Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lynn Gephart]

What is the best powered mixer for around 6 or 800 dollars for an acoustic show.Im using one acoustic guitar and 2 vocals in small clubs.Im looking for something with built in effects.Thanks for any advice

[dick rees]

What is the best powered mixer for around 6 or 800 dollars for an acoustic show.Im using one acoustic guitar and 2 vocals in small clubs.Im looking for something with built in effects.Thanks for any advice

I've found the Peavey powered heads to be good performers.  Very sturdy and a nice set of features.  I still have a couple of the 680's that see service quite a bit for "user-operable" systems and rental to friends with hobby music groups.

[John Luty]

I will second the Peavey I have a xr8600d light weight and 1200 watts

[Mark Gensman]

I agree with using Peavey. I have a couple of Yamaha powered mixers and their 312C is really light weight and works well. Peavey, Yamaha, Soundcraft Gigrack, Mackie all make good reliable powered mixers.

[Keith Billik]

I agree with using Peavey. I have a couple of Yamaha powered mixers and their 312C is really light weight and works well. Peavey, Yamaha, Soundcraft Gigrack, Mackie all make good reliable powered mixers.

If you get a Mackie be aware that they don't deliver 48v phantom power (not sure if it's 12v or 24v). That's always annoying.

[dick rees]

If you get a Mackie be aware that they don't deliver 48v phantom power (not sure if it's 12v or 24v). That's always annoying.

The Peavey models are full 48v phantom, albeit global.  I have not seen any of these "box" powered heads with individual phantom.

[John Roberts {JR}]

The Peavey models are full 48v phantom, albeit global.  I have not seen any of these "box" powered heads with individual phantom.

The XR600 topbox powered head series goes way back and wasn't always 48V phantom. Really old ones probably didn't have any phantom at all, and then evolved first to 15V phantom, finally by some time in the '80s ending up with full 48V phantom.

I recall when two amp channels of 150W each was considered big power... 

These are workhorses designed to be very easy to use and pretty much plug up and they just work.

I don't recall if there was even a phantom on/off switch on the simple top boxes. The console format powered mixers had richer feature sets. 

I was over the engineering group for two generational model upgrades almost two decades ago... I would barely recognize the new models now but the same design philosophy probably still holds true. You don't change the recipe when you're making good biscuits.
 
JR

PS: If you want Midas mic preamps you need to buy a Behringer topbox. 

[Jay Barracato]

I had a pair for a long time. When I finally graduated to a mixwiz I just plugged into the amp inputs and kept using them. I stopped using them when I went to powered boxes but I never personally owned a traditional amp rack.

[Bob Leonard]

I would go for a Peavey as well. I, and everyone else, has probably owned at least one or two powered head type mixers in their time. starting with my first Bogen to now with a couple of Peaveys in between. They never let me down.

Here's a link for a $600 Peavey that fills the bill nicely. FX, EQ, 600 watts stereo, monitor out, etc.

 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/peavey-xr-8600d-class-d-powered-mixer

[Doug Fowler]

I did plenty of playing gigs back in the early 80s with an XR600B head and a pair of SP2s, usually sitting on bar tables.

I watched the head fall off a pickup truck and hit the pavement. Of course it worked. 

That combination of classic Peavey products kept bar bands working for many years.