Customer Reviews

ART PowerMIX III - 3 Channel Personal Mixer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this little mixer to mix the output of my three PC's to one set of nice powered speakers. For years I used a few passive volume controls - they were so noisy that I ended up turning the volume off most of the time. This little box has changed all of that - it is nicely quiet at normal volumes without a buzz or a pop. The unit has a nice quality feel to it - the controls are smooth, have a mid-level detent, etc. As previously mentioned it has plenty of gain - though i noticed the hiss level started to become apparent if the volume is turned way up. The little pan control on each channel are a nice touch. My minor grumbles would be I wish it had an on/off button so i don't have to leave it on 24/7, and for my application i needed to buy 8 phone-to-phono adapters. Well worth it, though - it's a "buy".

I use the mixer to listen to a computer, radio scanner and iPod through the same headphones/speakers. The individual dials have a solid feel and allow for any combination of audio levels. Plugging in headphones does not disable the master line out, so you can alternate between headphones and speakers without having to rearrange cables.

It's important to note that this device only accepts the fat 1/4'' male cables. You will need splitters to get a signal from 3.5mm stereo jacks (the size on most consumer electronics) into this mixer. Depending on what your speaker system uses, more adapters will be needed to get audio out from the Left and Right 1/4'' jacks.

One other annoyance is that turning the dial all the way down does not completely silence the channel's source. Even with the dial in the far left position and the headphone level turned down as well, sound still seeps in at a low and distorted rumble. This isn't a problem if you have access to all the devices you are monitoring (i.e. just pause the iPod to silence the music completely), but could be an issue if you are listening to sources which cannot be controlled or turned off.

Don't be fooled by its small size; it is a great product. Does the job well, has plenty of gain, and the small balance adjustments per input are an added bonus. Independent volumes for main output and headphone output are very useful. Small minus is that if you already have RCA cables you need adapters (RCA plugh to 1/4" jack), but those cost just ~$2 each.

I needed a device that would allow me to connect two computers to the same set of main speakers. I considered using some sort of speaker switch but when I decided on active powered monitors that ruled the speaker signal level switch out. The ARTcessories Power Mix III was a good match to my needs. Nice and small with front level controls and rear input jacks. Most of the tiny mixers like these have top mounted controls and inputs for use by a recording artist in a studio. The inputs are 1/4" mono inputs so you'll need cables like the Hosa CMP159 Y Cable 1/8 Inch TRS to Dual 1/4 Inch TS Cable - 3 Foot to connect the typical 1/8" stereo jack found in iPods and computer sound cards to the Power Mix III. The outputs are also 1/4" mono jacks which matched the inputs to my Behringer TRUTH B2031A Active Monitor (Single) inputs.

In use the mixer is fairly well made with nice smooth controls and is quiet, it introduces no buzz or hum into the mix and there is no crackling when adjusting the volume. There are three independent source volume knobs that along with your computer's software volume can allow you to match the three sources. You'll want to keep the computer's software volume control fairly high to minimize the signal-to-noise radio - keeping the amplifiers fed with a good high signal so that the inherent noise they produce is lower in regards to the music. The master volume controls all three inputs at the same time. As others have mentioned even with all the volume controls down the signal is still not all the way muted and just a bit of sound is heard. Use the mute on your computer to kill the sound completely.

There are two headphone jacks which are also the 1/4" size which is common in professional studio use. Most quality headphones come with an adapter which will work in a 1/4" jack. Plugging in the headphones does not mute the speakers outputs. There is a separate volume provided for the pair of headphone jacks.

Power is supplied with a "wall wart" type transformer.

Overall I'm very pleased with the mixer. Its well built with quality medal construction and the controls feel very smooth. I took one star away because of the minor issue with the volume controls not completely muting the audio.

I got this to connect a computer and a music player to an amplifier to drive a single set of speakers, so I could listen to music, but also hear the audio from my computer, either for little things like alerts while music is playing, or for videos or music played on the computer (probably while the other is paused). But mostly I didn't want to switch between them.

I read a lot of reviews of other similar products which said that the result was unusably quiet.

The ART 3 channel mixer had no issues with that. It worked just great for me. The only thing I'd want to fix on it is that the knobs aren't labeled on the front, only the top (which I can't see in my setup). So, I'll apply some labels. Also beware that it uses mono headphone-type 1/4" plugs, 2 for each channel. I knew this so I ordered the appropriate adapters, but that adds about a quarter of the cost of the mixer to the over all price.

Individual level controls allow you to specify how much of each channel goes into the output. Then the master volume dial allows you to specify the speaker volume without messing with the levels. I have a volume control on my amplifier, but I use the volume on the mixer because it's more accessible.

This mixer easily met my expectations.

This mixer does what it says it will do. Quiet and plenty of gain. Solved my rig - Nord Stage, Ventilator, guitar and two K10s. Mixer velcros to the Stage. Perfect.

My order was shipped in a reasonable amount of time and arrived in great condition. I'll be happy to use this company again. Linda