My first mixer

Compact mixers have become the next big thing. I know that doesn’t make any more sense than jumbo-shrimp, or military intelligence, but they’re really starting to pack a lot of professional features into these little guys. An excellent example of this is the Mix.260FX from TAPCO.

Ah, TAPCO. There’s a name that takes me back to the early 1970’s, when I put my first rock and roll band together. We didn’t have much money back then, in fact we fit the image of ‘starving musicians’ pretty well. We heard about a new company building great, affordable mixers in Seattle, and the man who founded it, Greg Mackie. So we pooled all our money and bought a TAPCO 6000R—six inputs, with reverb. That was my first professional mixer, and I’ve still got it today.

Well, TAPCO’s back and they’re building great small-footprint mixers once again—and they’re even more affordable than ever.

Easy to use

At a recent rehearsal, I gave the Mix.260FX a test drive and must admit I was quite impressed with the sound quality and ease of operation. I’ve always avoided ultra-compact mixers because tight control spacing is an issue for me. But my chubby, bass-player fingers felt right at home on the Mix.260FX, even when mixing on the fly. The layout is so logical that even if you’re a beginner, you’ll be dialing like a pro in no time.

Impressive sound quality

The Mix.260FX sounds great thanks to the 3-band EQ and some of the best preamps I’ve heard on a mixer in this class. The onboard effects section is a real plus, and the Mix.260FX has not just one or two, but 256 high quality 20-bit digital presets, including a variety of clean sounding reverbs and delays, chorus, flange, tremolo and rotary effects—all right at your fingertips. And these effects are as easy to use as a stompbox.

Functionality

I was surprised to find some of the features offered on the Mix260FX, especially as it’s considered an entry-level mixer. I used the onboard phantom power for our acoustic guitarist’s active DI box, and the CD/Tape inputs came in handy, since we had already used up all the channel inputs. We even made a pretty decent recording of the rehearsal via the tape outputs.

Compact and rugged

TAPCO Mix Series mixers are real space-savers, with the Mix.260FX, the largest of the family, taking up barely more than a single square foot of desktop real estate. And if you need a mixer that can withstand the bumps and bangs of everyday life, look no further than the Mix Series. The solid-steel chassis provides excellent protection for these compact beauties. The Mix Series is a rugged performer, perfectly suited for the road.

Affordable

With six models to choose from, starting with the 5-channel Mix.50 (with a suggested retail price of $59.00), all the way to the 12-channel Mix.260FX (retailing for an amazingly low $249.00), you’re sure to find one suited to your specific needs and budget.
Whether you’re buying your first mixer, adding flexibility to your current setup, or considering a mixer you can leave at your rehearsal studio, take a look at the TAPCO Mix Series. You’ll get a lotta mixer for not a lotta dough.