Ask anyone shopping the live sound mixer market—there’s a bewildering array of models to choose from, spanning a huge price range. You may even be embroiled in such a search right now, shopping for the perfect board for your house of worship. If you’re finding all the options overwhelming, don’t despair.

This article will take a look at the whole range of live sound and permanent installation analog mixers, with an eye towards how they differ as you climb up the price scale. Though we won’t discuss the details and merits of specific models, we will examine common features and the benefits you can expect from them. By the time we’re finished, hopeful shoppers should have a much better idea what features their house of worship needs and what type of mixer will deliver them.

More, More, More
As you move up the analog mixer price continuum from $2,000 to $200,000 and beyond, one word describes the essential difference between mixers at various levels: more. Higher-priced mixers usually offer more control over more inputs and outputs. They offer the ability to add more effects, create more monitor mixes and generate more special feeds.

High-end mixers offer more flexibility, with more automated features. What else do you get more of? More metering, more ways to integrate with other equipment and often, more reliability.

Let’s take a more detailed look at some specific areas where mixers differ.

Input channels
Low-cost mixers max out at around 24 or 32 input channels, which will do the trick for many smaller churches. Breaking the 32-channel barrier often involves a step up to a 5-digit price tag, with more expensive models offering 40-, 48- or 56-channel versions. Higher-end mixers usually throw in between two and four stereo inputs, which may not be represented in the stated channel count.

The advantage of more input channels is obvious—you can combine and control more instruments and voices. When shopping for a mixer, avoid the temptation to buy just enough inputs to get by with your current configuration. Instead, tally up the number of input channels you use during your largest service and add at least 16 additional channels for future growth. This insures you won’t be shopping for yet another new mixer in a few years.

EQ and Filtering
Equalization (EQ) allows you to sculpt the tone of a signal, while filtering completely removes unwanted frequency ranges. Better mixers offer better EQ, with more bands to adjust and more control over each. Three-band EQ with variable mid frequency, as found on most mixers above about $1,500, is a good baseline. Mixers with this type of EQ usually offer a switchable high-pass filter (HPF) to eliminate deep-bass rumble.

Better is a four-band EQ with two variable mid bands, which shows up on mixers in the higher end of the four-digit price range, and a sweepable HPF. The best EQ is the four-band fully parametric variety, which lets you adjust frequency, gain and bandwidth for all four bands. Mixers upwards of $20,000 often have this type of equalization, which may be complemented by a sweepable HPF and a sweepable low-pass filter (LPF).

The better the EQ and filtering you can afford, the better equipped a soundperson will be to correct and enhance signals coming into the board. Keep in mind, though, that a great EQ is wasted unless an engineer knows how to put it to use.

Output busses
Busses are like pipes that run past each input channel, each carrying a blend of signals out of the mixer. Each channel can add its signal to the busses in any proportion. In addition to the normal stereo bus, mixers offer other busses for sending signals to effects or monitors (aux sends), or for combining channel signals together to control them as a group (subgroups).

The number of busses a mixer has is a key factor in its flexibility. Low-cost mixers usually offer four to six mono aux sends and a comparable number of subgroups. Mixers in the $10,000 price range often bump the number of aux sends to eight or more, and at least eight subgroups becomes common. Larger mixers may offer as many as 12 aux sends, several of which may be stereo (useful for special mix outputs).

Top-of-the-line mixers often give you more than just 16+ total busses to work with—some will also allow you to configure individual busses to work either as auxes or subgroups. If you need more aux sends than subgroups, for example, you can convert a few busses from one to the other.