View Full Version : sound mixer help


Andrew Carter
June 22nd, 2010, 11:08 AM
BEHRINGER XENYX 1002B - 10 CHANNEL MIXING DESK- EACH (http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR299543)

ENG-44 Field Portable Audio Mixer (http://www.signvideo.com/fpamxr.htm)

Hi,

Can anyone help. I need a third opinion. A guy on here recommended the first mixer, and it looks a good mixer.

I obiviously dont want to purchase one mixer, and wish i purchased the other one in a few months time.
I'll be mainly using these for short film shoots, mainly the camera will be on tripod, but i will be outside aswell.
Does anyone use the first mixer (or similar mixer) on exterior shoots/how do you find it. +support it?

p.s how do you protect your mixer in bad weather (light rain etc)?


Thanks

Vincent Rozenberg
June 22nd, 2010, 01:26 PM
Hi, both low budget option here, I can see why they recommend the Behringer (on batteries, right?). Sometimes I use a cheap Behringer When I do a multicam shoot with a live videomixer and getting 2 lines of audio from a front of house or so. So just a stereo mix to tape. One thing a do not like about the Behringers is the lack of good metering. As you can see it has just 2x5 LED's against the whole range from the ENG-44, something you really want to have/use when doing audio...

But overall, you get what you pay for. Behringer is cheap so no high end solution, but it does it job, nothing more or less. I have a couple as well in my edit suites, for monitoring. Lasting for 4/5 years now.

Tony Neal
June 22nd, 2010, 03:11 PM
Hi Andrew ...
I've used a 1002 for stage shows for a couple of years now, I bought it originally to shoot an outdor amdram performance at a local castle. Its pretty heavy on batteries so you need to take a bag full of rechargeables for a days shoot. Never found the lack of metering to be a problem - I'm too busy shooting video and just the flicker of a red LED is all the info I need from it.
Even running on batteries it gets very warm so I wouldn't be tempted to keep it in a bag to keep the rain off !

You can buy bigger and better mixers that give you studio quality, but on location and on a budget the 1002 is a great little mixer.

Incidentally, I've given up trying to get a good stereo mix from a stage performance on-the-fly. I now record as many mic and PA feeds as I can grab on to a digital multitracker and worry about the mix-down in post.

Rick Reineke
June 22nd, 2010, 07:08 PM
The Behringer ain't great, but would do the job much better than some consumer quality POS mixer like 'Radio Shack' sells, or whatever version of that you have on your side of the pond.

Brian P. Reynolds
June 23rd, 2010, 02:08 AM
I have to agree on the Behringer, NOT a good location mixer...heavy on batteries, when running on batteries the phantom power for the mics is 18v ( I think).
But ideal for a simple mixer for a small pa or a kids school video production, VHS level of quality.
The ENG-44 would be a better option.

Andrew Carter
June 24th, 2010, 02:26 AM
Thats made things a little clearer, thank you.

Andy