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Tried a Pioneer mixer with the built-in effects vs my usual Allen & Heath setup for a set in Santa Tecla
The Pioneer had all these flashy echo and reverb options but the Allen & Heath just felt cleaner and more responsive for live transitions. Has anyone else noticed that built-in effects on mixers can muddy up the sound compared to outboard gear?
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brooke713mo ago
Wait, did you actually hear a difference in the booth or out on the floor? My buddy runs a techno night and he tried swapping his Xone for a Pioneer setup just for one set. He said the Pioneer sounded like someone threw a wet blanket over everything once he started layering effects, especially on the reverb. He ended up turning all the internal stuff off halfway through and just ran it like a basic two channel mixer, which kind of defeated the whole point. He told me the Allen & Heath felt more like the effects were supposed to be there, not just bolted on as a gimmick.
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the_tara3mo ago
Huh, that actually makes a lot of sense. I used to be one of those people who thought a mixer was just a mixer, you know? Like, as long as it had channels and an EQ, who cares. But hearing about your buddy's experience with the reverb specifically, that clicks with something I noticed once at a club. The DJ was using a Pioneer and the reverb just sounded kinda muddy and fake, like it was sitting on top of the track instead of being part of it. Never really thought about it that way until now, but that "wet blanket" description is spot on.
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martinez.anna3mo ago
Yeah that "sitting on top" thing is exactly what I noticed too. I played a set on a friend's Pioneer once and the reverb sounded like someone just dumped a tin of echo over the whole mix, totally separate from the track.
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