I Need an analog Mixer.

[Big Koo]

I'm Thinking Of Buying a Analog mixer to warm up my sound because i can,t afford converters Which do you suggest i only can spend 500 Bills please help.

[Cliffy_Boy]

Analog mixers do not warm up the sound if the tracking is still digital. Analog mixers in the $500 range will introduce noise and reduce dynamic range. To introduce warmer sound you would get results with analog mic pres etc. The mixer of that price range is only helpful for routing your studio - not for warming the sound.

FWIW, I get pretty warm sound recording warm sounding instruments at 24 bit. At 16 bit, the instruments decays got a bit artifacty. Not so at 24.

[lemix]

Big Koo ,

Just as Cliffy said...take care of your ingoing first !!

>>Cliffy..."artifacty"...
I have so much English to learn...Wonder if Karel approves it ??

cheers,

[K.B.]

I like 'artefacty'. It's a creative use of language.

However, the title of this thread should be "I need an analog mixer."

[Cliffy_Boy]

Karel, its "Art I facty"as a matter of fact. I thought Analog was really Analogue but then again I speak Frenglish so I don't even spell Terasse properly although I have alot of beer on them.

[K.B.]

Well isn't that weird.
My Psion goes for artifact, and (to my surprise) analog. Was Psion American?
But MS Word (set to 'international English') gives us artefact and analogue, which I've always used. I only used analog above because I first looked it up in my Psion. I shall now go back to analogue, which looks old fashioned, but I feel at home with.
As for artifact - don't you think artefact just looks better anyway?

Have we gone OT again?

Are Soundcraft mixers any good? There's a sale on them here.

[Cliffy_Boy]

don't you think artefact just looks better anyway?

I used to use Artefact since that's the Canadian/UK spelling but I read too many American books and Artefact looks too Harry Potter for me. Sorry. But I can't stand HumOr, and don't get me started on "Nite"

Yes, those are good mixers. Now we're back on topic.

[Big Koo]

Thanx Guys.

[badperson]

I also think a better pre like a neve copy would "warm up" the sound more than a cheap desk. My order of priority would be mic/pre/converter/console.

my 2 cents.

bp

[pk_hat]

Are Soundcraft mixers any good? There's a sale on them here.

Yes, they're better than Mackies, IMO. While I can't speak for the "still very fresh" Onyx series, a Soundcraft would be a wiser investment than any Mackie out there. However, this would depend on which Soundcraft, and what you need it for.

There's a newer E-Series of budget Spirit mixers (Soundcraft sub-co.), which look great but will probably not add any warmth to the signal, as the replies following the initial poster's question are quite accurate regarding this subject. A cheap mixer may colour the signal in some way, but the only pleasant warmth you'll get is to play with a wool blanket over you.

If you need to just monitor different sources prior to the DAW, then any decent budget mixer should do, even a Mackie, or, dare I say it, Behrin...uhum.....cough....ger. You want warmth while tracking bass, gtrs, synths, vocals? Get a good mic and a great preamp, perhaps also a good DI box (ie: Avalon U5)

What I find to be truly great "prosumer" board which can actually improve your sound (for lack of anything better) on the way in is the Soundcraft Spirit M12. The dark brown one with coloured faders and knobs. That one has great pres and eq's on it (for the price anyways), and a SPDIF out to go directly to your Digi interface.

That said, I can't wait to read a Mackie Onyx review, should happen any day now...