Mix Wiz 3? Really?

John Chiara

John Chiara

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
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Troy, NY
Club my roommate mixes at just got a replacement Mix Wiz 3.... To my dismay. This is a restaurant situation with no outboard effects. In 2013 the effects capability of this board is just dismal. Not only is the setup totally confusing...and I've owned Mix Wizs for years.... But the total lack of flexibility again puts me in the position of never recommending them anymore. By the way, this club has had its first MW3 repaired 3 times for faders and pans malfunctions.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

Kemper Watson said:
And my 6 year old MW has been dropped and soaked, with absolutely nothing going wrong with it.. It's a tank..
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Is it a 2 or 3? I have a 2 for studio monitoring and I had to reseat all the ribbon connectors last year...and it never gets moved. The FX really are awful.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

The thing to remember about Allen & Heath is that it's all about their analogue circuitry. It's very good and granted does go wrong sometimes. Lack of great effects is just part of the fact that it's not what they go for in a mixer like this.

THAT SAID- I'd never buy a MW in my life if I could avoid it. Not the kind of mixer layout and form factor I like to work with. If you like it, it's a well built product, and the analogue components are beautiful. In my experience at least.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

I am the most non-technical person on the planet and I don't have any issues at all operating a MixWiz....it's the only board I own.
What isn't flexible in your mind on how the board operates?
It has useable reverb effects, which is all I need for vocals & drums.
If you need anything else then yes you are better off with a outboard device......but isn't that the same for any mixer in this price range?
You can route effects to the monitor sends if needed.
You can check the output levels of every monitor send, R/L and M output.

What is the board missing for it's price range and intended useage?
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

Vinny D'Agostino said:
I am the most non-technical person on the planet and I don't have any issues at all operating a MixWiz....it's the only board I own.
What isn't flexible in your mind on how the board operates?
It has useable reverb effects, which is all I need for vocals & drums.
If you need anything else then yes you are better off with a outboard device......but isn't that the same for any mixer in this price range?
You can route effects to the monitor sends if needed.
You can check the output levels of every monitor send, R/L and M output.

What is the board missing for it's price range and intended useage?
Click to expand...

IMO... Allen & Heath's on board effects are honestly less usable than Behringer's old ones in many situations.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

I have owned several MixWizard 3 and still currently own and use one for smaller things. Never had a problem with any of them. The effects are quite useable for most of the shows I do with the board. If I need something different I bring it. For the gear snobs out there I have a Lexicon PCM91 and PCM42 and also a TC Electronics 2290 among other things so I am aware of what good effects sound like. I wish the MixWiz had a tap delay button but you can edit the FX fairly quickly with a computer if you need to. The board sounds really good for what it is.

John, I am curious as to what is confusing about the board? It seems pretty straightforward other than the effects returns are in 2 different places and you have to decide if you are going to use 1, 2, or none of the effects engines.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

John Chiara said:
Club my roommate mixes at just got a replacement Mix Wiz 3.... To my dismay. This is a restaurant situation with no outboard effects. In 2013 the effects capability of this board is just dismal. Not only is the setup totally confusing...and I've owned Mix Wizs for years.... But the total lack of flexibility again puts me in the position of never recommending them anymore. By the way, this club has had its first MW3 repaired 3 times for faders and pans malfunctions.
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I have had a MixWiz 2 for over 10 years. It has banged around in our bands trailer in the rack over many a bumpy road and I have never had an issue beyond the insert contacts getting dirty on one channel (which was easily cleaned).

I have always found the layout to be quite intuitive. What part are you having trouble with?

As for the on-board efx, I have to agree. I wouldn't quite say they are unusable (since I have used them in a pinch), but they are a far cry from my TC Electronics M-One XL (which would be easily trumped by all the efx listed by Eric!). On the flip side, the mixer has 6 aux sends and 2 stereo returns so it is pretty easy to hook up an external unit in a small rack with the MixWiz.

The channel eq on these boards is very good (at this price range) with 2 sweepable mids and the pre-amps are clean and forgiving. The faders are 100mm instead of the 60mm used by cheaper mixers.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

I am not personally having problems, just that I have seen 4 3's go bad in the last 6 months. If they put a simple digital effects unit in it and I could trust it I have no trouble using one... I have for years. The club I frequent makes all the bands sound the same with the same 4 effects settings. Vocal/guitar delay without tap or at least a time adjustment is unacceptable.. Imo
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

John Chiara said:
I am not personally having problems, just that I have seen 4 3's go bad in the last 6 months. If they put a simple digital effects unit in it and I could trust it I have no trouble using one... I have for years. The club I frequent makes all the bands sound the same with the same 4 effects settings. Vocal/guitar delay without tap or at least a time adjustment is unacceptable.. Imo
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There is a time adjustment, it just requires a MIDI controller to be connected...
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

John Chiara said:
I am not personally having problems, just that I have seen 4 3's go bad in the last 6 months. If they put a simple digital effects unit in it and I could trust it I have no trouble using one... I have for years. The club I frequent makes all the bands sound the same with the same 4 effects settings. Vocal/guitar delay without tap or at least a time adjustment is unacceptable.. Imo
Click to expand...

That is the only post I have read in 20 years where anyone had THAT much of a problem with a MixWiz. You have been truly blessed ;) Seriously though, that is a really bad string of luck as far as I can tell.

I can't argue with your statement on the efx. They are pretty bad, and not very flexible.

I wonder how the $1000.00 MixWiz is going to compete in a market where you can get an $800.00 DL1608, Xi16, and likely many others with this same format. All these low end digital mixers will come with a full complement of efx, compression, gates, a more flexible channel eq, etc, etc, and have remote capability. The MixWiz will become a pretty tough sell in this market IMHO.

Just a note on the DL1608, they also messed up with their efx from all I have heard. I was told by one guy who also owns a MixWiz that the efx on the DL1608 are "about" as good as the MixWiz ..... to which I said "Ick"! I guess I can scratch that board off my list too.

The MixWiz also faces pressure from less expensive 16 channel mixers. They may not have 100mm faders, or 2 sweepable mids, or quite as nice pre-amps, but you can get one for between $400-700. Some of them have more other features than the MixWiz as well.

For those that want an analog mixer which is reliable and good sounding (if you add your own efx) and are willing to pay a bit of a premium for the Allen & Heath reputation for quality and reliability, the MixWiz would still be my recommendation (especially used since you can pick one up for ~$600.00).

I do think that the market for this mixer is about to fall out the bottom. I am betting that A&H make a version of the DL1608 for this market in the not so distant future ;)
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

The ROI has been really good for the MixWizards I have owned and I have always sold them for close to what I had in them after using them for years. I only sold the second to last one because a band I was working with needed a board and I wasn't using it that often at that time. As I said the effects are useable as opposed to no FX but they are limited as has been mentioned. Spend a few bucks on a TC M-One and a D2 or such and you are in another league but you will have added 50% or more to the price of the rig. It is a tool like everything else and is great in its intended application. The main thing about the board is the sound of the analog circuitry. It takes a lot more money to get a little bit better and usually a larger format board.

The digital boards are rapidly taking over this market segment. I have used the Mackie DL1608 and was impressed for what it was. You have to look at any of those baby boards as a "meat and potatos" extra small format mixer. At least the DL1608 had a tap delay and the remote aspect of it is really cool. There is no comparison of the built in effects to the better effects units but again for what it is you get a lot for the money.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

The thing the MW has going for it right now is that there are lots of them and you can pick them up at a decent price. When the Qu-16 arrives I suspect there will be a few more of them on the market. I hope the QU will be as solid as the MW has been.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

I don't know about the "3", but for those folks looking for a solid used 16 channel desk (and there will always be these folks), you can't beat a 16:2DX. I paid $700 for mine new back when they came out and just sold it for $700, albeit with a road case........
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

I use a 1608 for IEM mixes for a female country singer, and the FX are pretty much poo too. The verb seems useless and the delay at least has tap functions but you have to jump around layers to get to it.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

Pretty much all of the small board supplied reverbs are weak. It takes alot of processing power to do reverb right. Even most of the plug in reverbs I have with my Pro Tools TDM rig don't sound as good as my Lexicon PCM91 or even my old PCM70 units. The small format consoles have their place for small bar shows and such. I don't think anybody really expects a $800 console built in reverb to sound as good as a $2500 stand alone effects unit.
 
Re: Mix Wiz 3? Really?

Tim McCulloch said:
Sure they do. Look at how many folks think the Berry X32 should do 50 more things in addition to doing whatever it does, better.
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I was actually going to say, "I don't think anybody really expects a $800 console built in reverb to sound as good as a $2500 stand alone effects unit (except Uli)." I haven't spent enough time yet with the new X series consoles to really compare them to the high line effects I have so I held back. It is possible with current technology and The Music Group has the resources to pull it off but I can't personally say one way or the other yet. I can say that the Mackie DL 1608 effects are weak at this current software version though. I still think the DL is a cool board for its application though and has been very dependable for the folks I know who have them. I would use one in most of the situations I use a MixWiz for.
 
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