Yamaha powered mixer quality?

[doc540]

Wa'chu say?

Is Yamaha making powered mixers of decent quality?


Looks like I might be putting together a budge P.A. system soon, and I'm looking at portable, powered mixers.

Even used, the Mackie's are out of my price range at $500++.

[Kap'n]

I'd put the boxes on par with the Peavey's and the like.

Don't have any first hand experience with the higher-powered console style ones.

If you buy from reputable ebayers, you can probably get a real deal on a lightly used one.

[chuckocaster]

we have one that we use, and i like a lot more than the mackie powered head we used to have.

the only hang up for me is the E.Q., but then again none of the powered heads seem to have a graphic that actually "hits" the frequencies i need to cut... and the channel strips aren't parametric. maybe these points are quibles cause i can get either of them to sound good.

it seems like the yamaha is louder and punchier. i like it, and i haven't had problem with it in the last 2 years i've used it.

[doc540]

Aussie Mark over on the baddassbassplayer forum has me looking real hard at this one:




500 watts per side, good quality, and VERY portable.

Remember, the older I get the less I want to lug around.

Aussie Mark says the effects are decent, and I can buy a new one under warranty for $440 shipped from Northern Lights and Sound.

Anyone have one or know anything about Soundcraft stuff?

[CyberStrat]

I have limited experience with the Yamaha powered mixers, but The drummer I jam with has one and it has worked flawlessly for 2 years.

I personally own a Behringer PMH2000. You can find B-stock on these for $210. If your looking for a good unit at a great price to get started, I think the Behringer is a great deal. I've also had mine for 2 years without any problems. I also like that it has 2-250W amps that can do mon/mains, stereo or 500W mains.

I use some peavey PR15's for my mains and it's a quick, light system with a simple setup.

Cyber

[doc540]

I visited a local music store after work and asked the owner, a longtime friend of mine, what kind of quality results he was having with the Behringer equipment.

I was surprised to find he hasn't been having ANY problems with them whatsoever. He said he had a few bass amp speaker problems early on, but nothing since then.

That stuff sure sells cheap, but I'm still kind of leery of it for some reason.

I'm really leaning toward that Soundcraft unit.

[Wilko]

I have one of the Yamahas.

It has most of the features of the similar Mackie units.

The new ones offer compressors on the first few channels.

I don't like the factory parameters of the digital effects.

For the money they are great.

Plenty of power for mains and monitors, good EQ.

Very affordable on the used market.

[Gravity Jim]

That stuff sure sells cheap, but I'm still kind of leery of it for some reason.

It doesn't break. But it sounds like shit every day of its long, long life.

[rudutch]

mine has work perfectly for 3 years, I will try to look where I got it
the price was very nice
it is an emx660

For bigger venues we used a big crown power amp for the mains

[bonefish]

our "home base" club (deadwood tobacco company) bought a yamaha like that recently as a house PA. I might be a little biased since it means i don't have to lug PA gear down the stairs anymore, but i think it sounds just fine.

[Wilko]

They sound fine. Most PAs these days do.

[doc540]

Well, boys, I made some change playing the state fair last week, so I pulled the trigger on one of these:



If anyone here knows anything bad about them, please don't post it. It's being shipped today.

[rudutch]

what tubes does it have in it?

(lol)

[doc540]

shameful, isn't it?

no tubes OR tolex

[FrankJohnson]

so.................



Hows it sound Doc Man?

I will be needed an inexpensive PA head soon and was looking at the two new Behringers for $400. They say 1200 watts (600 X 2) but I am guessing that might be a littel over rated. but even 400 per would give enough headroom for what i am after.

Let me know on this......I already picked up some experienced mains (new Drivers though)......this would be a nice kicker for em.

[doc540]

It's in transit, but I'll let you know as soon as I use it.

btw: a local sound guru schooled me in "power". He said there are vastly different degrees of power "quality".

So, just because a (any) company advertises some power rating doesn't quarantee it will produce a quality sound.

He said the matching of quality power with compatible quality speaker design is the best way to insure overall sound quality.

I made the knowing "mmmmmm" sound and nodded my head like I understood and agreed with what he said when, in fact, I am a total dumbass.

[Wilko]

The power thing is something that many people miss out on. The basic application of Ohm's law means that "power" is directly related to how much the devices try to impede the flow of that power (impedance)

200 watts into 4 ohms is only 100 watts into 8 ohms.

ohms are like the size of the pipe carrying water. If you have water coming out the end of a hose on full, it will flow a lot of water that will go out so far. If you put your thumb at the end of the hose, you can hold back some of the water, and the water that comes out will shoot real far.

That's the same amount of "power" but controlled in different ways.

In my experience, the Mackie and Yamaha powered mixers perform about the same. I prefer the Mackie's digital effects much more. That part of the sound is what really noticable.

With no effects, they are very similar.

The soundcraft unit has very similar effects as the yamaha. I think they even have the word "Karaoke echo" on the control panel.

[doc540]

The Gigrac, unfortunately, doesn't actually have "Karaoke echo" as an effect choice, but I was hoping it would so I could sing "Bodhisattva".


HUGE PIC OF THE MIXER FACE

[Wilko]

Yamaha uses the word "Karaoke echo" on theirs.

One of the rehearsal rooms we use has your PA head. The others have the Yamaha units.

I have the yamaha, and Sara (who I play with sometimes) just got the new Yamaha with the compressors. It sounds nice in the same room where we previously used the Mackie.

[BoB/335]

I have a Yamaha EMX5000-12 for a few years now. I love this board. It is a board style (vs head) with sliders. It has 2 separate sets of effects so you can get some delay and some reverb at the same time with both being fully adjustable for each individual channel. 325 watts per side @ 8ohms and 500 watts per side @ 4ohms. It's very expandable with the amps being able to be assigned to different tasks. Both amps for Mains OR both amps for Monitors OR one amp for Mains and one for Monitors. My system has grown tremendously while still using the same board. Right now I use both onboard amps for Monitors and have 2 separate amps for Mains and Subs. 700 watts per side @ 8ohms for tops and 1100 watts per side @ 4ohms for subs. I only say that to demonstrate the flexibility of this board.