Karaoke Forums

I think that any piece of equipment that spends a lot of time in a vehicle, be it in storage or transport, will not last as long as one that spends most of it's time in a temperature controlled environment.

A friend of mine just had one of his gig laptops die on him. He leaves all of his gear in his vehicle all year long. The equipment sits outside in 100 degree heat all summer long and below freezing temperatures during the winter. I'm sure that all of the bouncing around in the back of the truck doesn't help either.

I have a Yamamha MG16/4 it has Over 1000 gigs on it, I's starting to die 2 of the Stereo channels are dead but everything else still works. I use my faders on every song turning karaoke music up or down and DJ music up inbetween singers.

I love that mixer. I been trying to find a used one. I seen a few on ebay a few months ago for $150.

The proble I have with current mixers is the connections are on the top. I want them on the back so I can leave everything connected all the time.

Not a very smart thing to do.

Sometimes you just have no options. I don't have a garage at all (really wish I did, for a lot of reasons). I either have a small metal shed to store my gear in, or leave it in my cargo trailer. NO OTHER CHOICE for me. I take my laptops in the house at night tho. Before I purchased the trailer earlier this year, I was using my Dodge Caravan for transporting my gear. It was actually a nicer way of "storing" my equipment, but it was destroying my van. I honestly don't know how much of an effect having to store and transport my equipment this way has had on the durability issues. This board is really the first piece of gear that I have owned that I can say has "gone bad". I have had others, that I have upgraded from, but this is the first one to die on me. (well except a piece of s**t Crate powered speaker that only worked for 5 shows and then died)

OK a couple things, rather than respond individually I'll put it all in one.

Mr. Scott, congrats on the new board. That 16/6FX is a really nice board. That's the one I started with for Karaoke before me and a business partner broke off into separate businesses. I'm pretty sure he's still using it. There's only one quirk with that board that they changed in the later editions. When you mute a channel, it does not mute it's EFX sends. So if you have a mic routed to reverb and it's muted but someone talks into the mic anyway, you won't hear the mic but you will hear the reverb from it if the EFX are on. It's an odd quirk, doesn't hurt anything, just something to be aware of so you don't pull your hair out trying to figure out why that's happening. As far as your friend's experiences, I seriously question how she treats her equipment. If she's gone through 7 consoles in 20 years, that's less than 3 years per console on average, that ain't good and definitely not normal.

lyquiddye, on the subject of mixer longevity, be aware that leaving XLR's hanging out of those mic inputs on the back while it gets bounced around and jostled during loading and travel can actually have ill effects on the mic jacks. Believe it or not, that puts quite a bit of stress on them which can effect them in the long run. You're actually better off unplugging them each time.

Bruce, the two 24.4 Mackies and the Ramsa I mentioned above all live in trailers through the coldest Wisconsin winters and hottest summers. The O1V I talked about lives in a garage when not in use and it is certainly not climate controlled either, and up until I bought the O1V 2 years ago, the CFX-12 only lived in that garage (it's now in my family room). My point is if you properly case them and treat them right, they can take a fair amount of abuse.

Alan, I can assure you that Behringer's bad rap has been earned over time. They used to make gear that was very sought after. When still manufactured in Germany, their compressors were better performers than the DBX workhorses that so many like today. Then they moved their manufacturing to everyone's favorite cheapo producing country (China) in an effort to seek out the "budget" market and they unfortunately became a budget brand. It's not that their stuff is unusable, I still have quite a few of their comps, gates and even a couple Ultragraph EQ's. But there are gigs where I can't put those out because the riders will not allow. And the reason is simply that the quality ain't there. (BTW, I've owned 7 Toyotas, bought the last one during the height of that recall craze ).

If you want equipment to last, here's a few general rules to follow that make a huge difference. First, all equipment should be in good protective cases. I don't skip on my case purchases because this is the single most important insurance policy my equipment has. Second, when you bring your equipment in from an extreme environment (hot or cold) give it time to acclimate before powering up. When I bring in my stuff during the winter, especially from the trailer, I plan ahead, arrive early and let it sit for a while just to warm up and evaporate all the condensation. When I first bring up the amps I'll push some very low volume music through for a while to give the amps and speaker coils time to warm up. This is all good practice to ensure longevity. Third, use the equipment properly. Believe it or not, you can damage an amp or mixer simply through improper use. Continued clipping and extreme levels take their toll. Treat your stuff right, protect it well and it should last you for years (even if it carries a Behringer nameplate )

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Alright folks, here goes the scoop. I hooked it up this morning, did some tweeking, and low and behold, we have sound!!! DUH, Put the rig up in my front yard (poor neighbors at 10 in the morning hehe) I must say, I'm impressed with this board and what it can do. It DOES sound a lot more "crisp", and has more headroom on the board too. When I put it to the real test tonight, I will give my full impression.

Tony, as far as the "glitch" you were talking about, I tried to replicate what you were talking about, and couldn't do it. So, I take it that this particular unit was made with the fix applied. I do have a small issue with it, and I guess I will have to live, but it's a bit too "long" in the rack. I had to move my controls for my player and the mixer down a couple of holes so the cords will fit in the back of the mixer. So now the control of my player stick out just a small bit . It will work tho. Just looks little "odd". It is no longer flush in the front is all, but the cover doesn't collide.

For a used mixer, I think I got a pretty good bargain at $200. Everything works just as it should, no noise, clear sound and the mixer has no flaws. Cross your finger for the practical application test tonight!

So glad to hear that your new mixer is working out for you. Looking forward to your final evaluation after your show.

As promised, here is my latest and greatest revue on the new board. Ok, the issue I had with the height of it, really not an issue, looks a little odd, but works fine. The glitch that Lonnie had mentioned, wasn't a glitch for me at all, when I muted the mics, there was no sound from them at all, and no effects return was running while muted.

Got to my show, set up as I normally do, took about 10 minutes to tweak in the board, and it was off to the races for me last night! The board has more headroom (from the board) than the Behringer Xenyx 1832FX does. Much cleaner and crisper sound came from using the same set up as I normally do. I ran with the EQ for the most part flat, with the exception of the lows slightly turned up. I also had to turn the highs on my 31 band EQ down just slightly from where they were previously set. With the Behringer board, I also had to slide the EQ frequency at 6.3 khz totally down to stop possible feedback on vocals. The Yamaha MG16/6 FX allowed me turn that back up to a normal position. I was getting feedback, but not that bad at all. The real problem here lies in the stage area itself not being large enough and also being just a "cubby" for the most part. I was able to control the feedback just by tweaking the levels on volume in/out. I set the gains on all 3 mics at about "11:30" and had them up only about 40%, maybe slightly less. The volume "in" on the music was set at about 45-50%, compared to the Behringer at almost 90%. Volume "out" on the total mix on the Yamaha was set very low at maybe 25%, (Behringer was about 40%) Overall these setting actually made me to believe that the capability of the Yamaha was much more than the Behringer. The "mix' itself was a breeze to figure out. Even to the AUX1 (monitors). The Behringer is easier at this tho, since it has a dedicated "monitor" out, and the Yamaha doesn't have that option. However, using the AUX1 was no problem at all, just having the knobs themselves look exactly like the other knobs was not as convenient.

The effects on the Yamaha worked perfectly, I used the lowest setting on "reverb" and turned it to about 10:30 on the "out" and about 9:30 on the mics. The slider for the "effects return" was put at about 75%. Someone might be able to suggest a better setting for effects, but I think it's mostly personal preference. As far as comparing the effects, I think the Behringer has the Yamaha beat, just for the fact that it has more choices, but both boards work terrifically for effects.

At the end of the show, at this venue, I play about 20-30 minutes of dance music while I am tearing what I can down. I usually crank up the volume so it "thumps" the house. I did that very thing last night as well, and found out that the Yamaha board has MUCH better potential at higher levels of volume (hence more headroom) I also found that I could push the volume higher without possibilities of clipping the amps. This was a huge surprise to me, and a very pleasant one too.

Overall, my revue is this, Yamaha wins hands down. Now while the Behringer board did me a good service , I am thinking the Yamaha will do me a GREAT service. I am pleased with my purchase fully, and would recommend Yamaha over the Behringer. and this is coming from a person who has used a lot of Behring products over the years, and have been happy with them.

Wow, that is just great! Good for you! I knew the Yamaha would'nt be no slouch. Yamaha does make a great product. Enjoy.

Well now you understand first hand how much better a good quality mixer can sound over a bargain Behringer. Good job!

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Thanks Lonnie

Hmmm after reading that review, i think I shall wait and save up for the yamaha that someone suggested to me. Still has the compression and subgroup i wanted. Now i just have to find the op.

thanks all

-James

I own 2 MG124CX Yamaha mixers. Recommended by Lonnie. The only downsize is it is a non rackable mixer. I bought the first one new for $250 and the 2nd used for about $200. MrScott has the advantage of comparing through ownership. I can tell you I love my Yammie but I've never owned anything else. So it's nice to hear a review from someone who can and has truly compared the two.

I leave my equipment in the trailer however I don't have my entire rig in there. My rack comes in the house with me and when transported is always placed in the rear of my SUV. Same for my back up mixer, laptops, and a few other odds and ends. My trailer is set up in a manner that nothing can fall or slide around. Bouncing is another story, just being careful and watching for bumps. Railroad tracks suck.

One question. When I look at a knob, I see 6 oclock, 7 oclock etc. Where the heck is 11:30?

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

12 oclock is straight up, so 11:30 would be slightly to the left of that. Thats all, simple as that. Rip, I gotta tell ya, you probably made a better decision in buying the Yamaha in the first place, rather than finding out after the fact that other boards aren't as nice. You are correct tho, I have the advantage there, knowing the exact difference between the two brands.