Little Bear MC5 passive 4 stereo channels mini mixer - for small synth setups
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2020
- I stumbled upon this tiny mixer some days ago and thought it's worth sharing. It's a passive circuit, so you don't need batteries, but the audio volume gets lowered quite a bit.
Little Bear MC5 mixer amzn.to/3h4Kijr . Demo of the volume reduction at 2:27 .
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Regarding the volume drop, when you did the comparison you had the channels on the mixer only halfway up, so of course there's going to be significant attenuation.
If you'd actually turned the channels up, although there would have still been a drop in level it would have been much less significant.
Yes, correct, a lot of people already pointed that out - my bad. ;-) I'll pin your comment instead of the one I pinned atm. The volume drop is still quite noticable overall, though. I should re-post this video one day.
@@mr_floydst Haha, sorry. I didn't read through all the comments to see if anyone had already mentioned it. Hopefully pinning this will save you more similar comments. ;)
Nice little mixer!
It's great if you have a small, portable setup that you can travel with easily.
That's true. Connected to an active speaker (which has it's own amp), this thing is simple and useful.
Thanks for the demo, I am thinking of getting one myself. I'm happy to hear there's no bass loss. I bought a mickxer from myvolts, but beside volume loss, which is expected, there's a significant bass loss on it, which makes it useless for my needs. One comment on the video though - you should've had the knobs on their max position when you did the volume comparison. Since this is a passive mixer it can only attenuate the sound, and your knobs were at 1/2 to 3/4 up which makes the volume even lower.
Thanks for watching! Yes, you're right! :-) Didn't realize this but now you said it my "faux pas" is obvious. But I think you get a good impression the audio quality doesn't suffer.
Thanks for this. Just ordered one!
Thanks for watching! Hope you'll find it useful.
Neat! By the way, one more benefit of passive mixers: As they have no active components, they can not clip. ;-)
(Well, unless you put hundreds of volts at the input and physically fry the resistors, of course)
Thanks for the info! Didn't think about that yet, but it's only logical. :)
Thanks. Until I saw this vid, I thought the one I had was broken.
If it reduces the volume as the way it works then at least I know now.
Thanks for watching!
Perfect, put one in my Amazon cart. They have new versions with switchable input impedance, and one with a built in headphone amp.
Oh, nice! I'll have to take a look at that. :-)
Vielen Dank fü deinen Tipp!
Danke für's zuschauen! :)
I got one yesterday and I've plugged it into my mixer so basically it gives me an extra 3 channels.
Just in case you're searching for a cheap barebones mixer: There are A LOT of other mixers in the $20 to $30 price range, most of them powered. They tend to be much bigger than this one, though, but then again, you won't have to deal with a loss of volume.
Assuming I saw it correctly, the drum machine was connected to the input 2 and the knob on the input 2 wasn't turned up completely. How much would be the audio volume reduced if the knob was turned all the way up?
Hi. I was watching your movie about Little Bear MC5 and I was wondering if this "small and cheap" device does not distort the signal. I want to use it to control active studio monitors that are of good quality, and I would not want to lose quality. What is your opinion - if you have one. greetings
@@piotrbednarczyk5673 Thanks for watching! Due to it's design, this mixer can't distort your sound (there is no amplification that could cause clipping).
if the small drop in level isn't a problem then it's great... being passive it really can't add any electrical noise
That's right! A linear frequency distribution is important as well (also not a problem here)
I've got a small two-channel passive mixer, but the constant switching of the "console" cable between different devices is starting to get on my nerves, so I'm looking for a bigger one. This one seems promising.
This would easily cover my use scenario from the input side. I'm a bit pensive about output, since I use a splitter for my powered speakers and a gaming headset. Both have independent audio control, though.
Thanks for watching! The loss in volume is notable, but compensable. Audio quality doesn't suffer.
What a cool little thing. Speaking of made in China, I just bought an ASM Hydrasynth and what an awesome synthesizer that is.
Anyway, thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! A lot of people are impressed by the hydrasynth... Need to take a closer look. :-)
The volume reduction on these is actually pretty small compared to a few other passive ones I tried.
With the last one I was using I ended up having to whack a battery powered headphone amp on the output to ramp up the volume.
Thanks for watching! I'm with you on this one. This thing is quite useful and doesn't impact the overall sound (expect for loudness). In fact, you can use it to "dampen down" devices which tend to have volume spikes. ;)
@@mr_floydst Just a shame the company is called Nobsound.. 🤦♂️
I have one of their mini amps for some monitors and that's also pretty impressive for very little outlay.
@@Gainn which one you have? Is the mini amp battery powered to use in combo with this mixer?
@@Arnotski_ it's one of the mains powered ones that comes with a laptop type external power supply. Tiny thing with minimal controls but surprisingly good. Was about £27 or so.
Nice demo!
Where would a mixer like this be more useful than a regular, powered one? Or is it only about the size?
I hope this video didn't come across as a sales pitch - watching it now certainly makes me look a little bit guilty of that ;-)
Depends on what's important to you. The advantages of this mixer are it's really tiny size and that it won't need batteries. Also, the audio quality is quite good (that's not surprising as is does absolutely nothing but reducing the volume and joining it with the other audio sources). Also (as Lanthan wrote) you'll never have clipping. As this is basically a box of resistors and wires, chances are it will last a very long time.
Disadvantages: It's reducing the volumes considerably and it's not shielded, so putting it close to smartphones or any other device with a strong electromagnetic field might cause interferences. Also, for that price, you will get a good powered mixer that won't reduce the audio volume (the bastl mixer or the behringer one come to mind). But those tend to be bigger and they'll need a power source.
Best regards!
I'd plan to use this for the odd occasions I'd want to add iPad or Boss Micro br (or old stylophone) into a channel on main mixer... would that signal reduction be a prob do you think?
Thanks for watching! I think you shouldn't have a problem with that.
I got it one, very nice but lot of loud lost, more that simply reduced. Anyway still useful with an small Amp..my bigger problem is with Volca keys , nts1, they have double mono, sounds stereo on headphones, but not on this mixer..I got only one channel. Any idea how to solve? It say its stereo,
Thank
Thanks for watching! I'm afraid I don't really know, have you tried other cables? Using a mono cable propably won't work, try using a stereo one. To be honest, this sounds a bit like your mixer is broken, as my version works fine and doesn't affect the audio (apart from reducing the overall volume).
Cool
Thanks for watching! :)
Great idea having crackle in the sample for a equipment sound test XD
How is the volume levels with this passive mixer? Looks like good enough for practice jam
The volume is significantly lower, but the drop is linear across all frequencies, so it's easy to counter.
@@mr_floydst very good to know, thank you!
I like that it is stereo - don’t like that it isn’t properly enclosed - seems like you will get more radio / electrical noise
Thanks for watching! That's correct. You should keep this away from speakers, transformers and anything else with a strong electromagnetic field. But in most cases, the distance needed is not that huge.
Hello sir .
I just found your video while I was looking for info on mixers on google. You seem very knowledgeable so I have a question that I hope you can answers. I have two different pairs of active speakers, one is the Kali in 8 and the other is the Edifier s3000pro. One have xlr balance inputs the other have RCA. Ok the question is. Can I use a mixer to connect both pairs at once so the same audio plays in all the speakers? For example TV audio or streaming devices or also a turn table. If so can you recommend a mixer for me that sounds well and don't break the bank? I thank you in advance and send my respect from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷😎✌️. Be safe.
Also is there such a thing like a hi fi or great sounding mixer?
Hi, thanks for watching! Well, you could use the mixer in this video and just connect the speakers to the input jacks and the input to the "out" jack. Due to the simple design of this mixer, this should route your audio to the speakers in the way you wish. You'll need some adapter cables, though.
Another very cheap option is to use Y-cables (one input, two outputs). You can find those practically anywhere, for example here: amzn.to/3aEmCRZ
Hope that answers your question...
Best regards!
Just bidding on one of these - currently its a good price.
Using it f a sub mixer, or
Thanks for watching and good luck bidding!
Interesting video, I'm open to suggestions would this work for my needs? I have a Yamaha Keyboard with 6.35mm headphone Jack (which I could convert to 3.5mms Jack using lead) and a tablet with 3.5mm jack, I would like to listen to keyboard tutorials from CZcams whilst also hearing the keyboard via the same headphones. I don't know what I need! Any advice appreciated.
Thanks for watching! You'd be able to do that with a small mixer like this.
thats crazy lol. I was just looking for a passive mixer for my blackbox too..
I currently own the bluebox but it's basically a passive mixer for the blackbox as it's such an unfinished product for me.
This mixer isn't bad, but you have to be aware of the significant volume reduction that goes along with it. It's basically a box of resistors.
@@mr_floydst I noticed from your video yes thanks. Think I'm going for the bastl one beastie (or something)
Hey just a quick question, is it possible to make one of these type of passive mixer louder? I just recently bought one for myself and there was a massive volume loss than what i am used to.
It's not possible as there's no amp inside. The more devices you connect to it, the more the volume drops - you have to adjust the volume after the mixer (e.g. on the speakers you use or in a DAW)
so lucky 👌😉😊
I've got one of these, I've noticed that any of the input ports can be used for the output. I'm now concerned that I could damage my gear by sending voltage into the output of my synths. Is this not dodgy?
Hi, thanks for watching. Don't worry. The voltage & current flow is well within tolerance. No danger for your equipment here.
@@mr_floydst Thank you for your swift reply.
Thank you for making this video, i might buy one. Just wondering, how is the mixer connected to the H5?
Hi, thanks for watching! I used a 3.5mm to 6.35mm stereo adapter cable.
I see! Do you happen to know a brand that makes durable ones? The ones i saw on Amazon looked super cheap..
@@lou19 My preferred brand is "Stagg" - solid cables with a nice color scheme. :-)
I bought everything and it works! Thank you!
(I just realized when i turn the knobs of the mixer i hear a lot lof crackles, is that a normal behaviour?)
No, that's not normal. Try to get a replacement!
What is the device next to Blackbox? Pi device? In what format? Thank you
Thanks for watching! It's a Raspberry Pi 3 with an "Audio Hat" (www.raspiaudio.com/ ) running "synthv1". Best regards!
@@mr_floydst thank you. I must now run into the rabbit hole..
Can you switch input/output among them? I want to listen my piano and iPad at the same time through my headphones.
Hi, thanks for watching! Yes, due to the simple design of this, you can use this "the other way round", too.
@@mr_floydst thanks for the fast reply man. I’m planning to buy, however they say there’s a huge signal reduction to the point the audio can’t be heard on the other side, do I need to buy something else?
I think for the use case you described this small mixer here works fine. You could also buy a Y-adapter cable, or a small battery powered mixer (I think there's one in the patchblox series).
Does it work the other way around? I have 4 diferent sets of speakers and need to pick where the sound from my computer comes out, or is there another device to do so?
Hi, thanks for watching! In that case, I'd rather buy an "audio selector switch". (Searching for that term should give you some useable results).
@@mr_floydst thank you!
Very nice. Do you happen to know what potentiometer values they used?
I see the legs/pins are exposed, and you strike me as the sort of person who probably owns a multimeter :)
Hi! The max. resistance of the pots it 15k Ohm.
Now that I answered your question, please tell me how to determine that a person owns a multimeter!
:-)
@@mr_floydst Thanks. It's not a thing that can easily be determined by casual observation, but I've watched your MiniDexed videos, and I vaguely remember you did another microcontroller project video or two. That sort of thing can be done without a multimeter, but it suggests you're more likely to own one than most people.
Great video, but I have a quick question:
Could one run this between an amp and passive speakers, or does the output have to be amplified first?
In other words, can I use this in a speaker build to mix two channels after amplification and then directly run the output to the (passive) speakers?
Thanks for watching! I'm not sure that would work. This basically is a box full of resistors, to the amplified audio signal most likely will "bleed" into the other tracks.
can i just use this so i can connect my tv computers and phone to one wireless headset?
As long as your headphone has a 3.5mm audio plug, yes. It it's a wireless bluetooth headset, you'll also need a 3.5mm to bluetooth adapter (plus a power source)
@@mr_floydst excellent, excellent, soon all audio in my room will funnel thru one spot lol. NO MORE will i be bound by wires and complaint of being too loud!
hi Floyd, could i use this mini mixer in reverse? I want to plug a single guitar into multiple amplifiers, so can i plug the guitar into the "out" jack, and then leads from the "in" jacks into different amps? And if this is possible, will the mixer "split" the signal reducing the volume? Thanks so much :)
You can do that, but the more "destinations" you connect, the more the signal will be reduced.
@@mr_floydst Thanks so much Floyd. If i use the mixer to send the guitar signal to 2 amplifiers, is the signal halved? Does that mean i'll get half the volume from each amp that i would get if i just plugged directly into that amp?
Uh, my days of parsing simple electrical circuits are long over. ;-)
It won't halve the volume, but it's getting a bit less with each device connected to the mixer. Perhaps I'll post a short video showing this off in the coming days.
is the audio quality reduced by the mixer?
No. (At least I didn't notice a loss of quality).
is the main output stereo?
Hi, thanks for watching! Yes, all inputs and the output are stereo.
can you directly put headphone from the output?
Thanks for watching! Yes, absolutely.
@@mr_floydst can this pick up the mine from my headset as well? For example when I have calls in discord will the headset picks up the mic?
@@renashbell1203 This is just a "dumb" mixer with no USB or Bluetooth functionality at all. You'd have to plug in the audio out of your cable headphone into the PC or phone to achieve that, and that'd be a rather cumbersome solution. So the answer is "kind of possible, but not really worth trying".
Do I need a headset with powersource then?
@@renashbell1203 No, you can use a normal headphone with a 3.5mm audio jack.
But in your "volume reduction" demo, you have the channel pot turned down quite a bit, of course its going to reduce the volume. You didn't have the black box channel set to 100% like you did the OUT pot. Not a good representation of actual reduction if any.
Thanks for watching! Yeah, my bad (several other viewers already pointed out that one). The volume loss is noticable, but it's (little) bearable.
@@mr_floydst FYI i just received this from amazon, and it has very slight drop with it inline.. its really not much.. But the video makes it seem way worse... Just FYI for anyone looking to buy it.
@@mr_floydst I also just noticed they have re-done the circuit in this new version, it's resisters are now surface mount and it includes DIP switches to select different resistors. Might try to review the new version! Thanks again!!
@@diaryofageek Oh, nice! I really like this mixer. It's well-built and useable.
It's so cute I just want to eat it
Thanks for watching. It's quite tough, perhaps crunchy even? :-) Also, the chinese always come up with cute or poetic names (no western company would call their product "little bear". That needs to change asap). Best regards!
4 channels = 2 stereo channels ??? (Or 4 Stereo channels???)
Hi, thanks for watching. The answer is in the video's title (4 stereo channels)
@@mr_floydst Danke!
So I guess you just crank everything going into this mixer up to 11, and keep the "faders" all the way up.
Yes, that's how you'll most likely use it in 90% of scenarios.