Decent EQ, routing and summing in a mackie 8 bus footprint.

I purchased a 32 channel Topaz project8 for under $1k a few years back when my home studio outgrew my soundcraft 400b 16:8. I wanted to go to an in-line format with 8 sub groups and a full meter bridge but my room is a shoebox. I have just enough space for a mackie 8 bus or soundcraft spirit with 32 channels, neither of which have pleased me sonically when I've used them previously. A souncraft ghost would fit the bill but the depth is a little bigger than I could deal with. This left the Soundtracs Topaz and Solo Midi desks or the A&H GS3000 which are basically the same other than the preamps which are discrete in the solo, analog devices IC based on the Topaz and a discrete/IC hybrid in the late 90s Allen & Heath stuff. None are really great, just different and I don't track through my desk often unless I'm submixing synths, so not a real issue.

The topaz was by far the smallest option at 46"×27" and I was able to pick one up from a nice synth player in Princeton NJ who bought his new in the 90s and was going over to a cont rye ol surface in his home studio. A few days of haggling later the topaz was in my SUV.

Overall the topaz is a very good sounding mixer with most of the features of a large format in-line desk. It sounds much like a toft ATB and has an identical feature set. I mostly like it. Given my space requirements I doubt I could do better and certainly not for under a grand. The console gas been completely reliable so far but will probably need a recap soon as its pushing 30. Not being modular service is a scary prospect but when I finally need to do a tear down I'm considering some small modifications.

One of the coolest features is a 2 band shelving EQ on each monitor path in addition to the 4 band wein type sweepable mids eq on the main path.

So here's what I DON'T like about the topaz:

No small fader for monitor, just a knob like on a toft or ghost, but an extra fader woulda made it bigger and then I wouldn't have room for it.

No stereo aux sends.

Only 4 of the 6 mono auxes can be used per channel at one time and aux 1 and 2 are fixed pre fader internally. You have to disassemble the whole desk and desolder 64 jumpers to set them post. A switch woulda been nice so i could choose.

Monitor ins, direct outs and the 2 stere recorder feeds are set to -10 stock. If you want +4 pro level you have to open the whole desk and guess what? That's right, desolder jumpers... 68 of them.

Unbalanced trs inserts are post eq only and are set for about 0dbu so care is needed gain staging your ourboard.

Non-modular design means you can't acquire spare channels to swap if one goes down.

All of the outs are unbalanced. In my small space this isn't a deal breaker. I don't have noise issues but the rest of my gear is balanced so I have a lot of Art T8s and some radial stuff around for gear that doesn't like interfacing directly with the topaz.

The fx returns are also unbalanced on goofy stereo 1/4" connectors. If you want a mono return you have to use a channel line input or monitor input.

The monitor path can only be merged to the 2bus via the center section. If you want to merge to a stereo sub group you have to physically patch the monitor outs into an fx return and route that to the bus adding another tl072 stage or you could go to a pair of panned channels but thud adds even more circuitry.

The 4 stereo aux retutns can only be routed to the 2bus or to 1 stereo subgroup... so aux return 1 can only route to group 1/2 and only if 1/2 is assigned left right... return 2 goes to 3/4 etc. If you want your r er turns routed to the same group to say compress 3 reverbs together it has to be the main stereo bus. Or you have to return to open channels or use an additional line mixer or something wacky.

The externsl PSU is mainly a large transformer and a good portion of the circuitry the +/- 18 and +48v rails is jammed inside the desk. Because it's a classic linear supply (as it should be) this means good ventilation of the mixer is a must to avoid burning the regulators up. The supply is also on the weak side. The desk can be pushed pretty hard but I suspect a beefier PSU with a lot moe current on demand would open the sound up further and provide more punch. Upgrading the filter caps would involve ripping the whole desk apart though.

Otherwise I really like this desk. It cost a lot more than a mackie new and you can hear the difference. Could I have maybe done better for the money? Maybe but I would need a larger control room and that ain't happening right now. If I move the studio out of my house I'll probably look around for a more professional desk but I might stick to an old soundtracs like maybe an il32 or jade. Being a lesser known, defunct brand the resale is on the low side compared to the better soundcrafts. Good value for dollar and the topaz is a really impressive desk for its size.

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