Crest Audio XR-24

The Crest Audio XR-24 is a rack mountable analog mixer. It's got eight mono channels and eight stereo channels, totaling to 24. The picture above is not of the XR-24 I don't believe, as that one only has four stereo channels (and 20 in total) and without a doubt the XR-24 has eight mono and eight stereo channels. The mono channels have 1/4" connections for inputs and outputs as well as XLR inputs, while the eight stereo channels have 1/4" connections as well as XLR ones. There are also a bunch of auxiliary 1/4" and XLR connections, in addition monitoring connections. Check out the full specifications if you're interested in knowing all the details about it's make up, as it would take a bit too long to mention it all here. Suffice it to say that it has all the bells and whistles that you'd expect from an analog mixer. I'm not sure how many spaces it will take up in a rack space, as in some cases it will take up your whole rack.

UTILIZATION

If you're familiar with the configuration of analog mixers in general, the Crest Audio XR-24 will be easy enough for you to figure out. The equalizers are parametric and simple while the auxiliary features are again, familiar. This is really just a higher quality version of something like a standard Mackie mixer. Don't expect too many curveballs with the XR-24, but rest assured that it has everything you need. I haven't seen a manual for this mixer.

SOUNDS

The sound of the Crest Audio XR-24 is quite admirable. While it might not blow you away with a super thick sound or anything like that, it does have a very respectable, pristine sound in general. The preamps are clean enough to be used in the recording studio on a daily basis for when you might need some extra channels beyond your upper echelon stuff like Neves, etc. The equalizers are in the same boat, and there are plenty of aux options to use effects and whatnot. You could of course use this as your only mixer in a smaller studio setting as well.

OVERALL OPINION

For an analog mixer of this size and type, the Crest Audio XR-24 is really a very good one. It isn't as cheap as those that you'll see from Mackie and other companies, but the extra dough is worth it for the generally cleaner sound that you'd get with the XR-24. Not to mention that it is rack mountable and is perfectly designed for supplemental use in recording studios. While I don't know very much about Crest Audio, the XR-24 is definitely something that I would vouch for.