Awesome, when did you get yours? I am really curious how good of a mixer this could be for studio summing. I like a grungey sound but I have yet to get a good feel on how well this can glue things together and add some dirt. I have a compressor I can put after it before recording the stereo mix.
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Mine showed up today. I ordered on The Sound Parcel (link above).
Regarding studio work: it’s noisy! I’ve tried two different power supplies and they were both noisy… I use a power conditioner too. I don’t know if there’s a way to get rid of the noise yet, but if I figure it out I’ll report back. Maybe batteries would be better(?)
I was going to have this as a summing mixer for a few instruments, but I don’t think I always want the noise present, so I’m considering only using it in a separate FX chain.
It’s fun as hell, and I don’t mind that it’s dirty, but I’m probably not going to use it as a main summing mixer.
(Edit from the future: it’s not noisy on batteries. Something about my USB power is clearly causing the noise with this unit and others reported no noise with USB power)
Damn that is a bummer, but maybe batteries wil fix that. I know my TR6S is noisy but with batteries it is dead quiet. Hoping that is the case for you.
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I know USB power can be noisy, but the weird thing is that I’m using the same USB power supplies that I use with other audio gear and only the Bestie is being noisy. I’ll try batteries and report back. I expect it to be pretty silent, but I don’t know if I’ll want to deal with batteries all the time.
It’s possible this is just a little dirty box of chaos 
, and not to be thought of as a “real mixer” – I’m ok with that, if it’s the case.
Ok nice, yeah looking forward to if the batteries clean it up for you. That would be a big deal for me as well if it cant be used as a summer. I use rechargable batteries in a lot of my gear. It just runs so quiet that way. If this thing can be used a summing mixer in the studio it would be a steal for the price.
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I’ve had my bestie for a days now. I’ve only used batteries to power it and it sounds great, so it absolutely could work as a summing mixer. Also, if you don’t already have this, buy some rechargeable batteries. I’m using the Amazon brand and the bestie has been going strong for three days of regular use.
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Awesome, thats what I use too. Rechargables. If this is good as a summing mixer I may be buying one because sending into the Boum for some compression could be a lethal combo.
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Just adding a quick post to say that mine’s not noisy at all when using it with a USB-C cable and a USB wall plug adapter. Mine could totally work as a summing mixer in my studio, and probably will be used that way, at some point. I think I’ll be using this more than I initially thought, in lots of different ways…
Sound quality overall is fantastic - it sounds really good clean and, if you want, it can give a wonderfully gritty and saturated distortion. Different from the distortion that an Analog Heat gives, but equally appealing to my ears; not as flexible as an AH, obviously, but for dirtying up sounds, Bestie can hold its own.
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Thanks all. I ordered from the Sound Parcel. Will update when I get it My plan will be to sum 4 stereo busses from my DAW into it, glue and drive and then compress after with the OTO Boum before recording back in. And of course keep that feedback channel open and free so I can add that in.
Can anyone suggest some 1/4 to stereo 1/8 cables they are using for it? I may have them but the back looks like it needs a L and R input per channel, its a little confusing there,.
I have split L/R TS into 1/8th inch TRS which Im not sure is the right cable, but it may be - I used them on the BlueBox.
Yeah, I think the cables you have would work fine. I’m using 1/4 insert cables with a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter on the TRS end
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Yeah, mine is fine on batteries – no noise, so it’s likely the power. I’m going to try to find a ground loop isolator, because maybe that’s the cause of the noise. It’s just strange that other devices don’t have noise with the same power setup.
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I got a bunch of these for the 1010 Bluebox, and they’ve been working with the Bestie as well:
I wanted to keep using some of the longer 1/4" cables I already have.
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Perfect. Thanks for checking too on the noise. Glad it works.
So essentially the inputs that say stereo on the back will accept 1 stereo trs in out and do stereo like the Bluebox does. The way they labeled the back with a few channels with LR threw me off. Ill be all set then.
Oh right, some of the channels have the option of using two 1/8" TS or one TRS – it’s a bit confusing, but I’ve been only using TRS and both L and R channels work.
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Curious to hear how it compares to the Moukey small form factor mixers? Anybody got both?
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I have tried it at Synthfest France and it was not noisy at all. The people from Bastl even talked to me how challenging it had been to get such a low noise ratio, with two large capacitors on both side of the Bestie.
Contact their support, there might be something wrong with your unit.
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Thanks. Yeah, I explained in a later comment that it’s likely the way I was powering it. I’ll go edit the comment so people don’t think the mixer is inherently noisy.
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it didn’t come with an adapter?
Nope.
Glad the noise got sorted out. I am really excited about this mixer since I feel like it is a rare device that is almost underpriced in todays market. I just could not justify spending $800 on the OTO that comes out in a bit. Maybe I will change my mind and save up some money but for now I think the Bestie + Boum combo could be as good as anything.
I should add that I like to dirty up my tracks a bit with hardware. I like that bit of grunge that hardware still is best at doing, to my ears. So this mixer is probably best for that old school or lo-fi vibe, which is what I love.
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