Tell me about the Boss KM-60 mixer

nightshift · 2013-09-25T16:09:52.000Z

Hi folks- First post here but I was over at the old forum for quite a while, under a different name.

I recently purchased a Boss KM-60 from eBay. I’ve had it on my saved search list for ages and finally one popped up. I’m still waiting for it to arrive in the post, hopefully it will arrive by the weekend.

Can any users of this piece tell me about it? How is the sound? How does it overdrive? Does it have that mojo? It’s pretty simple but will it give enough to make it a keeper? There isn’t too much info about it nor are there many, if any, demos of this mixer out there… hopefully NOT because it’s crap

Barfunkel · 2013-09-25T16:58:20.000Z

Strangely, I just recorded demos of it today.

Here they are:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/871988-boss-km-60-thread-audio-included.html

Note: I could’ve chosen different sounds for the hats and the bassline, those particular sounds don’t really benefit that much from the Boss’s overdrive and EQ. But it is what it is, it’s not a best of compilation, it’s just a report of what the Boss did to the sounds of that particular Analog Four track.

I’ll probably post other basslines and hats later on that same GS topic.

Barfunkel · 2013-09-25T17:00:12.000Z

""nightshift"":

nor are there many, if any, demos of this mixer out there…

Unfortunately, there are few, if any, demos of ANY mixer out there, especially not with electronic music used as source sounds. I’m interested in some more expensive mixers, but I have to buy them basically blindfolded, because no demos exist.

RyanElektric · 2013-09-25T17:03:58.000Z

Seems to be a highly desirable vintage item. I assume because it is made for synths (therefore, it stays true to the sound but allows you to compensate for quiet or loud synths by evening them all out). Also, it ends up being perfect for getting a mix on your analog drum machine and spitting out a stereo track from the inputs (either to pop into a recorder, a DAW or another mixer). I’ve seen one of them once, and it was being used in exactly this fashion with an 808 and monosynth making percussive sounds to add some variation into the typical 808 kit. Merging two or three synths or drum machines into a single mixed mono or stero track is very, very useful.

nightshift · 2013-09-25T23:01:29.000Z

Bar- Thanks for those demos. Very timely indeed. I was going to either use this as a live mixer in place of my Mackie, or thought of using it as a sub mixer for the MD to warm things up.

There seems to be a little bit of a loose sound to the overdrive. EQ seems to have a wide Q. I think I like the overdrive the best on those synth examples. Have you ever tried using it as a summing mixer on a drum machine?

What’s your overall assessment of this mixer?

Barfunkel · 2013-09-26T04:19:11.000Z

""nightshift"":

Bar- Thanks for those demos. Very timely indeed. I was going to either use this as a live mixer in place of my Mackie, or thought of using it as a sub mixer for the MD to warm things up.

There seems to be a little bit of a loose sound to the overdrive. EQ seems to have a wide Q. I think I like the overdrive the best on those synth examples. Have you ever tried using it as a summing mixer on a drum machine?

What’s your overall assessment of this mixer?

Haven’t tried it as a summing mixer for a drum machine yet, for the sole reason that the A4 is my only piece of sound-making gear I have at the moment! Drum summing is exactly what I’m going to do with the Boss in the future, when I get a Tanzbär. Drums through the Boss, the stereo output of the Boss through some nice compressor, then the whole thing to another mixer (which actually might be another Boss, I haven’t decided yet) where the rest of the music is coming from.

Overall assessment is very nice indeed! The demos I posted don’t showcase THAT well how nice it can sound, that particular loop had a bassline and a hihat loop that didn’t particularly benefit from the EQ or overdrive.

Personally,I love that overdrive sounds. The kick and the synth riff sound exactly like I want a mixer overdrive to sound.

Barfunkel · 2013-09-26T04:21:52.000Z

Oh, it has one downside though: While the overall build quality of the unit is rock solid, the two switches (power and highpass filter) are quite flimsy and can easily be turned on or off with the slightest of hand contact. I’ve been thinking about replacing those with proper rocker switches, and actually removing the hipass filter switch completely, as it’s only needed when the mixer has only microphones connected to it.

nightshift · 2013-09-30T01:53:25.000Z

So I have the KM-60 in my possession. It’s in GREAT condition, sounds great, no hiss or anything like that and plenty of gain. But so far I’ve only been running my turntable and tape player into it, haven’t taken it over to the studio yet. So far I’m very pleased. The LPF and power switches on mine are sturdy, not sensitive at all.

Dr_Sputnik_V · 2022-10-10T20:52:16.544Z

You wanna sell? (◕‿◕)

midnightoperator94 · 2022-10-10T22:02:15.563Z

this is a 9 year old thread

if they are still are a part of this forum, still have the mixer and are willing to sell it to you after 9 years of owning it, I’m SO here for it. I’ll be following this thread.

ninqe · 2022-10-11T06:07:03.734Z

Can also highly recommend the ibanez rm60 or rm80, also a really nice summing mixer

JohnnyEgo · 2022-10-11T06:15:18.203Z

hahaaa, i was going to recommend the exact lineup of Ibanez mixers.

they’re awesome!! really punchy and noiseless.

I’ve had the Boss Mixer about 10 years ago and it was noisy and scratchy on the pots (plasticbomber)

I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, the noise floor is like 30% of the sound this thing produces standalone 🥲🧐

acidk · 2022-10-11T09:49:09.895Z

I love the Boss KMs!
Would never sell mine (KM60 and KM6A).

No Noise or hiss after re-capping the elkos, cleaning the pots and renewing the bulbs.

nightshift · 2022-10-11T13:58:27.415Z

Hi. I still have the mixer, however I have it covered for dust and keep it on a shelf with all my other gear these days. I sold it on eBay a couple years back but the guy got it and said that it was damaged, blamed me on packaging and then sent it back to me. It was infuriating to say the least. I got it back and not wanting to deal with it, I immediately sent it to my tech whom was baffled because he found no faults with it. I had him replace all the caps on the main board (it would have been very costly to overhaul the entire unit) and I got it back. Works fine still, sounds great when summing my Drumtraks through it and that’s probably the best way to use these, as a summing mixer for drum machines. There’s only a noise floor if the gain switch is cranked to the highest position and the volume is jacked up. The only thing I wish I had explored before my tech moved out of state was to see if he could make the LPF cut at a higher frequency than it does stock.

I’d maybe consider selling it but I don’t really need the cash because these days I have my life together haha. I’ll see if I can take some pictures tonight. Cheers.

Dr_Sputnik_V · 2022-10-11T16:08:03.441Z

Just feels great to get a response like this. Thank you Bro. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

Still lookin‘ for a KM60 though …