Jon Chappell senior editor for Harmony Central
Unit Audio Micro-Unit Passive Summing Mixer A Simple and Reliable Way to Wrangle Signals into a Common Output
by Jon Chappell,
Senior Editor, Harmony Central
When you’re a performing multi-instrumentalist, you quickly learn what a summing mixer is, because it’s an indispensable piece of stage gear. Basically, it’s a box that groups multiple inputs into a common output (mono) or outputs (stereo). Signal-routing-wise, it’s like a no-frills mixer, but a lot smaller and simpler electronically, and so is easily tossed into a gig bag or the back of an amp. In one typical situation, you would plug an amplified acoustic, the stereo outputs of a keyboard, and the output of your last stompbox into the summing mixer. The outputs are ganged together (“summed”) in an electrically kosher way and sent to a single mono output or to stereo outputs, which you would then plug into an amp, mixer, or P.A. In a mono setting you can use the summing mixer’s output to feed a single input of your guitar amp. Summing mixers can be used in small studios and makeshift recording setups, and they have secured a place in large-scale DAW recording as well.
Unit Audio offers a trio of summing mixers: the Milli-Unit ($149.00), the Micro-Unit ($199.00), and the Unit ($335.00). All are similar with regard to internal electrical specifications and differ only in number of inputs and inclusion of panning switches. My review model was the middle-of-the-pack $199 Micro-Unit, which has 8 inputs (as opposed to 16 on the Unit) and panning switches for Inputs 1 and 2 (versus none on the Milli-Unit).
Read the rest of the review at Harmony Central ...here
Senior Editor, Harmony Central
When you’re a performing multi-instrumentalist, you quickly learn what a summing mixer is, because it’s an indispensable piece of stage gear. Basically, it’s a box that groups multiple inputs into a common output (mono) or outputs (stereo). Signal-routing-wise, it’s like a no-frills mixer, but a lot smaller and simpler electronically, and so is easily tossed into a gig bag or the back of an amp. In one typical situation, you would plug an amplified acoustic, the stereo outputs of a keyboard, and the output of your last stompbox into the summing mixer. The outputs are ganged together (“summed”) in an electrically kosher way and sent to a single mono output or to stereo outputs, which you would then plug into an amp, mixer, or P.A. In a mono setting you can use the summing mixer’s output to feed a single input of your guitar amp. Summing mixers can be used in small studios and makeshift recording setups, and they have secured a place in large-scale DAW recording as well.
Unit Audio offers a trio of summing mixers: the Milli-Unit ($149.00), the Micro-Unit ($199.00), and the Unit ($335.00). All are similar with regard to internal electrical specifications and differ only in number of inputs and inclusion of panning switches. My review model was the middle-of-the-pack $199 Micro-Unit, which has 8 inputs (as opposed to 16 on the Unit) and panning switches for Inputs 1 and 2 (versus none on the Milli-Unit).
Read the rest of the review at Harmony Central ...here
|
Jon Chappell is a guitarist and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has contributed numerous musical pieces to film and TV, including Northern Exposure, Walker, Texas Ranger, All My Children, and the feature film Bleeding Hearts, directed by actor-dancer Gregory Hines. He is the author of The Recording Guitarist: A Guide for Home and Studio (Hal Leonard), Essential Scales & Modes(Backbeat Books), and Build Your Own PC Recording Studio (McGraw-Hill), and has written six books in the popular Dummies series (Wiley Publishing).
|