the watmm GAS thread

  On 8/5/2017 at 5:22 PM, Chesney said:

A polysix would be nice, kinda like having a juno but a MonoPoly, damn, that's unique. I've always wanted one but never had the right cash at the right time and they are silly money now.

 

I don't know which one it is, my friend noticed it in a garage when he was getting some Craigslist records but he didn't have the money or space to make an offer on it at the time, and isn't a big synth person. He actually has a  Juno 60 with a  case and MIDI converter in the store room at work and had no idea it was worth more than a couple hundred dollars now because he just picked it up for like $100 years ago, similar situation. This is why I miss working at record shops, the things that find their way to you are just unbelievable - back in 2007 I could have had a Triadex Muse one of our regulars had found in the garbage and wanted to sell for $80 but I was home with a cold the day it came in and the owner wouldn't go above $40 on it so the seller went across town and sold it to another shop for $80 (although that's exactly how much I had to pay for one of these and it's a lot more rewarding than a Triadex would ever be, so that pretty much makes up for it).

MY first analog synth was a Poly61m and I sold it for $80 (that seems to be the magic number with this stuff!) around 2009 when I moved to a new city, but I was listening to some old 4 track recordings from the late 90s that I played it on recently and it really has a nice tone to it.  I'd never pay what they go for now or anything but if I could find one cheap I'd probably go for it as long as the battery wasn't leaky.

  On 8/5/2017 at 3:56 PM, RSP said:

 

  On 8/5/2017 at 5:09 AM, Lada Laika said:

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but:

Anyone have any mixer recommendations? I'd be using it for recording as well as playing live. All line signals currently.

Eyeing the Allen & Heath ZEDi-10FX, Yamaha MG10XU, and Behringer Xenyx X1222USB.

 

I got a Soundcraft EPM series

 

-Legowelt uses one so if you use one you will be as good as Legowelt

Sold

I highly recommend the EPM. I love a mixer with identical channel strips. It's a wonderful live mixer. I've done tons of live stuff on my epm12. Super playable.

Ches, i sold the OT because I needed money. We are going on a trip next week. Münster, Kassel, Berlin, and NYC.

I'll buy one again likely. It doesn't add much to my studio setup, and I'm not playing live or even jamming that much right now, so it's hard to have it sit there.

Learning it definitely scratched my elektron itch though. I don't feel left out anymore.

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:36 AM, sheathe said:

Münster, Kassel.

Enjoy Documenta!

  On 8/6/2017 at 5:34 AM, psn said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:36 AM, sheathe said:

Münster, Kassel.

Enjoy Documenta!

Haha thanks, we will

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:36 AM, sheathe said:

I highly recommend the EPM. I love a mixer with identical channel strips. It's a wonderful live mixer. I've done tons of live stuff on my epm12. Super playable.

Awesome, thanks for the input! Definitely leaning Soundcraft after this thread. Might just go for the 8 because it's close to $100 less on Sweetwater, just a follow-up Q - from what I've read the only big difference from the 8 and the 12 is the number of channels, unless I'm missing something. The EQs seem the same yeah? So should I go big on the 12 or stick to the 8? For the foreseeable, I've only got 3-4 line signals, plus 1-3 more when I jam live with buddies.

Is it true that the EPM mixer doesn't have a power switch? 

  On 8/6/2017 at 9:19 AM, Lada Laika said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:36 AM, sheathe said:

I highly recommend the EPM. I love a mixer with identical channel strips. It's a wonderful live mixer. I've done tons of live stuff on my epm12. Super playable.

Awesome, thanks for the input! Definitely leaning Soundcraft after this thread. Might just go for the 8 because it's close to $100 less on Sweetwater, just a follow-up Q - from what I've read the only big difference from the 8 and the 12 is the number of channels, unless I'm missing something. The EQs seem the same yeah? So should I go big on the 12 or stick to the 8? For the foreseeable, I've only got 3-4 line signals, plus 1-3 more when I jam live with buddies.

If you already get 4-7 line level signals in rare instances, why not go for the 12? Better to go bigger than you need now and save yourself some $ down the road.

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:02 PM, xox said:

Is it true that the EPM mixer doesn't have a power switch? 

Yes.

  On 8/6/2017 at 3:44 PM, RSP said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:02 PM, xox said:

Is it true that the EPM mixer doesn't have a power switch? 

 

Yes.

 

so it's turned on all the time?  does it get hot?

  On 8/6/2017 at 9:19 AM, Lada Laika said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:36 AM, sheathe said:

I highly recommend the EPM. I love a mixer with identical channel strips. It's a wonderful live mixer. I've done tons of live stuff on my epm12. Super playable.

Awesome, thanks for the input! Definitely leaning Soundcraft after this thread. Might just go for the 8 because it's close to $100 less on Sweetwater, just a follow-up Q - from what I've read the only big difference from the 8 and the 12 is the number of channels, unless I'm missing something. The EQs seem the same yeah? So should I go big on the 12 or stick to the 8? For the foreseeable, I've only got 3-4 line signals, plus 1-3 more when I jam live with buddies.

 

The EPM8 is actually what I have. 8 mono channels with mic preamps plus two more stereo channels, that's why I was thinking 12 channel.  There are no dedicated effects returns, so the stereo channels are kind of like returns with full (minus mid EQ band) channel strips, but if you are jamming with friends you can get 10 mono channels into an EPM8 with no problem.  I don't think there's any other difference between the two, other than the number of channels.

Good points all, thanks everyone. Probably will end up splurging and going for the 12 at this point.

  On 8/6/2017 at 3:46 PM, xox said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 3:44 PM, RSP said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:02 PM, xox said:

Is it true that the EPM mixer doesn't have a power switch? 

 

Yes.

 

 

so it's turned on all the time?  does it get hot?

 

I've never noticed a problem.  I have all my stuff on power strips so I just turn it of that way.

EDIT: you can always add an in-line IEC power switch like this, too:

I thought this was a thread on Wolfgang Voigt.

  On 8/6/2017 at 4:21 PM, RSP said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 3:46 PM, xox said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 3:44 PM, RSP said:

 

  On 8/6/2017 at 1:02 PM, xox said:

Is it true that the EPM mixer doesn't have a power switch? 

 

Yes.

 

 

so it's turned on all the time?  does it get hot?

 

 

I've never noticed a problem.  I have all my stuff on power strips so I just turn it of that way.

 

EDIT: you can always add an in-line IEC power switch like this, too:

 

 

ah ok. thnx for the advice/suggestion

Those EPMs look nice and the A&H ZED series look good too.

My Mackie VLZ-1202 is getting senile and it's due for a replacement, but there's one very useful feature it has that I'm not seeing on the offerings from either of those series. That is that when you mute a channel it is sent to the ALT 3-4 bus which can be monitored through the "control room" source along with the main mix, but it also has its own dedicated stereo out pair. I've been using this for years for switching a signal to another stereo sampler/processor and it's particularly useful with the Octatrack. I can't imagine going without it at this point. 

However I would love love love to have sweepable mids and it'd almost be worth the tradeoff at this point.

  On 8/6/2017 at 10:19 PM, sweepstakes said:

Those EPMs look nice and the A&H ZED series look good too.

 

My Mackie VLZ-1202 is getting senile and it's due for a replacement, but there's one very useful feature it has that I'm not seeing on the offerings from either of those series. That is that when you mute a channel it is sent to the ALT 3-4 bus which can be monitored through the "control room" source along with the main mix, but it also has its own dedicated stereo out pair. I've been using this for years for switching a signal to another stereo sampler/processor and it's particularly useful with the Octatrack. I can't imagine going without it at this point. 

However I would love love love to have sweepable mids and it'd almost be worth the tradeoff at this point.

Yeah, that Mackie mute feature is great.  I was never too excited about Mackie stuff but I found a perfectly good 1202 that someone had thrown out last fall and that feature is REALLY useful.  Also it's like 2/3 the size of the EPM8.  I definitely prefer the sound of the EPM EQs to any other comparably priced mixer I've used, though.

I think for live use the Mackie is probably better, because of the size and the alt 3-4 tricks that you can do, but if you're using it in a home studio to track through or do small mixes I'd go with the Soundcraft any day.

EDIT: those sweepable mids are really good for feedback loops on an aux send, too. 

New soundcraft signature mixers look great. Strangely, as epm mixers, they dont have send returns nor a power switch.

  On 8/7/2017 at 7:42 AM, xox said:

New soundcraft signature mixers look great. Strangely, as epm mixers, they dont have send returns nor a power switch.

Link

  On 8/7/2017 at 3:06 PM, sheathe said:

 

  On 8/7/2017 at 7:42 AM, xox said:

New soundcraft signature mixers look great. Strangely, as epm mixers, they dont have send returns nor a power switch.

Link

 

I picked up the Signature 12 MTK about a month ago, used for $365.  USB multi tracking is nice -- routing ITB for FX then back out to the mixer for its analog summing.  

I generally set up all my hardware then play it live while recording the stereo mix of 13/14 as the final product.  

My only complaint is the multi-tracking is all pre-fader so you're just stuck with the raw sound -- can be great if you want to run everything then do all your FX/mixing post production.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Sig12MT

  On 8/7/2017 at 7:42 AM, xox said:

New soundcraft signature mixers look great. Strangely, as epm mixers, they dont have send returns nor a power switch.

Even on mixers with dedicated returns I usually use a regular channel whenever I can, anyway.  Being able to EQ the wet signal is great, and being able to feed a little bit of the wet signal back into itself, or crossfeed the return of one aux into another aux, is often really useful, too. But it's still nice to have them, if only to have a few more line inputs.

The EPM series model numbers suggest pretty strongly that those stereo tracks were meant to be used as more-flexible-than-usual returns, though.  Otherwise you'd think they would count the stereo channels as two inputs in their model numbers to make the channel count sound higher, like most companies do, so the EPM6 could be called EPM10, EPM8 could be called the EPM12 and EPM12 could be called EPM16.  The location of the send jacks right above the matching stereo channels is a big visual cue, too. So from that point of view, they have better aux returns than most small mixers.

EDIT: it's worth pointing out that it's pretty simple to make adapters (or even just use half insterted Y cables) to use the channel inserts as pre-EQ direct outs, too (the manual even has a little section showing how to make them), so if you have enough inputs on your interface you could easily take direct feeds of all your mixer channels and ALSO record your live mix at the same time.

  On 8/7/2017 at 3:30 PM, RSP said:

Even on mixers with dedicated returns I usually use a regular channel whenever I can, anyway. Being able to EQ the wet signal is great, and being able to feed a little bit of the wet signal back into itself, or crossfeed the return of one aux into another aux, is often really useful, too.

 

  On 8/7/2017 at 4:05 PM, sweepstakes said:

 

  On 8/7/2017 at 3:30 PM, RSP said:

Even on mixers with dedicated returns I usually use a regular channel whenever I can, anyway. Being able to EQ the wet signal is great, and being able to feed a little bit of the wet signal back into itself, or crossfeed the return of one aux into another aux, is often really useful, too.

Same but it works better when there's more stereo inputs to burn. These soundcrafts are a bit light on those.

 

Yeah, they are. I was originally leaning Allen and Heath because of that but I went with the Soundcraft because of what I read about the mid EQ and I think I made the right call.

How do the pros do analog summing? I've routed my ableton channels to their own channel on the epm12, but it's kind of a pain to set up, and I don't always want to do that. I stopped using the epm12 as my main mixer because I don't need all those channels doing my ableton + external fx setup. My Safire pro40 handles most of the legwork.

But it definitely sounds amazing when you do an analog sum. Like, when you read machine love articles on RA, or electronic beats interviews, they always have a big desk that all their gear goes into, then is sent to the daw, then back to the desk.

I have a rule now that I don't research things I can't afford (can't spend $8k on a console!), but this is one thing I'm curious about.

What pisses me off is having to put the summed audio back into the interface, back into the DAW for mastering. It feels like it's half undoing the purpose of mixer summing.

I want to find a dedicated stereo recorder that I can send the mixer outs straight to which then digitises it. Need to look more into this but i'm in limbo for a bit.