Analog Vs Digital Audio Mixer - Which is better?

Hello everyone,

I was wondering which type of mixer you prefer to use and which is better? An analog mixer or a digital audio mixer? Which of these 2 are better and why?

Looking forward to seeing you guy's thoughts soon.

analog for me cuz i can control my sound alot better then Digital Most Digital mixers don't even let you change the record level in software and that can be a pain i do find that analog mixers have a more warmer sound as well i have always used analog mixers over a Digital one for one better audio management better input routing and you have full control over your audio levels.

I honestly do not know as I haven't used either kind of mixer... yet

@DJAaronRadio wrote:analog for me cuz i can control my sound alot better then Digital Most Digital mixers don't even let you change the record level in software and that can be a pain i do find that analog mixers have a more warmer sound as well i have always used analog mixers over a Digital one for one better audio management better input routing and you have full control over your audio levels.

So your saying the analog mixer lets the dj, well dj and the digital one does alot of the work for you so you dont have to do as much, but you lose some of the control as a result. Is that it in a nutshell?

in away a digital mixer if your running it over USB you can't change a simple recording level if your going to use it for streaming analog is more forgiving in this Result that's why i have always stuck to Analog for streaming uses my mixer is set up where everything is sent to the computer wise Pre and the master out is my main volume only what you hear stream wise is the mix Pre amped out to stream rather one slider controlling everything digital mixers combine everything into one.

Interesting information there.

on my Mixer there are 2 zones Input and output the input zone is for sending things to the record out that goes into the line in of my computer meaning there is 0 latency going to my sound card and that feeds to any broadcasting software that i chose to use like OBS i can adjust the levels to how i want it the mix i'm hearing in my master out is the same Mix being sent to the viewers only when i turn the master fader down on a DJ Mixer that's what my Board is it's not killing the input to the stream like the Live sound Mixer i Have reason why i chose my old board is cuz i have more flexibility with it over anything Digital that's out now while yes a Digital Mixer is good but it's still very limited as far as getting the right audio you want an Analog board sounds warmer then a Digital board in alot of ways.

and to add onto this i'm still pulling a 44.100Hz sample rate through my sound card at 24 bit studio quality so there is really no difference with that but only i'm not using USB so there really is nothing digital until it hits my audio chain on my sound card in my computer.

Thanks for that wealth of information there Aaron.

no problem Brandon

So bottom line you believe analog is better?

yes there is more flexibility Tester your still pulling the same sample rate going into your sound card then going over USB i never used a Digital mixer and i have no Plans in doing so it all goes in the computer to me the same anyways.

What is your favorite mixer of both kinds?

if i had to pick a digital Mixer it be my DJ Controller the IDJ3 and yes controllers are classed as mixers so that does count

You moved back to your digital mixer didnt you Aaron?

i have 2 analog Boards The Radio shack and the Behringer both don't run on USB i use all analog feeding into my computer Via Line In the DJ Controller i have yes it's Digital But i don't use it due to the windows drivers being out of date plus it crashes the audio sometimes so i try to keep it all analog for the show i won't go back to any USB related Mixing hardware due to the fact it locks up in windows 10 and is one of the reasons why i don't get a usb version of the mixer i'm using currently i just don't see the reason to use a USB mixer if i have a Line in and it works use it and the way i get my audio out to you guys is through My 2-Track going into my computer and the board i have as my Main board running the computer and the second mixer being the radio shack for vinyl it's a $100 Dollar Board i'm not willing to shell out more money for a USB version of the 1002B mixer i'm just happy with the old analog mixer also it's far easier for me to set my levels in OBS going through my board analog wise then through USB cuz some USB Audio Devices don't let you change the audio Levels in software so that's why i avoid it.

By now companies have probably solved any related software issues.

maybe but i don't really like to chance it since my controller is well over 5 years old i got it back in 2011 so not much i can do really.

How do your current mixers hook into your computer? Through a headphone jack or something.

Line in Jack my controller only Outputs USB not input.

Oh ok. So you plug the mixer in to the headphone jack?

into the line in the Blue Jack on my computer.

So its still uses old fashioned headphone jack huh.

A line in Jack really isn't for Headphone use it's made for Line level inputs such as a mixer it's not classed as a headphone jack that's 2 sepret things Line in is line Level only Headphones is for Audio Out Only not the same thing actually also classed as Speaker Out on the computer but is the same as Audio Out headphones on a computer is classed as that not the other 2 i said when i do my shows i don't use the on board sound card i use My DJ Controller that has it's own that's patched through RCA cables going to my Mixer then that is going into the computer Via Line in Not meant for Head Phones through Line Level going into OBS yes i do have USB Being used but that is for Time Code and file Data so the computer can make it playable through it's on board sound card with built in DAC everything Else is all analog going into the computers DAC built into it's sound card to go out to stream in OBS it's more complicated then it seams.

Then why is the line in symbol a headphone?

it doesn't show that on a desktop brandon on laptops they use what's called a combo jack called headphone/Line in they do it out of one jack on those on a desktop computer everything has it's own jack headphones someitmes is black speaker out or audio out that is Green Mic In Pink Line in Blue not everything is the same on a normal desktop computer your headphones go into the front of the computer anyways all your audio stuff like your mic or speakers or a Line Level audio for recording goes into the back of the computer yes they use Headphone type of mini jack to connect to it but if you have the RCA plugs on the other end it's not a true Headphone jack connection.