My Old Peavey Mixer is crapping out and needs replaced. The sliders are all getting dead spots. Tonight was the final performance with it. Peavey stopped making the Versa Head model and the only company that makes anything similar is Mackie. I don't like Mackie but I don't have any other choice. I don't want to have a rack box that is over 2 feet deep.
So my 3 day weekend will come in handy for ringing out the mix.
Did I mention I don't like Mackie Mixers. They seem too cold. The Peavey had some warmth if you know what I'm talking about.
Same with the old Audio Technica Microphones I used to buy. Now the Shures are cold too.
Warmth is better. It blends together with the music better. Cold is too in your face and the blend isn't as nice.
"Same with the old Audio Technica Microphones I used to buy. Now the Shures are cold too. "
I assume you're talking about tone and by cold you actually mean bright (bright being the opposite of warmth in audio terms). If so, I'm very surprised by this. The Shure SM58 is the single most popular vocal microphone in the world. It is known in particular for having great proximity effect (the increase in low end response as the microphone is held closer to the mouth) which results in a warmer tone.
As far as picking Peavey over Mackie, again I'm almost stunned. While Mackie is not what I would consider true professional grade (i.e. you're not going to see Mackie equipment used on for national touring acts) it certainly comes a lot closer than Peavy. I don't know a single engineer that would pick Peavey equipment over Mackie.
Have you looked at Yamaha? When it comes to pre-amps in small format consoles they put Mackie and definitely Peavy to shame. I believe they have a console similar to what you had previously. I'd recommend checking them out if you haven't already.
Regardless, it does suck when a piece of equipment takes a crap, especially one that you've come to know and enjoy working with. Sometimes it feels almost like losing a pet or something, very wierd experience. Good luck with the getting the new rig up and running.
Everyone stopped making mixers with the inputs on the bottom. And the ones on top are usually too long for my box. I don't want a box 28 inches long. I have the microphone recievers mounted on top behind the mixer so the antennas stick up in the air.
When I say warmth...I mean they seem to blend better with the canned music.
The Mackie has pre amps on each channel the PV didn't so that makes them hotter to begin with. I know it changed how my reverb sounds. I run my reverb through channels 15-16 so I have more control with the sliders.
My PV was at least 10 years old and I would buy the same one again if they still made it. I like the 16 channel mixer because it gives me extra channels in case as happened with the PV, that a channel or two dies. Just move over to a new channel and keep going.
I had a static problem with the Mackie sliders. This mixer was in my living room system and I just hooked it up so I could practice. I never really got into everything about it. But the sliders needed to be worked several times to clear up the static. It's not like it was outside. So why were the sliders so noisy? I suspect Corporate Greed cheap sliders.
"But the sliders needed to be worked several times to clear up the static"
Faders (and pots for that matter) do get dirty and need to be exercised to clean them up. That's not unusual. If it was a brand new board, my guess would be a shoddy manufacturing process got dirt or residue on the contacts of the faders.
I'm not totally sure what you mean by inputs on the bottom of the mixer. Do you mean on the underside (the surface parallel to and facing the floor). I'm only aware of one console that is setup that way and it is made by Crest and is really designed specifically to be used for in-ear monitor systems.
Unfortunately, I'm not real familiar with the Peavey you mentioned so I'm not quite sure what it is that you're looking for.
Have you looked into remoting the antenna's on your receivers so that you could mount them up high without having to mount the receivers themselves in that position? Might free up some options for you. You mentioned you've got Shure mics now. Did you get the SLX or ULX series? Either of those are capable of remoting the antennas. I've got the SLX series and it is very useful. The PGX series and lower are not capable of it however.
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and the only company that makes anything similar is Mackie. 
I don't like Mackie but I don't have any other choice. I don't want to have a rack box that is over 2 feet deep.
