Allen & Heath ZED 14 - good for overdubbing?

[akadavar]

Hello there

Is Allen & Heath ZED 14 good mixer for overdub recording? I'm looking for solution how to record my synths and drum machinnes track by track using extrenal effects. What do you think about this mixer? It's quite expensive so I focus on used devices.

I'd rather use some kind of hardware multitrack recorder instead of PC but all present multitrackers got bulit-in effects and lack of aux or insert sockets. Any ideas?

[meatballfulton]

If your instruments are stereo you need 2 channels for each one. With only 6 mono and 4 stereo inputs, will you have enough channels today without having to repatch inputs? Will you have any spare channels for the future? This is a problem with small format mixers in general, expansion is difficult or impossible...you end up buying a larger mixer.

Will you be using the USB interface? It's stereo to the computer, so you would either record a stereo mix or one instrument at a time. It's 44.1k or 48k and 16 bit only. These USB limitations are the biggest weakness of the entire ZED line. Although a mixer plus audio interface might seem more complex, it's far more flexible...more simultaneous tracks, 24 bit, higher bit rates.

[sequentialsoftshock]

You could just bypass effects in a hardware multitrack recorder if you wanted to go that route instead of over complicating things.

Otherwise I'd just suggest picking up an 8 channel interface or two.