Please Note:  We DO NOT sell or provide support for video mixers.
We offer instructional videos on the Panasonic MX-50, MX-30 and AVE-7.
Click here for Instructions Videos.

Buying Your Next Digital Mixer
http://www.studio1productions.com

1995 Reprint from MX.  An oldie but goodie.

Sooner or later, the inevitable is going to happen. You are going to move up to a more expensive or more sophisticated editing system. A new camera may first, then new editing VCRs, and eventually, a new digital mixer. Typically, this will happen not because your current digital mixer breaks down, but because:

* You may want to get into some more advanced type of effects.
* You need to improve the quality of your video signal.
* You require additional video inputs.
* Additional effects.
* You would like to obtain easier user control (i.e., Auto-Take, GPI).
* You’ve graduated to a better video format and now you need component inputs/outputs.
* “The other guys have the latest mixer in their post production suite"
* You saw a gorgeous full color display ad in a magazine and you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket.

Whatever the reason, it is important that you shop wisely prior to making that upgrade investment. There are currently about 20 different past and present digital mixers that are available on either the new or used equipment market.

They range from the old MX-10 (about $200 used) to the latest mixer from Panasonic or Sony. If at all possible, try to find a digital mixer that you can grow into, rather than out of. In other words, look down the road at what you will be doing video production wise a year from now. Will you be shooting high end weddings or corporate videos? TV commercials perhaps?

All of these types of productions will require a certain level of elaborate special effects that perhaps an MX-10 cannot provide.

What To Look For.

Many of your video productions will need keying effects (Luminance Key, Chroma Key, Downstream Key) that either your or your client are require to accomplish the same, or similar tasks that you see today in most television commercials. So it is not a bad idea to include as many keying capability features as you can on your shopping list.

If you shoot and edit in S-VHS, Hi-8 or DV (outputting DV in the Y/C format), Y/C video input and outputs are a must. And the digital mixer that you purchase must be capable of passing these high resolution signals without color shifting or luminance darkening.

Genlock, or external sync capability can also be an important feature if you will be using your digital mixer with other outboard equipment such as time-base correctors, computers, or even other digital-mixers “daisy-chained” together. To obtain a rock solid signal when passing video through multiple devices, it is imperative that they are all “marching to the beat of the same drum,” sync wise.

Since you are, or probably will be, using at least two playback VCRs along with and external camera (copy stand, External Key, Downstream Key, etc.), merely having two video inputs just won’t cut it. Three inputs on a digital video mixer should be the minimum. Four is even better.

Those of you who have all ready been exposed to the smooth transitions created by an “Auto-Take” function will concur that manual effects transitions do have their place, however, nothing beats the perfect uninterrupted dissolve or wipe from one video bus to another.

And unless you always shoot video with perfect white balance, I would highly recommend adding a proc amp for proper color correction. It also makes for a nice special effect when you want to create a sepia-tone old-fashioned film look.

Having an on-board audio mixer is convenient, but you will quickly find that their versatility is very limited. Even the MX-50 four channel audio mixer won’t even allow you to assign your audio to the two different linear tracks of an editing VCR. Nor will it allow you to perform EQ (treble, bass) adjustments. More often than not, video producers are tuning to cost-effective stand-alone audio mixers, such as, Mackie, Samson, etc.

The New Purchase Alternative

A number of excellent deals can be found in buying a used digital mixer from someone else who is upgrading. You might even want to inquire about demo or “B” stock equipment when dealing with retail companies. It is not unusual to appreciate a savings of up to 40% off of the new price by purchasing an almost brand new digital mixer that has been used at a few trade shows by the manufacturer for demo purposes. There’s a lot of them out there.

So, when it comes time to move on up, make sure that you do your homework. Don’t just look for a great deal on a new digital mixer. Look for the quality that the mixer is going to provide for you. Don’t let your digital video mixer become the weak link in your chain, either in its signal passing capability or its creative potential.

Please Note:  We DO NOT sell or provide support for video mixers.
We offer instructional videos on the Panasonic MX-50, MX-30 and AVE-7.
Click here for Instructions Videos..