best mixer for 001 under $1500

[Steve Moore]

Not to beat a horse to death: but, you can't judge every product that comes along from a company as being the same as another product by the same company. B has endeavored to bring features in at a lower cost. Sometimes this has caused some quality control problems for them perhaps (made in China). And every manufacturer sometimes comes up with a lemon. Maybe B's had more than one (not many companies haven't).

It could also be, however, that B is trying to change that perspective a bit with the 3216. Yes, the mic preamps are not as good as specialized pre's clocking in at $500 each. But then you're not paying for that. I always use stuff in front of the 3216 for that, anyway.

I have A/B'd the AD's with that of the 001 though and there wasn't much difference, if any. As for noise, I haven't found any in this console so far.

It's very intuitive. Perhaps that's it's best point. I don't think I have ever had to crack the manual.

Others have claimed that B's analog consoles, especially the cheaper ones can be little noisy in a recording situtation. But then what cheap mixer isn't. The digital consoles aren't the same animal at all, though - two different technologies completely. True the mic pres may share some roots...

You generally get what you pay for. Sometimes though, as with the 3216, you get a little (or lot) more for what you pay.

As for reliability, I'll keep the DUC posted if I have any problems.

Steve Moore