Q. Which small mixers have high impedance inputs?Published in SOS February 2009 I recently read Mike Seniors review of the Alesis Multimix 16, and he listed as one of the cons the lack of a high-impedance instrument input. I agree with him, but have been searching for ages for a small mixer with this kind of input and cant find one anywhere. Is there one? The mixer isnt actually for me, but for a musician friend who still records to eight-track cassette via an old PA and various pedals and outboard. He plays bass pedals and has an ancient drum machines, plus he sings and plays guitar and banjo. The outboard and the PA mixer are noisy, and as I transfer his tapes and mix them I spend far too much time on noise reduction and not enough on mixing and production. He is not technically savvy, and getting him to use several of the eight-track inputs is not a option, so I am looking for a mixer he can plug his instruments into and get a clean relatively noise-free signal from, to feed the eight-track. SOS Forum post Not as many small mixers as you would imagine come with high-impedance instrument inputs. Soundcrafts Compact 10 is one of them. SOS contributor Mike Senior replies: High-impedance inputs arent tremendously common on traditional small-format mixers, and it was only really because the Alesis Multimix 16 also offered USB audio interfacing for recording purposes that I felt that this omission was a significant missed opportunity. Unlike mixers, a lot of audio interfaces do have instrument inputs built in, and these products inevitably compete to a certain extent with the Multimix for the punters pound. However, if you root around a bit you can still find a few products that might fit the bill. For example, Mackies latest 402 and 802 VLZ3 mini-mixers both have two line inputs that are switchable for high-impedance operation, and also have the companys renowned XDR2 mic preamps, so those would probably be well worth looking at. I can see their relative operational simplicity being a big part of the appeal here too. The same companys newly announced U420 four-channel mixer/interface also has a high-impedance input, but I dont think you really need that units Firewire interfacing, so it wouldnt represent good value for you in this case. Another option might be the Soundcraft Compact 4 or Compact 10, with one and two high-impedance inputs respectively, and these should also be pretty easy to drive. Edirols M16DX and M10DX digital mixers also have high-impedance inputs, but Id probably steer clear of those in this situation, simply because the potential benefits of their built-in digital processing will almost certainly be lost on someone dealing primarily with analogue gear and not particularly technically minded. Other than those models, there doesnt appear to be much else out there with an instrument input built in, but I think were going to see that changing, to be honest, as the line between mixer and audio interface becomes ever more blurred. 0 ![]() Published in SOS February 2009 | Sunday 21st March 2010 April 2010
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