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Tapco Mix 120 vs Alesis Multimix

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Blackmag+c

Feb 1, 2007
249
0
#1
Which is better.
Tapco is cheaper but is its performance reflective of this?

I need a mixer for a home recording project and these are the two I have narrowed it down to. Please, if you have any other suggestions please say :D. Thanks.

USB only
 
#2
I've got the multimix 8 (the first version, silver) that I picked up in a package deal. As a mixer, it's a fine cheap mixer. As a soundcard, it's horrible. It's got a high pitched whine on playback regardless of what computer I've got it plugged into. Even if the mixer's powered off, it's still got the whine (the soundcard portion is USB powered). Seems to be a common problem with them as well from the musicians friend reviews.

Would think the tapco has a better chance of being OK, but have no direct experience with it.
 
#3
I agree with everything newfuture said. My Multimix also had the high pitched whine. If you just need a mixer, you can get one of the Behringer ones that have identical features as the Multimix without the USB interface for cheaper. If you also need an audio interface, I would look elsewhere.

I'm cheap too, but recordings with that high pitched whine noise are worse than no recordings at all, IMO. I would wait until I could afford something usable if I were you (and I did).
 
#7
I don't know of any mixer/interface combos that are any good. I think that a cheap mixer can be usable, but a cheap audio interface isn't. I have a Presonus Firebox, which I got for $200 new, which is relatively cheap, but it does a great job. It only has 2 preamps, though (but 6 inputs), so you would need to pair it up with a mixer if you wanted to use more than 2 mics. The Firepod has more mic pres and I/O.

Edit: I agree with projectMalamute about USB. Firewire is faster, so less latency, which makes recording while monitoring through your computer much easier.
 
#8
You just need to be a bit realistic about what recording gear costs. The price ranges we are discussing here are like trying to buy a bass for around $25. Cheapest mic pre I would expect to see in a place I was paying money to record at starts around 500 bucks. Six channels of that is 3 grand and we haven't even gotten to the AD and DA converters yet.
 
#9
Well, most people's project studios are not going to have $3k mixers, and it is misleading to tell someone they NEED something that expensive to record. Pretty much equivalent to telling someone they NEED a $3k bass to get a good bass sound. I do not have $3,000 dollars to put into mic pres, and neither does the OP, and neither do most people around here, so it's not very helpful to say that you should not bother buying something for less than that. I suspect the OP is not trying to make a studio for other people to pay to record, so that information isn't very relevent to his needs.
 
#11
conical johnson said:
Well, most people's project studios are not going to have $3k mixers, and it is misleading to tell someone they NEED something that expensive to record. Pretty much equivalent to telling someone they NEED a $3k bass to get a good bass sound. I do not have $3,000 dollars to put into mic pres, and neither does the OP, and neither do most people around here, so it's not very helpful to say that you should not bother buying something for less than that. I suspect the OP is not trying to make a studio for other people to pay to record, so that information isn't very relevent to his needs.
Click to expand...

I didn't say you 'need' anything. I said you need to be realistic about what you are getting. In my experience any of these gizmos with like 8 mic pres and converters rolled in to one for like 300 bucks are junk. To someone who has never played bass before a Hondo jazz bass copy and a Sadowsky look about the same. A simple 2 channel interface without integrated mic pres(M audio delta line is fine, about $100) + a decent stereo mic pre (ART Pro MPA isn't too bad for just starting out, about $150 bucks used these days) will be miles and miles better than the junk you find on these all in one boxes.
 
#12
projectMalamute said:
I didn't say you 'need' anything. I said you need to be realistic about what you are getting. In my experience any of these gizmos with like 8 mic pres and converters rolled in to one for like 300 bucks are junk. To someone who has never played bass before a Hondo jazz bass copy and a Sadowsky look about the same. A simple 2 channel interface without integrated mic pres(M audio delta line is fine, about $100) + a decent stereo mic pre (ART Pro MPA isn't too bad for just starting out, about $150 bucks used these days) will be miles and miles better than the junk you find on these all in one boxes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree with that, and those are good suggestions for his needs. I just get a little annoyed when I see people (seemingly) telling kids that they must get spendy gear in order to record. I think good recordings can be made with relatively little money.

At the same time, though, there are bad purchases and good purchases at every price level, so I would stay away from the Tapco and Multimix and try out projectMalamute's suggestions above. Also, buy used when possible.
 
#14
Blackmag+c said:
I need something with xlr inputs preferably at least 2.
Click to expand...

What I'd do in your shoes is to visit the forums for the recording software you want to use. Say Reaper for the sake of fun (great program, BTW). Ask users there what soundcard they use and why they like or dislike it. Be specific with your budget too.
Not all hardware plays nicely with all software, so it's good to get a feel for a piece's stability from folks that use it.
Next thing to do is make sure when you buy something, it's either really cheap and used, or you get it from a reputable seller with a solid return policy...not all hardware plays nicely with all hardware.
Good luck!
 
#17
He means that it will not convert your audio to digital and plug into your computer for recording to Cubase. You need an audio interface for that. The Multimix has a built-in USB interface, but the Tapco does not.
 

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