Tapco is a generic brand made by Mackie for people who
want a mackie device but don't care about the mackie brand (economical
mackie mixers basically). The one that looks most interesting is the
equivelant of the Mackie 6306, and it's called the Blend 6. It goes
for 99$ pretty much everywhere. There may be additional differences that I'm not seeing between the two. The 6306 is 20$ more than the Blend 6 and 6306. Let me know if you notice any. [Obligatory Proaudio Porn]
The Mix.50 is a 5 channel mixer, with only 1 mic in. It runs for 45$, but 1 mic input, just isn't enough. It looks kinda cute.
There's a "Mix.60" which is like the "Blend 6" but goes for 60$. There
are significant differences however. The blend 6 has 2 mono aux sends,
essentially creating a second stereo bus (in addition to the mains).
The Mix.60 only has a single mono aux send creating 1 stereo bus and 1 mono bus. The Mix.60 has a less detailed VU meter (4 LEDs instead of 8), but it has a midrange (2.5kHz) EQ knob, missing on the Blend 6. Both provide phantom power.
Tough choice. Unfortunately the next step up, at least from Tapco, is the Blend 16 which goes for $380. The rest of the "Mix" line continues to lack 2 stereo busses, which just kicks it out of the running for me.
I'll post again when I get one.