Question about using a 16 ch dig-mixing board w/2ch sound card or multi ch sound card

anppilot

Never Act Like U Know All
Someone tell me about the difference between using a 16 channel digital mixing board (Tascam TM-D1000) with a good 2 channel input sound card, or a multi channel soundcard like the MOTU 2408 or the new Event "EZ bus" digital sound card?

Does this mean that with the 2 channel soundcard, you are recording multiple inputs at the sametime(if you are using a mixing board) straight to 2 track, and hoping you can get everything the way you want in one take? Or take full advantage of Cubase and record each instrument on its own track?

And by using Cubase, recording each instrument/sound on its own track, would it pay to record each one at seperate times or have a multi-input soundcard and record everything at once?

PS, Have yall checked out the new digital mixing board/soundcard from Event Electronics? To me, it looks like its gonna be pretty sweet.

http://www.event1.com/ezbus/ez.html

Thanks,
Mike

[Edited by anppilot on 09-17-2000 at 16:34]
 
Sounds like you already know the answer. With a multi-input sound card you can place instruments on seperate tracks within your recording software - which is what you will need if you plan to do any editing/patching. You will have to have some physical seperation when you record, so that you don't get bleed from one instrument track to another. But this way if you get a killer take, but your bass player screwed up, you only need to redo the bass - and not the entire band.

The setup I am using is 6 mics into a mixer. Then using the direct outs from the mixer, we run each one into a seperate input into the sound card. I then run cables back from the soundcard outputs to 6 other channels in the mixer and tap headphones from the mixer mains. I leave the 6 mic inputs out of the main mix, and just assign the returns from the soundcard to the main mix. This way what you monitor in the headphones is what the computer is seeing (hearing?).

In this case you end up with six indivual tracks recorded. If one needs editing, you can delete it and rerecord just that one part (or a portion of it if that's what you need).

You could accomplish the same thing by recording one instrument at a time through a single/dual input sound card, but that's often difficult for the poor soul who gets to lay the initial track (he won't have any of the other instruments to play along with).

The other approach is to run all your instuments into a mixer, and run the mains into a dual input soundcard - but as you suggested, you better hope everyone nails their part, since all the instruments will be on a single track and you won't be able to do any indivudal editing.
 
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