stereo mixers as main preamps.

Discussion in 'Preamps' started by Rex Aeterna, Feb 2, 2017.

  1. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    it's just a thread i like to start since this type of subject is never talked bout in your typical audio forums/sites.

    i personally don't mind the idea of using a good quality recording/dj/studio mixer as your main preamp cause lot of them can sound very good in my opinion. my cheap numark little plan stereo mixer sounds more clean and detailed than a lot of high-end stereo preamps and other well regarded preamps i had experience with in the past. it also has a pretty darn powerful headphone out as well. just only complaint of the numark is while not bad, it's s/n is not super high like your typical home stereo preamp and it has no type of dc filtering protection or any form of input/output protection like lot of other home stereo preamps do.

    i think a good mixer is more capable of being in a revealing hi-fi set but, have to know what to look for cause like anything else there is a ton of crappy ones out there like anything else. i personally love using good mixers as my main preamp due to functionality and other things i require. mixers are just way cool looking too haha.

    i wonder, do anyone else use a decent mixer as main preamp as well here?
     
  2. Armaegis

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    I was using a Yamaha MG10/2 for a little while, but it's transparency was not the greatest and it did inject noise into the line. It's been through some rough'n'tumble though, so I can't discount that affecting the sound.

    I've got a big Mackie CFX16mk2 that is better and quieter, but its size makes it unfeasible for the desktop. Some of the newer cheaper Mackie boards don't seem as nice as their earlier iterations, but my experience there is very limited. In general, any of their stuff from mid 2000's and up are quite good but may have gotten their fair share of use on the road.

    Behringer mixers... the less said about those the better :rolleyes: Peavey ones aren't much better, but at least more reliable.
     
  3. Rex Aeterna

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    yea. i never go anywhere near behringer or peavey. i like some older sony video production mixers which can super sound great when comes to some japanese offerings. i didn't try much of newer mackies either but, always liked them. toa made a lot of hidden gems as well but, tend to be abused a lot and need lot of repairs with their consoles. i love big hulking console mixers. i actually plan on updating my mixer at home with a good analog console mixer. be used for everything from getting back into my recording to simple playing games and music listening. i like though how my small numark mixer uses high quality japanese alps resistor controlled sliders for better volume control and left/right matching.

    i never used yamaha stuff but, see them a lot. i guess cause i never took yamaha as a serious pro manufacturer since lot of their stuff tend to fail in real-word events and abuse. even simple bed-room studio stuff i never bothered with yamaha really. don't have anything against them and had experience with lot of wonderful power amps from them in the past. just never used them for pro stuff since i have other preferences.

    i want to try some of newer digital mixers out since they look pretty cool and have a lot of useful features but, they're mind-boggling expensive. i also wouldn't like if the mixer had it's dac always in the signal path either since lot of them have built-in delta sigma or circus logic converters.
     
  4. Armaegis

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    I remember talking with a tech one time about Peavey, and the remark that really stuck with me was that he said Peavey made "ok" stuff, but most importantly was that they have been consistently "ok" throughout the years (at least in regards to their PA cabs). Other manufacturers have had serious up and down with their manufacturing and drivers, but Peavey has been cranking out those Black Widows virtually unchanged.

    Mackie VLZ mixers have always been rock solid for me, but are also known in the industry for being tank-like and are treated as such.

    Allen & Heath makes a lot of options, but I've never tried them personally. I'd like to try a Soundcraft or Neve console sometime too, but those are big toys.

    Oh yikes, yeah those digital mixers are pretty but scathingly expensive. Then again, they do replace an entire rack's worth of gear so if you're going for a full setup that might be the more economical way to go. I haven't read too much about them beyond people raving about the convenience, but interestingly haven't seen too much about their sound quality.

    I've got a trio of Yamaha P7000s amps that have been good so far and I use them for a bi-amp plus sub arrangement. Lots of power (though I've never pushed them that hard to begin with), and they have a fan but I swear they never turn on and they run quite cool (amazingly so for a class a/b amp).
     
  5. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    Out of mixers I played with or used A&H was the best sounding. I had a band mixer and I often used friends Xone 62, both were much better sounding than Pioneer DJM-s.
     
  6. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    I just returned a Yamaha MG6. Never got to test it out. Everyone here on the SBAF convinced me that I would be introducing some kind of distortion into the signal path and do not go there. I changed my setup accordingly and returned both a Beringer and a Yamaha Mixer.
     

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