Thanks for him
Hey 'nauts!
I’m looking to set up a corner with a DT, DN and a few other synths and I figured I’d need a mixer with at least two stereo inputs and possibly another 2-4 mono inputs. On the other hand I could route the DN to the DT and two other synths into the DN saving $ and clutter. Any suggestions? Should I get a mixer? If yes, what?
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IMO a small mixer might be more flexible, than plugging the Elektron boxes together directly, if the FX of a box is not required to shape the sound of another. Larger mixers have send/receive routings and support the use of external FX or sending the sound to the main bus and to a Elektron unit.
Since I don’t know your setup and how you would like to perfom, I would suggest to check out small to mid sized mixers from Allan & Heath, Mackie, Presonus, Soundcraft, or Yamaha. You will find many models, which should suffice your needs.
If you can afford it, get some more channels as needed now, to grow in the future. At the end this would be cheaper, than buying a larger mixer later.
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I’ve got a little Mackie 802 VLZ3. They are pretty cheap on the second hand market and are perfect for this application.
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Mackie vlz 3 804 or 1202 are often the best recommended. They have an option, when you mute a channel it redirect it to aux output, which is very handy with a sampler for example. In top of the number of out you should consider aux bus for routing ext fx. 804 has only one, 1202, two…
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I went with Yamaha MG10 for my live setup. pretty small and good sounding! just 1 fx send and no return - so you need 1 of the 3 stereo inputs if you are using external fx like a reverb
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Thanks for the advice!
Standar issue recommendation: 
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Love my 1202vlz4… nice addition is the track mute button can be used to send any track to aux3/4 as stereo outs. That’s where I put my Analog Heat - can then run anything on the board theu the Heat - and the Heat output is hooked to inputs on the last Stereo channel. Like having 2 aux busses plus an additional Stereo aux bus.
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I’m another fan of the 1202VLZ4. Great value for the money.
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Love my 802 VLZ4.
I would prefer faders but then it would be bigger than what I would want. I would also prefer a sweep able EQ.
But there isn’t anything on the market that has it all. It’s good fun. Has helped my work flow immensely.
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I got this Behringer 1002b, because it has faders, can be rack-mounted and has 4 stereo inputs, runs on battery if needed. It was 88€ as a b-stock.
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I would recommend you a digital mixer in order to save scenes, snapshots or whatever the brand named it. So, in case you’ve created a good mix you can save the setup and start another project with different settings.
Check this thread Finally, the perfect mixer.
I had one of these. Perfect for desktop jams with my then Circuit, MicroGranny, MB33 & Mono Station combo. Had the lot in a guitar pedal board flightcase which I could stash under the sofa when not in use.
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My past experiences with Allen and Heath stuff had been really good, though I’ve not played with the small format stuff they are doing. Sound quality would probably be better with a mixer than daisy chaining the boxes
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Yup, I would recommend a digital mixer too. I have 3 Behringer digital mixers (XR12, XR18 and X32c) and love them all. Obviously the XRs are not hands on and need a controller (or tablet app) and I use these on pedal boards. The X32 is a dream though for mixing and routing signals/FX through various pieces of hardware.
Just so folks know we’re now 4 recommendations deeper than when OP bought a mixer…
We can keep going though, it’ll help someone… 
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My Allen&Heath has a “Drinking Problem”.
Personally, I blame myself. And Nescafe. And electricity.
Looking at new units, I’m curious about the MORE affordable Yamaha MG series.
Either the MG12 or MG16.
Anyone use these Yamaha MG’s?
Any opinions regarding their shortcomings or reliability?
btw, I dont need any USB/Digital capability, Just enough in’s for (not necessarily at the same time) 4 stereo synths, 2 mono synths, and (sometimes) a mono line from a bass guitar.
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Mg10 here. Love it for sound. Also small enough to take it on the couch. Just miss fx in and parametric mid eq
Yes, all of that additional routing capability is part of why I went with the vlz4.
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