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Decent affordable PA mixer?

Matthew Hanafin

Matthew Hanafin

Dec 23, 2015
81
61
23
Michigan
#1
Hey everyone im currently slowly putting together (sloooowly) a music room and im looking for a decent PA mixer at least 6 channel the only problem is im working an $8 an hour job and I start my freshmen year of high school in two weeks so I will only be able to work two days a week so it has to be on the cheaper side looking to do speakers and mixer for $500-550 (also taking speaker recommendations) but this will not be used on gigs this one will stay in one spot and have to be loud enough to compete with drums. Is this possible on this budget?
 
#2
Don't over-buy for your needs, but think about how you will want to use the room and gear in a few years. For example, if you'll only ever want to work solo, you can cover your needs with lower cost gear and fewer channels. If you'll only ever want to rehearse or compose without recording, what counts as passable quality can help stretch your budget. If dollars are tight, you'll economize by buying gear that will cover as many areas of your musical horizon as possible, rather than buying a budget small mixer for the rehearsal room, then needing to augment it an 12 months with a recording interface and a live performance/recording mixer that's larger, or less noisy, or offers better FX or more aux outputs for stage monitoring, etc.

  • Will you record through the mixer? If so, think about connectivity. Boards like the Mackie Onyx w/ firewire can be had cheap these days, and will run w/ firewire 400/800 or thunderbolt. You might also consider a used audio interface instead of a mixer. (One of my rehearsal/recording set-ups is a laptop w/ DAW connected to a simple 8-channel audio interface.
  • Will you work with more than 1 musician at a time? Would you prefer not to re-patch a lot? Consider either a digital board w/ assignable routing, or a board with at least 8 channels—and maybe 16 depending on how you work and who you work with. (You'll be surprised how quickly you use up dedicated inputs.)
  • How will you run effects? Do you have DAW software on a laptop or desktop? If so, you can run effects from there, saving on outboard gear or skirting the need to step-up to one of the more deluxe mixers in which the included digital FX are worth hearing. (Although if you won't ever record, the threshold for FX quality gets a lot lower.)
  • Don't forget to budget for a power amp unless it's bundled into your mixer or speakers. (As a rule of thumb, powered mixers tend to be lower-quality, lower-budget pieces. Powered speakers tend to be more expensive.) Also, mics, stands, and even cables will take a significant chunk of your budget.

Above all, look for used gear. Lots of very good used analog mixers are for sale now at bargain prices as people make the jump to digital/wifi mixing. And bargains on perfectly functional but heavy used power amps are still out there, although some older musicians might be sitting on those amps now b/c the resale has gotten so low. Beat the bushes and see what you can turn up locally.
 
#3
There are plenty of options out there. Given your budget, I'd start looking at Behringer gear.
(Good)
Behringer Xenyx X1222USB
Behringer Eurolive B208D
Mics, cables and stands, including speaker stands are also going to be part of your budget. Don't skimp on mics. Bite the bullet and grab a couple good mics from Shure (SM57/58), Audix , AKG or other reputable brand. Find stands on sale at GC, Sam Ash Sweetwater etc.

(Better)

Mackie 802VLZ4
Mackie Thump 12

(Best)

Soundcraft EPM8
JBL EON612

These are just some suggestions. There are a million other viable options out there. Just suggesting a way to look at things. I'm sure some of the other helpful folks here at TB will also have some good ideas. You'll get lots of great advice here for sure. (Yes, yes, yes. derrico1 is spot on.)
Buying a PA is a big deal. Take your time, but don't worry. You can always upgrade!
 
#4
Alesis (and others) also makes good budget mixers in that range for that purpose. 4-, 6-, 8-, 12-channel and so on. Look for the MultiMix line. You may or may not find the USB functionality useful.

I'm sensing that this for band rehearsal purposes? go for a used mini mixer and some cheap used (but not abused) powered speaker for now - Behringer, Mackie Thump.

Another option would be a powered mixer (in a box), 8- or 10-channel, and some passive speakers. Should be able to find used stuff at a reasonable price, no problem.

Mics, cables, stand, etc - make sure you budget for that if you don't already own stuff.
 
#5
Matthew Hanafin said:
Hey everyone im currently slowly putting together (sloooowly) a music room and im looking for a decent PA mixer at least 6 channel the only problem is im working an $8 an hour job and I start my freshmen year of high school in two weeks so I will only be able to work two days a week so it has to be on the cheaper side looking to do speakers and mixer for $500-550 (also taking speaker recommendations) but this will not be used on gigs this one will stay in one spot and have to be loud enough to compete with drums. Is this possible on this budget?
Click to expand...
Look at the Allen Heath Zed series. USB connectivity, decent sound and fairly inexpensive.
 
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#9
Yes this will be a rehearsal room/place for me to pracitice so I will use it with a couple mics and no more than two guitars and Ive recently picked up my first drum set (pearl soundcheck shell pack with sabian SBR cymbals and evans heads on order) so I would like the pa to be loud enough to compete so I could play along with tracks
 
#11
Matthew Hanafin said:
Ive recently picked up my first drum set (pearl soundcheck shell pack with sabian SBR cymbals and evans heads on order) so I would like the pa to be loud enough to compete so I could play along with tracks
Click to expand...

So no bandmates and no recording? (I was assuming you'd be recording eventually, since this is the recording forum.) If budget is a hard limit and if you're the only one who needs to hear the rehearsal tracks over the acoustic sound of the drums, then instead of buying a rehearsal PA consider instead using headphones—possibly augmented with a home stereo system, if you already have one available. You ought to be able to get plenty of level through the headphones for drumming play-along.

If your music room already includes a stereo system with an aux-in, choose a unit for mixing that can connect to the stereo. That way you don't always have to be in the headphones when practicing guitar or bass. (You'd need to be careful with levels if you want to rehearse bass through home stereo, but it's certainly do-able on all but the wimpiest speakers.)
 
#13
EastCoastThump said:
So no bandmates and no recording? (I was assuming you'd be recording eventually, since this is the recording forum.) If budget is a hard limit and if you're the only one who needs to hear the rehearsal tracks over the acoustic sound of the drums, then instead of buying a rehearsal PA consider instead using headphones—possibly augmented with a home stereo system, if you already have one available. You ought to be able to get plenty of level through the headphones for drumming play-along.

If your music room already includes a stereo system with an aux-in, choose a unit for mixing that can connect to the stereo. That way you don't always have to be in the headphones when practicing guitar or bass. (You'd need to be careful with levels if you want to rehearse bass through home stereo, but it's certainly do-able on all but the wimpiest speakers.)
Click to expand...
We would have band practice here
 

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