RABid Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Is anyone making a mixer specifically for a keyboard rig? The only one I remember is the Tascam MM1. I have one, purchased in the very early 90's and it is starting to show age. A bit of noise. Unbalanced stereo panning. The usual stuff from a 30 year old mixer. I don't know anyone within 150 miles for service. Anyway, I don't remember anyone else making a specific "keyboard" mixer. What makes it a "keyboard" mixer other than a label on the front? For one, multiple stereo inputs and not a lot of waste with mic inputs. I've been using Ashley LX-308 which has 8 stereo input channels and very little else. Perfect for a batch of stereo keyboards. 1 Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Key-Largo Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Yeah KL is the one that comes to mind. I bought one when they were cheaper than they are now. I was in the market for good DIs, was looking at a few different Radials, then got the idea of simply combining mixer with DIs (as the KL does). I've also used a Soundcraft notepad (worked great, no noise and had a pre-fader aux which I used to combine the incoming monitor signal, carefully!) and a Rolls (which I needed to buy a better power supply for, the one supplied was noisy). I've also used the inputs on both my Modx and Nord electro as a submixer, but kind of dislike doing that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time4jazz Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Radial also makes the KL-8, an 8 channel rackmount version of the Key Largo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou_NC Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I'm using a "vintage" Kawai MX-8SR for my home setup, and a current-production Behringer RX1602 in my traveling setup. I prefer the ergonomics of the Kawai and wouldn't hesitate to find another used one for home use if mine ever needs replacing, but the Behringer also works fine. These are both rack mount, which I prefer. Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Motif Max Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I have that Ashley LX-308B for the studio rack. For live, I just started using a Samson SM-10, which seems to work very well, and is a lot cheaper. 1 Quote Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000 Kurzweil: PC3-76| Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT, Kurzweil PC4 (88) Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I'm using the Key Largo. I'm 100% Mainstage right now so I'm not plugging any boards in, but I'm using the KL's audio interface (via USB), and I'm also plugging in an MXR talkbox through the effects loop. So far so good, built like a tank. One minor issue - the KL comes with a bright red power cable (to a black wart). The cable is not so great, quite stiff and kinky, and I wore down a few spots. Not to worry, ordered a replacement, all black, smoother cable. Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 How many stereo inputs are needed for this rig? Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 32 minutes ago, TommyRude said: I'm using the Key Largo. I'm 100% Mainstage right now so I'm not plugging any boards in, but I'm using the KL's audio interface (via USB), and I'm also plugging in an MXR talkbox through the effects loop. So far so good, built like a tank. One minor issue - the KL comes with a bright red power cable (to a black wart). The cable is not so great, quite stiff and kinky, and I wore down a few spots. Not to worry, ordered a replacement, all black, smoother cable. I can't stand wall warts in general, my solution was to mount it, and several different headphone amps (for different PAs) on a pedalboard high enough for the warts to sit velcroed underneath already plugged in. This also saves wear on the connections. You can also get a ciocks/eventide power supply but what I'm doing works pretty well. I don't really need to adjust volume on the KL during a show so it's fine...I just kind of set channels, monitor and main outs at maybe 1-2 o'clock and that has been a good volume with the keyboards halfway to 3/4 up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Quinn Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I have a Key Largo and love it! Quote https://alquinn.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 I have both a KL-8 and an LX-308 I could let go. Even an old Roland M-120! Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 FTW! Roland M-16E Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 2 hours ago, time4jazz said: Radial also makes the KL-8, an 8 channel rack mount version of the Key Largo. I have one of those. It’s been great. dB 2 Quote ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursers Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 3 hours ago, time4jazz said: Radial also makes the KL-8, an 8 channel rackmount version of the Key Largo. Indeed - one of the best pieces of gear I've ever bought, just love it. 2 Quote The Keyboard Chronicles Podcast Check out your fellow forumites in an Apple Music playlist Check out your fellow forumites in a Spotify playlist My Music: Stainless Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 my road rig. Some backlines actually provide the Radial, some places don't have it so I bring mine. 1 Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Mike Metlay Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 6 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said: I have that Ashley LX-308B for the studio rack. For live, I just started using a Samson SM-10, which seems to work very well, and is a lot cheaper. Another big thumbs up for the SM10. It is an astonishingly good value for money, clean enough so that I can use it in place of a larger and fancier mixer with little difficulty. Mine has been in use as a main mixer in my studio more than once! mike 2 Quote Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1 clicky!: more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my book ~ my music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewImprov Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I use a Radial KL8 for my live setup, mixing Rhodes, Crumar Mojo, Sequntial Take 5, and the output of Mainstage. Works and sounds great! the rest of my keys at the studio are plugged into an ancient Roland M160, I’m sure there are better options, but it works for now. Quote Turn up the speaker Hop, flop, squawk It's a keeper -Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Burgess Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I've got an old Roland M120 line mixer. Still sounds fine, and not too noisy. Needs a couple of new pots. Always lusted after the old Roland M480 (not the digital mixer by the same name!). Those were the days when the great Roland catalogues were an inspiration to go find some gigs to find many many synths to fill up the unaffordable M480! At home, I've got an X32 Rack which is a bit overkill, for sure - but 22 analog ins and 14 outs, plus the 32x32 digital over USB is so good. Used the Key Largo a couple of times, and being Radial, it's excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamPro Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Does anyone make a mixer (whether a "keyboard mixer" or not) that includes limiting on the headphone output for those musicians wishing to use in-ear monitoring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted June 22, 2023 Author Share Posted June 22, 2023 14 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said: How many stereo inputs are needed for this rig? For home, 10 stereo channels for keys, 4 for electronic drums, and inputs for phone and computer. 16 stereo inputs. Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumtek101 Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I’d check out the PreSonus 16.0.2 usb mixer. It doubles as an interface as well. I use to have one but mine was the FireWire model. Quote Gear: Drums/DW Jazz series Keys/Yamaha Montage 6, Studiologic SL 88 Grand, Hammond C3 w/145 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 get this and be done with it. amazing piece of gear. i use the big brother (qu-pac) for live remote recording and FOH. It's a dream to work with. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QUSB--allen-and-heath-qu-sb-portable-digital-mixer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Boss BX8 Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJkeys Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 18 hours ago, time4jazz said: Radial also makes the KL-8, an 8 channel rackmount version of the Key Largo. I have the KL-8 and it is perfect. -dj 2 Quote iMac i7 13.5.2 Studio One 5.5.2 Nord Stage 3 Nord Wave 2 Nektar T4 Drawmer DL 241 Focusrite ISA Two Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Back in the '80s into early '90s I used the Yamaha MV-802 and thought it was great! More recently, I used the Ashley LX-308B in my live rig for quite some time and now have it in my music room. I have the Radial Key Largo in my rehearsal rack and the Radial KL-8 in my gig rig. I am very happy with these Radial products. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Keys Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I used the Yamaha YC73's inputs to run my Korg Kronos through, and send to front of house via the XLRs, and to my IEM mixer from the 1/4" jacks. Works a treat. I used to do it the other way round, using the Kronos inputs and outputs in the same manner. Quote Yamaha YC73 Korg Kronos2 61 Yamaha CP88 Roland Jupiter 8 Roland JX3P Roland D50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 3 hours ago, JamPro said: Does anyone make a mixer (whether a "keyboard mixer" or not) that includes limiting on the headphone output for those musicians wishing to use in-ear monitoring? I haven't seen one. The digital mixers of course may have limiting in their dsp as an option, but that's not the same as a hardware limiter right before your ears. My solution to that is to have the monitor out of the Key Largo feed a Rolls pm55p with a short stereo cable. FOH aux comes in the other input of the Rolls. Both units are velcroed to my pedalboard with wall warts pre-connected (yay!) so it's ready to go at gigs. Seeing that talk box gives me ideas I was contemplating one, then figured since my Modx has a vocoder that might scratch a similar itch. Underwhelming I must say, it's just not a great vocoder or else I've set it up wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamPro Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 "My solution to that is to have the monitor out of the Key Largo feed a Rolls pm55p with a short stereo cable." Thank you Stokely for your informative answer. One reason why I or another keyboardist might want to use a mixer is to create a headphone mix of keyboard outputs and FOH signal. This makes good practical sense to me - the fly in the ointment being that there is no limiter on the headphone output to protect the hearing of the keyboardist. And now I am learning that to fix the problem of no limiter on the mixer headphone output, a keyboardist in fact needs two mixers: one to create a mix of the keyboard outputs, and that mix is then sent to a second specialized mixer that includes a limiter on the headphone output in order to mix the mixed-down keyboard outputs with the FOH signal. And that seems redundant and wasteful to me. I would love to see a mixer that includes a limiter on the headphone outputs capable of accepting multiple line inputs from multiple keyboards and FOH signal. But I guess we are stuck with redundant and wasteful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 28 minutes ago, JamPro said: And now I am learning that to fix the problem of no limiter on the mixer headphone output, a keyboardist in fact needs two mixers: one to create a mix of the keyboard outputs, and that mix is then sent to a second specialized mixer that includes a limiter on the headphone output in order to mix the mixed-down keyboard outputs with the FOH signal. And that seems redundant and wasteful to me. I was feeling this same way, and I'd been searching for awhile for a rack mixer that would allow me to do exactly what you are talking about. Ultimately I caved, and instead of replacing my three-channel stereo line mixer, I also got a Rolls pm55p to mix down the keyboard stereo submix with the FOH send. And honestly, I love it, and it's much easier to deal with than another large, clunky piece of gear would have been, given my setup -- especially since I don't have to think about "which knob do I adjust" nearly as much as if I had to reach over to a larger, more complicated mixer. Just my two cents, because I totally feel you on "this seems redundant and wasteful," but I'm also very happy with where I wound up given my needs. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 34 minutes ago, JamPro said: One reason why I or another keyboardist might want to use a mixer is to create a headphone mix of keyboard outputs and FOH signal. This makes good practical sense to me - the fly in the ointment being that there is no limiter on the headphone output to protect the hearing of the keyboardist. And now I am learning that to fix the problem of no limiter on the mixer headphone output, a keyboardist in fact needs two mixers: one to create a mix of the keyboard outputs, and that mix is then sent to a second specialized mixer that includes a limiter on the headphone output in order to mix the mixed-down keyboard outputs with the FOH signal. And that seems redundant and wasteful to me. I would love to see a mixer that includes a limiter on the headphone outputs capable of accepting multiple line inputs from multiple keyboards and FOH signal. easy peasy. see my post earlier. The A&H has 10 separate mix outs. It is insanely flexible, easily assignable, powerful, and sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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