Yamaha MG206C rack mixer...very cool.

[GZsound]

I had one of my older Mackie mixers fail last week and needed to replace it for a small live sound gig in a hurry..

I bought a new Yamaha MG206C mixer and it was delivered yesterday. I spent the day installing it in my live sound rack and running tests on it...and I must say I am very impressed.

It's a 16 channel board with 16 XLR mic channels, four of which double as stereo line level input channels. It also includes eight built in channel compressors, which is a very cool feature.

It only has three band EQ, but has sweepable mids, has four aux sends and only cost $599.

I would suggest the mixer to anyone who can't afford A & H Mixwizard or Soundcraft FX 16 mixers but needs a nice sounding rack mount 16 channel mixer. It smokes my older Mackie as far as sound quality too..

[Togglehead]

Cool. I've alway had a little place in my heart (or, ear?) for the Yamaha mixers... since im still not in the price bracket for a nice A&H yet...

[GZsound]

It got it's first outing yesterday at an outdoor gig that was part of a 20K run. There were around 1,500 folks there and the music consisted of three really different groups. Generator power.. eek.

The first group was an eight piece cello ensemble. With a single drum. Kind of a Bela Bartok on acid type group.. with two vocalists, an acoustic guitar via pickup and DI and a voilin with pickup and DI.

They sounded.....uh..really interesting.

Second up was a four piece reggae/soul band. Drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass.. Way cool.. the singer sounded like Ziggy Marley. I only run two monitor systems and use a third aux for effects..but everyone seemed happy with six monitors on stage.

Then a six piece with three keyboards, electric guitar, drums, bass and a lead singer.

They used an IEM system so I just ran into their mixer.

I used the built in compression on this band with nice results.. they had their own engineer and he wanted them loud...

All in all.. a very successful day, the Yamaha mixer worked flawlessly and sounded great and I consider it a deal for how much it cost.

If I had any complaint at all it would be with the monster external power supply..but if that contributes to keeping the mixer quiet I'm good with it.

[87PRS]

Wow Mark, that is some line up of artists to mix, it must have been a very interesting event for you. I'm glad you got the Yammy mixer, I've had some Yamaha's in the past and liked them alot. The compression feature is a big plus, I like that. My Soundcraft FX16 has been a great mixer, have had it for over 6 years now, now problems. The MG206C sounds like a steal for the bux!

[GZsound]

Yeah.. I had my heart set on a Soundcraft FX16 mixer or an Allen & Heath Mixwiz, but of course necessity showed up before the bucks.

When my Mackie mixer exploded I had to get something fast and inexpensive and the Yamaha is great.. Even with two day UPS it was under $640.

I am spending the savings on updating my speakers so I'm pretty happy. Let's hope it's reliable..!