Sound:
Sounds as good as most other "box-mixers". Pretty good, but not on par with a larger system with a high-quality mixer, separate power amps and dedicated fx units. Should be plenty loud enough for gigging in smaller clubs. (Rated at 200 Watts RMS per channel at 4 ohms, 125 per channel at 8 ohms.) Mine's pretty quiet, too. Use efficient speakers with it and you should be happy. Just don't expect it to handle live and loud kick drums, or bass guitar.
Feature:
This thing is loaded with useful features. The digital reverbs are good, but the delay is not that useful since you can't adjust the repeat rate. Plenty of ins & outs and about everything you could reasonably expect in a compact powered mixer. There are a couple of things I would have liked to have seen Crate's engineers include, though. The EQ is 7-bands per channel with the lowest frequency at 125 Hz., and the highest at 8K. Another band at 50 or 60 Hz. on the low end and one around 14K would've been a nice addition. But, it's a pretty crowded panel as it is. Another thing that they really should have included is AC cord wrap hooks on the back. The AC cord is permanently attached and just hangs off. Of course that doesn't affect the sound quality, and you can add hooks later (as I did) if you're handy.
Quality:
Build quality is typical of today's PA heads of this type. Rugged plywood box with carpet covering, and sturdy metal faceplate and rear panel. One thing I'm not fond of are the pots. They work smooth and are silent, but the control shafts are plastic. PA gear is made for the road, and needs the ability to stand up to some abuse. The pots look like they could snap if something banged against them. Most box-mixers today have plastic pots though, so I'm not picking on Crate. An easy solution is to cut a piece of plywood the size of the front of the mixer with the hook-side of velcro around the perimeter. It'll stick to the carpet on the mixer, and you'll have a front panel cover to protect the controls while in transit. Voila! It also won't give you a hernia, which is nice.
Value:
I bought mine used at an unbelievable price. I would be very reluctant to pay the $579 MSRP for it, but then again, you never pay retail for these things. It's a good product, and it's definately worth checking out if you're looking for a PA for smaller clubs, practice, or if you're on a limited budget. It's a comparable unit to similar powered mixers from Peavey and Carvin, but don't expect it to be a Yorkville or Mackie. But it doesn't cost a thousand bucks either.
Manufacturer Support:
I haven't dealt with Crate support for many years. The one time I needed to, many years ago for a guitar amp, they were excellent. My guitar amp is around 18 years old and still plugging away.
The Wow Factor:
It's as sexy as any other box mixer. Which is to say... not that sexy.
Overall:
I bought this to use for smaller gigs, and as an all-purpose go-anywhere PA. I hate setting up vast amounts of PA gear, so if I can get by without hooking up my big rack rig, I'm a happy camper. As I mentioned, it does the job pretty well. So, I'm planning on keeping it 'til it goes to that big electronic junkyard in the sky.
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Sound:
Brand spanking new out of the box the sound was fine, but after a year of moderate use at home and at gigs, some of the chanels are noisy, and the onboard effects squeal so badly that they are useless to me.
Feature:
Mostly the same features as you'll find on any other powered mixer box. It has one definate benefit over similar Carvin products in that there is a separate gain stage before the main and monitor levels, and each channel has a clip indicator light.
Quality:
I had to take it in for waranty repair within the first three months I owned it. It still isn't completely right. The screws that hold the heat sink in place on the rear of the unit keep getting unscrewed.
Value:
You get what you pay for. Next time I'm sdaving up and buying a eral mixer from Allen&Heath or SoundCraft.
Manufacturer Support:
Rather than having me send the unit in to Crate to have it repaired or back to the mail order house I bought it from they made me take it to a local shop. I felt like I was taking advantage of the local shop by buying it online for a cheap price then taking it to them for the repairs. I won't make that mistake again. Crate was difficult to deal with during the repair process.
The Wow Factor:
I won't ever buy another one of these.
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