Cheap railboard mixer (no USB/PC) opinions?
"Waaaaaiting is the hard-est part..." man has that refrain been on my mind as I wait for my stick.
So having researched the hell out of various semi-portable combo amps and such, I thought I'd take a step back and look at even smaller gear since I travel a lot and just need something to practice with and not have the sound totally suck.
In looking at all the positive reviews of the Roland Street *cube* models (where '*' is a wildcard), I discovered this
thread discussing the
Behringer Europort MPA40BTGreat price, great weight, nice reviews from some stickists. Something I could see easily traveling with me every week as I get started. But it has no phantom power, no headphone output, no loop or pedal inputs, no effects, etc.
So whereas I was looking at some combo amps as starter travel units with minimal effects and EQ, the Behringer PA has none so I'm thinking a cheap mixer is what I need.
I'm just looking for any currently sold (the Alesis S-6 recommended a couple of times isn't) mixers that will provide the best bang for the buck, preferably under $100, acceptable up to $150, and will take signal directly from the railboard (with 48v phantom power) then go to wherever I want it to go (PA, enother effects processor, etc).
So what are your votes for best bang for mixer buck with this railboard and no-frills PA amp setup?
I have no idea what I might want beyond the basics of reverb effects and similar stuff (I'm not an electric guitar player). It'd be great if it had, or could loop in, other effects (including sound loops through the mixer so I can listen to it on headphones), down the road. But I'm not expecting much, just looking for your personal favorites that will work well in the above scenario.
Absolute minimum requirements:
- 2 channels input (for bass/melody stick signals) and output
- 48v phantom power
- Headphone out
Except for the headphone out, I can probably get the input/output/phantom from a $24 device.
I'm hoping for more in going to $100+, including (if possible, this is where the "bang for buck" thing is very subjective):
- 3 or more independent channels input and output
- 3 phantom powered xlr inputs (one for microphone), so I can use two XLR inputs from stick and one from microphone
- Reverb and other basic effects
- Additional flexible input/output connectors (e.g. RCA, etc)
- External effects loop capability
- Sound loops
It's okay if I outgrow this thing once I earn some chops on the stick, and I'm sure my wife would be happy to use the Behringer Europort MPA40BT as a wireless bluetooth speaker for her iphone in the kitchen, so I'm guessing I won't be disappointed with that one way or the other. (I'm not that impressed with her tiny Bose bluetooth iphone speaker, what crappy sound, can't believe it's a Bose).
Hopefully the mixer will serve as a minimal connector-adapter, phantom power supply, and signal relay if it becomes otherwise obsolete.
I'm also considering some hardware only mixer-alternative gizmos like the Presonus Audiobox 22VSL, but that's pricier than I want for this starter setup, and I don't relish involving my PC's in the process at this point. I need more practice on the stick and less poking at bits on my screen.
Gotta say, you stickists must be an extremely patient lot. I'm not even expecting that long of a wait for mine, and it still feels like I might have dreamed ordering it. Anybody know if the awaited batch of R-blocks is in yet?
Thanks,
- Dave