Stuart Wayne « Simply Perfection »
Published on 05/13/20 at 10:24
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Anyone
As a DJ, I was looking for a modular mixer that gave me a lot more flexibility than those currently on the market. I was doing some complex shows in the 80s where I needed 2/3 mics and at least 2 X RIAA and 3 x Line I/Ps with I/P gains and remote starts, 2 x Aux Send/Rtn on the Mic channels that I could use for off-air talkback to two stations and a basic comp/limiter. Harrison had that and more. The BPM counter was the first one I had come across and while it did not work too well in auto mode, it was fine manually.
32 years later I still use this mixer on the road as I find it has a far superior audio quality, with more headroom than many modern mixers around today and it has never failed me once. Many of Mike Harrison's designs were simply brilliant. It works well with both my Nexo and QSC PA Systems
I tested Formula Sound PM80 and several so-called pro disco mixers of the day and found that none of them came anywhere close to the SP2000. The Formula Sound which I thought would be a strong contender was absolutely awful and more expensive. It had cheap 60mm linear faders that were not smooth at all, unlike the 100mm Alps conductive plastic ones in the Harrison.
Pros
Superb audio quality
Low noise, even for op-amps
Well made, good quality components
High quality faders, even the 60mm cross-fader.
Good range of modules
Lots of functions
Reasonably priced
Easy to use and configure for my needs
Cons
M3 BPM Module - Auto mode is a bit flaky but in manual mode it works well. An accurate BPM display is a very complex thing to achieve. Even using modern electronics and computer processing it is still only really possible with manual intervention.
No +48v phantom power on the M6 module
7-pin Din power connector on the end of a flying lead from the PSU. OK if you are going to keep it flight-cased with a sensible connector on the front panel.
32 years later I still use this mixer on the road as I find it has a far superior audio quality, with more headroom than many modern mixers around today and it has never failed me once. Many of Mike Harrison's designs were simply brilliant. It works well with both my Nexo and QSC PA Systems
I tested Formula Sound PM80 and several so-called pro disco mixers of the day and found that none of them came anywhere close to the SP2000. The Formula Sound which I thought would be a strong contender was absolutely awful and more expensive. It had cheap 60mm linear faders that were not smooth at all, unlike the 100mm Alps conductive plastic ones in the Harrison.
Pros
Superb audio quality
Low noise, even for op-amps
Well made, good quality components
High quality faders, even the 60mm cross-fader.
Good range of modules
Lots of functions
Reasonably priced
Easy to use and configure for my needs
Cons
M3 BPM Module - Auto mode is a bit flaky but in manual mode it works well. An accurate BPM display is a very complex thing to achieve. Even using modern electronics and computer processing it is still only really possible with manual intervention.
No +48v phantom power on the M6 module
7-pin Din power connector on the end of a flying lead from the PSU. OK if you are going to keep it flight-cased with a sensible connector on the front panel.
