At Knobcon 2017, we talked with Mike Rafferty of KVgear, who gave us a sneak preview of their upcoming Vixen Mixer.
The Vixen is an eight-input (6 mono, 2 stereo) mixer, designed specifically for working with mobile devices like the Korg Volcas. It features 3.5mm jacks, level and mute and panning per channel, 2 aux sends/returns, main out and headphone out. All in a footprint that’s identical to the Volcas.
Pricing and Availabilty
Rafferty plans to fund production of the Vixen Mixer via a Kickstarter project. It will launch on Sept. 19 and will run for 30 days. Rafferty hasn’t finalized pricing yet, but he told us he expected it to be a little higher than the Volcas.
Genius idea. I wonder when Korg will produce their own Korg Volca mixer though. 🙂
Just wondering is the power in the mixer that it supplies coming from a rechargeable lithium battery as that would be good to know and would definitely sell it to me and I guess others too!! 😀
Again genius idea!!
Curious about the power too. If it can be battery powered (even if that disallows power distribution), that’d be a big win.
Power to the Vixen, and likewise to any Volcas connected to the power hub, will come from any of three sources:
1) The included AC-DC power supply. BTW, the power supply transformer isn’t a wall wart; it’s inline. The AC cable can be removed and replaced to match whatever type of plug type is used in your country.
2) Six internal AA batteries supplied by the user.
3) An external LiPo high capacity battery supplied by the user. An adapter cable will be necessary to connect the LiPo battery to the input jack on the Vixen. I plan to manufacture adapter cables to fit the most popular batteries.
Volca users have been begging for this for a while. Way to drop the ball, Korg.
Great idea – I’ve been expecting someone to pick this up for a long time!
It seems like 2 years now we’ve been hearing rumors of a Volca Mixer, but I’m not entirely sure why that’s a necessary prodcut. I mean, I own all 6 Volcas, so I would probably be interested in a mixer for Volcas (particularly if Korg designed it). But why do we need a specialized mixer for Volcas versus any entry-level mixer from Mackie, Behringer, Yamaha, etc.? Why is it necessary to have 6 inputs that accept 3.5mm (1/8″) audio cables, versus getting a bunch of 1/4″ to 1/8″ cables? Would probably cost, what, $30 to $40 for 6 of them on Amazon?
A “Volca Mixer” only makes sense if it offers the same levels of functionality and portability that made the Volca series attractive in the first place. I suppose it could be a special battery-powered unit with some EQ controls, etc., but there are already micro mixers or audio splitters that are fully unpowered and work to some degree.
Not being facetious here – I’m literally just asking what it is that people want to see accomplished by a “Volca Mixer”, apart from Volca branding. Given that the lead developer and brainchild of Volca and many of Korg’s other affordable audio products is no longer there, I haven’t been holding out hope for any new Volca products.
Obviously you don’t need a special mixer for the Volca’s but that’s missing the point. The key word here is convenience. Can you name another mixer with 6 1/8″ plus Aux sends and returns that’s similar in size to the Volca’s and can be used on the go with batteries? The Volcas aren’t the only product out there now with 1/8″ outs. The mini Kaoss Pads/Kaossilator, the Roland Boutique line and many small synths and devices use 1/8″ outs and not everyone wants tons of different sized cables and adapters lying around. Plus this has Power taps so you can power all your Volca units from it.
There are no battery powered mixers on the market by now, this is very needed!
There are, in reality, Xenyx 1002B that I use is battery powered, even can use phantom power for mics when you insert another 9V battery. Something like Zoom R16 is yet another option (8 inputs make it a mixer), I have always been fascinated how I can take my Zoom R8 to the forest, record my voice &/or acoustic guitar (both of which can be processed with a variety of mic/cab emulation fx + other effects) and eventually mix & master the whole song — all, like, in a forest… or a bunker… or a desert island. Both of these serve a different purpose than Vixen, but I thought I’d give a shout out to two nice bits of gear.
Finally.
Would love to be able to swap out those 8 power taps for 8 clock output jacks where they were fixed at clock dividing ratios. Something like:
Jacks 1-4 = 1:1
Jacks 5,6 = 1:2
Jacks 7,8 = 1:4
(or perhaps Jack 1 is the input?)
I get that this is made primarily for Volcas but not many folks have 8 Volcas they need to power. If that’s true and most who buy this will connect other types of ‘mobile’ gear, thinking a clock divider could be more universally useful.
What are the three knobs to the right of the two stereo channels? Aux send masters? Aux return levels + master volume?
The three white knobs are PHONE OUT volume, AUX1 stereo return level, and AUX2 stereo return level. Below them is the MAIN OUT volume knob.
At Knobcon he mentioned to me that they are considering adding a DIY version, probably with SMT parts presoldered.
Hi Steve! The plan right now is to provide a limited number of DIY kits with all SMT components pre-soldered onto the board. The solder jockey would have the “privilege” of installing all of the pots, jacks and switches. Of course, the DIY kit would be discounted from the normal price.
Wait, the two stereo ins do not have aux send levels at all? Seems odd to me. I was hoping all 8 channels had the ability to use the aux sends. So anything plugged into the stereo ins will not have the ability to be sent out to effects.
Mike, I believe what he was saying is that those last two stereo ins, the ones on the right with the different colored knobs, WERE the aux returns. So they would not need aux sends.
The reason for omitting aux sends on channels 7 and 8 is that there isn’t space on the circuit board for the components. My intention for this mixer was to cram as much functionality as possible into the footprint of a Volca. If I had been cautious and traditional, I would have made a 6 channel, 1 aux mixer, plus 6 power taps. But I really wanted to squeeze as much into this mixer as possible. There was just barely enough room to cram in channels 7 and 8 if I only gave them mute and level controls and nothing else. This type of design approach isn’t all that crazy. I’ve found a few mixers that have primary input channels supplemented with a few unity gain channels that have no controls at all.
I had to watch the video twice to confirm that the product will be shipped in an electric blue finish that doesn’t fit the Volca aesthetics at all. I guess my shallow life is already ruined by the glaring white plastic on the Sample, but it does makes me want to hang on for a little while longer.
The plan at the moment is for the mixer to be blue. I’m already looking at other options that might possibly be offered as special limited-run editions.
White as in the prototype looks ok to me. Red could be ok. That blue is just terrible. Blue is the most uninteresting color.
This looks great. The option to power up to 8 Volcas is great, can it power other things like Monotribe, Mini Kaoss Pads or Circuit? The only thing I think its missing is an EQ or tone knob (or 2), but this mixers is already pretty packed.
The Vixen can power anything that’s compatible with the Korg KA-350 power supply, which is center positive 9 VDC, with an obscure barrel plug size. Here’s the list:
ARP ODYSSEY
CLIPHIT
electribe, electribe sampler
KAOSS PAD KP3+
KAOSSILATOR PRO+
KR mini
KROSS
microKORG XL, microKORG XL+
microSTATION
minilogue
monologue
monotribe
MS-20 mini
Pitchblack Pro
RK-100S
tinyPIANO
volca bass, beats, fm, keys, sample, sample OK GO edition, kick
WAVEDRUM Global Edition, WAVEDRUM Mini
Is there any way to prelisten to the tracks in headphones, like Roland MX-1, before unmuting them to the main outs?
That won’t be possible with the Vixen. The mixer is so small that there isn’t room for that type of function.
Could always go mono.
Hey Mike, great idea! Would the mixer work with Eurorack-level inputs? The mini jacks would be perfect for a Eurorack setup without needing to use 1/4″ – 1/8″ cables to go into regular mixers.
Thanks everyone for your patience and enthusiasm. The Vixen mixer Kickstarter campaign has now launched. Full product details, photos, a demo video and pricing are available. kvgear.com/products/vixen-mixer
Can’t wait for my Vixen to arrive… This is going to be awesome!