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Do I really need to move to a digital mixer and tablet? I like my knobs. isn't anyone making an affordable rack mounted multi effect box?

Keep your knobs

thermionic geek wrote:Do I really need to move to a digital mixer and tablet? I like my knobs. isn't anyone making an affordable rack mounted multi effect box?

What do you need? If it's something simple like basic delay and reverbs for a very basic PA system, it seems overkill to get a whole new mixer and setup for that. You can buy something used like a Lexicon MXP100/110/200 etc.. or a TC M300 or even older Alesis units that will give a a basic reverb/delay for your vocals etc.

My practice PA rack has an Alesis Midiverb III, a DBX 166 dual channel compressor in the main FX inserts . Then I have a DBX AFS224 feedback suppressor between the mixer and the Main speakers, which are QSC K10.2s. This system works great for my needs, but my needs are simple.


Now the biggest advantage of going into a full blown digital mixer is you can assign different effects parameters to each channel, save scenes etc... it can come in handy if you are using your own PA on your gigs, mic'ing the whole band including a drum kit, having separate monitor mixes, IEMs etc. You can still do a lot of it with hardware effects but you may need several of them for different uses, plus a patchbay etc.. that gets expensive, not to mention you will end up with a big rack with a lot to connect on every gig.
So in that case, moving to an all-inclusive digital system makes sense.

I'm trying to put together a live rig. The goal is to put on shows with my band and a few others at locations TBD at the moment. I have a Mackie 24.4 I just cleaned up and its 100% working. It's got six available aux channels so everyone can have a personal monitor mix if needed although i doubt we will ever get that fancy except for the singer's in ears. I have a few DBX compressors (doesn't everyone?) and a TC M350 for delay and reverb. Its kind of limited so i'm looking for something a little better. into a Peavey IPR3000 and 2 big old JBL 2x15s with a horn. Plus various powered monitors. Two for the front of the stage and one for the drummer. I wanted something more like a Lexicon MX400 but new. The format of live sound has changed completely since the last time I built a PA. I feel old. I'll probably just buy a used Lexicon or similar. I might even use my GSP1101 as vocal effects.

The plan is to run vocals and a few drum Mics. Bass drum and overheads which are probably pointless, but I have them and want to use them. Maybe bass and guitars if needed. For the size of the places I want to play probably not.

thermionic geek wrote:I'm trying to put together a live rig. The goal is to put on shows with my band and a few others at locations TBD at the moment. I have a Mackie 24.4 I just cleaned up and its 100% working. It's got six available aux channels so everyone can have a personal monitor mix if needed although i doubt we will ever get that fancy except for the singer's in ears. I have a few DBX compressors (doesn't everyone?) and a TC M350 for delay and reverb. Its kind of limited so i'm looking for something a little better. into a Peavey IPR3000 and 2 big old JBL 2x15s with a horn. Plus various powered monitors. Two for the front of the stage and one for the drummer. I wanted something more like a Lexicon MX400 but new. The format of live sound has changed completely since the last time I built a PA. I feel old. I'll probably just buy a used Lexicon or similar. I might even use my GSP1101 as vocal effects.

The plan is to run vocals and a few drum Mics. Bass drum and overheads which are probably pointless, but I have them and want to use them. Maybe bass and guitars if needed. For the size of the places I want to play probably not.

Honestly man, that should be a good sounding system. I love the sound of these Mackie VLZ boards. I use a 16.8 IMHO they sound better than these new digital boards.

Just add the Lexicon MX400 for additional effects and you should be good to go. A brand new unit would be nice but the options are limited these days. Besides, these Lexicons are pretty reliable. And cheap if you need to replace them.


The format of live sound has definitely changed but I don't necessarily think the new format sounds better. It's definitely easier to setup and carry, I will give them that. But for sound, I will take your Mackie board over these new mixers anyway.