Boss BX-8 / BX-800 mixers

Hey gang
Are there any sonic differences between the BX-8 and BX-800? Will I get the delicious gelled crunch I crave with the 800? The 8 seems harder to find.
Thanks!
A

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either will work for what you want. only real difference is the power supplies (think the 8 is rare and 800 is built in) and the 800 has one aux send instead of two

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perfect. thanks for your time :slight_smile:

Anyone have any experience with this mixer? I’m thinking old school techno distortion.

Thanks!

ive got the bx8 (for live) and two bx16s (one’s broken and used for spare parts). they’re both great and simple and do exactly what you’d expect. some thoughts tho:

  1. each channel has a different volume for no reason other than it’s old and cheap. not so bad for mono sources because youd just gain the low ones, but for stereo sources it can make finding the balance quite hard.
  2. very muddy. not sure if that’s just my weird gain staging and bad cables, but it can be very muddy.
  3. due to it’s simplicity and forgiveness when it distorts, i still love it - as you can see by the fact i have three.

other than that, not much to be said. if you find one, get it, just be prepared for crackly pots and faders, inconsistent volumes, lack of clarity, but above all - a fun, quick, light, “cheap”, beautiful, distorting hardcore mixer

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By muddy do you mean overall sound quality or a noticeable hum that mixer produces?

I’m asking because i have a bx-800, and i think it was modified to work on 220v instead of original 110v. There is always a slightly noticeable hum coming from it, it’s not too bad (considering the overall lo-fi / distortion thing i’m using it for), but i’m wondering if it’s normal or something is wrong with my unit

Awesome thanks for taking the time for a thorough answer. I’ve been looking for fun ways to give my Digitakt some character, have some fun. For that price, can’t really complain. Will be watching the eBays and reverb for a nice one.

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I also have cheap mixers from the past and this volume difference between channels is always here. As you said, when you’re going mono, no problem, but if you want stereo be prepared for gain staging and mud. It’s not a bad thing, I love mud.

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If you want a cleaner distorted sound the original Mackie 1202 is worth trying out.

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everything i own hums or hisses for reasons i can’t understand so it’s hard to tell!

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Are there any differences between the bx-16 or perhaps the smaller bx-60 sound wise? BX-8 is just what I need judging from the youtube demos.

So I got the BX800 after all (finally). €65. And now I have the Model:Samples running a 727 kit, Prophet Rev2 running pads, all through it as submixer, and will add the tt303 and get some filthy acid and electro made :slight_smile:

Can’t beat that grit for the price. :slight_smile: But made me realize I actually do want something for distortion and that, but with some range in tone. So gonna start thinking about that, but this was definitely a great addition to my desk.

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I have a BX-8. The overdrive is lovely. The EQs are fine but limited. The two stereo effect sends really are nice. Simple, no nonsense.

My friend picked one up immediately after hearing me do a live set with it. It’s loved for a reason.

Careful though, I thought the BX-4 would be the same beauty in a smaller package, but I was way wrong.

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That’s a shame, the BX-600 has some really nice distortion and feels a bit more raw without the EQ there.

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Does anyone know where to source PSUs for the BX8?

Love my BX-8 for the size, grit and colour scheme. The distortion angle gets a bit old after a while but it sure does it well. I recently got a Yocto 808 and they certainly do make a fine pair.

Maybe I was lucky but my volume levels are pretty even, only a couple of staticky pots which warm up after a while and most surprisingly it can do clean if you’re careful with gain staging. I tend to avoid the bass EQ as it generally makes things just sound “thumpy”.

If you’re just after BX distortion, I’ve also got the BX-400 and that thing distorts like a mofo! Even more than my BX-8.

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Just got one (BX-800) and it has a great distortion. Noticed one of my channels lowers it’s volume after a little while though, which is annoying. Ever deal with this issue before? Just wondering if it needs a cleaning or what.

i actually prefer driving the eq’s high for distortion over the gain. has a more substantial tone vs just degradation. that said one of my channels went out and i’m not sure if it’s worth fixing. the whole sound gets a bit old/one-trick-pony. kinda over it tbh and feel like i want a distortion tool that has more control and nuance. not sure where to get that yet, but in no hurry either.

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For anyone with a bit of Eurorack space that wants a bit of the old BX magic, there’s a guy making BX channel strips as modules here. He does a six channel BX mixer too, but only in small batches and they sell out immediately.
He also does ones emulating the Mackie CR and Boss KM mixers.
I don’t have one, but I’ve heard they’re very good, and pretty cheap too.

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True. I have found however subtlety to be key. To me it’s just a nice tool to have.

Almost all punchy perc stuff gets a bit driven into the the red. Sometimes just pink-red, other times full red death (as long as the sound isn’t breaking apart).

For clean sounds (like most of my stuff from the Digitone), the gain just helps me drive the sound a bit - almost never pink-red.

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