One other thing hit me when I reread your question about a separate mixer. You don't have to use a Tonematch mixer. You can run any mixer through the Bose, but you don't take advantage of the customized instrument settings(presets). I sometimes have my mic in ch1, keyboard in ch2, and my Mackie 1202, that I leave at one of my jobs, in ch3. I can have EQ,preset and volume on1 and 2, and master volume control on 3, with the rest controlled by the mixer.