I need a small mixer for my live backing tracks and also to receive headphone monitoring for my drummer (along with the click track sync'd with the backing track), and I have come to the conclusion that to make it work how I want it to I need it to have pre-fader aux sends. It's simple, the normal "main" output of the mixer is what the drummer will hear, at first just the click track and backing track but hopefully in a live situation also a monitor send from the PA, and he would be able to adjust the separate volumes to his liking straight on the mixer. But I need to send the backing track by itself (no click track, and of course no monitor) straight to the PA, which I would do through the aux out of the small mixer, sending only backing track while other tracks are 0 on their aux level. And I need that backing track to be unaffected by whatever fader changes the drummer gives to his monitor mix.
So I have a small behringer xenyx thingy that I borrowed from my cousin and was planning on buying it from him but at the first rehearsal with our new drummer I realized the aux send (called fx in this mixer) is post-fader, which means if I raise the fx send knob, it will still be mute unless I also raise the main out fader, and if I change the main out fader it will also change the volume of the send to the PA. In rehearsal I solve this problem by going first through the main mixer in the rehearsal room (a bigger behringher mixer) which does have proper "aux" instead of "fx" sends, then sending through aux the click track and backing track and anything the drummer wants for monitoring into the small mixer the drummer has next to him. Since the big mixer is post-fader, I can have the click track muted in the main outs while sending it through aux to the drummer, so it isn't heard in the monitors in the rehearsal room.
Problems are:
1 - drummer cannot adjust volumes himself, I would have to adjust them for him in the main mixer
2 - Obviously, this can't be done in a live show, unless we take our own sound engineer everywhere and it would still be a PITA. plus, we don't have a sound engineer anyways haha
So in the end, anyone know of a cheap small mixer that could work for this purpose? the cheaper the better, not many channels needed, just at least a couple line inputs and one or two mix preamps for receiving monitor mixes through XLR from the PA
So I have a small behringer xenyx thingy that I borrowed from my cousin and was planning on buying it from him but at the first rehearsal with our new drummer I realized the aux send (called fx in this mixer) is post-fader, which means if I raise the fx send knob, it will still be mute unless I also raise the main out fader, and if I change the main out fader it will also change the volume of the send to the PA. In rehearsal I solve this problem by going first through the main mixer in the rehearsal room (a bigger behringher mixer) which does have proper "aux" instead of "fx" sends, then sending through aux the click track and backing track and anything the drummer wants for monitoring into the small mixer the drummer has next to him. Since the big mixer is post-fader, I can have the click track muted in the main outs while sending it through aux to the drummer, so it isn't heard in the monitors in the rehearsal room.
Problems are:
1 - drummer cannot adjust volumes himself, I would have to adjust them for him in the main mixer
2 - Obviously, this can't be done in a live show, unless we take our own sound engineer everywhere and it would still be a PITA. plus, we don't have a sound engineer anyways haha
So in the end, anyone know of a cheap small mixer that could work for this purpose? the cheaper the better, not many channels needed, just at least a couple line inputs and one or two mix preamps for receiving monitor mixes through XLR from the PA
