Mixers

Yamaha's latest digital mixing console was by far the biggest crowd sensation at this year's APRS in London, taking many people by surprise with its low price and wealth of features. Dominic Hawken lends a listening ear to the first unit in the country.

Can the Texas-built Ross RCS1602 compete with the wealth of low-cost UK-built desks? Shirley Gray searches for the answer.

Paul White appraises the latest contender in the budget, general-purpose mixer category, and finds that its deceptively simple facade conceals several powerful and unexpected features.

The X2 console forms the centrepiece of an Alesis studio that is becoming increasingly up-market and professional. Paul White checks out the new desk and finds that, despite its apparently high cost, it really does have a lot to offer to the more demanding user.

Though still a small name in the crowded UK mixer market, Phonic are gaining a reputation for building affordable desks with lots of features. Shirley Gray test-drives their latest console, a four-buss model with studio and live applications.

Paul White checks out Tascam's latest contender for the 8-bus crown and believes that, despite fierce competition, it's in with a fighting chance.

On the face of it, Soundcraft's new Rac Pac is just another compact mixer, but look beneath the surface and you'll find an unususally versatile desk which can double as a miniture recording console or PA mixer.

Soundtracs' new studio gem falls in with the current trend in mixer design — more features and better performance for less money — and adds that special Soundtracs polish. Paul White takes a shine to it.

This new mixer from Samson can't lay claim to much originality but does offer a good array of features for its sub-£1000 price tag. Derek Johnson checks it out.

Paul White digs out his patch leads and powers up Allen & Heath's new general purpose, 4-bus console.

Soundcraft's new mixer attempts to combine budget pricing with a level of performance capable of doing justice to the new breed of digital multitrack machines. Paul White finds out how well it succeeds.

An investigation of the latest offering from Penny & Giles, the Rolls Royce of fader manufacturers.

This deceptively small console conceals a sophisticated VCA automation system that can be used independently or in conjunction with external MIDI devices.

Even though it had no serious competitor quality-wise, Soundcraft's original Series 200 mixer was somewhat lacking in the 'useful features' department. The newly-improved 200B puts all that to rights as Dave Lockwood discovers.