Allen & Heath ZED-6

I have been advised by a sound engineer friend to buy this mixer because I needed a solution for connecting multiple keyboards at my mini home studio to my audio interface. All I needed was extra channels to connect two or more keyboards to my Avid audio interface which is connected to my MacBook pro and to a couple of old Yamaha HS50 powered speakers.
I could not thank my friend enough for this amazing and cost saving advice! I was ready to spend a lot more to buy a mixer that has a built in audio interface but this little ZED-6 solved the problem. I could've got the other one that had effects but as I only use it for keyboards (which already have their own effects) I didn't feel the need for that upgrade. Build quality is great, it feels really solid and sounds exactly like I am connecting the keyboard directly to the monitors, which is just what you ultimately want from a mixer with these specs.

A&H are the only ones who include the power supply in the mixers, however this one is not using a standard IEC inlet for some strange reason. I will use this for connecting condenser mics to a video camcorder, live for my in-ear monitoring, and occasionally as a submitter when my larger mixer runs out of inputs. I just wish there was a mono line-level input (the mono channels have hi-Z instrument inputs and the stereo channels won't blend to mono when only one jack is connected). It seems they could have made the left input mono if the right input wasn't used without adding much to the cost.. Anyway, give the price, the sound quality is top.

I bought this mixer to use in my home studio, replacing a Soundcraft mixer that was needed elsewhere. It is used between a Focusrite Pro-40 and a pair of active nearfield monitors, so that I can check mixes, and also listen in general. For this purpose, it is perfect - the audio quality is good and clean, the mixer itself is quiet in operation and the footprint is small. Build quality is good and solid. The power supply is internal, so no need for a 'wall wart' - unusual in a small mixer. For my uses, the equalisation is fine, but for more complex uses, it could be a bit limited, as it lacks a midrange control.

Overall, the mixer performs very well, especially considering the low price. Recommended.