5 ms·

if i wanted a simple mixer and usb audio interface with fx send and i didn't want to spend a thousand dollars on it, what's the range of alternatives i've spen

by ruined 5y ago

if i wanted a simple mixer and usb audio interface with fx send and i didn't want to spend a thousand dollars on it, what's the range of alternatives i've spent under $150 on every individual item in my kit so far and it feels silly to blow past that on a mixer.

abxytg 5y ago
you're paying 4 figures or you're getting a plastic piece of crap from $50 on amazon, and it just has line out not usb audio.
P_I_Staker 5y ago
Mackie, Zoom, and Allen & Heath have mixers for 300ish buck, with 10ish inputs and are fairly featurefull. I wouldn't count on the interface doing everything you dream of, even if it seems like it can based on specs. I owned the allen & heath, but traded it for the mackie one. It's okay, but there's a few annoyances. Keep in mind that the FX send will also require a return (may sound obvious, but it's not to everyone), therefore, it will consume an input; they basically never have a dedicated return (it's pretty much pointless). The FX send itself might not be really necessary, but I don't know enough to say for sure. I think they could just label it AUX, and that any auxiliary, or monitor send can work for FX... I'm not sure. I've used them before and the FX to monitor / sample.
kamranjon 5y ago
Not sure this tics all your boxes but in a similar form factor the zoom H6 seems to be something people really like (the h4n was kinda huge when it first came out) - https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h6-audio-recorder/ https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recor...
- ruined 5y ago
  i've got an h4n, i played with it yesterday, but i am looking for something with faders and an auxiliary effects loop to mix synths for dawless jamming
MrBuddyCasino 5y ago
FX send narrows it down, I think the Mackie ProFX6v3 and the Behringer Flow 8 should do the trick if you want small & cheap. Otherwise the Yamaha AG03/AG06 are decent too.
- ruined 5y ago
  thanks
vvvzxd 5y ago
yamaha mixers are good
scarecrowbob 5y ago
Behringer xr12 might be a good choice. I have been using the xr18 (x32, etc) for years and they are good values. A Focusrite Scarlet 8i6 would serve as a mixer if you don't mind being tied to a computer. But if you just needed a mixer, the Yamaha MG series stuff is fine and in line with your price point.
l33tbro 5y ago
There are far better and cheaper optionsavailable. I recently bought a Mackie 1604 for a hundred bucks. It's from 1993 and they were basically designed to fall off buildings. Super transparent and likely to outlast this thing due to being much more operable. Not as pretty or quirky, but that doesn't really factor in to my use case. For stereo compression, you can get a brand new Really Nice Compressor for a couple of hundred bucks. Steve Albini has these in his studio, so that alone should indicate their high quality.
ruined 4y ago
in the end, i bought a broken old Boss mixer under $100, to refurb.

by ruined 5y ago

abxytg 5y ago

you're paying 4 figures or you're getting a plastic piece of crap from $50 on amazon, and it just has line out not usb audio.

P_I_Staker 5y ago

Mackie, Zoom, and Allen & Heath have mixers for 300ish buck, with 10ish inputs and are fairly featurefull. I wouldn't count on the interface doing everything you dream of, even if it seems like it can based on specs. I owned the allen & heath, but traded it for the mackie one. It's okay, but there's a few annoyances. Keep in mind that the FX send will also require a return (may sound obvious, but it's not to everyone), therefore, it will consume an input; they basically never have a dedicated return (it's pretty much pointless). The FX send itself might not be really necessary, but I don't know enough to say for sure. I think they could just label it AUX, and that any auxiliary, or monitor send can work for FX... I'm not sure. I've used them before and the FX to monitor / sample.

kamranjon 5y ago

Not sure this tics all your boxes but in a similar form factor the zoom H6 seems to be something people really like (the h4n was kinda huge when it first came out) - https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h6-audio-recorder/ https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recor...

ruined 5y ago
i've got an h4n, i played with it yesterday, but i am looking for something with faders and an auxiliary effects loop to mix synths for dawless jamming

MrBuddyCasino 5y ago

FX send narrows it down, I think the Mackie ProFX6v3 and the Behringer Flow 8 should do the trick if you want small & cheap. Otherwise the Yamaha AG03/AG06 are decent too.

ruined 5y ago
thanks

vvvzxd 5y ago

yamaha mixers are good

scarecrowbob 5y ago

Behringer xr12 might be a good choice. I have been using the xr18 (x32, etc) for years and they are good values. A Focusrite Scarlet 8i6 would serve as a mixer if you don't mind being tied to a computer. But if you just needed a mixer, the Yamaha MG series stuff is fine and in line with your price point.

l33tbro 5y ago

There are far better and cheaper optionsavailable. I recently bought a Mackie 1604 for a hundred bucks. It's from 1993 and they were basically designed to fall off buildings. Super transparent and likely to outlast this thing due to being much more operable. Not as pretty or quirky, but that doesn't really factor in to my use case. For stereo compression, you can get a brand new Really Nice Compressor for a couple of hundred bucks. Steve Albini has these in his studio, so that alone should indicate their high quality.

ruined 4y ago

in the end, i bought a broken old Boss mixer under $100, to refurb.