So, hopefully at some stage this year we begin the return to gigging
my trusty Dynacord has served the band well for over a decade now but been holed up for over a year...so lord knows how she’ll cope upon start up. In all honesty we were talking as a band to upgrade as we like to update every few years.
its live band that puts all back line though the PA, including (already sub mixed) drums, bass, guitar backing tracks and vocals.
what is the best out there
current front runners before lockdown were
behringer x-air
Allen heath qu-sb
Ask touchmix
i suppose a key factor is road readiness and ease of use
thanks in advance
Comments
very impressive, intuitive UI.. no ipads or wireless dependency.
https://uk.line6.com/stagescape-m20d/
The A&H QU-SB is basically the QU16 with the faders removed, highly recommended bullet proof tech. We have the QU16 and 24 and it's well proven over the last 6 years, no issues in hundreds of gigs.
I've had bad experiences with the Soundcraft Ui16 and wouldn't touch another with a ten foot pole after one show stopping issue too many, although the UI24 was apparently drastically redesigned internally and people say it's a much better unit.
The A&H stuff is great. I have an SQ5 myself, which I'm very happy with. The QU series are solid and straightforward to use. They're a good intro to digital mixers - all the important stuff you need, but don't have some of the advanced routing/configuration options that can make bigger desks hard to get your head round if you're new to them.
Only used the QSC a handful of times, a friend of mine has one and runs all his function band gigs on it. He loves it but I find the interface/layout a bit of a faff.
I'd add the caveat that for any of these tablet controlled mixers, you need to factor in a decent external router as the on board ones are, invariably, utter pants. I have a little TPlink router permanently mounted in the rack case with my XR18 and it's vastly more stable than the slightly iffy built-in effort.
Another recommendation for the XR18. As @Mike257 said, don’t rely on the built in Wi-Fi. Since we’re usually ‘mixing from the stage*’ I use a laptop which I connect to the XR18 via Ethernet for mixer control and USB for multitrack recording. If we need Wi-Fi then I have an Airport Express left over from a previous digital mixer.
When we get back out playing again I’ll probably treat myself to a PM16 personal mixer for my in-ear mix (because I’m worth it ).
*for stage read corner of pub
This piece around internal WiFi router...what external routers are preferred and do they just plug in line. Sorry for such an analogue type question, lol...
I do mix remotely on my iPad with my QU and iLive and it is a very handy feature but there are functions not available in the app. As to battery life, remember to keep the iPad charged, I find mine will do about 5 hours which is fine for a show not good for a festival.
As for routers I use airport express and AirPort Extreme, the express is better for range,in my opinion but both have been rock solid
The only thing I'd consider changing it for is the Presonus Studiolive 32, which there are a few variations of, as I use Studio 1 as my DAW, and it has on board recording and fat channel fx
You could also consider getting the XR18 and an X touch controller, which makes it more like a traditional mixer with faders.
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I'm actually in the same camp as @maltingsaudio and if I was mixing other bands, I wouldn't get a mixer without a control surface. But, for my own band, when I'm often engineering from stage (while playing guitar!), the Rack-based mixer with an iPad app makes total sense.
R.
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Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
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