Hey guys,
I'm looking to replace my current mixer with something a lot better sometime in the future. Because of my studio expansion plans, the mixer I've got at the moment doesn't provide enough I/O, and the recording volume is really poor (I have to keep boosting the volume every time, and it's often creating too much attenuation to the other inputs). I've been looking at the impressive Behringer X32, but the price tag has placed it way out of my league, so I've been looking to places like eBay for a second hand digital mixer that's under £1000.
Has anyone got any recommendations as to what brand, type and model I should look at? The mixer needs to provide at least 24 channels and MIDI, either through USB or DIN, in order to allow the controls to be assigned to Ableton, and for the volume sliders to be synced to each track, as well as for controlling virtual channels for VSTs and in-built plugins. Ideally, it should have a built-in audio interface, but if I need a new interface to replace my existing one, which one would I need to get?
Also, I have a question about feeding external synths to mixers. At the moment, I'm just using straight 1/4" jacks directly to the mixer, but as I understand, it's not really the way to feed them, and also, I have a habit of using two for stereo, rather than one, since my old habits aren't going to get me far with most mixers, which often have just one 1/4" socket and a balanced XLR (in fact, the Behringer X32 uses just XLR for most inputs and outputs). What's the proper way of feeding external synths to mixers, and would I need to use XLR (converted from 1/4" to balanced via a DI box or rack) in most cases, or could I just get by with a single balanced 1/4"?