Author Topic: L-20 first impressions  (Read 2620 times)

RoadRanger

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L-20 first impressions
« on: February 09, 2020, 06:42:01 PM »
I just unboxed an L-20 and mucked about with it. I've used both flying fader and "passive fader" mixers before and this mixer is much more like an early Presonus Studiolive (obviously).

I MacGyvered a WAV file of a Ringo Starr tune into a project - it's not obvious that a stereo WAV will only work on the two stereo channels but makes sense. There seems to be no way to play a tune except to inject it into a project? I was hoping to be able to play break music from the SDcard or a USB flash drive but can't figure out how?

I suspect that the headphones/speakers button reverse the phase on the ring contact so make sure you use the right position, especially on balanced input monitors!

I plugged a bass guitar directly into a channel. With the gain full up the distortion is "Cream" like and would be quite usable for that sound - not nasty like a Yamaha preamp. With the compression on full and the gain backed off to normal it's pretty punchy and useful for that kind of sound too.

Some things can only be accessed via the iPad app that connects via BlueTooth and requires a $30 Zoom BlueTooth dongle for the mixer. Range is limited to 10 meters and wo knows how it will perform in a room full of 2.4GHz devices?

#1 cool thing about this mixer is that it can record multitrack to an SDcard - no laptop or external drive needed! Also has SIX STEREO monitor mixes - wow!

It lacks any EQ on the 6 stereo monitor mixes so using floor monitors could be problematic. There is a 15 band GEQ on the main outs but you can only access it via the iPad app. The channel level meters are post-fader (yech) but I'm told you can change that in the app.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2020, 06:49:32 PM by RoadRanger »

WK154

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Re: L-20 first impressions
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2020, 06:40:41 PM »
This reminds me of my MRS1266 from Zoom. Just a few more mic pre's and no computer requirement. Has a hard drive and a CD burner and if needed a USB connection  to a computer. Mine is save and sound locked in a box to which I misplaced the key for about 17 yrs. Maybe someday I'll drill out the lock. So how is it working out for you.
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RoadRanger

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Re: L-20 first impressions
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2020, 08:31:03 PM »
I've used it mostly to record drums plus scratch tracks of bass, vocal, and bass. I also bought an L-8 and use that more than the L-20 for adding tracks where I don't need all those inputs.