• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Need Your Reocmmendation- We need a console immediately

If you can afford a Audio Arts R55e, go for it. I have SEVERAL of them at several different stations and they have been flawless. They are simple, take a beating, and work without complaint or failure. With that being said, you might consider a good used one. A friend at SCMS recently mentioned he had a few available to me as I've installed many of them in the past. I know of a couple people with the Radio Systems consoles that are very happy with them. The neat thing about their consoles is that they are, of course, compatible with their dongles, so installation might be even done by non-engineering folks, if you buy the dongles. "If you want a good console I second the stay away from Arrakis comment..." I couldn't agree more. They are sorry to the core on support and reliablity. RUN from them if possible.
 
I would take a look at Axia as well. If you can't afford the Element, take a look at the cheaper iQ.

Regarding mix-minus that has been discussed, iQ will do automatic mix-minus generation for all sources assigned to the faders, just like Element will do. To connect computers you can use Axia PC driver and avoid sound cards and any conversions from digital. There's a single channel and a multichannel version (up to 24 stereo inputs and outputs from your PC).

Basic configuration with 8 faders will cost you $8000 and like all Axia products, comes with 5 year warranty. You can read a little overview on my website: http://www.gorantomas.com/?p=361


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
Avoid Arrakis. Lousy audio, crosstalk problems, doesn't play well in an RF field, support is "Please Have Your Credit Card Ready". I say Radio Systems for your needs or getting a Logitek board. At an AM station in Chattanooga, had all the above Arrakis issues and replacing it with the old hot rodded Gates Stereo Statesman was vastly superior (and it's still kicking). For analog consoles, I like old PR&E or Auditronics 110 series a lot.
 
First I like to thank everyone for their recommendations.

We were considering the Arrakis ARC-8 as we like the direct USB to computer connection. It also offered connection to a hybrid on channel 8 which we especially liked. It looked like a good fit until I read your reviews on the unit.

I like Radio Systems but the problem with them is that they do not offer usb connections on any of their units. This is also the same problem with the Audio Arts Air 1 Console.

The Henry SixMix seems to offer a valid low-cost solution but there does not appear to be any hybrid inputs. It's a nice, clean looking board.

The Allen and Heath XB 14 looks like the strongest contender at this point. It has USB connectivity. It also appears to have hybrid connectivity or possibly a built in hybrid of sorts. It also has an adequate number of XLR jacks and more than enough other features.

At this point we're most likely going to purchase the ALLEN & HEATH XB-14. If you believe there is a better low-cost solution as per our needs/quality please reply to this message.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! josh :)
 
I forgot to mention that I did look into Axia based on your recommendations. They are fantastic but a bit out of our price range.
 
??? Don't get the need for a USB connection. Just buy a good sound card, run analog audio in and out. Keep it simple.
 
If it's just the USB interface that's making your decision: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Lexicon-Alpha-USB-Audio-Interface-103840849-i1126259.gc

I do think the Allen and Heath unit might be the right fit for you, however. It's a simple unit to use, and will be affordable enough for you at this point until you might have more budget for a real broadcast console in the future. There's something to be said for growing into better equipment later too in some ways...
 
josh said:
First I like to thank everyone for their recommendations.

We were considering the Arrakis ARC-8 as we like the direct USB to computer connection. It also offered connection to a hybrid on channel 8 which we especially liked. It looked like a good fit until I read your reviews on the unit.

I like Radio Systems but the problem with them is that they do not offer usb connections on any of their units. This is also the same problem with the Audio Arts Air 1 Console.

The Henry SixMix seems to offer a valid low-cost solution but there does not appear to be any hybrid inputs. It's a nice, clean looking board.

The Allen and Heath XB 14 looks like the strongest contender at this point. It has USB connectivity. It also appears to have hybrid connectivity or possibly a built in hybrid of sorts. It also has an adequate number of XLR jacks and more than enough other features.

At this point we're most likely going to purchase the ALLEN & HEATH XB-14. If you believe there is a better low-cost solution as per our needs/quality please reply to this message.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! josh :)
Click to expand...

I have looked at smaller consoles for a long time now. I've basically seen all that's out there. IMHO, the Henry Sixmix is the best deal, bar none. It does indeed have a mix minus and you can feed a hybrid into it no problem. It also has inserts for the mic jacks so you can process them as you please. This is a real deal-maker for me. A lot - most I would say - of the other small consoles do not have inserts, which means you'll have to buy outboard channel strips to get compression etc on each vocal channel. Some units, like the Air-1, doesn't even allow you to do that as the mic inputs won't accept line signals. Which basically makes the unit completely useless.

Getting back to the Sixmix, it's very stripped down but retains all the broadcast features you'll need I think. Tally (with a Superelay), mix minus, talkback etc. etc. It does not, however, offer a main out level control so you can't set the master volume with a knob or fader.

The XB14 also looks nice and it has dual telcos which I like. Only "problem" is it looks like PA mixer, they haven't gotten the broadcast look down quite yet. But the price is very competitive, no question about that. Those two are the best deals out there as far as I can see. The XB is not A&H's first broadcast console though, they've made those before, but that was a long time ago.

Btw, I digress a bit here but anyway, I hate built-in hybrids in smaller consoles. Many many units have these - the Airmate, Solidynes etc. This is bullcrap because they're always cheap analog hybrids that don't sound too good and have no dsp built in. This means you'll need outboards to get decent audio from them. But you can't add that because there are no inserts on the phone channels on any of those units. Except the D&R Airmate, I actually e-mailed them and they told me they could modify the remote jack on the phone channels to inserts, at no cost. So the Airmate actually does offer that option. But it was slightly over my budget anyway so I skipped it.
 
TomT said:
??? Don't get the need for a USB connection. Just buy a good sound card, run analog audio in and out. Keep it simple.
Click to expand...

Me neither, who's to say the converters in the console are better than the ones in your soundcard? It's a weird thing, this built-in USB.
 
Simplicity and lack of additional wiring/noise/ground loops, etc. That's what I have found to be nice about them, especially if the people installing the equipment aren't seasoned broadcast engineers. It's not really as much the quality of the sound device as it is the ease of use and lack of problems interfacing things.
 
If you have a professional console with balanced outputs and a professional sound card with balanced inputs, then you won't have noise and ground loop problems.
 
I thought I saw in one of the trades that Audioarts was going to make a model of the AIR series with a USB interface.

I second the Audioarts R55 series. Ours has been on the air 6 years now. Only had one fader get a little scratchy. I am sure that was from the morning team dumping a cup of coffee into the thing. That's after warning them about beverages near the equipment.
 
The AudioArts R 55 consoles are very fine workhorses. Hard to kill one short of coffee spills. Switches and pots very high quality. Nice sound. Plays well in an RF field. My choice for the most bombproof board is the old LPB Signature. That board even survives high school student use and college kids and smiles and is back for more.
 
Agreed, a PR&E BMX is one of the best consoles ever made in sound and in build. I also love the Auditronics 110 console line. Learned how to drive a Gates Yard first and a Stereo Statesman when I was a boy of 9 years old and assistant engineer/operator.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom