The A&H is the better deal.
1. Better preamps
2. 100mm sliders. I dont like the 60mm sliders on the Carvins.
3. The modular aspect of the channels on the A&H.
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Mixer reccomendation, Best for Metal?
- Thread starter MooseLumps
- Start date
The A&H is the better deal.
1. Better preamps
2. 100mm sliders. I dont like the 60mm sliders on the Carvins.
3. The modular aspect of the channels on the A&H.
The size of the sliders is just personal preference
The Carvin is still cheaper.
Why do you say the preamps are better? Just curious. I'm not very familiar with analog boards.
IMHO...The preamps on the MixWiz are of a higher quality. They are not at the level of a Midas board but they are of a higher quality than the ones on the Carvin. I think they are especially good for a board at the pricepoint it sells at. They are are better in terms of noise and coloration and I have never had a problem with with any of the other channels bleeding over into another channel. I have heard this on the Carvin and the Mackie 32-8 boards that I have used. It seems to happen more as they age. I think this also has something to do with the channels being modular instead of all of them being on one circuit board. Possibly because they are better isolated each other? I'm not an E.I. so I can't explain in better detail. Again this opinion is based on my experience using the MixWiz as well as the A & H GL2800 and GL2400 boards. At their price points I think they are some of the best.
The Carvin board is fine. If you are convinced that the Carvin feature set and price works for you than by all means go with it. It will probably serve you well. As a musician you want a board that will be reliable and easy to use. You also want good service / warranty support. The person that needs to be comfortable with the purchase is you. And let's be realistic here. The people that you are playing for have no clue what preamps are in the board and they don't care.
The Carvin board is fine. If you are convinced that the Carvin feature set and price works for you than by all means go with it. It will probably serve you well. As a musician you want a board that will be reliable and easy to use. You also want good service / warranty support. The person that needs to be comfortable with the purchase is you. And let's be realistic here. The people that you are playing for have no clue what preamps are in the board and they don't care.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,079
- 46,050
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
I've had to replace quite a few of those Carvin sliders on the old 1644 series boards. Can't really vouch for how the boards were treated though, none of 'em were mine.
Interesting stuff. I've been running sound on digital boards for a little over 2 years now but I have no experience with analog boards.
I've been looking at a board like that carvin or that A&H because I want a board that will allow the band to have their own IEM mix. It would be similar to how my church's current IEM setup is.
Instruments/mics go to the snake, snake sends one set of outputs to the FOH board and one to our "stage board" and that way the sound guy has no impact on our monitor mix.
I've been looking at a board like that carvin or that A&H because I want a board that will allow the band to have their own IEM mix. It would be similar to how my church's current IEM setup is.
Instruments/mics go to the snake, snake sends one set of outputs to the FOH board and one to our "stage board" and that way the sound guy has no impact on our monitor mix.
I have used my MixWiz3 like that. It was pressed into service as a sort of monitor board. They aren't deisgned for that sort of thing but our sound guy made it work. A&H actually has a monitor board disigned just for that a MixWiz3 12M. It can do multiple stereo mixes and it also works as the spliter sending 16 channels to the FOH. It's specificly designed for the purpose of managing stage monitors and a IEM.
I used to have a 1644. The man in brown saw the error of my ways. Now I have many knobs.
My girlfriend uses a Soundcraft GB4. A bit overkill for your app, but they make a GB2 16 rackmount that might be up your alley.
The reason the MixWiz is truly so desirable is the DUAL PARAMETRIC midrange controls. Their EQ is vastly superior to a Mackie or a Yamaha in that price range. The VLZPro series Mackie is crap. They will all give you ribbon cable issues at some point and their on-board shielding is for crap crap crap. They do make an awesome AM/FM radio at times. The Soundcraft is sort of a poor man's AH in that price range. They do make good for the dough boards, they just aren't up to AH level. The Carvin's are really nothing special. Keep your Mackie over the Carvin for "sonic performance". And friends.....don't let friends use Berhinger.
That said, there is no such a thing in the world that one mixer is better for "metal" over "Jazz" or "Country". Where does a bonehead get that idea from???? A board is a board is a board. I can mix any style of music on any brand of mixer. There is nothing that makes a board better for a "type" of music.
The Presonus Live series is very cool and yes you can remote control them using a PC and an iPad with a wireless card and a wireless router. So that's a nice feature. The new Soundcraft SI Compact series is da bomb in new small format cos effective digital mixers. Very sweet. Any analog guy in the world can walk into that mixer. It doesn't yet have the cool iPad/PC app, but it is in the works from Soundcraft. The Roland V-Mix is also a very friendly console. Love the digital snakes and the on-board recording ability (like the presonus and sadly unlike the Soundcraft which does not). Yamaha's are very nice products, but they are a pain to navigate compared to the better layout everyone else is getting into. Great thing about the digi boards is all the effects are built-in. Does the comp work like an LA1176N? If you know what one sounds like, then you must already have one and already know it doesn't. Is it as good as the ACP88, or a 166XL, damned skippy it is. Are the Verbs like a Lexicon? Well, on the Soundcraft, yes, because they are Lexicon DSP engines inside. On the Roland, well we all know Roland makes some nice effects both in dynamics and verbs, so again they are as solid as any typical cheap outboard gear.
Keep using your Mackie until you can go digital. Or hire a sound company, you won't regret that either.
That said, there is no such a thing in the world that one mixer is better for "metal" over "Jazz" or "Country". Where does a bonehead get that idea from???? A board is a board is a board. I can mix any style of music on any brand of mixer. There is nothing that makes a board better for a "type" of music.
The Presonus Live series is very cool and yes you can remote control them using a PC and an iPad with a wireless card and a wireless router. So that's a nice feature. The new Soundcraft SI Compact series is da bomb in new small format cos effective digital mixers. Very sweet. Any analog guy in the world can walk into that mixer. It doesn't yet have the cool iPad/PC app, but it is in the works from Soundcraft. The Roland V-Mix is also a very friendly console. Love the digital snakes and the on-board recording ability (like the presonus and sadly unlike the Soundcraft which does not). Yamaha's are very nice products, but they are a pain to navigate compared to the better layout everyone else is getting into. Great thing about the digi boards is all the effects are built-in. Does the comp work like an LA1176N? If you know what one sounds like, then you must already have one and already know it doesn't. Is it as good as the ACP88, or a 166XL, damned skippy it is. Are the Verbs like a Lexicon? Well, on the Soundcraft, yes, because they are Lexicon DSP engines inside. On the Roland, well we all know Roland makes some nice effects both in dynamics and verbs, so again they are as solid as any typical cheap outboard gear.
Keep using your Mackie until you can go digital. Or hire a sound company, you won't regret that either.
Every board I've ever used has had dual parametric midrange controls. I didn't think they were that uncommon.
What I'd like to see is thee or more PEQ controls on each channel. I know of one board that has four, but that board is $10,000+
Also, I keep looking, but you still can't beat that Carvin mixer price wise for the number of AUX sends unless you can find a good deal on that A&H board used.
I haven't used any of those, so I can't speak for their quality. I have used a Mackie tt24 and a Roland M-400. Both of those are way outside of your price range, my price range, and just about any other start up band's price range...
What I'd like to see is thee or more PEQ controls on each channel. I know of one board that has four, but that board is $10,000+
Also, I keep looking, but you still can't beat that Carvin mixer price wise for the number of AUX sends unless you can find a good deal on that A&H board used.
I haven't used any of those, so I can't speak for their quality. I have used a Mackie tt24 and a Roland M-400. Both of those are way outside of your price range, my price range, and just about any other start up band's price range...
I gotta confess that I've spent the last week or so trawling google, trying to find a picture of a gothic mixing desk to post in this thread, with no joy. Ho hum.
