Thursday, February 22, 2007

Recording Mixer Upgrades

One of the things on the to do list before we move to full time video is to upgrade the way we capture and record the audio portion of our services. A couple of reasons are behind this. One is having seperate control over what goes to the camera for audio. The other is to have a more flexable mixer for the coffee houses upstairs. Since neither of the existing mixers fit the bill, we decided to sell 2 and get one! So far there are 3 mixers that fit the amount of $$ available and provide us with at least 16 channels, while still remaining semi portable. We hope to rent and test drive each of these in order to make a decision that we can live with.
Some other changes we have made are updating the connections from the main mixer. There are now 15 direct out lines that can be patched to any channel or subgroup. In addition there is a stereo feed from the house mix and a dedicated channel for an audience mic off of snake channel 16.
These are the mixers we are considering, all are analog as the existing digital mixers are a couple of thousand out of our price range. Each of these mixers are basic 20 to 24 input channels, 6 sub groups and 4 sub mixes.
Allen & Heath GL2400
Additional features are 4 segment metering on each channel, direct outs for recording to multitrack, 2 stereo channels, 4 band EQ
Mackie Onyx
Additional features are 4 segment metering on each channel, direct outs for recording to multitrack, there is also a built in compressor, 2 stereo channels, 4 band EQ
Yamaha MG
Additional features are 2 built in effects channels, 4 stereo channels, 2 band EQ.
In Feb. we rented this mixer and have discovered the following. Difficult to get "warm" sound from Pastor John, overall the bass response from this mixer is weak. The sound to the headphones distorts very easily, also the level between the main mix and pfl (solo) will blow your ears off if you are not careful.