Mixers with built in compression

I vote Mackie for the $ to quality ratio.

Looking at some of the prices going on eBay right now, he could get into either one for about the same amount of money. Although I did recommend that if this is all totally new to the brain, the Mackie will allow you to 'see' what you're doing more than the Yamaha. Seeing your physical paths of your audio is a big help to gaining more understanding about what you're doing.
 
Yeah I think I'm going to go analog for now. While the O1V looks awesome(and I know it is!!!) I'm honestly afraid of being overwhelmed by it which will frustrate and possibly keep me from really using it. Not really worried about recording, mainly concerned with personal monitoring which is the reason I'm buying everything.
 
While I don't have a complete in depth knowledge of compression I do have an understanding of the basics of it. I know on a true compression unit that you have compression, release, threshold,ratio and depending on the unit other options on it which is why I was wondering if the "compression" that's build into the 166CX was any good for basic in ear monitoring and to round out the sharp edges. While I know it can't truly replace a full compression unit I was trying to find out if it would fit that bill.

I was looking at those two mixers because I've read many good things about how clean their pre-amps are ;-)

Compression is an effect. You might as well ask if its internal reverb is good for an in ear monitor. For example at 4:1 with the threshold and release at 12:00 turn up the attack. You should begin to hear the middle of the note being pushed through to the front of the signal. Continue to turn up the attack until the snare note begins to "smack you in the face". That is from the PreSonus users manual. In ear monitors are just headphones or more truly, like ear buds are to headphones. Compressors also manipulate the floor and ceiling of a signal in order to bring them closer together, then the gain is adjusted to bring the signal back to a strong usable level. Sending that signal via an auxillary to a 3.5 watt head phone amp will offer enough volume while limiting the potential to harm your hearing. If you want less highs, or "sharp edges", EQ the signal.
 
Good choice on the Mackie. If you want to learn about compression, in the future perhaps you could just go buy a small stereo compressor and start playing with it. Run signal into it and see what it does as you turn knobs - that's always the best way to figure out what a device does. Sounds alot like drumming ;)
 
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