Cheap mixer

[drlargepants]

Can anyone recommend a small & cheap mixer ?

Basicaly I need to run a Sansamp and iPod into to something and output to headphones for rehearsal duties. 

I currently use an iPad with JamUp and a Line6 SonicPort but the latency is rather annoying, plus my son is forever stealing the iPad and running the battery down. 

Many thanks !

[drlargepants]

This sort of thing maybe ?

https://preview.tinyurl.com/yd2t8rxk

i really have no clue when it comes to these things sorry !

 

[taunton-hobbit]

You could do worse.............(waits for howls of hate)

[dannybuoy]

If you only need to mix those two sources, a Behringer MA400 does a good job. XLR input for the Sansamp and mini jack for the iPod. For not much more though, you could get one of their mini mixers if you ever think you might need to add more things into the mix!

Edited April 9, 2018 by dannybuoy

[drlargepants]

I take it battery options are limited to none ?

[dannybuoy]

Zoom B1on? It has a digital model of the Sansamp in it as well as a tuner and drum machine.

There is the likes of the Vox Amplug but that has its own amp like colouration - which might not sound good with the Sansamp but then again could mean you won’t need it!

 

[dannybuoy]

Oh yeah, you can minimise the latency on iPad too - either in the settings for JamUp itself, or otherwise get the Audiobus app, set the latency in there (which can go lower than the settings allow in most other apps) then load JamUp inside of that.

[drlargepants]

Maybe. I’m trying to get away from digital stuff in all honesty. 

[dannybuoy]

Me too, analog preamp into a PJB Bighead for me (although I’ve now added a digital compressor!). The Bighead ticks all your boxes apart from cheap!

[drlargepants]

I’ve tried that. It’s a reasonably new iPad with not much stuff running and it’s still very noticeable to me. 

Tbh I’ve bought a Sansamp for rehearsals as I can’t be arsed hauling my cab and head to them, so it sort of makes sense to get used to using it. 

End game is to bin the head off and to use Sansamp with a power amp, but that’s another conversation !

[dannybuoy]

There is a bit of a gap in the market here I think for a cheap simple battery powered headphone amp with aux in.

Everything I can think of is either expensive, complicated, no battery, or no aux in!

Edited April 9, 2018 by dannybuoy

[lemmywinks]

https://www.reddogmusic.co.uk/catalog/product/913281/citronic-qmix3

 

This looks strangely similiar to the Behringer Xenyx302USB that I use only with battery power as well as USB. You can use the USB as a line in on channel 2 as well on a Windows tablet/laptop, don't know if this would work on an iPad but you could always just use the phono inputs.

Edited April 9, 2018 by lemmywinks

[dannybuoy]

That looks like a winner!

[lemmywinks]

That actually looks better than my Behringer one as it has a 3.5mm output as well as phono, mine has a headset mic input instead that I'll never use. That's annoying!

[WinterMute]

I’d suggest something like this:

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_multimix_4usb.htm

 

decent build quality and a usb that won’t be too latent, you’ll need a mini jack to 2x1/4” cable for your iPad.

[drlargepants]

Thank you all for the help :-)

[tauzero]

I use this for live work (though it's about to be replaced by an X Air 12): https://radioactive.org.uk/product/behringer-xenyx-1002b-mixer/

Handy if you want more than two inputs, and I also like it for having sliders but still having a very small footprint because of the neat arrangement. Probably overkill if you're just mixing two sources together though.

 

[Dan Dare]

For a better quality small format mixer, have a look at the Mackie VLZ range. This is the smallest - https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Mackie-402-VLZ4-4-Channel-Analog-Compact-Mixer/UVQ. Much better mic preamps than most small/inexpensive mixers and well built.