A decade ago, a 600W PA would have filled a Transit van. Now you can team this powerful, compact mixer amp with a pair of speakers for an instant PA at a surprisingly low price — and fit it easily in the back of your car. Derek Johnson rediscovers the joys of gigging.

For small gigs, mixer amps are undoubtedly more convenient than separate power amps and mixers — add some mics, a couple of speakers, and you have an instant PA. Carlsbro's new range of powered mixers includes the CDX 8:2, which offers 300W of stereo power into 4 Ohms (or 150W per channel into 8 Ohms), and features a built-in 16-bit digital reverb. Others in the range provide more inputs, less power and/or no reverb, but this review will hold true for the majority of facilities on offer across the range.

The CDX 8:2's layout is traditional, input channels offering mic and line inputs, three-band EQ, one monitor and two aux sends, pan and a fader. One aux send is hardwired to the on-board reverb. Any of the inputs may also be routed to the built-in eight-band graphic.

There is also a stereo auxiliary input channel which has nearly all the features of the main inputs, plus tape inputs and outputs allowing your performance to be routed to a stereo tape recorder. This is the perfect point to feed in a sub-mixer or stereo effects return (the provided return is mono), and is also ideal for a playback cassette deck, DAT machine or CD player. Both tape and aux inputs can be used together, although any balancing will have to be done at the source. One slight departure from traditional mixer design is the way in which the reverb and effects returns are given their own fader, rather than a pot, which makes adjustments far more intuitive.

The built-in reverb offers a variety of effects, each with eight different preset delay settings. In addition, a switch offers two variants of each setting (except for reverse reverb), a total of 127 programs. A further seven preset delay effects are on offer; a regeneration knob varies the number of repeats.

The monitor send channel, at the right of the master faders and LED bargraph, also has its own fader. The monitor is unlike that found on a traditional desk in that it has a feedback filter and can be routed to its own output for amplification on stage, or to the main amplified outputs. This is useful when the main mix is being amplified externally, allowing the internal amplifiers to provide the monitor feed. The feedback filter is a variable narrow-band notch filter with a range of 75Hz to 8kHz and a fairly vicious (-20dB) 'cut' knob.

In addition to the main speaker outputs, there is a pair of output jacks (for connection to an external power amp), master insert points, and a headphone socket.

In Use

The only thing that gives this desk away as a powered mixer is the noise from the amplifier fan, its overall weight and the inevitable heat dissipation. This is not an adverse comment — just a side effect of 300W of amplification. Negative points are few; I missed centre detents on the pan pots, and although the on-board reverb is great and will suit most situations, it would have been nice to have a second external effects loop connected to this send control as an alternative. I also missed phantom powering on the mic inputs but appreciate that most people don't take condenser mics on the road. However, it's often an advantage to phantom power DI boxes, and if you don't have phantom power, you can't. For me, the EQ felt a little harsh, especially the treble, so subtle use is called for. The scaling on the graphic is a little odd: it's marked 12-0-12, although there is actually 10dB of cut or boost per band.

At around £1000, the mixer is sensibly priced — you get an 8:2 mixer, a 300W power amp, a 16-bit reverb, a feedback eliminator and a graphic EQ, all of which work very well and require no inter-wiring. Besides, Carlsbro's powered mixers are seriously bomb-proof and I would expect the CDX 8:2 to last a good few years on the road. One excellent touch is a fitted plastic dust cover that is supplied gratis — if only traditional mixer manufacturers followed this route. Dust and beer are the enemy of mixer faders, and anything that gets put between them is A Very Good Thing.

What really counts is ease of use and sound, and both are excellent. I must admit that this surprised me — my impression of mixer amps in general has not always been favourable. Another surprise was the reverb, which is a gem. Its sound actually puts some budget stand-alone units to shame. Very useful, especially live — no-one can unplug it or tread on it!

Match the CDX 8:2 with a set of correctly rated full-range speakers, and you have a powerful, clean PA capable of filling a reasonable sized venue or rehearsal room with pure, honest sound. Can't say fairer than that.

Further Information
Carlsbro CDX 8:2 (300W per channel), £1085.10; CDX 8:2 (150wpc) £919.55; CDX 12:2 (300wpc) £1217.87; CDX 16:2 (300wpc, available summer) £1365.94. Prices include VAT.

Carlsbro Electronics Ltd, (Contact Details).