Re: mackie? vs. soundcraft...

["Scott Bullerwell" <tanelorn@dimensional.com>]

This summer, I convinced Chapman Stick artist Steve Hahn
(http://www.deepchocolate.com) that he needed a new mixer to replace his
antique Tascam.  We tried out a borrowed Mackie (very good, but not as much
bang for your buck as...), my Carvin (a really good value, but I'm gonna be
replacing it with...) and finally a Behringer 2642.  With the Behringer it
was like the clouds parted and the light came shining down.  Initially I
was skeptical because they're made in China, but after six months of
reliable use in the studio and on the road Steve's a believer (and I'm off
the hook)--plus, we opened it up and the boards, traces, wave soldering,
point soldering, wiring harnesses, etc. are gorgeous.  Not a cold joint or
dodgy-looking component to be found.

I looked into a few others: Spirit and Peavey, to be precise.  Yuk. 
Flimsy, scratchy sounding faders.  

How's it sound?  Transparent.  He's using it with an ADAT-XT, and mixdowns
to DAT made via the 2642 sound pristine.  The quality of the discrete
preamps is supa-fine, the EQ section is sweet and subtle, and the power
supply is rugged and isolated from the board (and thus your rack should you
choose to rackmount it.  Most all of the 1/4" connections are balanced (and
all of the XLR conns are, of course), so you can do some long distance
runaround and not worry about the electric motor in the fog machine makin'
line noise.

The local deal on it was 550 bones (USD).

Scott Bullerwell
tanelorn@dimensional.com
Boulder, Colorado, USA