Back To The Old School...kinda.

[melko]

Again, depends on what you're going for sound-wise.

Sound-wise I'm going for 1979, this is why I asked about 70s mixers. The intended application is preamp abuse, I already have more than enough stuff for other duties.
I really appreciate the time and effort you invested in your detailed and very informative response.
But I was asking something entirely else. Bad communication skills on my side, and I should have started a separate topic, sorry about that

ps
The KM-60 costs what it costs for a very specific reason. But I'm not willing to shell out that much anyway.

[crochambeau]

Again, depends on what you're going for sound-wise.

Sound-wise I'm going for 1979, this is why I asked about 70s mixers. The intended application is preamp abuse, I already have more than enough stuff for other duties.
I really appreciate the time and effort you invested in your detailed and very informative response.
But I was asking something entirely else. Bad communication skills on my side, and I should have started a separate topic, sorry about that

ps
The KM-60 costs what it costs for a very specific reason. But I'm not willing to shell out that much anyway.

Advice on what to look for is going to vary from region to region (a LOT of mixers from this era are not something you want to ship). 1979 was still the tail end of the "wild west" era of music electronics. What's the history in your part of the world?

For example, I'm in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. This means stuff from Biamp or Tapco are essentially local to me, and so I'm guessing they are more readily available on the 3rd hand market. I am also fortunate in my proximity to California/Hollywood, which increased the density of entertainment industry fabrication.

Be warned, the "low noise" thrust of the industry has relegated an awful lot of bulky mixers with limited functionality into the recycle pond.

A few brands I have enjoyed from that era:

Altec
Ashly
TOA
Ramsa
Biamp
Tapco
Peavey
Uni-Sync
Realistic/Radio Shack

Perhaps searching those will lead you to others of a similar vintage. A lot of this stuff will heavily benefit from a recap, and a lot of it will stubbornly refuse to sound "good" (that may sound like a good thing, but, it may also benefit from additional mixers to offset the effect).

Or, as UnderstandDavid said, you can side step the headache of coddling old gear and roll your own. Simple noisy opamp topologies with some discrete transistor front end will put you there 95% of the time. I have a Roland SMX-880 from roughly the same era as the Boss mixer, and it's 100% discrete transistor and sounds nice an chunky under abuse (no EQ though).

This ancient, decaying beauty is now in my studio.

Nice! I too have an entry in the 250 club, though mine has some deeper faults that need addressing.

Viewed 1819 times

[melko]

Advice on what to look for is going to vary from region to region (a LOT of mixers from this era are not something you want to ship). 1979 was still the tail end of the "wild west" era of music electronics. What's the history in your part of the world?

For example, I'm in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. This means stuff from Biamp or Tapco are essentially local to me, and so I'm guessing they are more readily available on the 3rd hand market. I am also fortunate in my proximity to California/Hollywood, which increased the density of entertainment industry fabrication.

Be warned, the "low noise" thrust of the industry has relegated an awful lot of bulky mixers with limited functionality into the recycle pond.

A few brands I have enjoyed from that era:

Altec
Ashly
TOA
Ramsa
Biamp
Tapco
Peavey
Uni-Sync
Realistic/Radio Shack

Perhaps searching those will lead you to others of a similar vintage. A lot of this stuff will heavily benefit from a recap, and a lot of it will stubbornly refuse to sound "good" (that may sound like a good thing, but, it may also benefit from additional mixers to offset the effect).

Or, as UnderstandDavid said, you can side step the headache of coddling old gear and roll your own. Simple noisy opamp topologies with some discrete transistor front end will put you there 95% of the time. I have a Roland SMX-880 from roughly the same era as the Boss mixer, and it's 100% discrete transistor and sounds nice an chunky under abuse (no EQ though).

Thank you so much! This is immensely useful. I live in an ex-Soviet country, so there are no local brands to look out for, because all USSR mixers were complete garbage in every single respect. This means the second hand market is entirely chaotic. Anything can show up, but the probablility for any individual item is very low. So I'm trying to make the shopping list as long as possible to increase my chances of finding something that fits.

Can't build stuff, but I've got a bunch of 70s reverbs and echos, so if nothing comes up I'll just use the pres from those. To be completely honest, this whole affair is a collector's whim as much as a production need. I just happen to really like knobby old boxes

[crochambeau]

USSR mixers were complete garbage in every single respect. This means the second hand market is entirely chaotic. Anything can show up, but the probablility for any individual item is very low. So I'm trying to make the shopping list as long as possible to increase my chances of finding something that fits.

Can't build stuff, but I've got a bunch of 70s reverbs and echos, so if nothing comes up I'll just use the pres from those. To be completely honest, this whole affair is a collector's whim as much as a production need. I just happen to really like knobby old boxes

Early on, before I had any idea of what some things could do, I would just choose stuff because the box looked cool (and would serve as a decent enclosure to build/fit something else into). I've been surprised at how many of these things serve a decent function as is, stuff originally purposed for education, manufacturing, medical, electronics test, and so forth. So if there are any grimy junk shops, recycle depots, or scrap yards you can access, they are often worth the time to visit. Even if all you walk away with is a taste of decay.

Also, if there is the equivalent of a HAM radio fest in your area, hie thee hence to visit, because old radio operators needed mixers too, and often built ugly stuff from scratch that may be had for a song.

[melko]

So if there are any grimy junk shops, recycle depots, or scrap yards you can access, they are often worth the time to visit. Even if all you walk away with is a taste of decay.

We have a couple websites dedicated to that. A cornucopia of old things no sane person wants anymore.

Here's a recent example that really impressed me, just for shits and giggles:

A Soviet military reel to reel recorder from the 60s.
Pretty sure the enclosure is designed to withstand a nuclear attack or something

[UnderstandDavid]

Again, depends on what you're going for sound-wise.

Sound-wise I'm going for 1979, this is why I asked about 70s mixers. The intended application is preamp abuse, I already have more than enough stuff for other duties.
I really appreciate the time and effort you invested in your detailed and very informative response.
But I was asking something entirely else. Bad communication skills on my side, and I should have started a separate topic, sorry about that

ps
The KM-60 costs what it costs for a very specific reason. But I'm not willing to shell out that much anyway.

Advice on what to look for is going to vary from region to region (a LOT of mixers from this era are not something you want to ship). 1979 was still the tail end of the "wild west" era of music electronics. What's the history in your part of the world?

For example, I'm in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. This means stuff from Biamp or Tapco are essentially local to me, and so I'm guessing they are more readily available on the 3rd hand market. I am also fortunate in my proximity to California/Hollywood, which increased the density of entertainment industry fabrication.

Be warned, the "low noise" thrust of the industry has relegated an awful lot of bulky mixers with limited functionality into the recycle pond.

A few brands I have enjoyed from that era:

Altec
Ashly
TOA
Ramsa
Biamp
Tapco
Peavey
Uni-Sync
Realistic/Radio Shack

Perhaps searching those will lead you to others of a similar vintage. A lot of this stuff will heavily benefit from a recap, and a lot of it will stubbornly refuse to sound "good" (that may sound like a good thing, but, it may also benefit from additional mixers to offset the effect).

Or, as UnderstandDavid said, you can side step the headache of coddling old gear and roll your own. Simple noisy opamp topologies with some discrete transistor front end will put you there 95% of the time. I have a Roland SMX-880 from roughly the same era as the Boss mixer, and it's 100% discrete transistor and sounds nice an chunky under abuse (no EQ though).

This ancient, decaying beauty is now in my studio.

Nice! I too have an entry in the 250 club, though mine has some deeper faults that need addressing.

TWINSIES!

[RUBBISH]

Hit your local auctions!
The more rural the better they are it seems

[UnderstandDavid]

Another bit of kit (re-)added to the collection: Novation X-Station 25. It's a MIDI controller too, but it's also got a great synth built into it that can produce some really good, chunky sounds. I used this on probably 99% of the Chav Stabber material, but I now need to run it purely as an external synth 'cause the drivers don't work any more, and the input signals were horribly noisy anyway.

The LCD is screwed up, so I'll need to resolder the connections and try to get it stabilized again. Aside from that though, I forgot just how 'analog' some of the sounds are and how weighty they sound. On an unrelated note, I'm getting some proper studio monitors later today hopefully, so I'll be able to do proper mixes again!

Here's a track I put together using nothing but the X-Station: Stations, Revisited

[Pigswill]

Here's a track I put together using nothing but the X-Station: Stations, Revisited

I wouldn't have guessed that this synth would make this kind of sound. There's a lot of potential here. Really nice.

[UnderstandDavid]

I was actually quite surprised myself when I hooked it up again!

I ended up having to up sticks and move back to my parents house again, so I'll be getting a decent desk so that I can set everything up properly. Right now, I'm on a cramped desk with two screens, monitors, keyboard, mouse and an AIR32 MIDI keyboard so it's a pain in the arse.