Compact desktop line mixer?

[ruffrecords]

They aren’t quite as common, but there are plenty of stereo-in spring & plate reverbs, as well as analog choruses (i.e., Dimension D)

I agree there are plenty of reverbs with stereo inputs but that does not make them true stereo - in fact I would question the whole concept of a true stereo reverb especially when used with a panned mono signal. They are all two channel devices with some cross coupling between them.

, and even some newer analog delays are true-stereo.

Can you give me a couple of examples please

Plus - as @Brian Roth mentioned, it gives you the option to create a stereo cue mix or any other stereo sub-mix

I also find a stereo cue mix somewhat questionable. It is hard enough to create a cue mix for musos in mono that they all like. Making it stereo just gives them something else to disagree about . OTOH for a small desk top line mixer I guess we are mainly talking mixdown and the occasional overdub so perhaps only one person to please

Cheers

Ian

 

[MidnightArrakis]

Quick comments after a quick look.

1. Post fader branch needs to be after the fader buffer.

2. Branch from main mix path to monitor selector switch should probably be after after the 990s ? Avoids any oddball loading of the master fader.

Somehow we need a way to collect the various revisions into some "pile" to minimize having them spread out over a dozen pages of postings. I kept strict collections of all doc revs back when I was building studios and video production facilities.

Bri

[Somehow we need a way to collect the various revisions into some "pile" to minimize having them spread out over a dozen pages of postings] -- This is my exact reason of contention for -- NOT -- building most of the items discussed on this forum!!! While so many of the circuit and project ideas discussed within most of the threads on here are generally excellent in their nature, having all of the improvements and revisions spread out over 25-pages in a thread by at least 10 different members, just becomes too much of a daunting task of its own to both collect and compile all of these varied bits and pieces of information all together to a point where everything is in one final place and everything also finally makes sense!!! There somehow needs to be a "something" constructed on this forum so the evolutionary nature of a circuit and/or project development can be all compiled and placed within a single place, so anyone interested in building such circuit/project can have easy and immediate access to all of the evolutionary changes that have taken place along the way.

From what I have seen take place on this forum that basically "kind of" works is that the -- OP -- of a thread becomes the responsible party and they keep all of the evolutionary revisions and updated posted in their very first posting. Then, when their thread finally reaches its own conclusion 25-pages later, they post a final response on the threads' last page and refer everyone back to the first response on the first page to where all of the final revisions/updates have been collected, finalized and posted.

Just my inflationary devalued 2-cents worth!!!

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[MidnightArrakis]

Damn....that's a budget buster! $605 (plus shipping) for eight input panels....

Thanks for the working FPD file. I'll fiddle with it.

Bri

[I'll fiddle with it] -- Are you secretly "Uncle Ernie"??? (From "Tommy -- The Rock Opera" by The WHO).



>> Start-time moved up to "Fiddle About":


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[ruffrecords]

Damn....that's a budget buster! $605 (plus shipping) for eight input panels....

Thanks for the working FPD file. I'll fiddle with it.

Bri

There are discounts for modest quantities so not quite as bad as 8 times the 1-off price but still not cheap. If you were to concatenate 8 panels into 1 large one this price would come down significantly but construction would be a nightmare. Schaeffer and its US partners are probably the most expensive manufacturers of custom panels but their quality is second to none. Frank Rollen on the EU mainland is very competitive as is Meface in the UK. I am sure there are similar conpanies on your side of the pond.

When all is said and done, small quantity mechanics remains one of the most expensive elements of a mixer design.

Cheers

Ian

 

[OneRoomStudio]

I agree there are plenty of reverbs with stereo inputs but that does not make them true stereo - in fact I would question the whole concept of a true stereo reverb especially when used with a panned mono signal. They are all two channel devices with some cross coupling between them.

Can you give me a couple of examples please

I also find a stereo cue mix somewhat questionable. It is hard enough to create a cue mix for musos in mono that they all like. Making it stereo just gives them something else to disagree about . OTOH for a small desk top line mixer I guess we are mainly talking mixdown and the occasional overdub so perhaps only one person to please

Cheers

Ian

For true-stereo analog delays, off the top of my head - the Moog Matriarch has a great true stereo BBD delay (with parameters that can be modulated!), the Walrus Audio Meraki is true stereo, and the old Dynacord SRS-56 is true stereo. I’m sure there are others I’m not thinking of. Point being - there are plenty of stereo outboard processors out there that I and others might want to use. Also, stereo headphones are a big deal - dense mixes can be hard to create mono headphone mixes out of. Panning can make all the difference, especially for vocalists.

 

[rh001]

Main reason there are no affordable small "desktop" mixers is because life has become expensive due to inflation and population growth. You want something in the $1000 to $1500 range...consider that is about the price (in Los Angeles) for 1 dental crown. Starbucks charges $7 for a sort of yuchy bacon, egg and potato wrap and they won't ask if you want sriracha with that, they wait for you to ask, and hope you don't.

Designing and building oneself, if one can, is the only way to go.

 

[OneRoomStudio]

Last comment on the stereo bus for @ruffrecords - Brian Neunaber wrote a great blog post on his (now-defunct) website about how stereo inputs are valid, even when crosstalk is present in reverb - and in fact, why that’s exactly what you would want (as opposed to totally separate processing per channel): http://web.archive.org/web/20210624...ats-the-deal-with-summed-input-stereo-effects

 

[MidnightArrakis]

I just recalled one. Decades ago I built a semi-clone of the Aphex Exciter. It was stereo in/out and was fed from a stereo aux on the MCI desk.

Bri

[I built a semi-clone of the Aphex Exciter] -- You wouldn't still have the schematics that you built your clone from, would you???

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[Newmarket]

Main reason there are no affordable small "desktop" mixers is because life has become expensive due to inflation and population growth. You want something in the $1000 to $1500 range...consider that is about the price (in Los Angeles) for 1 dental crown. Starbucks charges $7 for a sort of yuchy bacon, egg and potato wrap and they won't ask if you want sriracha with that, they wait for you to ask, and hope you don't.

Designing and building oneself, if one can, is the only way to go.

Rather bizarre post tbh. There is still a choice of standard desktop mixers. The original question was about dedicated line input mixers. The reason lies in the evolution of audio tech.
Not bizarrely due to "population growth".
fwiw Population growth may be required to support an increasingly older non-wealth creating demographic.