h'lo all,
I've been looking at 3 or 4 brands (Behringer, Ashley, Rane, Rolls, etc.) of rackmount, line mixers for my keyboards.
My requirements are pretty simple, I think, (each channel would have gain, aux send, pan, mute, "signal-present"/clip indicator) but I can't find *any* of the available units having all of these features.
So, I'm thinking maybe I could find an independant builder/electrician/college-student-whiz to make these up for me? Don't know where to start looking, all suggestions greatly appreciated!
bill myers, composer
finding an independant, custom "line mixer" builde
Moderator: James Steele
Forum rules
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
-
williemyers
- Posts: 1068
- Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Louisville, KY
finding an independant, custom "line mixer" builde
DP 9.52(OS 10.13.6), PTools 11.3.3, Sibelius 2021.12,
MacPro 5,1 mid-2010, 2 x 2.93Ghz 12 core, ATI Radeon HD 5870, 64 Gig RAM, 4 x >120G SSDs, 2 x 25" LCDs
couple o' hardware synths, loadza legal libraries
Kurz Midiboard, MOTU MTP AV
https://vimeo.com/71580152
"I always wanted to be a composer - and I am..."
"I never wanted to be a recording engineer - and I'm not..."
~me
MacPro 5,1 mid-2010, 2 x 2.93Ghz 12 core, ATI Radeon HD 5870, 64 Gig RAM, 4 x >120G SSDs, 2 x 25" LCDs
couple o' hardware synths, loadza legal libraries
Kurz Midiboard, MOTU MTP AV
https://vimeo.com/71580152
"I always wanted to be a composer - and I am..."
"I never wanted to be a recording engineer - and I'm not..."
~me
-
Sticky Fox
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:38 am
- Primary DAW OS: Unspecified
Re: finding an independant, custom "line mixer" bu
I've been thinking about building just such a mixer, for the same purpose, but I am planning on leaving out everything but gain and a simple aux send pushbutton. Panning and level can be done via MIDI right? But I think I could pretty easily hack a cheap mixer like the Behringer to do what I want. If it works out, maybe I can help you. I could use a little bit of work anyway.williemyers wrote:h'lo all,
I've been looking at 3 or 4 brands (Behringer, Ashley, Rane, Rolls, etc.) of rackmount, line mixers for my keyboards.
My requirements are pretty simple, I think, (each channel would have gain, aux send, pan, mute, "signal-present"/clip indicator) but I can't find *any* of the available units having all of these features.
So, I'm thinking maybe I could find an independant builder/electrician/college-student-whiz to make these up for me? Don't know where to start looking, all suggestions greatly appreciated!
bill myers, composer
Bill,
Not sure what your budget is, but Speck has really nice stuff in the compact line mixer range. They're the only ones I can remember with most of the fancy sub/aux switch routing,etc. They are relatively high, if compared to the Mackie/Alesis range of gear, but the company (or Vince, the "man") has a really good rep for quality and design. I've got a 16 channel rack mount parametric from them, and I like it a lot. Mute/solo are the only things I usually see missing on some of the smaller rack boards, but I haven't looked at any in a while (that older Mackie LM3204) should have that stuff). Most are designed more as "complete" mixers smushed into a rack box, with EQ and all, rather than just basic line, level, and routing functions.
I don't think you can get anything built for any less than what you may find a suitable commercial unit for, unless you had someone who owed you a "favor" or something. You may be able to get mutes (or maybe even solo's) added to something you like though, but it's still probably not a "ten-minute operation".
I've got an Alesis12R here, which I've tried to sell locally a while back (not to turn this into a for-sale post). It's got mic pres (what I used it for) and faders, so it's probably not what you want. It also doesn't have solo/mute, but it is fairly "clean" sounding. The build quality however, isn't on par with the Mackie stuff I've owned, and I'm not sure I'd be into using it in a PA/live sort of environment, but it did well for "set and forget" studio submixing. I also wasn't 100% happy with the metering. I was spoiled by the Mackie PFL/solo thing, where you can temporarily bounce the first stage of a channel directly to the meter to set your level. The Alesis does some primitive crap, where you just take the channel to unity, and then pull all the others down to see the reading, but it was cheap, and it does only eat three rack spaces.
Good Luck,
George
PS- I like this page a lot:
http://sound.westhost.com/project30.htm
It's sort of a "modular" DIY mixer, and the docs on the different stages/sections are pretty comprehensive, so it might give you (or someone) some ideas on what can be added to things (or how).
Not sure what your budget is, but Speck has really nice stuff in the compact line mixer range. They're the only ones I can remember with most of the fancy sub/aux switch routing,etc. They are relatively high, if compared to the Mackie/Alesis range of gear, but the company (or Vince, the "man") has a really good rep for quality and design. I've got a 16 channel rack mount parametric from them, and I like it a lot. Mute/solo are the only things I usually see missing on some of the smaller rack boards, but I haven't looked at any in a while (that older Mackie LM3204) should have that stuff). Most are designed more as "complete" mixers smushed into a rack box, with EQ and all, rather than just basic line, level, and routing functions.
I don't think you can get anything built for any less than what you may find a suitable commercial unit for, unless you had someone who owed you a "favor" or something. You may be able to get mutes (or maybe even solo's) added to something you like though, but it's still probably not a "ten-minute operation".
I've got an Alesis12R here, which I've tried to sell locally a while back (not to turn this into a for-sale post). It's got mic pres (what I used it for) and faders, so it's probably not what you want. It also doesn't have solo/mute, but it is fairly "clean" sounding. The build quality however, isn't on par with the Mackie stuff I've owned, and I'm not sure I'd be into using it in a PA/live sort of environment, but it did well for "set and forget" studio submixing. I also wasn't 100% happy with the metering. I was spoiled by the Mackie PFL/solo thing, where you can temporarily bounce the first stage of a channel directly to the meter to set your level. The Alesis does some primitive crap, where you just take the channel to unity, and then pull all the others down to see the reading, but it was cheap, and it does only eat three rack spaces.
Good Luck,
George
PS- I like this page a lot:
http://sound.westhost.com/project30.htm
It's sort of a "modular" DIY mixer, and the docs on the different stages/sections are pretty comprehensive, so it might give you (or someone) some ideas on what can be added to things (or how).
-
mhschmieder
- Posts: 11419
- Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:01 pm
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: Annandale VA
If I'm not mistaken, Rolls and Rane are both custom shops that simply provide large catalogs of stuff that they figure meets enough people's needs to bother marketing as regularly available items.
I own the Ashley LX308B ($400) and its quality is superb. Ver transparent, and I can't say the same for the two I auditioned before the Ashley. Can't remember off-hand if one of them was Rolls; I'd have to hunt down pictures again to be sure. It was one that lists for well under $200 at any rate.
I think Rane's has higher specs, but specs can be misleading. If sound quality is paramount, you might end up being sorry if you simply go by the specs or have someone build to specs. If features are all that matter, then maybe this is your best approach. Otherwise it pays to be able to try it out first.
I own the Ashley LX308B ($400) and its quality is superb. Ver transparent, and I can't say the same for the two I auditioned before the Ashley. Can't remember off-hand if one of them was Rolls; I'd have to hunt down pictures again to be sure. It was one that lists for well under $200 at any rate.
I think Rane's has higher specs, but specs can be misleading. If sound quality is paramount, you might end up being sorry if you simply go by the specs or have someone build to specs. If features are all that matter, then maybe this is your best approach. Otherwise it pays to be able to try it out first.