Recomend me a cheap mixer

[drumingman]

Basic need is to video myself with a phone playing e-drums to drumless utube tracks but have good sound straight into my phone. Home use only.
A mixer with EQ on all inputs.
A mixer with stereo instruments input
I also sometimes use 2 playstation mics for home karoke which use a 1/4 jack via a 3.5mm - 1/4 jack adapter.
So I need
an input for my drums, stereo or mono,
an input for the youtube music (i have a 3.5mm to 1/4inch lead for this )
and 2 1/4inch inputs for the mics
Also another 1/4inch would be good for a friend who plays bass.
I have been recommended https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Li ... layer/16M1 but was hoping to spend less
Thank you and thanks to the others that helped me on my original post

[drumingman]

I have found this https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Li ... 4wLjAuMA..
But have some questions.
I was looking at buying an irig stream to connect my drums to a phone and video myself but reading the info on the Behringer 802S Analog Mixer it also has a Streaming Interface so will that mean I do not even need the irig stream.
Also looking at the unit it has left and right for single stereo inputs but also says line 3/4 5/6 7/8- does that mean I can use the left and the right as two seperate mono inputs ?
Also how risky is buying a used one on ebay - what could go wrong with a second hand mixer.

[Drew Stephenson]

Haven't looked at the full requirements properly, but just bear in mind that the 802s you linked to is a new model. The older ones don't have the USB input so make sure you're buying the right thing if you go secondhand.
As to 'what could go wrong'? Generally those Xenyx mixers are pretty bulletproof apart from some have issues with the power connector (though none of mine have had that), and some might have had a hard life supporting open mic nights and other alcohol-related activities (all of mine have had that! ).

[drumingman]

Thanks Drew, good to know about the mixers being pretty bulletproof I will look for clean un abused ones. And check out the usb. But I thought the usb was the output.

[Drew Stephenson]

Thanks Drew, good to know about the mixers being pretty bulletproof I will look for clean un abused ones. And check out the usb. But I thought the usb was the output.

It looks like the USB is a 2 in - 2 out. So you can route a stereo in via the USB to channel 7/8 and I would assume that the USB output is the same as the main mix.
But I wouldn't put any money on that without playing around with it or having a proper read of the manual.
In terms of your requirements, it meets most of them. Mics into channels 1&2 (though that's a bit of a wild assumption as I have no idea what kind of outputs your playstation mics have), Drums into 3/4, Youtube into 7/8 via USB, leaving you 5 for your friend's bass....
BUT that last bit depends on your friend's bass. That mixer has no dedicated instrument inputs. So if he has a passive bass and just plugs it into input 5 then it might not give you enough signal. But if he's taking the output of a bass amp then it opens up another set of questions!

[drumingman]

Thanks, the bass is probably not going to happen very often - if at all if im honest. The mics and drums were fun karaoke when I set the mics up with a micromix https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soundlab-Chann ... 125&sr=1-3 then to my drum amp, but again that may not happen very often.
My main requirement is to mix the drums with youtube then route both to a phone for videoing myself playing.
Does anyone know if I can route the output to my phone instead of using an Irig stream built for this and will the resulting sound quality be the same as the irig which by all reviews seems very good sound quality. The 802s has a dedicated streaming output (or something )

[drumingman]

Searching I have found this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Depusheng-4-CH ... MBJSJ&th=1

it comes under various names but is the same thing.
Does everything I need apart from an instrument jack it even has bluetooth and the ability to plug in a usb stick and record.
I have seen utube reviews of it under different brand names and they do not rate it badly.
I really want the 802s but its too expensive for my needs and I find myself convincing myself that the cheap amazon one will be ok.
Tell me why it might not be ?

[Drew Stephenson]

Well, it might do everything you need perfectly. It might be terrible.
Unfortunately there's no specifications and little chance of any kind of support if you have any problems.
So it would be a gamble, but only you can decide if that's one you want to take.

[Arpangel]

Searching I have found this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Depusheng-4-CH ... MBJSJ&th=1

it comes under various names but is the same thing.
Does everything I need apart from an instrument jack it even has bluetooth and the ability to plug in a usb stick and record.
I have seen utube reviews of it under different brand names and they do not rate it badly.
I really want the 802s but its too expensive for my needs and I find myself convincing myself that the cheap amazon one will be ok.
Tell me why it might not be ?

A Chinese takeaway for two and a bottle of wine comes to about the price of this mixer. If it’s even vaguely capable of passing a signal, I’d say you are ahead of the game.
But there’s bound to be someone out there that’s bought one, and on the strength of using it to produce an album that’s just been signed by Sony for three million, it’ll be the exception that proves "the rule"

[drumingman]

Well, it might do everything you need perfectly. It might be terrible.
Unfortunately there's no specifications and little chance of any kind of support if you have any problems.
So it would be a gamble, but only you can decide if that's one you want to take.

Thanks for your thoughts, here's another under a different name

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134692848603 ... p_homepage

And another version here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX2iddxCHQg

Yeh -you are right there will be no support no nothing.

[drumingman]

Searching I have found this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Depusheng-4-CH ... MBJSJ&th=1

it comes under various names but is the same thing.
Does everything I need apart from an instrument jack it even has bluetooth and the ability to plug in a usb stick and record.
I have seen utube reviews of it under different brand names and they do not rate it badly.
I really want the 802s but its too expensive for my needs and I find myself convincing myself that the cheap amazon one will be ok.
Tell me why it might not be ?

A Chinese takeaway for two and a bottle of wine comes to about the price of this mixer. If it’s even vaguely capable of passing a signal, I’d say you are ahead of the game.
But there’s bound to be someone out there that’s bought one, and on the strength of using it to produce an album that’s just been signed by Sony for three million, it’ll be the exception that proves "the rule"

When you put it like that then
When the 802s is only two Chinese takeaways and 2 bottles of wine.
And if I buy from Throman i get 3 years guarantee.

[Arpangel]

And if I buy from Throman i get 3 years guarantee.

That’s more than I get on my takeaways.

[ef37a]

The 802 mixers are pretty good for audio quality but beware of the USB facility.
They are 16 bit devices and produce a high frequency whine, albeit at a low level. This noise can be greatly reduced by a gain adjustment in Windows but I have no idea if that is possible with a phone. Later, 2nd generation mixers such as the little SoundCrafts are 24bits and free from the problem.

Re used equipment? Look for Cash Generator hock shops. They have a one week, no quibble returns policy.

Dave.

[Arpangel]

The 802 mixers are pretty good for audio quality but beware of the USB facility.
They are 16 bit devices and produce a high frequency whine, albeit at a low level. This noise can be greatly reduced by a gain adjustment in Windows but I have no idea if that is possible with a phone. Later, 2nd generation mixers such as the little SoundCrafts are 24bits and free from the problem.

Re used equipment? Look for Cash Generator hock shops. They have a one week, no quibble returns policy.

Dave.

From an analogue audio quality angle, I find it difficult to tell between mixers in this area of the market, Mackie tend to be a bit better built, and sound a bit more transparent to my ears, but Behringer have had issues with USB on these small mixers, a friend complained about a whine on USB after he bought one as a sub-mixer, and tried it as an interface, he no longer uses it for USB.

[ef37a]

The 802 mixers are pretty good for audio quality but beware of the USB facility.
They are 16 bit devices and produce a high frequency whine, albeit at a low level. This noise can be greatly reduced by a gain adjustment in Windows but I have no idea if that is possible with a phone. Later, 2nd generation mixers such as the little SoundCrafts are 24bits and free from the problem.

Re used equipment? Look for Cash Generator hock shops. They have a one week, no quibble returns policy.

Dave.

From an analogue audio quality angle, I find it difficult to tell between mixers in this area of the market, Mackie tend to be a bit better built, and sound a bit more transparent to my ears, but Behringer have had issues with USB on these small mixers, a friend complained about a whine on USB after he bought one as a sub-mixer, and tried it as an interface, he no longer uses it for USB.

Tony, if your pal is running Windows then he can set the level in the PC such that the whine is all but buried in the noise floor (which is at best -85dBFS, 16 bits see?) This is fine for most recording jobs except speech and quiet instruments such a 'gut' guitar.

Dave.

[Arpangel]

The 802 mixers are pretty good for audio quality but beware of the USB facility.
They are 16 bit devices and produce a high frequency whine, albeit at a low level. This noise can be greatly reduced by a gain adjustment in Windows but I have no idea if that is possible with a phone. Later, 2nd generation mixers such as the little SoundCrafts are 24bits and free from the problem.

Re used equipment? Look for Cash Generator hock shops. They have a one week, no quibble returns policy.

Dave.

From an analogue audio quality angle, I find it difficult to tell between mixers in this area of the market, Mackie tend to be a bit better built, and sound a bit more transparent to my ears, but Behringer have had issues with USB on these small mixers, a friend complained about a whine on USB after he bought one as a sub-mixer, and tried it as an interface, he no longer uses it for USB.

Tony, if your pal is running Windows then he can set the level in the PC such that the whine is all but buried in the noise floor (which is at best -85dBFS, 16 bits see?) This is fine for most recording jobs except speech and quiet instruments such a 'gut' guitar.

Dave.

Thanks Dave, but I gave my friend my old Focusrite interface, so he's OK, he’s on Mac by the way.

[Drew Stephenson]

Just a quick note, the 802S I linked to earlier in the thread is a much newer model but whether it has the same whining issues I couldn't say.

[James Perrett]

Just a quick note, the 802S I linked to earlier in the thread is a much newer model but whether it has the same whining issues I couldn't say.

I've had the whine problem with another cheap Behringer interface but Dave (who has the same interface) hasn't so I guess that there was probably a batch of USB audio interface chips that were susceptible.

[drumingman]

Just a quick note, the 802S I linked to earlier in the thread is a much newer model but whether it has the same whining issues I couldn't say.

Yes if I go for the 802 it will be the new one - the 802s released this past April I believe.
A recap on my needs.
I play E- drums and want to use an android / tablet to direct record (vid ) myself playing without using a PC. Its for showing off to friends and sending via whatapp, maybe posting on drumming forums so nothing pro.
I have done this with a cheap dongle but the crap sound makes me sound worse than I am
I looked at the irig stream which sounds perfect but at £80-£90 I could instead buy the new 802s and use that to connect to my phone for recording (vid ) instead of the irig from what I can understand as it has a dedicated stream setting.
Party times I have two line mics that I use with a cheap £20 line mixer that has delay and reverb that I plug into my drum amp for karoke -the backing tracks come from utube on the tablet so with the 802s I could have everything through that and control the EQ on drums/utube/2 mics as well.
Only thing missing would be the reverb/delay but with the 802s I can use the FX feature- sends everything out to a efects and then back in - right ?

[drumingman]

Another question is the usb an input as well as output, my drums have a usb output as well as R-Land L-/mono output.

[James Perrett]

Another question is the usb an input as well as output, my drums have a usb output as well as R-Land L-/mono output.

Your drums and the mixer are both USB audio interfaces which need to be connected to a USB host in order to be able to transfer audio across USB. So you can't connect the drums directly to the mixer via USB.

[drumingman]

Another question is the usb an input as well as output, my drums have a usb output as well as R-Land L-/mono output.

Your drums and the mixer are both USB audio interfaces which need to be connected to a USB host in order to be able to transfer audio across USB. So you can't connect the drums directly to the mixer via USB.

Thank you so much for your help. Was just thinking if could use the usb to connect my drums then it would free up the other connections but I would have more than I need anyway.

Can I ask is there any reason why I should connect my drums via left and right to the 802s as opposed to just mono to it. There is no difference in sound quality is there ? apart from being stereo, not even sure if the drums come out in stereo anyway as they certainly do not through headphones when i attach them to the drum brain.

[ef37a]

I have found a specification for the 802 S and it is still a 16 bit device. I have no idea if it has the same noise problem, one would expect not!

I doubt if it matters whether the mixer is used with a mac or Windows since the whine is generated at a constant level ref the signal going through the mixer and the 'fix' is to drastically reduce the sensitivity of the USB input on the computer. I assume you can do that on a mac?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

Can I ask is there any reason why I should connect my drums via left and right to the 802s as opposed to just mono to it. There is no difference in sound quality is there ? apart from being stereo, not even sure if the drums come out in stereo anyway as they certainly do not through headphones when i attach them to the drum brain.

There shouldn't be any difference in quality if you just use the mono output. I would guess that you may need to set up the panning in the drum brain if you want the sounds to come out in stereo. It probably just uses mono samples and it is normal to have the kick and snare in the centre although toms and cymbals are often panned.

[drumingman]

Can I ask is there any reason why I should connect my drums via left and right to the 802s as opposed to just mono to it. There is no difference in sound quality is there ? apart from being stereo, not even sure if the drums come out in stereo anyway as they certainly do not through headphones when i attach them to the drum brain.

There shouldn't be any difference in quality if you just use the mono output. I would guess that you may need to set up the panning in the drum brain if you want the sounds to come out in stereo. It probably just uses mono samples and it is normal to have the kick and snare in the centre although toms and cymbals are often panned.

That's what I thought. Thanks for your help. I think it would just make my head spin anyway