MIC/line level)
• Channels 3, 4, 5, 6 use RCA jacks
• Channels 7+8 and 9+10 are stereo pairs with 1/8" phono jacks (i.e. what you have on your soundcard.) These channel pairs do not have pan or gain controls. They are designed to hook up to sound cards, where the PC controls pan/gain.
• Channels 1-6 have pan (left/right) and gain controls.
• There are master left/right gain controls.
• Outputs: Two 1/8" stereo jacks & Two RCA jacks
• LEDs: Left/right signal, Left/right clipping

Midiman has a web site but I haven't checked it out yet.

Hope this helps,
Jeff

Re:Dude

[DonkPunch]

Agreed, a Mackie might be more than what he needs or can afford. Mostly, I was suggesting that a music store was a better place to look. I'm pretty sure he will find a small, affordable line mixer from Roland, Midiman, or someone else there.

One thing I've noticed on this thread is that Mackie advocates make Mac/Linux/BSD advocates look downright PASSIVE. ;) Sorry for my rabid pro-Mackie stance.

Get Thee to a Music Store

[DonkPunch]

Since more and more musicians are doing recording at home these days, high-quality compact mixers have become more affordable. Mackie, Yamaha, and Behringer(sp?) are all making good, small mixers that beat the pants off anything you'll find at Radio Shack (just my opinion, there).

12-channel (and smaller) mixers are not that expensive -- should be only a few hundred bucks. The footprint of them is relatively small and some can be mounted in a 19" rack. There are also rack-mountable line mixers which are basically a bunch of inputs with volume controls -- these are small and pretty cheap.

Most of these use standard 1/4" unbalanced analog inputs but have a few additional RCA jacks for CD and tape input. You can buy RCA-to-1/4" converters at Radio Shack that work just fine.

Guitar Center sells tons of these (though I try to avoid GC due to an ugly customer service incident last year :) ). If you have a Mars in your neighborhood, they have a good recording equipment department.

Personal recommendation? I've been using a Mackie 12-channel (1202, I think) for several years now. I had to have the pots cleaned once but, other than that, it's been great. It's built like a tank.

Mackie URL

[DonkPunch]

http://www.mackie.com
Heh, didn't even need google to find it.

What music?

[DonkPunch]

Instrumental -- mostly guitar. I usually layer and sequence any keyboard stuff to make it sound less pathetic. Same for drums.

I pretty much record whatever I'm in the mood for, so I've got soft nylon-string pieces and aggressive slash-and-burn stuff on my hard drive and DATs. I pretty much give away CDs to anyone who's interested -- I'm happy just to have someone say, "I like it."

No recording lately, though. I miss it, but writing software has been taking up ALL of my time.

Agreed, this might be a good thread or slashdot poll in the future.

stereo tuners

[Trepidity]

I just run all my stuff into my stereo system's tuner (you know, the thing that does radio reception). Most of the good ones will have RCA jacks on the back to plug in stereo components, and you can get 1/4" to RCA converters at radio shack. I have my TV, CD player, tape deck, radio, turntable, and computer all going through the same set of speakers. It's some Sony thing, around $400, not sure of the model number.

Now a question - why is it that everybody's been recommending mixers? What's the advantage of a mixer over a setup like mine (a component-based stereo system with some AUX inputs for the computer).

Don't need a mixer

[Local Loop]

I don't think you need a mixer unless you want
to *combine* one or more sources. Just get
an input selector... Or build one with $15
in parts from radio shack.

If you want to be super geeky, you can get
a patch bay for $80 or so.

Call Full Compass (800 356 5844) and explain
what you want. They have the best prices and
knowledgeable sales people.

-Loopy

Build one

[Bastard Child]

An audio mixer is one of the simplest circuits you can build.

With a bunch of RCA or 1/8 audio jacks, a blank copper clad perfboard, and a few resistors you could do this. Add a pot, or even a small audio op-amp for level control. Could be built for less than $20. Make it $40, and you could put it in a small case.

Don't go to Radio Shack for parts, they're insanely expensive.

Build one

[Bigman]

Dont geeks do electronics these days????
Dont splice the wires together because you'll blow up the soundcards.. just use resistors:

pc1 --------/\/\/\/---\
pc2 --------/\/\/\/---*----/\/\/\---- out to spkr
pc3 --------\/\/\/\---/

This scheme should work for as many pcs as you like - the resistors should all be 100 - 1000 ohms. You'll need 2 of these (left and right channels). At a pinch you could use one of those screw-connector blocks to connect the wires to the resistors and wrap the lot in insulation tape to protect it - no soldering burns!!

B^)