I use Soundcraft Compact 10 in a low-budget home recording studio. I am contented and I recommend it. The only con is that there's no auxiliary outs for each input channel, but I'm sure you can find a way to use Insert point as an auxiliary.

I have just bought my third Gigrac. A 300 was stolen & replaced with a 600, & just bought another 600 as back-up. I have been using Gigracs for over 3 years & would not use anything else.
I have used them with electric guitars, vocals & a laptop plugged in for DJing & running music quizzes in a variety of venues. Quality of sound is exceptionally clear, essential for when I’m running music quizzes, but has enough power for even the noisiest of venues.
The unit is easy to transport, very quick to set up & has enough effects to suit the fussiest of performers

Couldn't give the mixer a 10 as it would have to be perfect. That said it is very, very good at this price point. Very low noise from the GB30 input gain control and channels. The two swept mid EQ's,(also has trad Hi and Low EQ) give really tight and precise control when needed.
And looks great to! Relatively light for transport but not flimsy at all.

We are very happy - Steve 'Phatbeat'

Having used, recommended and sold the FX range of mixers for some time, I was probably expecting too much of the efx range. I can live with no direct outputs and considering the price one would expect some differences between old and new but which bright spark decided we didn't need High Pass Filters!. A total stuff up for what could have been the best little mixer around.
The removal of the 2nd pre fade send is also annoying but 'what do you leave out'!.

absolutely amazing product would recommend it to everyone in the world ... if i could best purchase ever.

I upgraded to this firewire enabled mixer in order to record multiple tracks of audio simultaneously.
The set-up was very simple, just throw in the driver cd, follow the prompts, connect the mixer via the firewire and then turn it on to finish the installation, windows recognizes it and thats it.
Connect the control room outputs or main outputs to your amp. and you are good to go.
The lack of leads is a real breath of fresh air for me, as is the ability to record several seperate tracks simultaneously.

The software control panel is fairly simple and clear, as is the actual mixer itself.
The manual is rather slim, but it has everything you need to know covered and is written very clearly and is easy to follow.

Setting the channels up in Cubase is also pretty straight forward and is explained in the manual if you have any difficulty or are unfamiliar with the software.

The mic pre-amps are very quiet and very usable. The built in fx are also very decent.
The actual mixer itself also seems well constructed and is quite compact so it doesn't take up much space.

So far I am very pleased with this mixer and for the price it would seem hard to beat.
As I have said, the major selling point for me was the ability to record several seperate tracks of audio simultaneously (10 tracks in total I think, but I have only tried 2 so far), all through the firewire connection, which limits the amount of cables you will need to pretty much 1 other than what you will need to connect it to your amp.
It is basically plug in what you want to record, hit record on your chosen software (after it is set up to recognize the mixers channels).

This is a great piece of kit. It's very sturdily built with a tough outer shell that can easily withstand the rigours of travelling from gig to gig, but quickly unpacks, ready for setting up. The controls give you lots of flexibility, with treble, bass, effects send and gain controls for each channel and a really useful graphic EQ section on the output. There's a simple but effective set of built-in digital effects, too.

Our band likes to work mainly off its backline, using PA for vocals and brass and occasionally for kick drum and keyboards. This powered mixer is perfect for us, and gives crisp, clear sound quality.

It looks really cool, too!

I had to change my old faithful Alesis 1622 as a studio keyboard submixer, and after many comparisons I chose this baby. There are many cheaper alternatives, so the question is: do I pay for the brand or is it really worth the extra money?

In my opinion the answer is that you can really hear the difference. Better still, you will not hear it, meaning that the M8 features very quiet good quality pre-amps, so that if you still have noise around, check elsewhere for the source of disturbance. Also, this is the only 8-channel mixer that has 16 true inputs (8 mono + 4 stereo). I saw many a unit boasted as 16 channels having less mixing power.

As for the mono channels, they have a very effective eq with fixed Q sweepable frequency mids. I may prefer Mackie style eq, which is a little bit more punchy, but I must admit that sounds may be easily shaped, again with no added hiss or growls. You have direct outs and insert on each mono channel. No separate channel led meters, only signal (i.e. louder than -20dB) and peak leds for each channel, including stereo ones. A single phantom power switch affects all the mono channels.

I have worked many times with bigger Soundcraft units, and I always appreciated the clear layout of the controls. Even if you don't know what a mixer is, learning your way around is a question of minutes, just as Soundcraft says. That's because Soundcraft stripped the unit of the many routing options that are normally available on other units to produce such a good quality mixer at a reasonable price. In particular there are no busses or groups, so the signal goes straight from the channels to the main mix. This is a serious limitation for live usage, when routing the drums mics to a couple of groups saves you the day. It does not matter very much however if you are mixing keyboards, so check if you need this feature before buying the unit. Of course you still have four aux sends, 2 pre (for monitors or 2-tracks recording) and 2 post (for effect loops), and four stereo aux returns.

There are some minor questionable choices, nothing serious however. First, why on earth the aux returns feature rca (cinch) unbalanced connectors? Also, there is a single set of main outs with balanced XLR connectors, no jacks or rca for tape out. Luckily you also have TRS jacks with separate volume for monitors, with PFL features of all channels and even on aux returns, a well placed phone jack and also a L+R mono sum out, so connections needs are usually satisfied.

In conclusion, I would recommend this unit as a studio keyboard submixer or as a 8 tracks recording mixer. You get great value for the price. Consider also the smaller M4 and the bigger M12 brothers (the only difference being the number of mono channels). Live usage is fine, though rack mounting for this unit costs as much as a cheap mixer alone, and I won't risk moving my M8 without any safe protection.

Excellent value for money mixer.
After alot of research I bought the m12 for live use with my soundsystem.
I recieved it a couple of weeks ago (with extemely prompt shipping - thanks!), and used it in my studio for a while, just to play with it as much as anything else! Immediately I was impressed by the sound quality; no noise, loads of headroom, and the eq's sound perfect.
But, it was only when I took it out to it's first live gig that I realised how good it is, the faders are smooth (and the're 100mm), everthing's easy to find, clearly marked, and again, the headroom on the pre amps is huge. In other words typically soundcraft. I've used their bigger consoles, and this desk has exactly the same level of audio quality. I've chucked away my old behringer desk, as there's no way I'm using it again! Pretty much every feature is present and correct, with nothing in there that's a waste of money - quality connectors, faders and pots.
The ONLY gripe is that aux's 3&4 arent's swithable pre/post, but with aux's 1&2 being pre this isnt a major problem.
My opinion, for £300 it's perfect, but even if it was £400 it would still would be. Dont waste your money on anything else.

this is a great item exelent 4 editing your recorded songs and it is an amazing price everyone should have 1 i highly recomend it

This is an excellent mixer for anyone doing interactive work with a computer. In my case I do voice analysis. The Soundcraft Compact 4 is directed at use with a computer sound card, but the first thing you do is forget about everything the manufacturer tells you about how to use it. It will get you totally confused. First, don't use the RECORD and PLAYBACK terminals. In my case I want to redirect my computer out back into my computer in, for re-recording, and you can't do that with this mixer if you use it the way they say. So use MIX out (get 1/4" plug to RCA jack, adapters, wired tip and sleve, unbal) This mixer has three buses MIX, RECORD and MONITOR. Forget about the RECORD, red button in (I use it as an off, or disconnected position) Your computer out should go to a stereo channel. This way, you have full control of EQ, levels, etc. Any channel not in use is switched to the RECORD bus (essentially disconnecting it from use) A channel being used should be on the MIX bus (Red switch out) The MONITOR bus can be used for speakers if you need them. The mono channels can be used for line level or mic. If you want level control from a tape deck that doesn't have that, just use two mono channels and swing the pan left and right respectively. With line level, again, use adapters (phone plug wired T-S, to RCA jack) Another adapter you will need is an XLR for any mic inputs. Always use unbalanced unless you are working in a large auditorium. There is no battery compartment. (They lied) You have to wire an external battery. Conclusion: This is a great little mixer, if you can get your head wrapped around the complexity of the manufacturer's manual. Richard R. Toronto

This is an excellent mixer for anyone doing interactive work with a computer. In my case I do voice analysis. The Soundcraft Compact 4 is directed at use with a computer sound card, but the first thing you do is forget about everything the manufacturer tells you about how to use it. It will get you totally confused. First, don't use the RECORD and PLAYBACK terminals. In my case I want to redirect my computer out back into my computer in, for re-recording, and you can't do that with this mixer if you use it the way they say. So use MIX out (get 1/4" plug to RCA jack, adapters, wired tip and sleve, unbal) This mixer has three buses MIX, RECORD and MONITOR. Forget about the RECORD, red button in (I use it as an off, or disconnected position) Your computer out should go to a stereo channel. This way, you have full control of EQ, levels, etc. Any channel not in use is switched to the RECORD bus (essentially disconnecting it from use) A channel being used should be on the MIX bus (Red switch out) The MONITOR bus can be used for speakers if you need them. The mono channels can be used for line level or mic. If you want level control from a tape deck that doesn't have that, just use two mono channels and swing the pan left and right respectively. With line level, again, use adapters (phone plug wired T-S, to RCA jack) Another adapter you will need is an XLR for any mic inputs. Always use unbalanced unless you are working in a large auditorium. There is no battery compartment. (They lied) You have to wire an external battery. Conclusion: This is a great little mixer, if you can get your head wrapped around the complexity of the manufacturer's manual. Richard R. Toronto

I chose to purchase the compact 10 mixer after having an excellent experiance with the compact 4 mixers, working at an arts college i needed to find a mixer that would give a professional interface, sound quality whilst also giving a hardwaring robust quality. This mixer line is exactly what we wanted! using it alongside the EMU0404 Soundcards we also purchased from dolphin music we found an excellent setup.

I bought one of these over a year ago and it still performs the same, perfectly. Great features for the price. Phantom/HPF/D.I/R.I.A.A etc. I use it piggybacked onto a Compact10.

I just purchased a gigrac 300. I have been using a Crate 8 channel 200w amp for small gigs and jamming and wanted to upgrade. I have a friend who owns an AV company here in Houston and asked him what he thought of Soundcraft. He was very high on the company and was a dealer for their high end systems. So I bought one and love it. The quality of the manufacturing is excellent and the versatility of the system is very good. I haven't gotten a chance to use it enough yet since its so new but I'm very impressed with the rugged construction, the well thought out controls, the easy to read documentation -- yes it does still matter and I do read! -- and the features they've built in that are seldom available at this price range. My hat is off to this company. I'm a new fan! If it turns out to be as rock solid as my crate in terms of zero maintenence when cared for, I will be a raving fan for years to come.
Eric Johnson