Affordable mixer for practice

[PapaGanush]

Just trying to keep my knowledge alive working with Ableton alone keyboard and mouse is not the same feeling as working in a live show. Graduated 8 months ago still looking for a job as a sound technician I've been scavenging experience here and there did some streamings for a couple of weekends but its hard to build experience without connection. But as long as I am alive I keep trying, remember how were you 15/30 years ago?
Anyway just looking for a cheap ass mixer max 600$ just to keep home for practice or maybe take it with me if I have a small band or a duo to mixe for
Any recommendations?

[shufflebeat]

Behringer* Xr18 or something similar in the same series and an iPad.

https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0BI8

*
I don't make a habit of recommending Behringer products but that's decent price/quality/usefulness.

[The Elf]

^^ Good option.

Or one of the Zoom Livetraks.

[PapaGanush]

Lmao you troll okay I mean I have the app but its useless should I just go for it and buy the xr18 ? shouldnt I buy a car first its just impossible to "practice" live at home
Zoom LiveTrak never heard of this one exploring now..
okay good news is am on waitlist for one of these incluive resorts but can't just wait or look for a job how u guys keep the knowledge alive ? at work cool but what if you didn't have a job ?

* I am justgraduate student with 4k savings...

[shufflebeat]

how u guys keep the knowledge alive ?

Lots of gigs, either your own or someone else's. If you want to explore the system then virtual soundchecks are quite useful:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=igtsZxUOaGU

For the record, what subject did you graduate in?

[Arpangel]

^^ Good option.

Or one of the Zoom Livetraks.

Good choice, a Zoom. Self-contained, easy to use, familiar interface, no software/hardware to become redundant.

[Dave B]

its just impossible to "practice" live at home

... how u guys keep the knowledge alive ?

Here's a thought :

* Buy a mixer like the XR18
* Set up your PA
* plug your laptop into the XR18 USB
* grab raw sessions from the web and load them into your DAW of choice
* route the outputs of the tracks in the DAW to the channels on the XR18
* mix the results

There are plenty of multitracks out there as wav files. You don't need to turn the PA up too loud - and if you do this during the day you can push it up to see the difference that volume makes, just only do it occasionally.

Presto! You are still practicing your skills

[PapaGanush]

how u guys keep the knowledge alive ?

For the record, what subject did you graduate in?

Live Music from Recordingconnection

[PapaGanush]

its just impossible to "practice" live at home

... how u guys keep the knowledge alive ?

Here's a thought :

* Buy a mixer like the XR18
* Set up your PA
* plug your laptop into the XR18 USB
* grab raw sessions from the web and load them into your DAW of choice
* route the outputs of the tracks in the DAW to the channels on the XR18
* mix the results

There are plenty of multitracks out there as wav files. You don't need to turn the PA up too loud - and if you do this during the day you can push it up to see the difference that volume makes, just only do it occasionally.

Presto! You are still practicing your skills

Didn't even know we could load from daw to mixer! I should buy the xr18 .

[James Perrett]

Didn't even know we could load from daw to mixer! I should buy the xr18 .

You don't even need the band for the soundcheck any more!

[Dave Rowles]

Mixing practice is mixing practice. It doesn't matter what you're mixing, or from where, or really even what you're mixing it on because it's all about training your ears to hear the frequencies you want to alter, or making choices on what effects or dynamic processors think could be appropriate. Working with multi-tracks is a good thing, but obviously it won't help with dealing with feedback with live mics!

As to what mixer to buy. The XR18 is a good entry model to start with, though I personally prefer the X32 series as I find the app easier to use. I use an X32 rack on my smaller gigs.

You're eventually going to want to try and get your hands on as many different mixers you can get your hands on. All the digital mixers on the market operate slightly differently, though it's a little more consistent across brands.

[AlecSp]

Mixing practice is mixing practice. It doesn't matter what you're mixing, or from where, or really even what you're mixing it on because it's all about training your ears to hear the frequencies you want to alter, or making choices on what effects or dynamic processors think could be appropriate. Working with multi-tracks is a good thing, but obviously it won't help with dealing with feedback with live mics!

Don't forget that, especially at the low end of the market, mixing is only part of what you'll be doing - remember the problem solving, fixing broken gear, handling people, massaging egos, and all of the stuff that they may not teach you in college.

As to what mixer to buy. The XR18 is a good entry model to start with, though I personally prefer the X32 series as I find the app easier to use. I use an X32 rack on my smaller gigs.

The app can depend on your platform - if you're an Android user, Mixing Station is pretty much identical across the mixers. And is available on Windows/iOS, too.

[Dave Rowles]

The app can depend on your platform - if you're an Android user, Mixing Station is pretty much identical across the mixers. And is available on Windows/iOS, too.

True, but I prefer the X32-Mix app to mixing station personally, with the added thing that on iOS at least you have to buy access on mixing station but the named apps are free!