This mixer may carry a small price tag but everything else about it is big.

It's only in the last few years that Aces have made a conscious effort to shake off their cheap and cheerful image and got down to designing some serious budget recording equipment. Their latest offering in the mixer department is the B1816: an in-line console designed to complement low budget 16-track recorders, the most popular of which is undoubtedly the Fostex B16. Unlike other so called 16-track desks, this one really does have sixteen outputs, so you're not limited to recording a maximum of eight tracks at any one time. Desks with this limitation can be frustrating when you are recording bands with acoustic drums where you might want to record nine or ten tracks in one take.

The in-line concept is still rather new to the home recording section of the market, though it has been used in professional studios for some years now, and the thing that you notice first is that there is no separate master section in the traditional sense.

Basically, the input channel is fairly conventional in that it has all the gain, EQ and auxiliary controls that you might expect and also has routing buttons where the pan pot is used to steer between odd and even numbered outputs. However, the monitor level and monitor pan controls are also located in the input channels and are not stuck over on the right hand side of the panel. Using the routing buttons, the input channels can be routed to any of sixteen output busses but what happens if you want to subgroup several input channels as might be the case when doing a drum mix? A fair question, but this design lets you accomplish this by providing an innocuous little red button entitled Input/Group for each of the first sixteen input channels. This lets you isolate the fader and monitor section of any channel to be used as the master fader for any other group of channels routed to it. That's all very well you may say, but what does the rest of the channel do now that it has been so cruelly deprived of its fader and monitor section? Well, you have a choice. If you have only used a couple of subgroups (which often is all you need), then you may not need to use the rest of the channel at all. Conversely, the channel may be routed normally but without the benefit of fader gain control. In this eventuality you could trim the gain with the input gain control or use the pan pot. For example, if you were routing the channel to an odd numbered buss, turning the pan pot anticlockwise would increase the amount of signal being sent to that buss whilst turning it clockwise would reduce the level. The opposite would be the case if you were routing to the even numbered buss.

What all this boils down to is that the mixer is physically shorter than it might otherwise be if conventionally laid out and, as fewer components are used, it is cheaper to manufacture and consequently costs the user less. The in-line concept does take a bit of getting used to but it is fairly logical once you get to know your way around and I think that we will be seeing a lot more in-line budget desks in the not too distant future.

Having got the preamble out of the way, let's see what we get for our money and how it is laid out.

Physically Speaking

This machine measures 36 x 39 x 8 inches. Yes, inches not centimetres, which means that it's going to take up a fair amount of space, something you might have to consider seriously if you're working at home. Though the front panel is fabricated in sections, the design is not modular as such but extension blocks of four channels are going to be made available shortly for anyone wishing to expand.

Integral to the design is a meter bridge housing no fewer than 18 illuminated moving coil meters, but as these measure only 1½ by ⅞ inches, they are difficult to read due to the depth of the mixer.

The end cheeks of the console are made from solid pine giving the whole thing a Scandinavian feel and all the metalwork is tastefully finished in mid grey. Unusually, the insert points are brought out to the front panel in the form of a patchbay which means that you can use the desk with a much simpler external patching system than might otherwise be the case. A logical extension of this, if any other manufacturers are reading, would be to have this patch bay section on a 19 inch panel which could be detached from the mixer and mounted in a rack with the rest of your patchbays. A multicore umbilical cable could then be used to connect this to the mixer.

The rear panel houses the mic inputs (XLR wired pin three hot) and line inputs for each channel as well as the sixteen buss outputs to feed a multitrack recorder but there are no dedicated tape returns, you have to tie up the first sixteen line inputs. I am assured that the mic inputs will take line level signals without problems but it would have made a lot more sense if dedicated tape returns and associated switching had been provided. Interestingly, the outputs to the multitrack tape machine are on stereo jacks offering a choice of -10dBm or +4dBm operating levels. There's also a multi-pin delta connector so that all the connections to and from the multitrack recorder can be made using a single multi-cored cable if this method is preferred.

Behind the minimal master section are the outputs for Monitor, Stereo Mix, and Auxiliaries. There are also inputs for a stereo recorder and two Auxiliary returns.

Power is provided from a remote PSU which connects to the desk via a five way multi-pin connector on the rear panel.

"There are only two auxiliary returns, each with their own pan controls and this is a bit silly, as if you are using a 16-track recorder, you won't have enough inputs to return all your effects."

Channel Topography

Firstly, the routing buttons are located at the top of the channel, not at the bottom and this is a sensible move as they are less likely to get reset accidentally. There are eight buttons in all, one for each odd/even buss pair, and the button corresponding to the channel number is coloured red rather than black purely as an aid to navigation.

The input section comes with the full complement of professional facilities. After the Gain control come switches for Phase, 48v Phantom Power, 20dB pad and Mic/Line select.

There are four Auxiliary controls, two switchable to pre- or post-fade, and the other two determined by the position of the PB/Post/LVOut switch about which more will be said shortly. Actually the last statement is true only for the first sixteen channels, the auxiliary is post EQ, pre-fader on the last two channels.

If this sounds a bit boggling, there's more. There are six auxiliary busses and whilst auxiliary 1 and 2 go to busses 1 and 2, the remaining two may be switched to busses 3 and 6 or 4 and 5. This is a good compromise as it lets you patch in up to six processors and you can use up to four on any channel. You can of course patch in further processors via the Insert points.

The EQ section too is rather more comprehensive than you would expect on a mixer of this price and comprises two sweep mid controls as well as the more familiar shelving high and low controls. The High control works at 12kHz whilst the Upper Mid range may be swept from 800Hz to 12kHz. The Lower Mid may be swept from 80 Hz to 1.2kHz and the Low control is fixed at 80Hz. Furthermore, there is an EQ bypass button which lets you check the effect of the current EQ setting against the dry sound. This switch causes the occasional click when being operated but it is normally used when setting up a mix, not during one, so it shouldn't matter.

From here on there are slight differences as channels 17 and 18 do not contain monitor controls but things are otherwise very similar so I will describe channels 1 to 16.

Directly below the Aux 1 control is the Input/Group button mentioned earlier and it is this that makes sub-grouping possible. When the button is set to Input, the fader works normally in that it controls the gain of that channel. However, when switched to Group, the fader and the monitor controls act as master level and pan controls for any group of channels routed through them at mixdown. When recording tracks, only the setting of the fader is relevant but when mixing into stereo, the Monitor Level control must be turned up and the Monitor Pan will pan the whole subgroup across the stereo buss.

Next comes the mysterious button PB/Post/LVOut. This switch determines the source that feeds both the Aux 1 and 2 controls and the Monitor Level controls on each channel. If this switch is set to PB/Post and the input selector is set to Mic, then the signal comes from the Line input socket (wired as a tape return if you are using 16-track) without being affected by the setting of the input gain control. This is the normal way of achieving off-tape monitoring without having to reset the input gain controls. Conversely, if the Mic/Line switch is set to Line, the signal comes from after the channel fader. If however the switch is set to L/Out, then the signal source will be the Line Output socket regardless of how the input selector is set.

"...it does offer true 16-track capability along with a very flexible EQ section."

Monitor Level is associated with the Monitor Pan control and is fed according to the setting of the PB/Post/L/Out switch.

Mix simply sends any signal on the main Pan control to the stereo buss. Remember though that when you subgroup, you are using the Monitor Pan to position the sound and so the Mix button of the destination channel must be off. If it is left on you will find that the subgroup is mixed with whatever other signal is coming through that input channel. The Main Pan control is refreshingly normal in that it pans the channel signal during mixdown and routes the buss signals to odd or even busses when recording.

Next we have the Solo button, the Mute button and the Clip LED. Mute is related to the fader rather than to the channel and so may be used to mute sub-groups. Solo is a pre-fade listen or PFL feature which routes the pre-fader signal on that channel to the monitors and mutes all the other channels. This does not affect the stereo buss output and so can be used with safety during a mix to check individual signals.

The Clip LED lights 6dB before clipping and so gives a good indication of signal level before you run into distortion.

All the faders are carbon types having a 100mm travel and they have a positive, smooth feel. The stereo output faders are sensibly mounted close together to facilitate even, balanced fades.

The VU meters show the level present on the line output sockets.

Master section

Being an in-line design, the main section is only a couple of inches wide and it kicks off with a tone oscillator offering a choice of 1 kHz, 10kHz or 15kHz (nominal) for line up or slate purposes. This has a level control and an off button and it is important to turn the oscillator off when not in use to prevent the possibility of crosstalk.

Moving down we come to the six auxiliary buss master level controls and below this section is a rather convoluted system of selecting Solo for each one. A Solo button next to each control would have been far more logical.

There are only two auxiliary returns, each with their own pan controls and this is a bit silly, as if you are using a 16-track recorder, you won't have enough inputs to return all your effects. Add to this the fact that many effects such as reverb and stereo chorus have one input and two outputs and this limitation could be quite severe. Six or even four would have been adequate. Buying an extra four or eight channels would solve this problem but this will add something like £60 per extra channel onto the total bill. Both returns have mute buttons in the form of an On switch.

"Because of the lack of tape returns, I think that I would soon get annoyed with this desk unless I used the mic inputs for both mic and line signals..."

Talkback is catered for via an XLR socket on the front panel which will accept an unbalanced, high Z mic. This has its own level control and latching On button which could lead to some embarrassing disclosures if you're in the habit of discussing the band from the security of the control room.

Lastly we come to the Monitor section which simply consists of a level control, a Mix/Playback switch, a Mono button and a Mute. Sharing this section of the panel is also the LED which lets you know if one of the solo buttons is down. Headphone monitoring is possible via a socket on the front right hand edge of the console.

In Use

Most of the initial problems were due to the unfamiliar in-line format of the desk but after a while it all started to fall into place. Whilst not being the quietest desk on the market, it is comparable with most other budget desks in the under £2000 category in this respect and the EQ section turned out to be very flexible and reasonably smooth. The lower mid is particularly useful as it lets you get to those nasty bass resonances that most 3-band systems somehow seem to miss.

Crosstalk too is reasonable if you run the inputs such that the clip lights don't come on but it starts to become audible above that. If you are sensible with levels and turn down any channels that aren't in use, this shouldn't be a problem.

Once I'd figured out how to make the subgrouping work, I didn't miss the conventional master section very much but what this mixer doesn't have is a plastic scribble strip which would make it much easier to keep track of what is going where in terms of routing.

Having the patchbay on the front panel is a nice idea as it lets you get to the insert points very easily but, as with the master aux returns, I found the lack of proper tape returns to be a real pain. If you're working with 8-track this won't matter as you'll still have ten line inputs left, but only two in my case was rather too few.

Conclusions

Whatever is said about this desk has to take into account its modest selling price and it does offer true 16-track capability along with a very flexible EQ section.

For home or small studio use the large physical size might be a disadvantage but on the other hand, it does look impressive from the clients point of view if you are running a commercial set up on a low budget. In terms of ergonomics, I found the meters too small to be of much use and it was difficult to see whether some of the buttons were in or out; perhaps the new Japanese Liquorice Allsort buttons would have been better in this respect.

Because of the lack of tape returns, I think that I would soon get annoyed with this desk unless I used the mic inputs for both mic and line signals (which I am told is permissible). This, combined with only two aux returns would mean that I would require a 24-channel version before being completely happy. For 8-track use however the desk is fine and is still cheaper than a lot of 8-channel desks on the market.

It's up to you to see if the facilities it offers are adequate for your requirements. I'm willing to bet that at this price, a lot of 8- and 16-track owners will buy these desks and be very pleased with them.

The Aces B1816 costs £1552.50 including VAT.

Further information can be obtained from: Aces (UK) Ltd, (Contact Details).