Re: My two cents and a question for all concerning mixers

["Gene Ehrbar" <gene@anomalyinc.com>]

Hi Will!  (and everyone else!)

Great question.  As I'm in the market for one, I'll bite.

First off, a bit of context -- I'm looping using Ableton Live as a
sequencer/looper, Propellerheads Reason for synths, and assorted objects,
instruments and humans for other sounds.  I've got 4-in and 4-out to my
laptop (2x stereo, essentially), so I'm mixing all of my inputs down before
sending them into the loop chain using a small tabletop mixer, and 
returning
a monitor out and master out using the four outs on my computer's audio
interface.  The biggest drawback (so far), is that the send on the mixer 
I'm
using is mono, so any stereo inputs are being monofied on their way into 
the
loop chain.  Other than that, it works pretty well.

Given that, here's my wish list:

- keep it small -- one rack space would be great;

- stereo aux/sends, x2 if possible;

- 2x stereo out, for dedicating monitor (click/metronome/preview) and 
master
outs

- pushbotton reassigning of inputs to master/monitor/sends -- this would be
great for "punching in" myself and others into the loop chain on the fly.
The biggest challenge now in playing with others is isolating signals going
into the loop chain -- running over to the board and turning up a given 
send
knob isn't always practical (footswitch, perhaps?).  The thought of running
everything through a spaghetti bowl of ABY boxes makes me cringe...

- put the input jacks on the face, not the back panel, for easy replugging;

- at least 8 (4x stereo) inputs -- 12 or 16 would be nice :-)

- per-channel EQ would be nice, but not absolutely necessary, since most
sounds will be otherwise massaged along the chain;

- can I have it tomorrow? ;-)

So, it basically sounds like I'm describing a simple rack-mounted line
mixer.  It looks like Behringer just introduced one of these:

http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=RX1602&lang=eng

(available 8/1/03), but I've heard some not-nice stories about the build
quality of their units -- anyone care to share?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Will Brake" <wbrake@comcast.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 9:26 AM
Subject: My two cents and a question for all concerning mixers--was re:MIDI
Foot controllers?


> Hello all, after a few years off, I'm back. LOL
>
> If you think about it, all the talk about manuals makes sense. Most
> companies are producing their technical writing on computers, so it
> isn't a hassle to convert to a PDF and upload to a website. To convert a
> manual, on the other hand, takes hours and people. Additionally,
> bandwidth costs money. Imagine how much money it would cost Roland to
> have all the 'legacy' product manuals online! Personally, I'd rather pay
> less for the products!
>
> We're currently working on a compact mixer, one or two rack spaces,
> designing with the looping community in mind. Obviously running MOST FX
> in parallel is preferred and we are taking this into consideration. I
> have a few questions for the group:
>
> First, in a perfect world, what would you fantasy mixer be able to do?
> (please keep your lewd thoughts and comments to yourself)