Fairly new to eurorack, but am quickly becoming a huge Intellijel fan. So far I have a 7U Performance case that is genius. I also have a Mixup, Steppy, Quadratt and Noise Tools. Next module on my list is the Dual ADSR. But I have a couple thoughts on mixers and wonder why they don’t exist.
I was pretty set on getting the WMD mixer with the expansion options. Individual faders, mutes, auxes and the ability to send each channel out into a DAW for mixing. Seemed perfect to me, albeit kinda big and expensive. I mentioned this to a friend who has a lot more experience and a much higher budget than me. He sold his WMD and sent me an audio comparison of the WMD vs a Cwejman 4 channel mixer and I quickly understood. The Cwejman had way stronger low end and detail in the lows as well as smoother highs. The WMD didn’t suck, but the Cwejman was noticeably better. Seems to me there’s a market for a great mixer with faders, mutes, solos, auxes and individual outs for recording. Cwejman is crazy expensive and very tough to find. It also lacks some of the features mentioned.
Another thing I think could benefit a mixer is a simple high pass filter per channel. When I record my eurorack tunes one channel at a time, I notice that massive low end that I often can’t hear well, but it eats up headroom and muddies up the track. I don’t need 20hz on a snare drum!
In summary, it seems like a 4-8 channel mixer with faders, mutes, a simple high pass and individual line level outs would sell like hot cakes but I could be wrong?
Id love to hear the audio comparison if its possible to post it and some info about how it was done. would be very interesting/enlightening.
Its a complex subject thats been ongoing for many years. its not at all viable to fit every desired feature into an ergonomic mixer. there is no perfect design that can please everyone, and the eurorack market generally demands something ‘affordable’ rather than hi fi
I agree with what you’re saying, but that’s kind of why I brought it up here. Intellijel has a great balance of quality to price. I also realize the mixer I’m suggesting wouldn’t be tiny, but for me it would be a worthwhile thing
After some consideration, I bought a Blue Lantern Stereo-Sir-Mix-A-Lot.
The price was right in the $250US range.
Two aux sends, volume, mute, and pan on six channels, two aux returns (with volume control) and master output trims.
Also in consideration was the Roland six channel, Happy Nerding six channel, as well as Lifeforms and even Befaco. I went with the Blue Lantern because it offered the most features for the lowest price. I don’t have any real complaints about it.
This might sound weird, but a friendly acquaintance who owned both sent me a file I no longer have. Honestly, because of the price, I would’ve preferred to believe the Cwejman stuff is overrated hype, but the audio results were obvious. I mix a handful of records a year, have nice gear and am probably fussier than most about audio quality, so it’s possible some may hear little to no difference. I thought it was pretty obvious
right on, the difference is only how much it matters to you. Cwejman stuff is not hype, its top notch, but the examples of comparison are sparse and i think it would open a lot of people’s ears to hear it properly.
ive been using Promodular Miiiix, very happy with the sound and quality. You can likely find used for a lot cheaper than cwejman too. At the time of its release Schneidersladen praised it as the only true comparable mixer to the Mx-4s. Never used the Cwejman though myself
Just looked up the Promodular. Looks serious!
Ideally, I’d love mutes as well. I’ve been looking at the Qu-Bit Mixology but have no idea what it sounds like
I dig the Befaco Hexmix - mutes, three band EQ, master EQ, and optional expander. Sound quality seems strong though I don’t have much reference vs other mixers
As for mixers, I’m of two minds. I currently use an external mixer because of lack of Eurorack space and need for more channels for performing live with a friend. The advantage of the external mixer is features, mainly the ability for the mixer to act as a multi-track recorder AND full USB interface.
So MY ideal Eurorack mixer would also need to function as a USB interface, with the ability to send individual track AND a mix to the host, in addition to allowing at least two channels back from the host as my current mixer does (Zoom LiveTrack L20).
My needs are simple: 4-8 channels of line inputs w/gain, mutes, and panning, 1-2 aux sends/returns, maybe a HPF per channel as others have suggested (or on the master?), stereo line outputs and a headphone output.
