Omnitronic TRM-422

This mixer looks good and promising but seriously falls short even if I keep in mind its price.

1) The channel EQ is not a +/10dB low/mid/high adjustment thing (“thing” because not even the manual is clear on what it is), but it is the like isolator that is on the master channel with -inf/+9dB range with its 3 band 18dB/oct crossover.

2) Because of the channel isolator and the master isolator there is two 3 band 18dB/oct crossover after each other which adds up to 36dB/oct which creates serious phase distortion and completely alters the original sound. Lows are strange, the highs are smeared, the stereo image is gone. And there is no way to bypass either.

3) The master isolator will clip after +6dB at the center position. If you sync the cue meter and the master meter (the latter to the former) to 0dB, then as you add gain on the channel you will see that you can drive the channel meter up to the clip led, but the master meter will not go above +6dB because clipping occurs in the master isolator (especially for the mid). This means heavy distortion. If you would like to use the mixer without distortion and clipping then you should leave enough headroom for the two isolators’ +9dB setting. This adds up to 18dB. So +6-18= -12dB and this is the channel level you should target.

4) Even the channels 1-4 will start to distort above +6dB. There is no point for the +9, +13, CLIP leds on the cue meter, +9dB is already about distortion and clipping.

5) The user manual says that the channel's clip led: “Indicates when the level after the gain control (16) reaches 0 dB, to allow proper input gain setting depending on the connected audio source.” And this is really not so, it will light up as you go from +9dB to CLIP measured on the cue meter. No way is it showing 0dB (which would be anyway still too much).

6) The most negative setting on the isolator will be reached around 9 o’clock. From 9 o’clock to 7 o’clock nothing really happens. On the mid there will be a strange and narrow V shaped even more negative setting at 8 o’clock but that at 7 o’clock will go back to the level it already was at 9 o’clock.

7) On the channels there is 1-1.5dB difference between the left and right channels. And there is this difference once more on the master channel. This adds up to 2-3dB on the master out.


So the idea and layout of this mixer is quite great but unfortunately it is strange and sloppy workmanship.