Ask anyone shopping the live sound mixer market—there’s a bewildering array of models to choose from, spanning a huge price range. You may even be embroiled in such a search right now, shopping for the perfect board for your house of worship. If you’re finding all the options overwhelming, don’t despair.

This article will take a look at the whole range of live sound and permanent installation analog mixers, with an eye towards how they differ as you climb up the price scale. Though we won’t discuss the details and merits of specific models, we will examine common features and the benefits you can expect from them. By the time we’re finished, hopeful shoppers should have a much better idea what features their house of worship needs and what type of mixer will deliver them.

More, More, More

As you move up the analog mixer price continuum from $2,000 to $200,000 and beyond, one word describes the essential difference between mixers at various levels: more. Higher-priced mixers usually offer more control over more inputs and outputs. They offer the ability to add more effects, create more monitor mixes and generate more special feeds. High-end mixers offer more flexibility, with more automated features. What else do you get more of? More metering, more ways to integrate with other equipment and often, more reliability.

Let’s take a more detailed look at some specific areas where mixers differ.

Input channels
Low-cost mixers max out at around 24 or 32 input channels, which will do the trick for many smaller churches. Breaking the 32-channel barrier often involves a step up to a 5-digit price tag, with more expensive models offering 40-, 48- or 56-channel versions. Higher-end mixers usually throw in between two and four stereo inputs, which may not be represented in the stated channel count.

The advantage of more input channels is obvious—you can combine and control more instruments and voices. When shopping for a mixer, avoid the temptation to buy just enough inputs to get by with your current configuration. Instead, tally up the number of input channels you use during your largest service and add at least 16 additional channels for future growth. This insures you won’t be shopping for yet another new mixer in a few years.

EQ and Filtering
Equalization (EQ) allows you to sculpt the tone of a signal, while filtering completely removes unwanted frequency ranges. Better mixers offer better EQ, with more bands to adjust and more control over each. Three-band EQ with variable mid frequency, as found on most mixers above about $1,500, is a good baseline. Mixers with this type of EQ usually offer a switchable high-pass filter (HPF) to eliminate deep-bass rumble.

Better is a four-band EQ with two variable mid bands, which shows up on mixers in the higher end of the four-digit price range, and a sweepable HPF (see figure 1). The best EQ is the four-band fully parametric variety, which lets you adjust frequency, gain and bandwidth for all four bands. Mixers upwards of $20,000 often have this type of equalization, which may be complemented by a sweepable HPF and a sweepable low-pass filter (LPF).

The better the EQ and filtering you can afford, the better equipped a soundperson will be to correct and enhance signals coming into the board. Keep in mind, though, that a great EQ is wasted unless an engineer knows how to put it to use.

Output busses
Busses are like pipes that run past each input channel, each carrying a blend of signals out of the mixer. Each channel can add its signal to the busses in any proportion. In addition to the normal stereo bus, mixers offer other busses for sending signals to effects or monitors (aux sends), or for combining channel signals together to control them as a group (subgroups).

The number of busses a mixer has is a key factor in its flexibility. Low-cost mixers usually offer four to six mono aux sends and a comparable number of subgroups. Mixers in the $10,000 price range often bump the number of aux sends to eight or more, and at least eight subgroups becomes common. Larger mixers may offer as many as 12 aux sends, several of which may be stereo (useful for special mix outputs).
Top-of-the-line mixers often give you more than just 16+ total busses to work with—some will also allow you to configure individual busses to work either as auxes or subgroups. If you need more aux sends than subgroups, for example, you can convert a few busses from one to the other.

Mono (center) output
With many speaker systems having a center cluster as well as left and right, a mono output is almost mandatory for any live sound mixer. Low-cost mixers often include a mono output jack that simply carries a sum of the stereo signals. Better is a summed output with a dedicated level fader, as found on some models in the $2,000-$3,000 price range.

More expensive consoles (approaching the $10,000 price point) often have a dedicated mono bus to which you can assign specific input channels or subgroups. A pastor’s lavalier mic could be assigned to the center mono cluster, for example, while all instruments and vocals are panned through the stereo field.
At the top end of the live mixer range, consoles offer true “LCR” (left, center, right) panning. This three-output panning scheme sends center-panned channels to the center speaker only, and balances panned channels between the stereo speakers and the center speaker (see figure 2). For vocal clarity and good stereo imaging, LCR panning is hard to beat.

Matrix Outputs
One sure sign of a serious mixing console is the presence of a matrix and its corresponding outputs. A matrix allows you to create several special mixes of the board’s major outputs (subgroups, stereo bus, mono bus, etc.). Such mixes are useful for feeding a recorder, PA zones in other parts of the church, a system for the hearing impaired, a broadcast transmitter, a camcorder or any other application that requires a special mix. The power and convenience of the matrix comes from the fact that it taps mixer outputs instead of individual input channels.

Just like a mixer, matrix systems are measured by the number of inputs and outputs they have. A matrix that offers three different mixes from eight subgroups, the left and right bus and the mono bus would be an 11x3 matrix. Small matrices (usually 4x4, 11x3 or similar) show up on mixers in the sub-$10,000 range. Larger mixers offer serious matrix power, with some high-end models offering 16x10 or even 16x12 matrices. This type of matrix allows the mixer to sit at the hub of a complex signal distribution system, one that goes far beyond just the speakers at the front of the venue.

Automation
In an age when computers control most everything, it should be no surprise that even audio mixers offer automation to make the engineer’s job easier. The most basic aspect of mixing that consoles automate is that of channel muting, allowing the engineer to mute and unmute whole banks of channels with a single button.

The simplest form of mute automation is that of mute groups, where channels are assigned to a master mute group button (see figure 3). Eight or more mute groups aren’t uncommon even on modest-priced consoles. Some mixers in the $5,000-$10,000 range offer both mute groups and mute scene automation. Instead of assigning specific channels to mute groups, a scene stores a mute button “snapshot” of the whole board. When you recall the scene, Higher-end mixers usually have an outboard power supply, which offers the benefit of a quick swap-out as well as lower noise. The wise church purchases an extra power supply, and has it racked up and ready to go should the original supply fail. Better mixers also use modular construction, which makes it relatively easy to replace just the offending section of the mixer. Finally, manufacturers often stand behind their top-of-the-line mixers with a longer warranty (five years or more, in some cases).

Good More, Bad More
When it comes time to purchase a mixer, a higher price tag will often get you some other “mores” worth considering. Like more complexity. The more features a board offers, the greater the challenge it can pose to inexperienced sound engineers. If you want your sound crew to survive the jump from a low-cost 24x4 mixer to a 40x8 matrix system, for example, plan on providing some training.

Don’t forget more weight and a larger footprint—make sure you have the space you need to house (and the sturdy backs to lift) a larger console. A decked-out 56-input mixer can span eight feet and weigh upwards of 500 pounds. A higher-priced console may also mean more costly repairs should something go awry.

Do the good “mores” outweigh the bad ones when shopping for a new mixer? You bet they do. In the right hands, a new mixing console can make significant improvements in the sound quality of your services. It can also give your sound team the features and flexibility they need to tackle more professional, more powerful productions, ones with more impact to share the Good News.

And that’s the best “more” of all.