The sound , spedcially the pre-mics are the best. I was forced to use a Bheringer for the lst 5 years and I think my ear became accoustomed to the so-so sound. The first dasy we set up with this new board.... every sound that went through the Yamaha board came alive!

Everything it offers is top notch. I like the "One Knob Compression" a lot, easy to use and maskes a big difference. The one thing that would make this board the absolute best would be a 4 aux. send instead of just 2 for monitor mixes.

Very straight forward.

Seems to be solid..... still pretty new to tell.

Great price and love the ZZounds 4 payment deal!

N/A

Active Musician, Sound Tech

Music that actual musicians enjoy playing.

I have been though my share of mixers for my band , looking for the best bang for the buck for nlive sound! I have found it, this board is a dream for small to medium gigs and outdoor events, it has fantastic preamps they really blew me away with there clarity, the channel E3Qs work very well and the one knob compressor is very handy on vocals. In a word everything you need is here, aux sends etc...just great! I owned a mackie and behringer before this and this is a better buy in this price range, the behringer seems ok because its packed with "toys" that mqake it seem better than what it is, in the end the pre amps tell the story and if you wanty your baqnd to sound good this is thye mixer to get!

The features I like best about this board are the onboard compression knobs which really do work well! and the built in FX, no, there not lexicon quality but they are more than good enough for any live performance, cant complain here.Also this board is so light maybe ten pounds! it adds no weight to my rack!

its a mixer this one is very well laid out and the manuel is good, its easy to use

So far so good, however it does have alot of plastic parts so be carefull, I would not want to drop it thats why I keep it racked, but the workings of it are fine, just feels like it could be damaged if knocked around..

On board compression? Built in FX, 10 XLR inputs, group outs, monitor outs? its a great value and well worth the price!

Not Needed

For a live band who plays the local club circuit this is the best mixer to get in the price range, everything you need is here...go get it!

muscian

Rock/ Classic rock

I give it a 10 based on my Extensive experience and the Price point this mixer is hitting. Other Mixers I own are Yamaha MX200, Peavey XR684*, Behringer Mx2004a, And Have owned Mackie 1204VLZpro, Pioneer DJM600 as well as worked on Most other well known Mixers in Live venues. the MGCX compressors work well on a vocal live. I was skeptical about the one knob comp, as I'm quite a compressor buff and like my controls. But for what it is, It's great at taming vocals slightly and for voice overs or Speech going direct to tape, the compressor sounds great pushed up as well. Eq section is very low noise. Having used a Mackie VLZ pro for a while, I'd say this mixer edges it by just a bit. I Like the new Onyx a Bit more then the MG sound, but for this price- the MG166cx is a workhorse you will love, I guarantee it. It's surprising low noise and responsive. The built in reverb is mediocre. I have a Yamaha SPX990, and they don't sound close even though The mixer specs say the mixer has SPX algorithms. On the bright side, They are usable in a live situation. some of the reverbs are slightly dark for me, I personally wish they were just a bit brighter. you can* route the wet verb back into a stereo channel to brighten it by selecting the effect out as bus 1-2 and running 1-2 back into a channel, If you wanted, But I wouldn't bother. Well, It's way way better then the reverb on my peavey powered mixer. I also have a cheap alesis microverb4, and while that has some bright verbs that Cut through, in A/B tests the Yamaha verbs sounded a little more natural with less digital ring. I'd say they they are in the same ballpark.

The Layout of this board is focused on live use- although of course it's usable in a project studio, I'll look at the board in this review from a live angle. I would appreciate 2 default post fader sends, but you only 1 one, and the other send is always prefader. the AUX and group matrix is flexible. Personally, This mixer could sell for another 50% of the price and people still would buy it. A real Mackie VLZ rival at a fraction of the price, and I'm not just talking out of my rear end here.

It's a Little tricky to get around when you first get it. if the group switches were illuminated it would be easier to use, as those are hard to see and feel. But the Layout and features are standard so anyone should figure them out.

I don't know- Mine is new. But My other Yamaha Studio Gear (Speakers and reverbs, Mixer) have lasted for years, and My 1000W yamaha PA is still going strong after 10 years, so A+ for Yamaha quality. The the MG166cx, the whole body is plastic except the top plate. It's not the kind of chassis you can stomp on, But the Knobs and Faders feel solid enough enough.

I would absolutely Buy this mixer again if something happened to it, Besides a breakdown- obviously.

These are going to be a classic, like the Mackie VLZ-pro. everyone is going to know and respect the MG series.

Producer, Mix engineer, Musician

Everything

30 years. I play guitar, bass, drums and piano. Sound engineer as well.

Rock, folk, acoustic, jazz.

Clear sound. No problem with it. Sometimes need it to be more transparent and clear, but I like it.

Very clever routing for such a small unit.

Everything you need could be found in UManual.

5 years of use - no problem with faders.

Good value for its features.

I could find any information on Yamaha site.

I think this device is good to have.

Recording Engineer

Worship

Professionally

varity

Hip Hop, R&B, Tejano

The mic pre's are what everyone focusses on first when evaluating a mixer, and this one's sound pretty clean to me. I use this both for sound reinforcement and recording in my humble home studio and it works great for both (unless you have a huge band/orchestra to deal with - in which case you wouldn't be considering this board). I have not noticed any noise or other signal degradation.

Having two aux busses gives you the option of either running two monitor mixes for live sound or an external effects chain for studio work. One possible weakness is the all-or-nothing phantom power switch. If you have a combination of mics that require external phantom power and those that can be damaged by it, then you need a work-around. Having a sweepable mid on a board of this size and cost is a nice touch. I do wish it had a socket to plug in a gooseneck lamp, since only the on buttons are illuminated.

The console is well laid out and very easy to operate. You could easily teach a non-sound person how to operate it while you give hand signals from the stage. I did read through the manual and it is well organized, but I pretty much found the board very intuitive. That's what you want in a board in this niche.

For the price, you can't go wrong with Yamaha stuff (at least I haven't ever). The controls were all solid. Sometimes with less expensive stuff, some of the controls are looser or tighter than others. There seems to be a good QA program done for this line of mixers.

Absolutely an excellent value if the 16 channels and 12 mic pre's are adequate for you. Having a built in reverb of decent quality is icing on the cake (the other effects are niche effects if you are using this as your personal mixer say for a keyboard array).

I haven't needed support.

It is really a professional looking and sounding mixer for the money.

Recording Engineer, Film Sound Editor/Mixer, Musician

Rock, Blues, Alternative, Electronica