It seems like the TX-6 and the Bluebox are really the only mixers that are dedicated to stereo tabletop synth setups. Are we all really that much of a niche? After failing to find anything else that the TX-6 can accomplish, I finally ordered one. Yeah the price sucks, but it is what it is, and I don’t want to mess with bulky patchbays or large mixers with a bunch of useless mono inputs and mic preamps.
Anyway… the TX-6 seems to check all the boxes with some extra features over the Bluebox. I’ll also admit that I’m a sucker for TE’s design. The extra small size and battery powered operation are also a plus.
My current setup has been a mixture of daisy chaining audio via the Elektron ‘audio ins’ and utilizing a small mixer. The setup gets pretty messy, especially if you daisy chain more than 2 Elektron boxes, which I’m currently forced to do.
Having each Elektron box feeding audio into its own dedicated stereo channel on a compact, tabletop mixer is really going to speed up and simplify my workflow… I really wish there were more options for this type of mixer on the market.
I definitely considered the MAMX3, but read many reviews complaining about noise/buzz and sound degradation. I’d feel a bit nervous routing my entire Elektron setup through a cheap made in China box. The schematic not being available (forcing a random reviewer to create one) also makes me nervous. I’d love something like that from an actual reputable company, but I really don’t want to cheap out on what is probably one of the most important parts of my setup.
That one looks really nice! That one popped up during my research. Unfortunately I need a minimum of 5 stereo inputs, which I failed to mention in my original post. The Bluebox and TX-6 both have 6 stereo inputs (12 total if you use mono), which is a huge selling point for me.
I also get zero noise out of the MAMAXs I own. Sometimes people complaining online about gear are people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Happens more than you know.
I will mention that I don’t really have a specific budget I need to adhere to (which I am very grateful for), hence the reason for me going with the TX-6. If anything, I was hoping that this thread would at least shed some light on other options for this type of mixer (which looks like is happening with the MAMAXs). I just got annoyed at some of the current options, which are probably out of many people’s budget. The MAMAXs seem like a great option though, and I am all for any product that caters to our niche. It’s good to see some positive feedback about them on here, as opposed to random people on Amazon which as you mentioned may not be a very reputable source.
The TX-6 vastly outclasses the cheap line mixers, so absolutely get a TX-6 if it does what you need.
I’m cautious about trusting “actual reputable companies.” My first mixer was a Soundcraft Notepad, and that was absolutely a piece of shit for anything but noise music / no-input mixing.
At the cheap end of conventional mixers, Mackies are absolutely fine. I avoided them for a long time because I had friends in Seattle who were former Mackie techs that complained about the lack of serviceability of the modern made-in-China Mackies. But it turns out that they are fine. Not perfect, not exceptional, but more than adequate for their price.
Also worth checking out the SSL threads to see the problems people are having with another “premium” brand.
I think the core problem is that the good Soundcrafts are in the $1000-$10,000+ price range, and the good SSLs are in the $100k+ price range. Mackie is really good at the home recording market (Yamaha is too, but Yamaha mixers tend to take up a lot more space). Generally speaking, it’s best to buy the stuff that sells well from a given manufacturer. A company that expects to sell you a $300k mixing console that will be installed by a team of professionals is not a company I want to do business with if my budget is 1/1000 of that.
I find myself increasingly tempted by the TX-6 as both a mixer and audio interface. Two things kill it for me: the built-in battery will be useless in a decade, and for $1200 I could buy a $200 mixer instead and have $1000 left over for synths or just dump that back into my fun toys budget.
The TX-6 looks cute and fun, and if it is within your budget and does what you need then you should ignore internet randos who suggest otherwise.
Yeah this is what pushed me to make the purchase. $1,200 is a lot for a ‘boring’ purchase like a mixer, but my core setup is already fleshed out and I don’t need any more synths. I’m at the stage in my setup where I’m just looking to maximize convenience and efficiency, and the TX-6 fits the bill pretty nicely.
I really want that recorder. It’s sooo sexy, and is definitely a more ‘fun’ purchase than a boring mixer. But again, the mixer is essential for my setup. I definitely ‘want’ the recorder more, but the mixer is what I ‘need’.
I wanted to like the Bluebox, but I just couldn’t get past the design of the onscreen UI. It’s surprising how much of a differentiator embedded software UI still is today - some companies really invest in it (like TE or Elektron) while others just consider it an implementation detail.
Can you speak more on the CM-15? Sound characteristics or comparisons to other mics? Plosive rejection and SPL? Any particular problems you’ve encountered?
I moved from the Bluebox to the TX-6 last year. Couldn’t be happier. I did map the TX-6 to an external MIDI controller for more and bigger direct controls, kind of defeating the size purpose a bit - but I found I needed external control on the Bluebox too. Another selling point (for me) is its beat detection - better than anything I’ve used before (Roland, Redsound, A&H PX5). I can DJ old (analog mixed) records and the TX-6 does a great job keeping my Elektron rig in sync (via a RK-006).
