Pre or post fader?

[Jonix]

Ok. Hey all.

Going to finally get a new mixer to replace my trusty little folio notepad. Planning to use some dubbing techniques (not full on dub mixes but just incorporate it into my music).

500 is my max budget. I can get by with 3 aux but am unsure if each mixer channel needs a pre/ post switch? Many of the mixers in this price range seem to have a universal switch for all channels.

Why I think it might matter? - If I want a channel with aux set to pre and it’s return channel set to post so I can use the fader to control the amount of effect.

Is the aux send on the instrument channel typically set to pre or post? Pre would enable just the effect to be heard on the return channel post would not?

I hope this makes sense. Thanks for taking time to read .

[interruptor]

Hi
I am not sure exactly what you mean. "Pre" for the instrument/vocal channels seems to be a good idea as it allows to set the aux levels independently of the channel fader setting.
For the return of the effect to the board I think it is a good idea to use a normal mixer channel as well. This way you can further shape the effect signal via the channel EQ, channel fader and even send the effect to the aux . For example send delays to the reverb unit. In this case you are fine with having that channel in the "Pre" setting as well.

[Jonix]

Hi,

Thanks for your input. I was thinking that on the instrument channel I might want pre fader aux but on the channel that returns from a delay I would want post fader aux. This way I can control the amount of delay feedback and track volume all with the fader.

I am considering the Mackie profx16v3. It has one switchable pre/post aux that will mean I can do the above routing. It also has a couple of sub channels that I can use instead of aux, offering some interesting routing options. Not sure how useful the onboard effects will be but they should be useable in a chain.

Some of the used mixers look good eg mixwizards but I am not up for the challenge of buying used at the mo.

Out of interest, what mixer do you use yourself?

[interruptor]

That all sounds very reasonable. Now I get why you want post fader aux on the channel used as fx return.
I use two Sonic Core Scope dsp boards installed in a windows pc as a digital mixer. This allows to do live mixes of analog external signals and fx units via a midi controller while having the benefit of freely routable digital effects, eqs, limiters etc. on the dsp boards. Looking at how affordable analog mixing desks like that Mackie are these days, I might go the same route as you if I started from scratch today.

[Jonix]

I had not heard of Scope before. Looks like a very solid option.My old windows pc is great working in the box but really does not midi clock sync well with hardware. The scope stuff looks like a great solution.
I did consider expert sleepers usamo but I think I might wait to see until after I finally upgrade my pc ( I think a Mac mini might do the job).
I love hardware and software but have not quite established a workflow that uses both at the same time.