Mixing Board

[Harry Destin]

Hey folks, I have to pick up a Mixing Board (with 10 Microphone ins) for the church. First ones to come to mind are Mackies (AKA Wackies here in the Duc). Can you gents make a recommendation. The budget is $1,300. Salesman at SamAsh was no help yesterday.

I know this has nothing to do with ProTools, but this is where the pros hang out.

Thanks in advance

Harry

[cruisemates]

Just a mixing board? or also mics, cables, amps, speakers, etc. What about outboard gear (reverb for singers?). $1300 buys a pretty good board these days, but the other stuff adds up.

[qbert1]

I really liked this one when I used it. Useable and helpful features and a very solid sound.

Mix Wizard

FWIW, I've never had a good experience at Sam Ash. Remarkably unhelpful staff.

[madcow]

Harry...

I have had great luck with the Behringer MX9000. It is super quite and full of versitility.
Great for the budget minded induvidual. I paid 1299.00 over a year ago and they are now about 1000.00.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHMX9000

http://www.behringer.com/MX9000/index.cfm?lang=ENG

[Harry Destin]

Thanks for the quick replies gents. Berhinger, huh? I thought they were worse than Mackies! Looks like The MX9000 Eurodesk Mixer got some very good reviews. I'm also gonna look into the Allen & Heath MixWizard3.

Thanks again

Harold

PS
Cruisemates, I'm also picking up 3 SM58s (although I was advised to go with AKG D950s), a Crown XLS602B Power Amp, a pair of Peavey PR-12 Passive speakers, a snake and feet of XLRs, Speakons and 1/4" cables. Believe it or not I'm barely a hundred bucks over the $2,500 budget that was allocated for that "upgrading project".

[Stag Studios]

I thought they were worse than Mackies!

Eh? In defense, what exactly is wrong with Mackie gear? It's bloody awesome!! If you can't get a good sound from Mackie gear then you ought to think of another career besides audio

Stag

[Third Eye Studios]

Ok, we are talking about live sound here, in a church. With a mixing board live, in a situation where there are microphones (lavaliers even) and speakers, it's all about gain before feedback. And the only way to get good gain before feedback is with a good, well designed mixing board. This is just my opinion after doing thousands of live gigs (from stand up comedy and rinky dink talent shows, to 10 metal bands for Edgefest), but Behringer and Mackies are no good for live use. I have a Behringer in my studio for mixing headphones, but I would never use it live. Go ahead and yell at me, but when you can't get the microphone loud enough, and you've exausted all of your eq'ing possibilities, that's when the investment in a better console will be apparent.

Now I know a Midas isn't in your budget, but the Mix Wizard will fit right in, and perform much better for you.

[madcow]

but Behringer and Mackies are no good for live use. I have a Behringer in my studio for mixing headphones, but I would never use it live. Go ahead and yell at me, but when you can't get the microphone loud enough, and you've exausted all of your eq'ing possibilities, that's when the investment in a better console will be apparent.

Now I know a Midas isn't in your budget, but the Mix Wizard will fit right in, and perform much better for you.

Cant get mics in the Behringer to be loud enough? Really? I have a ton of headroom with the 9000.

[Third Eye Studios]

You know though, if I rolled into a venue and they had a Behringer or Mackie (I've owned the 8bus and 4bus and a 1604), I would use it and make it work the best that I could. The other "better" designed boards with awesome preamp and eq circuits just make it alot easier on you. You don't have to wrestle with your 1/3 octave eq's and your PA as much. It's just like when you record and use a better mic and preamp, you don't have to process it as much to get it to sit well in the mix.

With a church install, it's all about budget, and I realize at times you have to get something because it fits into that budget. It might not be the first choice on your list, but it will get the job done. I'm the same way. The Midas and Soundcraft consoles I get to use are not owned by me. I can't afford them.

I've used the Mix Wizard and have found it to be a very well designed, good sounding board, with 6 discrete aux sends (you can use them all at once-you can't with your Behringer), great eq, and FX. The Behringers boards I've used, IMO I haven't really liked the sound of, the mix wizard to my ears is more musical sounding. Also, with Behringers, I've experienced a great amount of crosstalk between the channels, and the aux returns. The one you have is very different from the Allen and Heath, yours is a 8 bus recording console. The Mix wizard is just a straight ahead 16:2 mixer, no other bussing (except for the auxes). The A&H has alot less features that yours. It's just a straight up mixer, no frills.

[albee1952]

I think the 2 most important features for the church are sends and EQ. I think the Mix Wizard wins hands down on those 2 points. Otherwise I have nothing against the other choices. Its nice to have 4 band EQ when you have to deal with crappy lav mics.