Review on new Peavey XR1212 powered mixer.

[psjon]

I decided to drop my overly complicated rack for a Peavey XR1212 http://www.peavey.com/products/proaudio ... 3B1212.cfm I gave it its maiden voyage last Friday night driving a pair of J10s doing bluegrass (all acoustic) in a coffeehouse.

I think this is the perfect match for me at this point in my musical/audio engineering career. I have never as acted as a soundman who was wasn't playing in his own band at the same time. If I were to solely mix, I'd have the opportunity to get to know my gear intimately and develop some super EQing chops. But that ain't happening anytime soon, so I got the Peavey XR1212.

This board has RTA and auto-EQ built into it and it's super simple to use. Set your gear up, set basic mic levels, place your RTA mic (it has its own dedicated input on mixer), and press a button. The RTA tool brings up the level to make the mics feedback slightly and then pumps some pink noise through and measures it and sets the EQ. It takes a matter of seconds and delivers a very respectable result that can be tweaked manually as necessary. And, of course, it sounds fabulous coming through the J10s. I have a Behringer DEQ2496 for RTA which is about 30 times more difficult to use, so this is blessed relief especially for those moments when you're running late and in a hurry. With the hodgepodge of mics I have (it's BYOM with the band) including condensers for acoustic instruments this is all a welcome blessing (mic-type consolidation is a forthcoming project).

It has Peavey's latest digital amp technology with 600 watts per side making it weigh in at mere 23 lbs. or so. The amp power is very configurable and you can power stereo mains or main/monitor and has options for a separate sub output. The flexibility provides many ways to deploy this bad boy for other types of gigs.

On the channel strip EQs it also has a band called "hi mid morph" which if turned right adds crispness and turned left subtracts harshness (they operate on slightly different frequencies which sets it apart from a typical EQ dial). It's a great short cut for dialing in the sound you want.

The mics pres are pretty transparent. No issues for live sound to report. It comes in a nice sturdy metal case that looks like it should last.

Anyway, equipment-wise I think I have finally arrived for bluegrass gigs. NOW I can put more energy back into the music.

[mattaudio]

Cool! If you have any upcoming gigs in Minneapolis let me know. I'd even consider (gasp) making it across the river to St. Paul to check out the band.

Do you have any cabs besides the Jacks?

[Benj Ross]

Nice review man. I have one of these too for just such occassions. I was hauling way too much gear to a three piece monthly dance at the grange. So far I am pretty happy. I have not used the auto EQ yet.

As far as mics go, I have been collecting older Peavey PVM series mics. You can shop them on ebay and Daddys.com for a pretty decent price and I have been pretty darn impressed. Peavey is not known for their mics so they dont hold their value, but they are still decent mics. I am going to do a shootout with several Peavey mics and someold standbys and will post the results here.

Benj

[psjon]

Cool! If you have any upcoming gigs in Minneapolis let me know. I'd even consider (gasp) making it across the river to St. Paul to check out the band.

Do you have any cabs besides the Jacks?

We always have our current calendar here: http://minnesotablue.com (along the left side of the page). At some gigs we use house systems, so drop me a line ahead to know if we're using a BFM system or not. Don't believe everything those Minneapolitans say - St. Paul is not so scary (at least before midnight)

I have a pair of DR200s and a slim T39. Last weekend I did a duo gig with those as mains and the J10s as monitors. I used the Peavey sub-out option on the board to power the T39 with an outboard amp and auto-EQ'd separately the mains and monitors and it worked out slick. The guy I played with was FINALLY convinced that I was onto something with the BFM speakers. Now he's thinking of retiring his big JBL setup for our 4-piece bar band. I would need to add another slim T39 methinks to play some of our venues. Now I want to build a pair of W10s to replace his 15" two-way Community monitors. Oh yeah, and I ordered a very nice roadcase for the XR1212 to protect my investment. I finally feel like I've hit some paydirt.

[psjon]

Nice review man. I have one of these too for just such occassions. I was hauling way too much gear to a three piece monthly dance at the grange. So far I am pretty happy. I have not used the auto EQ yet.

As far as mics go, I have been collecting older Peavey PVM series mics. You can shop them on ebay and Daddys.com for a pretty decent price and I have been pretty darn impressed. Peavey is not known for their mics so they dont hold their value, but they are still decent mics. I am going to do a shootout with several Peavey mics and someold standbys and will post the results here.

Benj

I am interested in your shootout. Peavey, king of inexpensive stuff, produces more sleeper gear than anyone else I can think of.