The "mixing" bowl

 

Circa 1990

OK, I have a problem.

It's a problem with audio equipment.

Since I've been broadcasting from home more consistently, I've rotated through mixers and setups and even rooms of the house.

So I thought I'd have a little fun showing the different mixing boards that have distributed "the magic."

At the top, that's my very first one. I got it probably in 1990. A classic Realistic board from Radio Shack and it still works. Yes, it's missing the power button and the lights in the VU Meters don't work. There are flaws. But I still utilized it in one of the iterations of the setup last year.

I'm pretty sure I used this little Behringer for one of the "Doubleheader" shows from "The Pod." It's pretty basic but comes in handy when space is an issue. It's fairly powerful for how simple it is. It always drove me crazy that it doesn't have a power switch. Plug it in and it's on. The end. However, it's a good starter if you want a mixer to learn on without spending too much. This, along with a Behringer UMC202HD audio interface, was a small enough setup for Chris Erway and me to call the 2018 state football championship.

Oh, my trusty Peavey PV8. I bought this on eBay back in 2013. I actually won the auction because the seller just wanted to get rid of it and nobody met his price. I offered $65 and he was happy with that. Then I got it and realized that it wasn't a USB mixer. So it languished at first as I figured out what to do with it before discovering that Behringer also sold these small audio interface units that turned "RCA cables" (they're the ones with red and white or red and yellow plugs) into USB. That's also when I discovered "the Behringer buzz" which isn't as exciting it sounds. Still, I'm very fond of this one. We've been through a lot together.

However, I also learned that the power cable easily frayed easily, and replacing them was a pain. So I have one but I don't transport it much anymore. 

Behringer makes very good budget equipment. Not the best and hardly the worst. WGCH has used essentially two Behringer units since probably 2005 or so. What I'll always like about the 1204 unit is that it does have USB but it also has mute buttons on each XLR pot (XLR are those circular female three-prong ports at the top of the mixer). A mute button is your friend. 

No, really. It is. One must always assume the mic is live *cough four-nothing ballgame Thom Brennaman* but a mute button is great for commercial breaks and, ahead, coughing.

I often keep this one in the car if I need a more powerful mixer in a pinch, or if one dies. WGCH's older Behringer died in 2019 as they set up for "The Clubhouse" without me. Yes. Without me, as I had a trunk loaded with equipment (like I said, backups).

Prepared. Always prepared.

My Allen and Heath is a mixer that I've wanted for years and I finally got it, via eBay, last year at a sweet price. I really want to love it but it has a bit of a learning curve to it. Still, I've only used it for a few baseball games and some "Doubleheader" shows. Maybe it will reemerge for the Gades or football season. In my perfect world, I thought this might be my travel mixer for road Gades games. All in due time.

There are no mute buttons but there are a few options that will change the feed of a "pot" and effectively mute the circuit. So, that's sort of a win.

These were basically all the mixers I used before I joined Dan and Craig doing video depos. One thing about Dan (and Craig also but in a different way): he's a huge tech junkie and we got to talking about mixers. We got to talking about what I used to produce my show and games. And he had some surplus, so...

He gave me this beast to try out. It's obviously a larger version of the PV 8 I showed above and, like the 8 it also doesn't have a USB on it! However, I have manipulated it just enough to get USB ability, plus it does have mute buttons. For now, I'm using this one for "Doubleheader."

For now. Don't hold your breath. The Allen and Heath could replace it. Anyway, at one point, Dan said he might be interested in selling this...

Photo: Sweetwater

The Rodecaster Pro. Damn, this is a mighty fine mixer and I got to try it for a few months. Mike Hirn has been preaching it to me for some time.

I was convinced Dan and I would work out a deal and I was pleased to be using it for "Doubleheader." I also used it for a couple of Brunswick hockey games. Alas, he needed it back and the deal was off. I can't spring for the real one (it's $600 -- far more than all of these other mixers I've shown you). It's really feature-rich and I enjoyed it a lot. Maybe eBay will have a deal one day but I have other pressing needs, such as a new headset one day.

Besides, this one was so nice that I worried about getting dust in it during baseball season. Those colored pads on the side would have been nice for playing theme music and sound effects. Like I said, it's really feature-rich. Losing it is why I got this...

I know I've highlighted the Zoom already. Oh, it's not perfect (I could do a whole thing about "mix-minus" but your eyes are glazing already) but I keep calling it "a game-changer."

It's been through multiple hockey games, a baseball game, podcasts, and last week it sat on a window sill at Brunswick for lacrosse. It, too, figures into my Renegades broadcasting plans somehow. It's a wonderful space saver and blah blah blah...

It's all still to be figured out.

I'm amazed if anyone is still reading by this point, but we're not done.

Dan was feeling bad about taking the Rodecaster back, so he gave me this to try. The PreSonus is the one he wanted to actually sell to me months ago and my "Spidey senses" told me that it wasn't the right match. I was right. Oh, this is great, no question. It's big and has Bluetooth built-in but just it's not what I want to spend the money on.

I used it for a few weeks but then, mysteriously, the headphone function stopped working. Now, I have no question that it's "operator error" but it was something I couldn't live with, so it got pulled out yesterday and replaced by the Peavey PV10.

For now. So this is how everything looks, with video depo and broadcasting studios combined.

There will be a purge in the near future. Some things might get sold or returned or "loaned." I often get asked for equipment recommendations and it would be nice to let them try some of these. We'll see. So many decisions and moving parts in play.

So now you know about all the different things I've tried in the past year and this doesn't even include the various setups that went into each version. It's all about finding the right...er...mix.

OK, I'm done on that one.