Mixer advice

BlueStrat

To simplify using backing tracks, headphones, FRFR with a Helix I'm looking for a decent mixer.

I'd guess 4 track and above as my son would use it for drums and we'd make recordings together too.

USB connectivity would be handy

What would you recommend?

Lestratcaster

Allen & Heath ZEDi series seem to get a lot of good reviews, I'm also looking at something similar to use for my online guitar lessons to feed my 3 sounds (voice, guitar, backing track) using one device instead of two (I use a cheap Alto compact one going into a Focusrite to get it into the laptop).

jackio

I'm blown away by my Behringer XR18. Easy to use, can do everything and has plenty of ins and outs. And stereo/pairs as needed.

And small footprint too. Maybe give it a look.

BlueStrat

jackio said:

I'm blown away by my Behringer XR18. Easy to use, can do everything and has plenty of ins and outs. And stereo/pairs as needed.

And small footprint too. Maybe give it a look.

That's an impressive piece of kit for sure but overkill for my simple needs I think.

has anyone tried the Behringer Xenyx Q1202USB  or Yamaha  MGO6

mike257

Neither of those you've linked have enough mic inputs to be really useful for your son's drums, and the recording facility is limited to a stereo recording of the main output - you can't make a multitrack recording of the individual instruments to be mixed later. 

I'd echo the recommendation for the XR18. It's one of the most useful things I own. It works as a USB interface for multitrack recording, and is capable enough as a mixer to use for most small gigs. 

If you're looking to make recordings (and especially if your son wants to mic up his drums and record) those smaller mixers will become limiting very quickly. 

Roland

I was going to say XR18 too. You can have a couple of channels for your needs. Your son can have as many as he needs without changing the settings on yours. It’s also there if you ever need to do anything bigger.

goldtop

I had the XR12 which is a lot cheaper but lacks the multi-track USB interface. Not a problem if you already have one on your computer, of course. It was great, and super flexible, but not as immediate as a mixer with real controls. 

The main Q: how do you plan to record the drums? The guys above are suggesting that you need perhaps 6 mics for the drum kit alone.

Musicwolf

goldtop said:

 The guys above are suggesting that you need perhaps 6 mics for the drum kit alone.

Nice article in this month's SoS about mic'ing a kit with just 2 mics

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-drum-kits-only-two-mics

My own preference is to use 3 or 4 mics (a pair of overheads, a la Glyn Johns, plus kick and optional snare).

Regarding mixers.  I have an XR18, and it's a great piece of kit, but don't forget that you need a PC or tablet to fly it.  Sometimes simple is best if you're new to this.

PolarityMan

We have an XR16 which as with the 12 lacks the multi-channel record and its amazing..even our drummer can mostly operate it correctly (although he does occasionally still sometimes declare with supreme confidence "..ahh thats much better can hear my bass drum now", having set the bass drum to full blast in someone else's monitor mix). 

If I was buying again id def spring the extra for the XR18 to get multitrack recording and more aux's

BlueStrat

Thanks lads advice appreciated - that article in SOS is really interesting, i’d only want to be using a couple of mikes as its just a bit of fun between us at this point. I’ll start off with a basic outfit and improve skills over time. 

Some really helpful and knowledgeable people here!

Stratavarious

I am getting massive small home studio use from a Yamaha MG10XU.  Very solid, plug and play USB audio interface (stereo mix out / not individual channels), great onboard fx, compressor on some channels. 

The lack of multitrack recording capability might be a limit if wanting to get best mixing options later though.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/yamaha-mg10xu-10-channel-usb-mixing-desk-with-fx

Lestratcaster

Stratavarious said:

I am getting massive small home studio use from a Yamaha MG10XU.  Very solid, plug and play USB audio interface (stereo mix out / not individual channels), great onboard fx, compressor on some channels. 

The lack of multitrack recording capability might be a limit if wanting to get best mixing options later though.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/yamaha-mg10xu-10-channel-usb-mixing-desk-with-fx

I’ve been looking at one of these too to use for online guitar lessons, live stream stuff and recording a few clips for YouTube. Does it allow two way monitoring? Only some of the cheaper usb mixers don’t allow whatever you send in a mix to be heard by the person other side. Most noticeably the Behringer Q802.

BlueStrat

Coincidentally i was looking at this unit last night too; offered a lot for the money it seems. Yamaha build quality is normally very good. Re multitrack recording, which unit would you recommend for that to allow for a little future proofing?

PolarityMan

That depends, are you mukti-tracking a performance where all the sound is either coming from mics, Amos, pedals etc or are you looking to track into plugins in a computer. For the first case u would go with the behringer xr18 for the latter I'd go with the Focusrite Scarlett that has the appropriate number of inputs for you.