With an estimated street price of 99 bucks, the Alesis MultiMix 6 USB ($149 MSRP, $99 Street) six-channel desktop mixer will integrate easily into both your budget and your computer-based recording environment. According to Alesis, this compact mixer is perfect for use in recording setups, video editing, and production studios.

The MultiMix 6 USB outputs not only line-level analog audio, but also stereo 16-bit, 44.1 kHz digital audio over USB. It has six input channels, all of which can accept a 1/4-inch line input. XLR microphones, including condensers, can be plugged into channels One and Two thanks to the mixer's switchable 48V phantom power supply. A guitar or bass may also be plugged directly into Channel One's switchable high-impedance input. Those two channels additionally offer switchable highpass filtering at 75 Hz to eliminate low-frequency rumble, handling, and wind noise.

Each channel has an independent pan control, and channels One through Four provide high- and low-shelving EQs. Channels One and Two have independent gain trims, while channels Three / Four and Five / Six are configured as stereo pairs at the level and pan controls. For visual monitoring, the USB mixer has a two-channel, five-stage, multicolor LED meter. A stereo, 1/4-inch headphone output has its own level control.

Alesis expects to ship the MultiMix 6 USB in March, 2010.