Mackie Mix8 Mixer for Podcasting

The Mackie Mix8 mixer has a lot of the features a podcaster would want at a budget friendly price. ► All the gear is linked below.

The first thing you'll notice about this mixer is it's form factor. It's the flattest mixer I've seen. It's very light and could easily be stuffed into a bag for easy transport.

The Mackie Mix8 is light because it's encased in plastic and aluminum. While I prefer the build quality of the Mackie 402VLZ4 (steel), the Mix8 is built very well.

I reviewed the Mix8 was because it's a Mackie with an aux send for less than one hundred dollars.

Mackie is known for making quality gear and even this lowest level mixer produces clean gain at max level. While the Onyx preamp gives you +60db of possible gain, the Mix8 preamp provides+50db of possible gain.

Despite being 10db lower than the Onyx, I was still able to power my dynamic mics (ATR2100 and Heil PR40) with enough gain to get proper levels.

Key for podcasters looking to setup a mix-minus to record Skype interviews, is the Mix8's aux send channel.

The Mix8 has one aux send channel to allow you to setup a single mix-minus. The only reason I would buy this mixer instead of the 402VLZ4 is if I needed to perform a mix-minus. If you simply need to connect to Skype and plan to use call recording software for Skype then you don't need a mix-minus setup.

The only downsides of the Mix8, for me, are the lack of an on/off button, limited LED audio meters, and a weaker preamp.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the Mackie Mix8. At the price point with the addition of an aux send and a better build quality than the Behringer, I thought this mixer might not be a strong contender but it was. I would definitely recommend this mixer if you are on a budget, need an aux send and are a fan of Mackie's built quality.

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• How to Gain Stage Any Mixer:

http://thepodcastersstudio.com/gainst...

• Audio samples from the Mix8 and other sub-$100 mixers can be heard at:

http://thepodcastersstudio.com/sub100...

• Mackie Mix8 mixer and all mixers featured in this review: http://thepodcastersstudio.com/sub100....

• Music licensed from premiumbeat.com: http://bit.ly/1BJbspm
Track: "Stomp" by Gyom
Track: “5 AM” by Senbei

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Gear used in the making of this video:

Mackie Mix8 http://podhelp.me/MackieMix8BH

Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera http://podhelp.me/60DbodyBH

Tokina 11-16mm (Canon mount, APS-C) http://podhelp.me/tokina11-16CanonAPSCBH

Sigma 30mm 1.4 ART APS-C Canon (new, better version) B&H: http://podhelp.me/30mmsigma Amazon: http://podhelp.me/S30mm1-4ArtAmazon

Roland R-05 Audio Recorder (newer version, mine is discontinued) http://podhelp.me/r-05bh

ATR2100 microphone (used in the VO during the mixer walkthrough) http://podhelp.me/ATR2100

HQ-S Stereo Lavalier microphone (into the Roland and used in talking-head intro and outro) http://aspenmics.com/products/hq-s

F&V R-300 LED Ring Light http://podhelp.me/fvring300day

Transcend SD card 16 and 32GB Class 10 http://podhelp.me/tr16gb10

Manfrotto 701 HDV Tripod http://podhelp.me/701hdv055xbkit (discontinued)

Manfrotto 394 Quick Release Plate and Base http://podhelp.me/394plate

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