# Small mixer recommendations



## Maximvs (Sep 10, 2017)

Hello fellow VI Controlers,

My old and well used Mackie Micro Series 1202-VLZ has become very noisy and I am in need of a new mixer for my home studio and would like to ask around here what people feel are some of the small solid options out there.

I do not need anything large, 2 to 4 mono input and a pair of stereo channels are what I am after. My old mixer had even too many inputs for what I need, this is why I am looking for something smaller.

I have looked around and seen mixers by Allen & Heath (models: ZED6, ZEDi8, ZEDi10), Behringer (models: Xenyx 1202FX, X1204 USB) and Mackie (models: MIX8, VLZ4-802) that can fit my needs. The company Allen & Heath is a new company that I do not know and was wondering how are its products.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions...

Max


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## Timberland70 (Sep 10, 2017)

Hi Max,

Allen & Heath is not really a new company, they are on the market since 1969, but they have been acquired by Electra Partners in 2013. I sometimes use the ZED10 and I am very happy with it, very good Hi Z-Inputs.

Best
Helge


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## wst3 (Sep 10, 2017)

Some thoughts - 

First, I've been less impressed with Behringer mixers - they offer a lot of features, but the build quality seems cheap, and the audio quality is not up there with some of their competitors. Allen & Heath makes some remarkable mixers, but the ZED series was a tad disappointing, for the same reasons, although I think the audio was a bit better than the Behringer. Now to be candid, The Mackie mixers were a bit tweaky to me - well built, but not a lot of headroom, one had to be very careful with levels to keep them sounding good.

Thus I'm not convinced that anyone makes a really decent small mixer any more - perhaps because one can get the same function with a decent audio interface these days, especially if you are just looking for a couple of inputs. I'm currently using a UAD Apollo Twin most of the time, and when that comes up short in terms of input channels I switch to a Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL. Both sound good, and seem to be well made. Both also offer DSP, which in the case of the Apollo is a pretty big deal, I don't use the DSP in the Audiobox as much.

You could look for used mixers from Soundcraft, A&H and others, the previous generations were mostly well built, but unless someone is selling because they no longer need it you could be buying a problem.

The industry clearly does not have the small mixer on their radar these days.

If it fits your budget you might want to look at the smallest of the Presonus StudioLive mixers. They sound good, and are pretty easy to navigate, and build quality is a little better than average.


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## synthpunk (Sep 10, 2017)

Bill has some very good points as they say they don't make them like they used to. It seems good small format mixers are at a shortage.

I actually really like the Allen & Heath Zed mixers the preamps and Eq's on the the Zed14 and up sound very good. If your ITB you could also take a look at the Audient or Motu rackmount boxes or upgrading your audio interface either something with similar capabilities.



Massimo said:


> Hello fellow VI Controlers,
> 
> My old and well used Mackie Micro Series 1202-VLZ has become very noisy and I am in need of a new mixer for my home studio and would like to ask around here what people feel are some of the small solid options out there.
> 
> ...


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## Maximvs (Sep 10, 2017)

Timberland70 said:


> Hi Max,
> 
> Allen & Heath is not really a new company, they are on the market since 1969, but they have been acquired by Electra Partners in 2013. I sometimes use the ZED10 and I am very happy with it, very good Hi Z-Inputs.
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot Helge for your kind reply and for recommending the ZED 10.

Kind regards,

Max


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## Maximvs (Sep 10, 2017)

wst3 said:


> Some thoughts -
> 
> First, I've been less impressed with Behringer mixers - they offer a lot of features, but the build quality seems cheap, and the audio quality is not up there with some of their competitors. Allen & Heath makes some remarkable mixers, but the ZED series was a tad disappointing, for the same reasons, although I think the audio was a bit better than the Behringer. Now to be candid, The Mackie mixers were a bit tweaky to me - well built, but not a lot of headroom, one had to be very careful with levels to keep them sounding good.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your insights and recommendations...

Kind reagrds,

Max


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## JPRmusic (Sep 10, 2017)

I had the same issue several years ago when my Mackie 1202 started getting noisy and some of the mute buttons stopped muting. I moved to the Allen and Heath ZED14 and have had 0 problems with it. I also have a ZED10 for smaller applications. Both have done well. The Allen and Heath seemed to sound smoother and less harsh to me as well, but that is purely subjective.

Jeff


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## Maximvs (Sep 13, 2017)

Thanks a lot to all of you who replied and gave me some suggestions and feedback, much appreciated!

In the end I went with Allen & Heath ZEDi 10 FX which works well.

Cheers, Max


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