Any good cheap rack mixers?

[Jamesemt]

The keyboard player and main PA guy is leaving, meaning I'm going to have to do the PA.

We've been talking for a while about getting rid of the Peavey monster size mixer we have at present, and looking at getting something which can live in a rack and stay permanently connected. At present the mixer is balanced (!!) on top of the rack and everything has to be replugged in for every gig.

We use 4 mics for the drums, 3 vocal mics, 1 gtr di, 1 bass di, 1 keys di.

Are there any cheap rack mixers that fit this? Is it possible to mount a mixer on the opposite side of the rack?

Would it be worth ditching the reverb units and getting an all in one mixer with effects? Something with a bit of power would be good (meaning we could use an extra two montors - I sometimes struggle to hear the keyboardist at the other side of the stage).

FWIW we have two power amps running around 2Kw if memory serves me, and have two wedge monitors that the singer uses.

I'm a complete PA numpty...help!!!

[Happy Jack]

[url="http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/RX1202FX.aspx"]http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/RX1202FX.aspx[/url]

I play in a 5-piece covers band, we all sing, the keyboard goes through the PA, plus the KB player also plays mic'd up sax, and sometimes we mic up the bass drum.

The Behringer 1202 does all that and has never yet (18 months of gigging) given me a headache.

The FX are not great, merely adequate, so I have a Lexicon unit mounted there too, along with a feedback suppressor unit.

[Jamesemt]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1021265' date='Nov 12 2010, 12:23 PM'][url="http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/RX1202FX.aspx"]http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/RX1202FX.aspx[/url]

I play in a 5-piece covers band, we all sing, the keyboard goes through the PA, plus the KB player also plays mic'd up sax, and sometimes we mic up the bass drum.

The Behringer 1202 does all that and has never yet (18 months of gigging) given me a headache.

The FX are not great, merely adequate, so I have a Lexicon unit mounted there too, along with a feedback suppressor unit.[/quote]

Cheers for that - would you recommend the suppressor?

[Jamesemt]

Can I use the two stereo channels as mono channels without any hassle?

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='1021360' date='Nov 12 2010, 01:15 PM']Cheers for that - would you recommend the suppressor?[/quote]

Definitely.

I've used three different types, all worked really really well, all are "fire & forget". My current one, the Sabine FBX2020 ( [url="http://www.sabine.com/resources/FBX/Literature/FBX1020-P-FBX2020-P-Color.PDF"]http://www.sabine.com/resources/FBX/Litera...020-P-Color.PDF[/url] ) is one of the most invisible but totally useful devices I own.

A classic example of "you don't notice it, or know what it's doing, until you switch it off".

My keyboard player is a know-all bullsh*tt*r who likes to lecture me on how all you need to know is how to follow a proper set-up procedure for the gain controls on everything, note the settings, and then re-use every time.

Apart from little things like rooms being different shapes & sizes and possessing different acoustic qualities, and that different venues force bands to set up with their kit in different places, there's also the little matter of guitarists who suddenly decide to turn everything to '11'.

With a feedback suppressor (NOT one of those awful 31-band graphic EQ thingies) you can automatically "notch" out the precise frequencies that are causing the feedback, losing very little of your original sound in the process.

Next pub - hit Reset, wait 30 seconds, away you go.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='1021553' date='Nov 12 2010, 03:16 PM']Can I use the two stereo channels as mono channels without any hassle?[/quote]

Yup - just plug into the LEFT channel, never the Right. That's how we do keyboards and drums/bass. I don't quite understand the stereo keyboard output thing, but in fairness I've not done any research.

Obviously you only get a separate Gain control on the XLR inputs.

I wouldn't recommend plugging different sources into L and R simultaneously, but it's not something I've tried.