Which mixer/sumbox build?

[Baltimore]

i'm looking to make myself a small mixer because, well, I have to get out of the box! I have a handful of nice comps and a pair of great EQs but currently no real way to access them during mixdown. I hate mixing in a computer so something with level and pan would be nice, but not necessary. I'm saving up for a trident 65 or one of the new toft/trident boards, but I'm pretty far off, and I'd like to focus most funds toward that rather than building an elaborate (expensive) summing box. I need 16 channels, and could do balanced/passive/transformerless for really cheap (i have a 1 space case and all the jacks already), and could add l-c-r switches to make it a little more versitile than stereo pairs.

my questions:
are level and pan worth it on a summing box? It seems they would be quite lossy/noisy without adding buffers and I want to keep it simple. pan would be nice though, level I could deal without.

if i'm using this after different pieces of outboard gear, wont that affect the summing buss's performance? passive mixers are supposed to have identical sources, right? could I add some 10k:10k inputs to solve that issue?

any help is appreciated. all that gear looks so bored during mixdown!

Kevin

 

[capnspoony]

I'd take a look at NYD's active mixer on the drawing board. I'm about to finish up an 8X2 version of his layout and its worked great thus far. He has pan, level and some aux sends in his design. Now I can get all of my outboard gear working on a drum mix and its great.

-richie

 

[Baltimore]

I was very seriously considering building one of those, but i've decided to definitely get a full console, one of the trident's i mentioned. I just need something quick and dirty in the meantime.

 

[capnspoony]

can you define "quick and dirty" maybe in terms of cost. I've gone through a lot of cheap mixers in my day and might be able to point you in the direction of something that's cheap and can get the job done.

NYD's active mixer was fairly quick for me to make and also extremely cheap. I think I spent about 4 - 450 bucks on mine. I got my iron from tommyjones and that was a lifesaver for cost.

-richie

 

[Baltimore]

[quote author="buttachunk"]i recommend staying pretty far from a trident 65. [/quote]

I've worked on an 80 and also a 65 with upgraded ground buss and fader buffers, and I really like the EQ and overall tone of both. The 65's preamps certainly aren't great, but I have outboard pres and will just be mixing with it. I've compared series 80 chematics with that of the 65, and the pres seem to be the biggest difference. the tonality and vibe of the two seemed very similar to me, and the records i've done with each seem to have the same trident signature color to them.

[quote author="RogerFoote"]I built one for a studio without pan and level.... Just summing resistors.
He does his channel assingnments ITB and sums across the 24X2 I built.
He raves about it.[/quote]

I might do this with edcors on the front end and 16x2

[quote author="capnspoony"]can you define "quick and dirty" maybe in terms of cost.[/quote]

I'd like to keep it under $300, I have a 1 space case and all the connectors. if I can get 16x10k:10k that fit in a 1 space, i think I can make it work for real cheap.

I already have a yamaha m1516, but it should be recapped and I don't really dig the overall tonality of it. The pres are great but the mixes coming off are a little too mellow for me.

I think I might just go for a 16x2 with stereo pairs for the time being. that should hold me over until I get a board I like.