1 Mixer for DJing, Live Sound, and Recording

[Alexonguitar]

Yeah I know. I need a mixer for EVERYTHING.

At this point I am looking for something that I can DJ from if needed but then also do some live sound and possible recording. I DJ only a few times a year. If I do live sound I plan on only needing about 4 channels. 2 for mics and 2 for guitars. However I wouldn't mind if I had some room to grow. I may also need to rig up a couple monitors. Then I also plan on doing some recording. For now a USB out would be all I need as I am not going to invest in the best of the best computers.

I have been looking at the Allen & Heath Zed 12FX. A friend of mine mentioned this mixer to me. It seems to have all the stuff I would need and then some. I also like that it has some effects so if I am jamming in my basement I could add some reverb to the vocals. However, this mixer is kind of spendy. I would be looking at around $500 for this mixer if I also got that rackmount plates for it.

I want something decent that won't put out a lot of white noise for recording purposes. I don't want the cheap of the cheap but I am hoping for something more in the $250 - $400 range. I like having FX and a USB out. I guess the reason I haven't looked at the ZED 10FX is because it doesn't have the sliders, it just has the knobs.

Any suggestions?

[jmack953]

"The room to grow".. that's what you definately want to take into consideration now, before it's too late and you have to upgrade. Faders are definitely a plus to have in live sound situations as compared to the knobs, and I would prefer to have the Zed12FX. Not too shabby of a mixer. I've never owned one, but did use a fellow technician's once on a gig, and I liked it. Another one that I used and would recommend (not owned so I can't say too much on the recording noise or not) is the Yamaha MW12CX USB mixer. I have heard it does well with recording, but can't say for sure first hand. Goes for about $395.. has plenty of inputs, effects. Really nice mixer!

[Alexonguitar]

I like that the Yamaha MW12CX is much cheaper than the Allen & Heath Zed 12FX. My only concern is that the quality wouldn't be great for recording. Any thoughts on this?

[jmack953]

Not here, sorry Alex. I've only used it in a live sound setting with a sonic maximizer between it and the amps, so the signal was cleaned up regardless due to that maximizer. First hand, I've never used it for recording. Wish I could shed some more light on that.

[monomer]

No mention of the xone464?

[Brom]

No mention of the xone464?

Anyone use the Xone 464? Looks like it would do exactly what I'd need - multiple mics plus DJing. Or the Rane MP25 with the MLM 42S mic/line mixer.

My old Onyx 1220 does what I need it to do now but looking to take it to the Rane/Xone level of quality.

[ampnation]

The Yamaha MG166CX-USB has everything you want including the price tag from what I can see.
It has more channels than you'll probably ever need, but to get the features and aux sends usually you're looking at something more than a 6 or 10 channel mixer. Yamaha is a very good value in desk mixers.

Later on you could add a 1u line mixer with a crossfader. Unfortunately, the only one I know of is a Rane MP2S which is almost as much as the yamaha 16 channel mixer.

And the first mixer that came to mind is way over your budget. The Rodec Progressive Series with the MX2200 being the closest match to what you want. Priced at around $1600 though. ouch. I don't think they have the USB for recording either. The MX3000 would be great for me for smaller live sound gigs like you describe and DJ work in one convenient all in one package.