Analog Mixers: Best mic pre's?

jamison162 · #1 07-19-2010, 10:37 PM

What boards have the best sounding and most versatile mic pre's: Mackie Onyx, Soundcraft GB30, Yamaha CX series or A&H ZED's?

Any advice would be appreciated.

BoB/335 · #2 07-20-2010, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamison162

What boards have the best sounding and most versatile mic pre's: Mackie Onyx, Soundcraft GB30, Yamaha CX series or A&H ZED's?

Any advice would be appreciated.

You left out Behringer.

I'd be interested to hear these opinions myself. On a few different forums I had heard so much about Allen and Heath. Now that I bought one, I keep hearing about Soundcraft.

billm67 · #3 07-20-2010, 09:31 AM

I have personally tried the Mackies, A&H, Behringer and I own a small format Yamaha and a Soundcraft. THe Allen & Health and the Soundcraft are the two top sounding boards. THe Behringer preamps are very cold sounding and the Mackies were a little cold too. THe Yamaha is ok...but not great.

jamison162 · #4 07-20-2010, 02:45 PM

Thinking about doing the Soundcraft MFXi12. 20% off coupon from MF makes it $480. Anyone know of a better deal or board out there?

mutantrock · #5 07-20-2010, 06:30 PM

I am familiar with Soundcraft and Yamaha and they are both have good clean preamps with good headroom. Expensive boards have better eq, effects , durability and I/O flexibilty and maybe quieter for recording. Not a huge difference for live performing where your speakers are much more important to the sound. I think you will have to go much higher if you want to get pro quality preamps and in that case you may pay 100's just for one channel or more if they are also a/d converters.

BTF · #6 07-20-2010, 06:49 PM

I use a smaller, older Behringer board for live use (when I played) and must say that I use it mainly because if it's stolen at least I won't cry at the scene of the crime...

Seriously, it sounds reasonably clean, but I've read internet horror stories at Behringer's reliability (though I haven't had so much as a cough out of mine).

jamison162 · #7 07-21-2010, 05:23 PM

I called and talked to Sweetwater yesterday. I didn't ask about any specific brand, just that I was looking into mixers and told them the what kind of venues/use we would using it for. Soundcraft was what was recommended to me. That and A&H Mixwizard, over th Mackie and Yamaha boards. He said the Onyx pre's were comparable but for the $$/Channels you can't beat Soundcraft. The Soundcraft's supposedly have the GB30 pre's - the same that's in their $5-6k boards??

Any last thoughts on the Carvin systems?

Bobby1note · #8 07-21-2010, 06:12 PM

You really can't go wrong with either of the British boards,,, and that also goes beyond "sound-quality". The Brit boards mostly feature vertically-mounted printed circuit board channel stripss, and the pots are nutted to a steel chassis. If something ever goes wrong, it's an easy "fix", unlike many of the cheaper "disposable" mixers out there. The Brit boards are built for the long haul.

As for pre-amps, both the Allen & Heath and the Soundcraft boards sound great. Very clean/transparent sounding channel-strips. Very quiet units overall, with seemingly tons of headroom.. I even run the EQ almost flat when I'm using a single mic for guitar/vocals.(playing "seated") I just bump the LF's by a hair, to round out the guitar (guitar approx 1' from mic).

jamison162 · #9 07-21-2010, 08:43 PM

Awesome thanks.

Power Amps: Crown, QSC?

kendallhadden · #10 07-30-2010, 10:12 PM

A&H is the best I have used unless you want to pay more money and get something like a Midas.
kwh

alohachris · #11 07-31-2010, 12:33 AM

Aloha,

Twenty years ago, I lusted after the sound of a large Soundcraft 200. It seemed like the ultimate board for players though with too many features for a solo guy like me.

The A&H ZED series came out a few years back and have been getting smaller and smaller without losing quality. Their pre's and EQ are the best for the money, IMO. The smaller Soundcrafts are close, but are not made by the same company as the larger boards. A&H wins by a nose, IMO.

Stick with your A&H ZED. It's the best small mixer out there, IMO. With your Collings, Matrix, K-8's and ZED's EQ and FX, what more could a soloist want? (Maybe a mic somewhere or an SPS-1's pre's & EQ).

alohachris

BoB/335 · #12 07-31-2010, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alohachris

Aloha,

Stick with your A&H ZED. It's the best small mixer out there, IMO. With your Collings, Matrix, K-8's and ZED's EQ and FX, what more could a soloist want? (Maybe a mic somewhere or an SPS-1's pre's & EQ).

alohachris

Sounds like you're talking to me. Someone else with a Collings, K8's and ZED? Good for you!

donh · #13 07-31-2010, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamison162

Awesome thanks.

Power Amps: Crown, QSC?

QSC - they are quieter, more stable, punchier, & (in my professional opinion) sound better