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Trying to find an inexpensive multi-channel mixer/amplifier that isn't crap.

post #1 of 3
9/10/12 at 5:01pm
Thread Starter 
Exactly what it says in the title. I have a handful of devices that I'd like to connect to the same set of speakers. All have widely varying output characteristics, so my typical technique of connecting way the hell too many Y-cables in series is even less adequate than usual, killing the volume on some and introducing too much noise on others. It's obvious that I need a proper mixer/amp, but A. I just don't know my way around audio equipment that well, and B. I don't want to shell out many hundreds of dollars on this, because hell, it's not like this is a professional setup or anything.

So I'm looking for recommendations for a low-cost-but-not-total-shit pick for the job. 8 stereo channels/16 mono would be nice, but I could do with 6/12 in a pinch. Ideally I'd like to spend not much more than $100 + S/H, but I don't know how realistic that is. It'd be nice if it comes in a front-panel orientation rather than a sloped-tabletop type of case. I don't need any fancy features, just something to get everything sounding halfway decent. Can anybody who knows the subject better than I offer some advice?
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post #2 of 3
9/22/12 at 2:35am

I've had a similar problem myself in the past.  But I just got a regular little mixer because they're the cheapest.

 

I'm probably out of date, but the general way these things are solved is with an interface (like the M-Audio ones) ,  or better with a line mixer of some kind (like this Behringer one).  They're obviously designed for other purposes (note the fully XLR connectivity on the Behringer)  and cable access isn't always the easiest  (this Alesis has jacks at least)

 

And this sort of thing won't drive speakers, of course (there's a couple with speaker amps in them around, but not a huge number of sources).

Alternately there's those fancy entertainment centre amps which are designed for a pile of sources and speaker set ups, but as far as line levels goes you're still not going to be even, I don't think (There might be some where you can trim individual sources.  I'm not up with today's huge feature lists).

As far as I'm aware there is no cheap, neat,  speaker driving solution for collecting a pile of different sources to one output.  You end up straying into higher end prices and applications which aren't quite a perfect fit and do too much or too little.

But I am pretty well  behind in this stuff.

 

ed.  This kind of thing would be aces if it were bigger.  Maybe get two?

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post #3 of 3
9/22/12 at 8:59am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, that's about what I've gathered...damn shame. That last little box does look intriguing, though.

I'm increasingly thinking that I might just have to roll my own; I've talked with some of my electronics-nerd friends over at another forum about this, and that's what they were suggesting.
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