The Bill Putnam designed 610 Pre-amp with Lo/Hi EQ module was created in two versions, the 610A & 610B & is fitted to various frame configurations (usually hand built by the studio owners who purchased the modules at the time), although UA did on about 25 occasion build a complete console frame with modules fitted, including for Ray Charles & Frank Sinatra.

The 610A featured a Line/Mic switch in the centre with a single 'echo' send knob at the bottom, while the 610B featured a mic/line, phase & -10 & -20 pad switches in the centre with two 'echo' send knobs at the bottom.

Both modules featured a +/- 6dB @ 70Hz Lo filter and a -6dB @ 10kHz or +3dB/6dB @7kHz Hi filter & a 3 channel switch to route to any of 3 program busses and 3 echo busses (the L-M-R switch at the top).

The list of famous users who recorded through these 610 desks is extensive and features some of the biggest names & tracks in the history of popular music. In fact in the image above, the separate 610 modules on both black & green plates are from a 2017 auction & belonged to Neil Young. The eleven green plate modules finally sold for $56,250, while the 16 black plate modules sold for $68,750, to give you some idea of what they are worth today!  A 610 console was famously used at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama back in the old days and was used to record classics like The Stones' Wild Horses & Brown Sugar as well as hits from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding & Wilson Pickett. 610 consoles also recorded classics such as Neil Young’s Harvest, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds & The Doors’ L.A. Woman as well as hits by Sinatra & recent artists like Adele, Arcade Fire & many more.
You can buy an emulation of the 610 in plugin form from Universal Audio

The 1970 Neve Wessex A88 - 1964 Neve design and built the world's first commercial transistor-based mixing console for Philips Recording Studio in London. This established the Neve name & in 1970 Wessex studios in London commissioned Neve to build the famous Wessex A88 console, the first ever 24 track  desk installed in a London studio which saw the debut of the most famous Neve mic pre & EQ module, the legendary Neve 1073. This console was the genesis of the 1970's Neve 80 series which followed and brought with them the most sought after, common & famous old Neve Mic Pre/EQ modules: the 1073, 1084, 1066, 31102 & 4-band Class A/B 1081.

There was also the 1063, 1065, 1066, 1067 and 1070 models, and the later 1076, 1078, 1079, 1081, 1083, 1084 and 1095 etc.

1970 & Neve build the BCM10/2 'Broadcast' mixer which usually housed the 1066 or 1073 Pre-amp/EQ modules. This mixer has no facilities for use with a multitrack, having just 2 output buses.
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The 1073 is Neve's classic module with a fixed 12kHz high shelf filter, Hi-pass  filter, & single mid & bass frequency controls. The 1066 was slightly different, having the exact same Low-band frequencies, but with the Hi-shelf fixed at 10kHz & the mids & Hi-Pass being slightly diffrent.

The 1066 Hi-Pass filter choices are: 45Hz, 70Hz, 160Hz & 360Hz.

The 1073 Hi-pass filter choices are: 50Hz, 80Hz, 160Hz & 300Hz.

The 1066 Mid EQ choices are: 0.7kHz (700Hz), 1.2kHz, 2.4kHz, 3.6kHz & 7 kHz

The 1073 Mid EQ choices are: 0.36kHz (360HZ), 0.7kHz (700Hz), 1.6kHz, 3.2kHz, 4.8kHz & 7.2kHz

This mixer is now re-issued by Neve in various frame sizes.

The Neve 8014 - The first of the 80xx series, a 16-4 Small Studio Console which could accept 1073, 1076, 1084, 1085 or 1066 Channel Pre-amp/EQ modules with 1883 switching units. This image shows Robbie Robertson's (The Band) 8014 with 16 monitor channels added on the right. Currently it's on sale at todays date, January 2021 for £228,483 (just to get some idea of what they cost!). A small, compact, all Class-A 16 channel Neve.

The 80x8 consoles (ending with an eight) were the new 16 bus models, with the 8038 & 8048 being Neve's best selling consoles from the 70's. The 1038 was available in either 24 or 32 channel format while the 1048 was only available in 32 channel configuration. Both consoles offered 16 mix buses & 24 track monitoring & metering & were usually fitted with Neve 1081 Pre/EQ modules but optionally the end user could specify the "less comprehensive" 1064a modules. The frames allowed insertion of (usually) 1081 Pre-amp/EQ modules in banks of 12 with accompanying #1948 channel switching units to send to any of the 16 mix buses. The #1903 module containing 16 bus switches & pan was fitted to the first 8 mix buses allowing bus to bus sub-mixing without patching, which was a feature unique to Neve. These #1903 switching units were also fitted to each of the 8 reverb returns allowing easy switching to any of the 16 mix buses. Despite the fact the 8038/48 was sold as an off-the-peg solution (install it, boot it and start work) in reality these old frames can be configured in so many ways it's impossible to show definitive images of any of the series.
The 80x8 series was the last of the Neve Consoles to use the 1073/1064/1081 Size Modules and 1272 Line Amps. The famous Sound City Studios Neve 8028 was featured in the Dave Grohl film: Sound City: Real to Reel.

These were the new in-line monitoring Neve consoles from the mid 1970's which are characterised by the tall curved 'High Profile' panel design. They continued the 16 bus format of the previous 80x8 series but used the 'New Appearance Design' (NAD) 31102 Pre-amp/EQ modules.

The 8058 was 28-16-24, while the 8068 was a 32-16-32 format, the same as the 8058 but with more channels.

The new 31102 Pre-amp/EQ modules offered:

Switching 10kHz, 12kHz or 16 kHz high-shelf filter

Switching mid EQ offering 350Hz, 700 Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.2kHz, 4.8kHz & 7.2 KHz with a High-Q switch

Switching low shelf filter offering 35Hz, 60Hz, 110Hz & 220 Hz

Bi-directional (clockwise / counter-clockwise) High-pass & Low-pass filter knob offering switching frequencies of 45Hz, 70Hz, 160Hz & 360Hz for the Hi-Pass & 6kHz, 8kHz, 10kHz, 14kHz  & 18kHz for the Low-Pass.

The 31102 Mic pre-amp offered 80 dB of gain range & the modules included phase reverse and EQ bypass switches.

The 8058 & 8068 offered a new global Mic/Line input switching system & therefore the 31102 Pre-amp/EQ modules are different from all other 10-series modules (1066, 1073, 1081, 1084, 1064 etc) being constructed with a 10468 Mic input transformer setup ONLY for mic levels. The line input signals come via a companion 32430 Mixdown Switching Module (Line or Tape Returns) located directly below the 31102 on the 8058/8068 consoles.

While the Neve 80 Series were sold & marketed as recording consoles, the 53 Series were generally marketted as Broadcast consoles. The 5316 was however a rare 'recording' console version with 16 groups & 16 monitor returns. The 53 Series were available with different sized frames to take more/less channel modules & other parts & usually shipped with the 33114 or 33115 Pre-amp/EQ Class A/B modules with the 'New Appearance Design' (NAD) knobs which took over from the older classic Marconi knobs in the mid 70's. The 33114 & 33115 aren't as fat/meaty at the Class A Pre/EQ's like the 1073 & 1066 etc.
The 53 Series includes the 5302, 5312, 5305, 5315 & 5316.

Helios was the 3rd and lesser known British console design company after Neve & SSL. This console system pictured was sold at Bonhams auction house on 11th December 2018. "The Helioscentric helios console was constructed in 1996 through an amalgamation of part of the Island Records Basing Street studio 2 Helios console (1970-1974) with the other part being from Alvin Lee's Helios console from Space Studios (1973-1979); with the final construction installed at Helioscentric studios (1996-2018)."
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The Island Records Helios section was used by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Sly Stone, Jimmy Cliff, Harry Nilsson, Jeff Beck, Humble Pie, Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Free, The Rolling Stones, Mud & Steve Winwood.

The Alvin Lee section was used by George Harrison, Ron Wood, Steve Winwood, Tim Hinckley, Boz Burrel, Jim Capaldi, Mick Fleetwood and Joe Brown.

The HeliosCentric console in its composition as shown in the image was used by; Paul Weller, Supergrass, Sia, Keane, Athlete, The Feeling, KT Tunstall, Turin Brakes, Squeeze, Paolo Nutini, Dido, Gary Barlow, David Gray, Royworld, Toploader, Marti Pellow and the Pet Shop Boys, among others.

The HeliosCentric console comprises 38 channels of Helios Type '69 Mic / EQ  with 24 buss routing, 4 echo sends, 2 fold-back sends, switchable separate pre and post EQ insert sends and returns plus additional 6 mono line inputs; 24 channel monitoring with 6 group outs / 4 mono headphone Sends. 8 X onboard signal processors comprising 4 mono A&D 760 FET compressors, 4 mono Helios 5056 EQ's

The Helios Type '69 Pre-amp & 3-band EQ is available in plugin format from Universal Audio and in hardware form via the Dick Swettenham re-issued Helios Type '69 modules (as well as re-issued A&D Helios Type 760 FET Compressor/Expander modules) which can still be found at some dealers when they become available s/h.

The A&D 760 FET compressor created for Helios by Audio & Design (Recording) and used in this console is available today from the original company (now called Audio & Design Reading) in hardware form as the ADR Compex F760X-RS and costs around £3000 GBP

Dick Swettenham the designer & owner of Helios was hired in 1969 to equip Chris Blackwell's new Island Records studio in Basing Street, London. To do the work Swettenham formed Helios Electronics Ltd which was established in Teddington, Middlesex in the same year. Sadly Dick Swettenham passed away in 2000 after which production of the re-issue units ceased.

Released in the mid 1990's, the Sony Oxford console came in two configurations. The 24-C-24 (in the image top) with 24 channels to the left, the centre control section, and a further 24 channels to the right. The second configuration was the smaller 24-C-0 (image bottom left) which is basically the first left-hand part of the bigger 48 channel version. The full 24-C-24 thus gave a 96 channel system via bank switching the 48 channels, with total recall of all settings.
In 1988 five former designers for SSL (Solid State Logic) formed the Oxford Digital company & by the early 1990's Sony had formed a development partnership with Oxford Digital. Paul Frindle from SSL helmed the project & he was the guy who designed the famous SSL G Series channel with it's now famous sound derived from it's eq & channel compressor combination. The Oxford console was 100% digital, not analog parts controlled by digital such as (in the most basic sense) with fader automation.
Out of this Oxford & Sony partnership came a further collaboration with Digidesign to create Pro-Tools plugins & in 2007 Sonnox Ltd was formed to handle the  various plugins derived from this console development which are available in either Native format or for UAD hardware accelerators.

No discussion of classic analog consoles would be complete without a mention of the SSL 4000-series boards that set the standard for studios in the 80s. SSL ruled the roost for many years, and there were a number of models that became ubiquitous in studios in that period, but the 4000-E and 4000-G are the ones that many people feel set the standard—in fact, so many records have been recorded and mixed on these boards that they’ve come to define the sound of 80’s recordings.  The E and G the standard for large-frame consoles, with their parametric EQ and full Dynamics sections. The sound of the EQs in these boards are one of the main draws for those who turn to modern emulations—since the behaviour and character of the E-series and G-series EQs differed slightly, most models include both, providing SSL aficionados with as much flexibility as they could want. Another feature of the 4k consoles—maybe the most popular of all—is the famous SSL Master Buss Compressor. Nicknamed “The Glue”, this stereo VCA-based design was included in the master section of the 4000-G, and is renowned for it’s reported ability to “glue” the elements of a mix together, providing a more coherent blend of instruments and voices. It’s likely that many people pick up one of the many 4000-series console emulations specifically for this component, which still enjoys its cult status today.

This is the EMI Abbey Road console used to record Pink Floyd's seminal Dark Side Of The Moon album, sold at Bonhams auction house on 27th March 2017 for US$ 1,807,500 (£ 1,317,566). The TG12345 was also used to record the Beatles seminal Abbey Road album.
"Also used by many other artists including: Paul McCartney and Wings, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Kate Bush and in later years The Cure, the desk comprises 40 channels with limiter/compressor on each, 4 echo returns and 16 monitors, MK3 feature cassettes, track monitor cassettes, dual channel 16 track sync mixer, two banks of 12 pairs of microphone channels, 8 pairs of main channels to centre section, monitor level controls for tracks 1-8 on left and 9-16 on right side, Ernest Turner manufactured VU meters comprising 16 full size VU meters and approximately 50 channel VUs, quadrant radial faders by Painton, with approximately 1600 capacitors (many original), housed in the original semi-wrap-around frame made of block board with teak and mahogany veneer"

Plugin emulations based on the TG series include the Waves Abbey Road EMI TG12345 channel strip plugin, the Universal Audio Chandler Limited’s Curve Bender EQ & Chandler Limited’s TG12413 Zener Limiter plugin. Both those plugins are available in non UA DSP format from Softube.

Hardware emulations based on the TG series are available via the Chandler Limited EMI TG12345 MKIV EQ & the Chandler Limited’s TG12413 Zener Limiter.
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Trident made many superb mixers over the 1970's & 1980's and still exist today, but the most famous of all is the A-Range. Only thirteen A-Range consoles were ever made so finding any images other than the stock brochure image everyone uses is impossible. The A-Range is famous both for it's sound and unusual channel layout which uses a centre-detented fader as the gain control for each of the four switching EQ bands consisting of a Hi & Lo Shelf and two Mid peak/Bell bands which have a strong character of interaction with each other. These four Eq bands are complimented by  3-way switchable Lo-Pass & Hi-Pass filters which can be individually or all switched in which then stacks the frequencies or behaviour of the filters.
The A-Range console was an all discrete, Class-A, Split design, and despite only 13 of these consoles ever existing they recorded an enormous list of the worlds biggest artists over the years, famously including Bowies Ziggy Stardust & Lou Reeds Transformer. Emulations of the Trident A-Range channel are available in hardware form - both 19" and 500 Lunchbox versions - from Trident themselves & in software plug-in form from companies such as  Softube and UAD.

Introduced in 1975, the 32 series was the worlds first inline 32 channel console. Famously used by producer Bruce Swedien for albums like Thriller & Bad, the 32C was  available in 3232, 4032 or 4832 channel formats. Other famous users included ABBA who's original Polar Studios in Sweden was initially setup around a Harrison console & at the time was considered one of the best studios in the world, attracting the likes of Led Zeppelin & others to record there. Other Harrison famous records include Paul Simon’s "Graceland", AC/DC, Queen, ELO, Genesis, Blondie and Supertramp. Dave Harrison the owner/designer was inducted into the Audio Engineering Society for his technical contribution of the recording industry due to this 32-bus "in-line" design which soon became the standard methodology for a recording console. The 32c featured a 4 band equaliser with proportional Q (described as 'parametric' in literature): Low band 40-600 Hz,  Low-Mid 200 Hz to 3.1 kHz, Hi-Mid 400 Hz to 6 kHz and High band 900 Hz to 13 kHz. The Low band which could be switched between Shelf or Peak & the Eq was augmented by additional 12dB/Octave Hi & Lo pass filters. The Eq section could be switched to the monitor Bus path as has become the standard technique for inline consoles.
The Harrison 32 sound can be enjoyed today in plugin format, with UA offering a Harrison 32C eq modelled on Swedien's favourite channel 17 strip. Additionally Harrison themselves sell the '32c Mixbus' software, which is a complete DAW modelled on the famous console for recording/mixing any project. Additionally Harrison themselves sell a reproduction 32c channel strip in hardware 19" rack mounting format, while Great River offer the 'Harrison 32 EQ' in API 500 Lunchbox format.

Added as an honourable mention. Known as the 'Japanese Neve' or 'JapaNeve' desks with a meaty and characterful sound, Yamaha set out to build a competitor product to the Neves in the 1970's but at a vastly cheaper cost, and the PM1000 16 channel 4-bus console was the result introduced in 1974. These boards feature all discrete Class-A modular construction with input & output transformers. The Eq section is completely passive, using inductors like the famous Trident A-Range did with a make-up gain circuit after the Eq to raise the level. The original PM1000 was a 16 channel frame (MF 10-16), but demand for more channels led to the MF 10-32 frame which could house 24 or 32 channel modules.
The PM2000 was introduced in 1978, the PM3000 in 1985, the PM4000 in 1992 & the PM5000 in 2003.

From 1971 the 2488 was Api's main mixer frame which could house their now industry standard Saul Walker designed 500 series modules with the 550A being the most famous featuring their 2520 Op amp & 'proportional Q' 3-band EQ. The 2488 frame can house up to 24 channels with 24 Bus monitor returns on the right of the board. Like with most of these early modular consoles, modules could be organised in various configurations. The Api 500 series Pre-amps & Eq's have recorded an endless list of hit records & you can get the Api 500 series in plugin format from companies like UAD, IK Multimedia, Softube, Waves etc & of course the modules are still made today by Api for use in 500 Lunchbox racks which originated with these Api modules (see our Effects & Processors page for more details on the 500 Lunchbox).

Probably the most high-end of the older 'budget' consoles & released in the late 1980's, these Soundcraft 6000 series boards are both a classic old mixer that gives an old school 'British' sound while also being commonly available,  very affordable compared to the hugely expensive 'classics' & most importantly they are repairable & serviceable with all parts & components still available. The 6000 series is a modular 'Split' design & came in various configurations up to 56 channels with stereo channels also available. These boards are either 16 or 24 bus format with a Hi/Lo shelf Eq + volume, pan & 2 Aux sends (Aux 1/2) on each bus return. Input channels feature a pre-amp wth huge gain range (2dB to 70dB mic gain and -10dB to 20dB line gain), phase reverse, mute group feature, Solo In Place or regular PFL & a switchable in/out 4 band Eq with 2 sweep mids & a Hi/Lo shelf, plus a 100Hz 12 dB/Octave Hi-Pass which functions even if the entire Eq circuit is switched out. In common with most Eq's which feature a Low Shelf & Hi-Pass, using both gives the bass shelf a Bell/Peak like characteristic. The two sweep mids offer 150Hz to 2400Hz & 600Hz to 10kHz with plenty of overlap & all bands give 15dB of boost/cut. All channels feature 6 Aux sends with the first 4 being switchable in two pairs Pre/Post fader. Also available was a patchable 4 channel Aux return module/strip with routing to Aux sends to 1/2, level, pan, PFL & on/off switch. These 6000 series boards are easy to find & even a rare fully refurbished one is cheap compared to a new mixer with similar facilities. In use they have a solid & quality feel with a nice 'musical' & broad Eq.

Wanting to remain at the forefront of technology, Trident studios looked in a vain for a manufacturer to make them a custom console. But why ask someone to do something when you can do it for yourself? And thus Malcolm Toft and Barry Porter, the in house engineers of Trident, came up with their own console, dubbed the ‘A Range’. Only a baker’s dozen of these legendary consoles were made, and as the years went by Trident continually innovated with a long line of further consoles, including the famous 80 Series, which debuted in 1980 shortly before the original Trident closed its doors. Following on the heels of this successful console was the model 80B in 1983, a classic 'split design' console set up in a standard configuration of 32 x 24 x 24 with 5 aux per channel.

The 80B remains in favour with engineers the world over for its signature sound. In fact, the sound of the mic pre/EQs on the 80B were so good, Trident still makes them available as a stand-alone unit that gives you a pair of these channel strips in a rack mount configuration. But why settle for a racked pair when you can have the original 80B, a console that gives you a lot of British bang for the buck.

The Model 5 was released in 1975 in conjunction with the revolutionary 80-8 eight track 1/2 inch reel tape machine (used to record all the sounds for R2D2 in StarWars apprently). This mixer was otherefore bundled with the Tascam 8-Track at dealers. Could be expanded with the bolt-on 5EX. It looks really dated obviously but is fully modular and actually had a great sound.

Here's the 350 with optional 3060 meter bridge from around 1982. This mixer was a very popular budget item released by Fostex for use with their first version A8 1/4" 8-track tape machine. A clever & compact 8-4-2 four bus design, featuring an inline A/B - C/D Bus switch with Pan control to pan either A/C (left) or B/D (right). All channels featured direct outs & RCA phono insert send/return. The 350 even sported two RIAA phono inputs so it could be used as a deejay mixer.

1982 & the first System 8 arrived. To this day the System 8 is one of the great, affordable, old school British mixers and hugely under appreciated. System-8 mixers have a wonderful fat & warm sound. They were available in 12, 16 & 24 channel configurations with an optional & rare EX8 8-channel expander sidecar which could be bolted on. The System-8's had either 4 or 8 groups with either 4, 8 or 16 tape returns & featured a 3 band sweep-mid eq with switchable bass shelving band. Released in 3 versions, the Mk1 (1882-1983) & Mk2 (1983-1986) were brown, while the final Mk3 (1986-1993) was grey.

Released in 1984 for around £750 GBP, this British made mixer from Recording Audio Mixers Ltd was commonly offered in a bundle deal with a Fostex 8 track across Uk dealers in the mid 1980's & was a main competitor for the likes of SECK & MTR products. They did look almost toy-like with their bright colours and small size, but nonetheless did the job on a budget & were actually rather good. There was an RM10 (10-4-2) but this RM16 was the main seller. the RM16 has 16 channels each equipped with a Mic pre-amp & insert socket. Channels 1-8 have an additional 1/4" line level input while channels 9-16 featured a Phono Tape return socket as these were designated for tape playback. The RM16 has four buses to feed tape tracks, and these are wired to Tape out sockets 1-4 and 5-8 so you cant send out of 8 separate buses to 8 tracks at once, but this worked fine with the first Fostex A8 it was designed primarily to work with which could only record 4 tracks at once (either tracks 1-4 or 5-8). The 8 Monitor buses allow bus 1-4 to be switched to receive from a Line level input to add an additional 4 basic channels on Mixdown. EQ is 3 band with 10kHz and 60Hz fixed HF/LF shelving bands augmented by a dual concentric pot for the sweep Mid, which goes from 600Hz to 10kHz. All Eq bands Boost/Cut by 15dB.

Coming in around 1985 to replace the older 200 Series. The 200b featured a new wedge shaped design which makes then actually suprisingly deep, they look like a powered mixer when you first see one, but as a consequence of this design the mixer is nicely angled for easy viewing & the angled design creates a large rear panel with connectors not being cramped into a smaller space. On the front panel Soundcraft went for quite small control pots so the 200b series offered a small footprint at the time compared to other mixers. The 200b was available in 8, 16 & 24 channels configurations & featured a modular construction. EQ does not follow the (at the time) favoured sweep mid but rather is delivered in 4 fixed bands at 60Hz, 250Hz, 5kHz and 12kHz, with the top & bottom being shelving filters while the 2 mid's are bell shaped (15db cut/boost). The 200b found it's way into a huge amount of studios, rehearsal rooms & smaller PA systems as a reliable and great sounding workhorse.

Released by Bandive in 1985 the SECK 18-8-2 was a huge seller and was amazingly feature rich for such a small sized mixer. Inside the all metal chassis these mixers contain 3 x 6 channel boards & master board connected by ribbon cables. The 18-8-2 is an unusual inline/split hybrid, offering 8 sub-groups switchable 1-8 or 9-16 to feed typical 8 or 16 track pro-sumer tape machines of the time, while the tape returns are in-line with a simple level & pan control. These early SECK mixer are important in that they set the 'Inline Bus B' design which soon became standard for all budget larger format mixers which followed. On final mix channels are switched to Tape input to access full EQ & sends. Easy to find, but rarer in pristine condition with a properly working external power supply (the bit that usually broke). If you can find a good one then even today it's probably the best home studio mixer for routing lots of outboard hardware & other duties due to it's tiny footprint. SECK was eventually purchased by Soundcraft who discontinued the range, but apparently much of the SECK design property was ported to Soundcraft's budget Spirit range which appeared in the early 1990's.

Released in 1986 just 18 months after the initial 18-8-2 offering. The 12-8-2 sported the new black colour & had a tweaked EQ which was a bit more smooth & warm. Bandive sold truckloads of these. Like the 18-8-2 this smaller sibling is also an inline/split hybrid. There was also a new-version black 18-8-2 as well but they were quite rare. Again, the problem with these old SECK boards is usually the power supply & they are very hard to find.

Old 80's mixer, but these Studiomaster Mixdown boards are superb if they are clean and crackle free with a really nice 'heft' and that almost metallic analog sound. This is the 16-8-16 but they also did a 16-4-8. The Gold versions have basic MIDI muting which Studiomaster probably implemented by adding the guts of their stand-alone IMP1 16 channel MIDI mute 19" rack unit and they work very well indeed. All connections face forward/up making it easy to plug things in and out without crawling around the back, which also means the mixer can be located right up against a rear wall. The 16 input channels have Direct Outs, Send/Return insert sockets & Mic/Line connectors. Eq is switchable in/out & offers a High Shelf, sweep mid (280Hz to 5kHz) & a sweep bass (25Hz to 350Hz). All bands offer 16dB of cut or boost. Below the channel Eq are 6 Aux sends arranged as 5 Send pots. Aux 1, 2 & 3 are fixed Post fader while the 4th Aux pot can be switched to either Aux 4 Post or Aux 5 Pre-Eq with the final 5th Aux pot being fixed Post sending to Aux bus 6. All input channels have a dedicated 48v phantom power, 20dB pad & Tape switches to route tape returns from their usual monitor channel destination to the full channels for mixdown. For buses, the 16 bus version offers 8 sub-group buses to feed 8 tracks of tape, with monitor returns 9-16 being switchable to Alt Line input to get an additional 8 channels with basic 2 band shelving eq & 2 Aux sends if working with only an 8-track machine, otherwise all 16 monitor returns are used for tape until mixdown time when these are switched to the main channels. A fantastic board if you can find one in really good condition. All channels (input, bus & masters) are on dedicated circuit boards connected by ribbon cables, so although the mixer is not truly modular, by lifting the front panel you can remove any individual board for repair, secondhand replacement or servicing.

The Spirit by Soundcraft range arrived in 1991 & soon became hugely popular. Available in 16-8-2 & 24-8-2 configurations, the Spirit mixers were made using automated manufacturing & Japanese components, brought to market at a VERY competitive price & were specifically designed to cater for the fast growing MIDI production-suite style home studio. Spirit mixers placed all the in/out connectors along the top rear of the unit, thus making it really easy to connect any gear without having to crawl around the back which was a serious bonus for the typical smaller home production suite setup because the mixer could be placed right up against a wall. The Spirit Studio mixers featured inline tape returns with a 4 band Eq with 2 sweep mids which could be switched into 2 x 2-band arrangement with 2 bands then being allocated to the in-line monitor channels. Think of this as the fore-runner of the Mackie in terms of how widespread it was in budget studios. A really good mixer for hardware studio setups to this day if well maintained.

Released in 1989 The MTR 16-8-2 was made by a small British comany & designed to compete with the SECK 18-8-2 for use with the new narrow format multitrack machines from Fostex & Tascam. The Series-1 16-8-2 was an inline mixer with level for the 8 busses being controlled by the 8 rotary pots above the main L/R faders rather than using bus faders on a split section. Added for posterity, these sold in big numbers & could also be found on smaller PA systems at the time.

The first mixer from Alesis in 1990 & therefore added for posterity & also because it sold like hot cakes. Aimed firmly at the home studio & midi production suite market, this mixer was quite different at the time because it used what Alesis referred to as 'Monolithic Integrated Surface Construction', which basically meant that inside it didn't have pots & faders & switches etc soldered to a circuit board but rather tracks for those items were etched into a one-piece single board & the actual rotary controls, faders & switches moved against those etched tracks held in place by the surface panel. (that's why all the switches are horizontally configured using left-to-right movement) They actually surprised reviewers by sounded pretty good & having a very good s/n ratio, but as far as I remember, this method of construction meant the pots, faders etc started to give up with age as reliable contact with the etched board started to fail & hence there's few of them around s/h.

Greg Mackie's 1991 follow up to their earlier LM-1602 mixer, the CR1604 became a huge hit & thus it's the mixer that launched the company's reputation for affordable quality mixers from which they spring-boarded to other product lines & global success. The CR1604 could be 19" rack mounted and to facilitate that, the large rear panel housing the power supply & connectors could be removed, rotated 90 degrees & re-attached so all the connecting sockets faced forward/up. These mixers sounded great, had very flexible routing & were seriosly affordable with a release price in the UK of £799 inc VAT. SoS in their 1991 review concluded: ..."the Mackie Designs CR1604 has put down quite a marker for the competition to measure up to"

It's 1992. Mackie release only their 3rd product, the extremely compact 1202 Micro Series with a high quality sound & great Mic pre-amps. This mixer created a sizemic shift in the industry & very soon the competition was releasing their own small 'tablet' style mixers such as the Soundcraft Spirit Folio in 1994. The 1202 featured 4 mono mic channels with phantom power augmented by a further 4 stereo channels to make 12 channels in total. Each channel featured 2 Aux sends, followed by a 2-band Eq, followed by Pan & Gain at the bottom. The Mic pre's had Trim controls.

Nowadays, with full control of every possible parameter using any typical DAW software, it's hard to imagine that THIS product was seen as a huge step forward, offering budget automated mixing back in 1992, but that's what the DCM100 & optional Mixtab controller gave you. The DCM100 had an all analog signal path but with full MIDI control. 8 stereo on mono inputs could be mixed to a stereo final out with automation control of mutes, faders & Eq, plus 2 stereo Aux sends & returns, all controlled via MIDI. You can create, store and save up to 100 patches ('Scenes') for recall, & these 'Scenes' can be switched via patch change commands from a sequencer if required. Up to three DCM100 rack units can be MIDI'd up to the Mixtab which can control up to 24 channels of automated recall mixing, or a max total of eight DCM100's can be linked and controlled by MIDI from a sequencer for 64 channels of automated mixing. Eq however is quite basic with only a 1200Hz Low & 10kHz Hi Shelf, both with 15dB of cut/boost & no Mid band Eq at all. Prices on release were: £449 for the DC100 & £299 for the Mixtab controller.

1994 - Soundtracs a British company decided to get into the cheaper mixer market and introduced the Topaz series followed in 1996 by the cosmetically updated Topaz Project series. The Topaz studio version was available as a 24 or 32 channel & shares some features like switchable bus/direct out to tape for channels with it's main competitors of the same year, the Soundcraft Spirit Studio LC. Soundtracs consoles are well respected & have a nice sound & good mic pre's. There was an optional meter bridge too.

From around 1994 the Folio was a quite important product as it further proved the demand for what became known as the 'Tablet' mixer first seen in Mackie's earlier 1202. Soon to follow would be the Eurorack Series from Behringer starting with their own 602 & 802 Tablets, both following the new standard practice of using volume Pots rather than space consuming faders for the channel output levels. The Notepad featured 4 Mic/Line Mono channels, each with a simple 2-band Eq, augmented by a further 2 stereo Line input channels with no Eq section. All channels enjoy a single Aux send and the two stereo channels can be switched from Line to RIAA Phono mode for connected turntables. A handy little Tablet which sold in large quantities and further helped establish this market sector. Soundcraft soon followed this up with the Folio Notepad in 1996 as part of their newer Folio series.

Arriving in 1994, the M2600 was Tascam's first foray into the lower budget inline mixer sector and with this board they hoped to take on the Soundcrafts of the world. Pictured above is the 2nd generation MK2 model, essentially the same as the MK1. Like with the Mackie 8 Bus & Soundcraft Ghost from the same period, the M-2600 offers a split EQ arrangement, but with an extra twist. Working down the channel, the first Eq section is the HF/LF shelving bands, fixed at 12kHz & 80Hz respectively. This is followed by the second Eq section comprising the two sweep Mid bands covering 40Hz to 1.6kHz & 400Hz to 16kHz respectively. The HF/LF shelving bands or the 2 Mid bands or both can be switched to the Bus B monitor path or the Eq can be entirely switched out of the main channel path & placed in the monitor path. Additionally the entire channel can be flipped to route either the mic/line inputs or the tape return through the main channel or vice versa. The M-2600 also enjoys 6 Aux sends & 4 returns plus each channel can route via any of the 8 buses to a multitrack but a Direct button on each channel offers the option to route direct to tape from channel. The board has various other clever twists and all in all was superb for the time & price. A mint condition one of these (if you can find it) would be perfect for any studio & midi setup. The M2600 came in three flavours: the 16-channel version costing £2,499, the 24-channel costing £3,299 & the 32-channel version coming in at £3,799.

1994 - Spirit Studio LC was designed to update the older Spirit, offering Bus or Direct outs to Tape on all input channels thus allowing it to be used with up to a 24 track machine while also catering for hybrid MIDI production suites with a decent channel count and a second channel Bus which can carry additional MIDI kit inputs on mixdown should either 16, 24 or 32 channel not be enough. The Studio LC was available in 16, 24 & 32 channel versions. An affordable and respected mixer who's main 1994 competitor was the Soundtracs Topaz. The Spirit Studio LC features 8 Buses (which can be routed to Bus outs 1-8, 9-16 or 17-24, obviating the need for any patching) but also features Direct outputs on all input channels to Tape, with the by now almost standard channel Flip switch to select either the Mic/Line input or the Tape return to feed the channels. Where the Spirit LC falls down compared to other & similar designs of this era is that no part of it's Eq section can be switched into the Bus B monitor path. The Eq itself is only a 3-band affair with a fixed 12kHz Hi shelf, a 250Hz to 8kHz sweep Mid band & a 25Hz to 400Hz sweep Low band, with all bands cutting or boosting by 15dB. The Spirit Studio LC features 6 Aux sends on all main channels with Aix 1/2 being switchable Pre/Post fader.

1993 the Spirit Folio was a compact home & small venue general purpose mixer complete with built-in carrying handle which also serves to provide a rear support angling the mixer towards the end user. Six mono Mic/Line channels plus two stereo line channels each with 3 band Eq, offering fixed 12kHz HF & 60Hz LF shelving bands while the mid EQ can be swept from 250Hz to 6kHz. All bands have 15dB of cut or boost. Stereo channels offer only a 2-band HF/LF shelf Eq with the HF band fixed at 8kHz. All channels enjoy 2 Aux sends, the first of which can be globally switched Pre/Post fade while Aux 2 is fixed Post fader.

1994 - Spirit Studio Folio 4 was basically the top selling smaller Folio with 4 groups added plus 8 Aux sends, but it was not as fully featured as the larger Studio LC range & was primarily designed for Front Of House work in smaller venues although it functioned equally well in reduced home studio setups. Eq is 3 band with a fixed 12kHz Hi shelf, a 250Hz to 6kHz sweep mid & a 60Hz Low shelf. The Eq is further augmented with a 100Hz Hi-pass filter & an Eq In/Out switch. These were tidy mixers with a good quiet signal path & decent quality pre-amps.

1996 - The VLZ 1202 cost £399 on release & further cemented Mackie's reputation for delivering groundbreaking compact designs with high fidelity sound & rugged build quality. The 1202 sold in large numbers and further drove the market towards this new fader-less 'Tablet' mixer design. The improved 1202 VLZ still offered the same 4 Mono Mic/Line channels augmented by a further 4 Stereo line channels like the older 1202, but now each Mono channel offered a 75Hz 18 dB/Octave Hi-Pass and a new improved 3 band Eq with a fixed 12kHz Hi shelf, fixed 2.5kHz mid peak band & fixed 80Hz Low shelf, each band with 15dB of boost/cut. The 1202 VLZ also introduced a second ALT 3/4 Bus allowing the user to have one mix bus assigned to the main outs and another to the monitor/phone outs, while the two FX returns can be optionally routed to the monitor bus which is sent out from all channels on Aux-1.

From around 1996, Mackie claims that their 8 Bus consoles have recorded more platinum albums and major motion picture soundtracks than any other mixer in it's class. Certainly they delivered a classic 8 bus split/inline hybrid console in 32, 24 or the rarer 16 channel formats, which offered seriously pro facilities & great pre-amps all in a product which was built like a tank.
Four band Eq on all channels offers a fixed 12kHz high shelf, a 500Hz - 18kHz parametric Hi-mid (with frequency, gain & 'Q' controls), a sweep 45Hz - 3kHz Low-mid & an 80Hz Low sweep band. All bands offer 15 dB of cut/boost. The Eq section is augmented by a switchable 18 dB/octave 75Hz Hi-pass filter & can be switched out completely. Tape return monitoring is in-line with a clever additional function which allows inputs to the monitor section (Bus B) to be taken from the Mic/Line input, potentially giving you an extra 32, 24 or 16 inputs (depending on which 8 Bus model you own) to augment the channels running the tape returns in mix mode.
The bottom line is, if you need a fully featured & cost effective classic 8 bus multitrack console, then one of these in as mint condition as you can find from the free ads will give you what you need.

From 1996. Soundcraft's new Ghost was a traditional 8 Bus mixer available in 24 & 32 channel sizes, with an optional 24 channel Ghost expander unit (allowing users to expand to up to 48 or 56 channels) and an optional meter bridge. The full-on Ghost featured Midi Machine Control, SMPTE Write/Read & Mute automation while the LE version removed these features for a reduced price. To reduce costs these boards were non modular, with all internal channel boards fixed to the face plate & connected by ribbon cables. Like the Mackie 8 bus the Ghost is a split/inline hybrid with a channel flip to select between inputs & tape returns (Bus B) & also like the Mackie 8 Bus the Eq can be split, allocating the Hi/Lo filters to the tape return path while leaving the two mid bands to the input path. Also like the Mackie these inline monitor paths can be used to route extra inputs during mixdown.

The main channel path provides Phase Reverse, SIP or PFL solo and an 18dB/octave 100Hz low cut filter. The EQ section has two fully parametric mids, one covering 25Hz - 1.5kHz and the other covering 400Hz - 20 kHz. Q is continuously variable on both mid bands with a dedicated Q pot. The HF and LF shelving bands are fixed at 12kHz & 60Hz respectively and all EQ bands offer 15dB of cut or boost.

The Ghost has 10 Aux's. Six mono & two stereo. Aux 1 & 2 are switched as a pair, pre or post-fade. Aux 3 & 4 are post-fade, and can be switched as a pair from the main channel signal path to Mix B. Another switch re-routes the signal from these two pots to aux sends 5 & 6. The two sets of post fader stereo sends, 7/8 and 9/10, are each controlled by a single pot, and follow the channel pan settings.
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The Ghost automation includes machine control & it writes/reads SMPTE. up to 128 MIDI mute 'Snapshots' can be created to switch via timecode, while individual channel Mutes can be controlled by MIDI note on/off commands if working with a sequencer. In that case Channel Mutes are on Even note numbers starting with Zero & Bus B Mutes are on all Odd note numbers.

The Ghost Le 24 & 32 channel versions cost around £3800 & £4700 respectively, while the standard Ghost with automation cost around £4400 for the 24 channel version & £5300 for the 32-channel.

In use when new these boards had a very clean & clear sound, but the controls somewhat lack in any pushback and are rather light to the touch. The Ghost mixers offered serious bang for buck & sold in large numbers. The LE version in particular found it's way into quite a few live venues & theatres as well as larger home & project studios. A highly respected mixer at the time.

Released in 1997 for around £780 GBP, the Mix Wizard 16:2 was the first of this successful series of mixers, offering 16 mic/line inputs and 2 Aux returns to give 20 channels in total. Mix Wizard 16:2 channels sported a 4 band EQ offering a HF fixed 12kHz shelf, a sweep Mid-1 from 500Hz to 15kHz, a sweep Mid-2 from 35Hz to 1kHz and a fixed LF 60Hz shelf, plus a 100Hz high pass filter, 6 aux sends, pan, channel on/off switching, peak LED & PFL, all finished up with a 100mm fader. All channels have a direct out too. Allen & Heath seemed to have taken a leaf out of Greg Mackie's book with this one, as the rear connections module could - like the CR1604 - be positioned for either table-top or rack mounting use. Allen & Heath followed up on this first MixWizard model with an 20:8:2 and then a 14:4, and the series has since then gone through various revisions being at version 4 in 2021 with 3 models available: the MixWizard WZ4 12:2, the MixWizard WZ4 14:4:2 & the MixWizard WZ4 16:2.
The current MixWizard4 mixers can be fitted with an optional high quality USB audio card that will send 16 audio channels to a computer for recording or processing and a return stereo channel for monitoring or effects.

Released in 1997 for around £817 GBP, the Mix Wizard 14:4:2 was the first of this successful series of mixers, offering 16 mic/line inputs and 2 Aux returns to give 20 channels in total. Mix Wizard 16:2 channels sported a 4 band EQ offering a HF 12kHz shelf, a sweep MF1 from 500Hz to 15kHz, a sweep MF2 from 35Hz to 1kHz & a LF 60Hz shelf, plus a 100Hz high pass filter, 6 aux sends, pan, channel on switching, peak LED & PFL, all finished up with a 100mm fader. All channels have a direct out too. Allen & Heath seemed to have taken a leaf out of Greg Mackie's book with this one, as the rear connections module could - like the CR1604 - be positioned for either table-top or rack mounting use. Allen & Heath followed up on this first MixWizard model with an 20:8:2 and then a 14:4, and the series has since then gone through various revisions being at version 4 in 2021 with 3 models available: the MixWizard WZ4 12:2, the MixWizard WZ4 14:4:2 & the MixWizard WZ4 16:2.
The current MixWizard4 mixers can be fitted with an optional high quality USB audio card that will send 16 audio channels to a computer for recording or processing and a return stereo channel for monitoring or effects.

Released in 1997 for around £817 GBP, the Mix Wizard 20:8:2 was the first of this successful series of mixers, offering 16 mic/line inputs and 2 Aux returns to give 20 channels in total. Mix Wizard 16:2 channels sported a 4 band EQ offering a HF 12kHz shelf, a sweep MF1 from 500Hz to 15kHz, a sweep MF2 from 35Hz to 1kHz & a LF 60Hz shelf, plus a 100Hz high pass filter, 6 aux sends, pan, channel on switching, peak LED & PFL, all finished up with a 100mm fader. All channels have a direct out too. Allen & Heath seemed to have taken a leaf out of Greg Mackie's book with this one, as the rear connections module could - like the CR1604 - be positioned for either table-top or rack mounting use. Allen & Heath followed up on this first MixWizard model with an 20:8:2 and then a 14:4, and the series has since then gone through various revisions being at version 4 in 2021 with 3 models available: the MixWizard WZ4 12:2, the MixWizard WZ4 14:4:2 & the MixWizard WZ4 16:2.
The current MixWizard4 mixers can be fitted with an optional high quality USB audio card that will send 16 audio channels to a computer for recording or processing and a return stereo channel for monitoring or effects.

The MX602A has 2 Mic/Line inputs and a further 2 stereo Line input channels making 6 in total each with a basic 3 band Eq with a fixed 12kHz Hi shelf, fixed 2.5kHz mid peak band and a fixed 80Hz Low shelf each with 15dB of boost/cut (the exact same frequencies as the Mackie 1202 VLZ). A basic but compact little Tablet mixer which could be used to record & overdub material to any DAW with a stereo L/R I/O by sending the DAW L/R OUTs to the 2-track Tape returns routed to the Monitor Bus while sending out any record channels to the Main Bus and on to the DAW.

The MX802A was simply a larger version of the 602 now offering four Mic/Line channels & a further two stereo Line inputs making eight in total. The MX802A also added a second Aux Send, both Aux's being Post EQ, but with one being Pre & the other being Post fader. Behringer again copied the Mackie 1202 VLZ with this unit by adding a 75Hz 18dB/Octave Hi-Pass (Low-cut) to the four Main Mono channels. Eq is the same 3-band affair as on the MX602A, but by using the Low 80Hz shelf in combination with the 75Hz H-Pass the low shelf could be forced to a peaking shape.

The MX1604A is the first in the series with faders, while essentially still following the features of the smaller 802, delivering the same 4 Mic/Line Mono channels each with a 75Hz 18dB/octave Hi-pass (Low cut) but followed on this larger mixer by four further stereo Line level channels, making 16 in total. Eq is the same fixed 3-band affair but now - and again copying the Mackie 1202 - the MX1604A adds an Alt 3/4 Bus (routing to the Alt 3/4 Outs on the rear panel) which can be switched into the Main monitor Bus in the master section, while the two Aux sends now offer the first one switchable Pre or Post fader. The MX1604A could be rack mounted with an extra rack mount kit.

The MX1804X adds a built in FX processor with 32 presents which can be sent to from the FX send on any channel, 6 Mic/Line channels, each with the 75Hz Hi-Pass switch, and four stereo Line channels. On the rear panel each of the six Main Mic/Line inputs has an Insert socket, and the rear panel also has the Main L/R Outputs & the Alt 3/4 Outputs, each with their own pair of Insert sockets. EQ on the MX1804X is updated to a 3 Band affair with the six Mic/Line channels now enjoying a 100Hz to 8kHz sweep Mid accompanying the same 12kHz Hi shelf & 80Hz Low shelf as found on the lower models in the series. Stereo channels instead feature a 4 band Eq, with a 12kHz Hi band, 80 Hz Low band and two fixed mids offering 3kHz & 500Hz respectively. All bands on all channels boost/cut by 15dB.

The MX2004A just gives you more of the same & is basically a larger version of the MX1604A with the improved EQ of the MX1804X but now with 8 Mic/Line main channels & four stereo Line channels. The EQ is the same as the 1804, with the eight main Mic/Line channels having the switchable 75Hz Hi-Pass plus 3 EQ bands with a sweep mid, while the stereo channels sport the 4 fixed bands of EQ. The eight main Mic/Line channels each has an Insert socket on the rear panel, where you will also find the Balanced XLR & unbalanced 1/4" main outputs as well as the unbalanced 1/4" ALT 3/4 Bus outs. Like the MX1604A this model could be rack mounted with an optional kit.

The MX2642A is the first model in the series offering 4 Group Buses. Channels can be routed to any or all 4 Buses as well as the Main Mix L/R out. EQ follows the previous 2 smaller models in the range, with the 8 main Mic/Line channels having the 3 band EQ with a sweep mid plus the 75Hz Hi-Pass (Low cut) switch, while four further stereo channels have the 4 fixed Band EQ. In addition those those channels the MX2642A offers a further four 'reduced features' stereo channels labelled Stereo Channels A, B, C & D. These four additional stereo channels are located in the master section and feature only a Level & Pan pot plus 2 Aux sends, with no equalisation at all, but they CAN be routed to any of the 4 buses or the main mix Bus as with the normal channels. As a further upgrade over the lower models in the range, the MX2641A has Inserts & Direct Out's on all eight of the main Mic/Line channel inputs now located on the rear panel. On the rear panel you will also find the six Aux Send Outputs, the four main Bus outputs as well as the Main Mix Outs which have inserts. This mixer has no Aux Returns, so you use the Stereo mini channels for any return duties if required. Again this mixer can be rack mounted with an optional kit.

The MX3242A is an odd split Inline hybrid design having 16 physical channels but 32 inputs on the rear labelled Input 1-16 & 17-32 respectively. Any of the 16 physical channels can be 'Flipped' to receive it's signal from either the main Mic/Line recording input (inputs 1-16) or additional Balanced/Unbalanced 1/4" input (17-32). Therefore on the rear panel are the 16 x Mic/Line traditional inputs, each with an Insert & Direct-Out socket, and above that input section is a further row of 16 x 1/4" inputs labelled 17-32.

This design means the MX3242X can be used to feed tape or DAW Inputs in the traditional way via any of the four Bus outputs located on the rear panel (each with it's own Insert), or you can feed channels to Tape or DAW inputs via the channel Direct Outs.

For monitoring, each of the 16 physical channels can be Flipped to receive either from it's own Mic/Line input, or from the additional Mix B Tape/DAW input so you can flip the channels on mixdown to access full EQ & Sends etc. Each channel also has an inline monitor section with a basic Level & Pan pot, a Mute button and a switch which allows you to either assign the same input as the main channel to Mix B (useful for creating a sub-mix B from the same inputs the main channels are carrying, but with different levels) or you can assign it to receive from it's own Bus B input on the rear panel to handle Tape or DAW returns. Mix Bus B can be also be routed to the Main Mix bus giving you an additional 16 inputs (but with no EQ) on mix.

EQ on the MX3242X is upgraded for main channels to a 4 band design with a fixed 12kHz Hi Shelf, a fixed 80Hz Low Shelf and two sweep Mids offering 300Hz to 20kHz & 50Hz to 3kHz respectively & the EQ section augmented by the usual 75Hz Hi-Pass (Low cut) switch & an EQ Out button.

The MX3242X has 6 Aux sends per channel arranged as 2 pairs of two Send pots. The first pair being Aux 1/2 switchable Pre/Post Fader while the second pair are labelled 3/4 & 5/6 and can be switched to either of those pairs of Aux buses. Either pair of Aux sends can be switched into the Mix B Bus if required. Aux Send 3 feeds the onboard 24-Bit FX processor which has 32 presets ranging from Reverb & Delay, flanging & chorus as well as combination effects.

All in all the MX3242X is quite a complexed board for such a small size, perhaps a bit too complicated for the beginner, but offered a huge amount of facilities in a small footprint & it could be rack mounted with an included kit. Additionally if rack mounting the unit it's rear connector panel could be unscrewed and rotated round 90 degrees to present all the connectors to the front. The MX3242X comes with a large & robust 2U rack mounting power supply.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.
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SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £335.71 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.
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SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £335.71 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £436.43 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for the home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for a home studio / hobbyist price.
‍
SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £335.71 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for a home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £436.43 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for a home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

Released in 1999 as the updated VLZ, the new VLZ 'Pro' mixers caused a stir due the incredible quality of the new XDR 'premium studio-grade' mic Pre-amps for a home studio / hobbyist price.

SoS Magazine summarised the new Mackie VLZ Pro XDR Pre-amp thusly: "The sonic quality of these mic preamps really does rival that of expensive esoteric designs, and further enhances the capabilities of these highly versatile compact mixers".

The 1604 VLZ Pro cost £872.86 on release, inc VAT.

The Model 5 was released in 1975 in conjunction with the revolutionary 80-8 eight track 1/2 inch reel tape machine (used to record all the sounds for R2D2 in StarWars apprently). This mixer was otherefore bundled with the Tascam 8-Track at dealers. Could be expanded with the bolt-on 5EX. It looks really dated obviously but is fully modular and actually had a great sound.

Here's the 350 with optional 3060 meter bridge from around 1982. This mixer was a very popular budget item released by Fostex for use with their first version A8 1/4" 8-track tape machine. A clever & compact 8-4-2 four bus design, featuring an inline A/B - C/D Bus switch with Pan control to pan either A/C (left) or B/D (right). All channels featured direct outs & RCA phono insert send/return. The 350 even sported two RIAA phono inputs so it could be used as a deejay mixer.

1982 & the first System 8 arrived. To this day the System 8 is one of the great, affordable, old school British mixers and hugely under appreciated. System-8 mixers have a wonderful fat & warm sound. They were available in 12, 16 & 24 channel configurations with an optional & rare EX8 8-channel expander sidecar which could be bolted on. The System-8's had either 4 or 8 groups with either 4, 8 or 16 tape returns & featured a 3 band sweep-mid eq with switchable bass shelving band. Released in 3 versions, the Mk1 (1882-1983) & Mk2 (1983-1986) were brown, while the final Mk3 (1986-1993) was grey.

Coming in around 1985 to replace the older 200 Series. The 200b featured a new wedge shaped design which makes then actually suprisingly deep, they look like a powered mixer when you first see one, but as a consequence of this design the mixer is nicely angled for easy viewing & the angled design creates a large rear panel with connectors not being cramped into a smaller space. On the front panel Soundcraft went for quite small control pots so the 200b series offered a small footprint at the time compared to other mixers. The 200b was available in 8, 16 & 24 channels configurations & featured a modular construction. EQ does not follow the (at the time) favoured sweep mid but rather is delivered in 4 fixed bands at 60Hz, 250Hz, 5kHz and 12kHz, with the top & bottom being shelving filters while the 2 mid's are bell shaped (15db cut/boost). The 200b found it's way into a huge amount of studios, rehearsal rooms & smaller PA systems as a reliable and great sounding workhorse.

Released by Bandive in 1985 the SECK 18-8-2 was a huge seller and was amazingly feature rich for such a small sized mixer. Inside the all metal chassis these mixers contain 3 x 6 channel boards & master board connected by ribbon cables. The 18-8-2 is an unusual inline/split hybrid, offering 8 sub-groups switchable 1-8 or 9-16 to feed typical 8 or 16 track pro-sumer tape machines of the time, while the tape returns are in-line with a simple level & pan control. On final mix channels are switched to Tape input to access full EQ & sends. Easy to find, but rarer in prestine condition with a properly working external power supply (the bit that usually broke). If you can find a good one then even today it's probably the best home studio mixer for routing lots of outboard hardware & other duties due to it's tiny footprint.

Released in 1986 just 18 months after the initial 18-8-2 offering. The 12-8-2 sported the new black colour & had a tweaked EQ which was a bit more smooth & warm. Bandive sold truckloads of these. Like the 18-8-2 this smaller sibling is also an inline/split hyrid.

1998 for £8995 GBP, Mackie's digital mixing console. The D8B came with it's own computer (a Pentium 166MHz machine) running a custom OS designed by Mackie. The Mixer works in conjunction with it's own OS/program with on-screen display pages, but you can use the D8B without referring to the software on the computer by using the D8B's built in displays. The board has 24 physical channels, the first 12 of which feature Mic/Line inputs while channels 13-24 offer Line inputs only. These can be routed to the direct Tape outs or to Bus Out 1-8. The D8B flips between 'Pages' so that Page-2 gives channels 25-48 as the Tape returns. Page-3 switches the channels to perform as 16 Aux returns, handling up to 16 channels of FX from the internal FX processing, plus with an optional add-on card the final channels 17-24 on this 3rd 'Page' can be a further 8 physical inputs. The final 'Page-4' configures the 24 channels as eight virtual groups, plus eight subgroups and eight MIDI controllers. Therefore in total the D8B could provide 56 channels: 24 Mic/Line plus 24 Tape, plus a further 8 physical inputs via the optional 8-input/Output AIO.8 card.

All channels have compressor & Gate & EQ. The EQ section is 4 band & switchable between different options:  4 Band Parametric with analog style overlapping bands. 20/20 EQ with 4 parametric bands each sweepable across the entire range of 20Hz - 20kHz. British EQ with Hi/Lo shelf + 2 parametric mids & British H/P consisting of a Hi-Pass & 3 parametric bands. The EQ was apparently modelled on the Trident 80 series & was actually designed by Peter Watts who designed those classic Trident consoles.

The D8B came with onboard FX which could be expanded. MFX Effects Card This card provides two additional DSP engines for running internal effects. The Digital 8•Bus is shipped with one MFX card installed in Slot A. You can install up to three more MFX cards in Slots B, C, and D. UFX Effects Card This card provides up to four additional DSP engines for running internal effects. The UFX architecture provides access to the newest and coolest third-party plug-ins, as well as an array of groovy new Mackie plug-ins. The D8B effects card slots accommodate any combination of UFX and MFX cards.

Yamaha’s first digital mixer from 1987. Yamaha created the DMP7 for use as an onstage submixer for mixing synthesizers and digital tone generators such as the DX7, but equipped it with microphone inputs, sold head amp expansion units and made other efforts to encourage its use in PA systems and recording. The DMP7 is equipped with automated, motor-driven faders and a scene memory function for recalling mixer settings

1995 - Promix smashes digital mixer value

1995 - A best-selling digital recording console. The 02R is equipped with an I/O card compatible with AES/EBU, ADAT, TASCAM and other digital audio formats to provide an open architecture design for creating optimal recording environments to fit a wide range of needs. Also equipped with 44-channel mixing capacity, 4-band PEQ, a dynamics processor, input display, built-in effects and auto mixing functions. The 02R has sparked the establishment of project studios and personal studios throughout the world.

1997 - This console was remarkable in that it packaged the power and performance of the 02R and more into a compact rack-mount mixer. The 03D offered surround panning as a standard feature, and with a software update it could be remotely controlled from ESAM II video editing equipment, making it an in-demand console for post production. The 03D even featured a mouse terminal that allowed a mouse to be used for control.

1998 - 01V is follow up to Promix 01 - last digital mixer made by Yamaha in the 1990's

1998 - 01V is follow up to Promix 01 - last digital mixer made by Yamaha in the 1990's

Originally appearing on Mackie's 2004 website listed as the DxB mixer, it's name had been changed by the end of 2004 to the Digital X bus, and it came in two flavours the X200 & larger X400 (which is very rare). This was quite a radical product at the time, a digital mixer with 2 x 15" touch screens which could host VST plugins. The rear card 'cage' allowed the user to add as many inputs, outputs and other host cards as required, including a UAD card (included free with the X400) to host UA plugins. The X200 & X400 included Mackie's Universal Control protocol, allowing it to also function as a DAW controller for Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase SX, Nuendo, Digital Performer, Adobe Audition, Sonar & Sony Vegas. The X200 had a built in PC running a custom version of Windows XP and a hard drive for storing the program, plugins and projects, while a custom DSP card takes the load of running eq & dynamics. Essentially this board just had a load of channels which could be assigned as inputs, sends, returns etc, so it was completely flexible.

Perhaps it was a bit ahead of it's time, but it had some bugs which were never dealt with and it was dropped. However there is a 3rd party project, started in 2012 which has written a complete new OS fixing those problems and adding further capabilities, so with these boards originally being around 10 grand but now typically selling for around 2k in the free ads, maybe it's worth checking out.  (http://dxb200.masterout.it/)

The optional cards were:

Mic/Line 4 Card: 4 XLR balanced analog mic/line inputs. 4 TRS balanced analog line level inputs. Digitally remote-controlled mic preamps. Independent phantom power (+48v) per mic input channel.

Mic/Line 8 Card: 8 balanced analog mic/line inputs. 8 balanced analog line level outputs. Independent phantom power (+48v) per input channel. Digitally remote-controlled mic preamps. 2 female 25-pin D-Sub connectors.

Line Card: 8 channels of balanced analog line level inputs and outputs +4dBU/-10dBV jumpers for each channel 2 female 25-pin D-Sub connectors.

Digital Card: 8 channels of ADAT® optical digital audio input and output at 96kHz (4 channels at 192kHz) Up to 8 channels of TDIF digital audio input and output at 96kHz. Direct digital connection between Digital X Bus and external digital devices. Female 25-pin D-Sub connector (TDIF) and four TOS link optical connectors (ADAT x 2).

AES Card: 8 channels of AES/EBU digital audio input and output at 96kHzDirect digital connection between Digital X Bus and other AES/EBU compliant equipment. Uses one female 25-pin D-Sub connector.

FireWire Card: Direct digital audio streaming between Digital X Bus and any compatible computer running Windows XP or Mac OSX ASIO 2.0 or OSX Core Audio compliant 2 IEEE 1394a FireWire ports.
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