Welcome! PME 134 features the Alesis Multimix 12 Firewire audio mixer.

First; look and feel. I like to call this the “out-of-box” experience. The power supply is a brick with a locking screw-on connector for power. The faders and knobs felt a bit more fragile than the Yamaha. The overall fit and finish of the Alesis is excellent. The Alesis uses the more-common approach of top-side connection. The Multimix is much more compact than my Yamaha. The Alesis is a 12 channel, while the Yamaha is a 16.

The Alesis uses a master rocker-switch near the power supply to switch on/off phantom power to the mic pre-amps. You will only notice the 2 power rockers, power supply connector and Firewire connections from the back plate of the Alesis.

The Alesis shines in the digital realm. The internal clock will sync to 44.1 or 48Khz. The Firewire 400 interface gives you direct-out individual channel tracking PLUS mix-out. This is a great feature for post-production as you can punch each channel using the included Cubase LE multi-track editor or you can sum all channels in the digital domain. You also get S/PDIF output in the form of RCA connections, which worked perfectly with my Alesis MasterLink 9600! Add in 100 digital reverb effects.

If you are in the market for a compact mixer with digital capabilities, take a close look at the Multimix.

I found it very interesting to note the design differences between the Mackie Onyx, the Yamaha MG and the Alesis Multimix. All of these are great mixers, but all are somewhat different when put to use. As always, check out the features, look at the photos, download the manuals and get a good feel for what suits your needs.

Alesis Multimix 12FW Street Price: $449

Best,
MarkJensen

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