Re: Best inexpensive wireless mixer
I wrote an article about performance limits in console design back in 1980, before some reading this thread were born. Back then it was somewhat harder than today, with easily demonstrable differences between cheap mixers and premium gear. Since then the performance of low cost ICs has improved dramatically, somewhat reducing the spread between premium and value product. That said if you buy your fruit from the bottom of the barrel there may be some bruises. I am not making a critical comment about Behringer mixers. I never even bothered to bring one into my lab to check out back when I was in those trenches, and read what you want into that.
I suspect the largest "perceived" difference between modern mixers is things like the tuning (Q/bandwidth and centers) of the EQ. Things like the speed of the sundry control laws, which can affect where you end up as a user dialing in your "mix". The ergonomics of how mixers respond to the user, is not an objective quantifiable science, while there are surely real differences, that do not show up on the test bench measurements.
I am not claiming that all mixers are created equal. I am saying that looking at the mic preamps to explain the difference will not be productive. Note: There are some premium(?) brands that intentionally encourage overload into a soft limiter at the preamp, that will surely sound different. I have never liked the sound of distortion in my audio paths, but I am not the customer for these products and they apparently enjoy some following.
JR
