Anyone use a separate mixer for drums?

[brokenbones]

I am running out of room on my board and my drummer is getting a new 7-piece drum mic set. Has anyone had experience with a rack line mixer? I have a couple open slots on my rack at the moment. I can pick one up used for under a $100 which is alot cheaper right now than upgrading to a mixer with more channels.

The only drawback I can see would be the lack of mixing capability. There are no hi's/mid's/low's on those things. Would it be worth it to buy a cheaper 8 channel mixer just to have that mixing capability? I don't really want to lug around another mixer whilst a rack line mixer could save space.

Your thoughts?

[Krynos]

I've used the Behringer RX1202FX.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...xer?sku=631275

It doesn’t have the greatest EQ section, but it worked well enough. I now use this board for band rehearsal in the basement.

[5454stevef]

I am running out of room on my board and my drummer is getting a new 7-piece drum mic set. Has anyone had experience with a rack line mixer? I have a couple open slots on my rack at the moment. I can pick one up used for under a $100 which is alot cheaper right now than upgrading to a mixer with more channels.

The only drawback I can see would be the lack of mixing capability. There are no hi's/mid's/low's on those things. Would it be worth it to buy a cheaper 8 channel mixer just to have that mixing capability? I don't really want to lug around another mixer whilst a rack line mixer could save space.

Your thoughts?

I think you'd find it very limiting to try to mix drums with no eq on the mic channels. If cost is a huge issue, in a pinch you might try running the kick and snare thru two channels of the main board and everything else thru the rack mixer - still not ideal but at least you could tweak the two that are the most out front. I just noticed you said "line mixer" - if it has no mic preamps it's not going to work well - drums are often loud enough that you can drive a line level input in a real pinch but it's not normally desirable, would probably be noisy as all get-out, especially on a $100 mixer.

SF

[Trumpetguy7]

I agree with previous writer! I'd only mic the bass drum and the snare and get those sounding very solid from your mixer. I'm sure everything else will be heard more than enough. Drums are quite loud without mics as it is.

If you're playing in such a huge place where you know everything needs to get mic'ed then it's time for a new mixer with enough channels for everything, since you're playing large audienced shows.

[Krynos]

Kick, Snare, and then an overhead? Or split the mic's on the toms. You can usually pick up two tom's with one mic if they are close enough.

But yea, a larger mixer

[Mooseairlift]

I think the other writers are all dead-on. Submixing involves all kinds of problems with gain mismacthes and monitoring. Maybe a Presonus Studio Live as it can be expanded as your needs grow.

[Krynos]

StudioLive is a fantastic mixer, if you have the 2k

[Pete Stoltman]

I was thinking something similar to the op and considering a Mackie Pro FX 12 to "pre-mix" the drums and run that to the main board. Seems like a reasonably inexpensive solution and some degree of flexibility. Thoughts?

[TimmyP1955]

Sounds like it's time to sell the current mixer and get something bigger & better - the MixWiz is a great yet affordable option (as low as $500 used).

[PRSWILL]

i have used my Mackie 1202 for drums- just be careful with gains when sending to the main board. Works great and has limited EQ, but nice preamps for the Kick and snare.... my .02

[TimmyP1955]

You can add one, but then you'll have two mediocre mixers.