Most of the time, when playing Live on a PA, the Stereo image of your Tracks doesn’t translate well.
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I’ve got a Xone 96 and it’s great for this - although am currently selling that and replacing with a Model 1, which I did actually have before, but had to sell at the time.
Play Differently have recently released a 4-channel version of the Model 1 too - both the 4 and 6 channel version are rather expensive though. The Xone 96 is solid, and you can use it as your interface and everything if you like - would recommend.
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Xone 96 looks great, very expensive though.
True, so does that mean you can just use mono into stereo pedals and not worry about it?
I use a tc helicon blender … 6 stereo ins, 4 stereo outs… but all the routing is configurable so I use it for sends and returns. It only has 1/8in stereo jacks though. Worth looking into imo.
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less pricey but no knobs: Midas MR18 / Behringer XR18 has 6 mono AUXs afair … or read a bit here:
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mackie 1204 has 2 aux returns and is of decent quality.
I’d just use mono aux send with stereo returns and I guess it’s common to do that on stage in electronic music anyway. Intricate stereo effects probaply won’t translate anyway.
You could even return in mono. Less cables, less hassle setting everything up, less stuff that could potentially go wrong.
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I do a lot of this with my QU16. The Qu-Pac is the compact version and it’s potentially all the mixer you’ll ever need, as well as a great audio interface, USB for live multitrack and stereo recording etc etc.
Although as @Schnork and @Tchu mentioned, often in live situations stereo FX don’t translate brilliantly or at all, so mono can be way easier and more predictable.
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Are they stereo aux outs?
Lots of food for thought here, thanks all. I’d like to use an analog mixer, so unless there’s a cheaper solution than the Xone 96, I think I’ll use my present mixer with mono aux outs until I have cash ready for the Xone: 96 and then use that.
There are cheaper DJ mixers with stereo sends than the xone:96…
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No, they are not ! But common practise in sound engineering is to use mono auxes with stereo processors. Rarely one needs reverbs to be stereo to stereo.
Especially on a live setting.
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But there are many more types of send fx and for some it really does matter to feed it the proper stereo source. Well at least for me it does. For example I have my AH on a send and when you’re going to filter and distort it makes a difference going in mono or stereo. Of course if the source doesn’t have much stereo content it doesn’t matter.
Also the live setting argumentation is only partly valid. When playing on a high quality PA the difference can be heard.
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Then you could use the ALT outputs in the mackie 1204. the mute switch doubles as an alternate output that is stereo. just as a stereo group.
download the manual to check this !
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Obviously there are cases where stereo is what you want - in my studio, I have a bunch of stereo sends and returns. But for the OP here… doesn’t seem necessary. And if the PA was that good, there would probably be a much better desk attached to it anyhow!
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Maybe the SSL six. It has 2 mono channels, 2 stereo channels, then 2 sets of stereo send and returns. With lots of routing flexibility.
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People rave about these!
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I should have said that I need 6 channels for Digitakt, Analog Rytm Mk2 and SP-404A (for long stereo samples). The reason stereo is important is that I also want to record and share videos of live performances at home. The Xone: 96 only has 4 inputs. The only DJ mixer I could find with 6 inputs is the Pioneer DJM-V10, but that’s over $3000, so it’s getting crazy expensive.
The SSL SiX looks perfect for my 6 channel analog needs, even a compressor for live, also love the form factor, think I’ll be getting this, thanks!
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