Behringer Ultrafex EX3200 wit Focusrite Scarlett 18i20?

[Steeplemouth]

Hey guys, apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 and have recently acquired a Behringer Ultrafex EX3200. I run an electric mandolin, a drum machine, a Roland synth and a Hammond organ through the Scarlett for recording, with my monitors connected to the Focusrite line outs, but I would like to run everything through the Ultrafex prior to recording, so the recorded audio has the Ultrafex sound applied. Is this possible?

If I connect the Ultrafex to the line out of the Focusrite, then connect the monitors to the Ultrafex line out, the sound will be applied on playback but not during recording, is that correct?

Apologies if that doesn't make sense, I am somewhat of a novice when it comes to these things. Hope someone can help me.

Thanks,
Steeplemouth

 

[ecc83]

Hey guys, apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 and have recently acquired a Behringer Ultrafex EX3200. I run an electric mandolin, a drum machine, a Roland synth and a Hammond organ through the Scarlett for recording, with my monitors connected to the Focusrite line outs, but I would like to run everything through the Ultrafex prior to recording, so the recorded audio has the Ultrafex sound applied. Is this possible?

If I connect the Ultrafex to the line out of the Focusrite, then connect the monitors to the Ultrafex line out, the sound will be applied on playback but not during recording, is that correct?

Apologies if that doesn't make sense, I am somewhat of a novice when it comes to these things. Hope someone can help me.

Thanks,
Steeplemouth

Well it makes ELECTRICAL sense in that it should work but it makes no QUALITY sense to me and not, I suspect to most of the guys here? You really do not want anything in the monitor path that will degrade the signal.

As I understand them, audio "enhancers" are usually used on a specific track or group of tracks? Then, the device would only be used as an outboard effect on PLAYBACK! Once "enhanced" there is no going back and the general rule these days is to record "flat and dry".

And last of all of course, that Behringer unit is not likely to be super quality. Ok for a bit of fun and interest perhaps but FCS don't commit anything to it!

Oh! And I am sure there will be a way to route it in as an effect using the Scarlet MixControl software?

Dave.

 

[Steeplemouth]

Well it makes ELECTRICAL sense in that it should work but it makes no QUALITY sense to me and not, I suspect to most of the guys here? You really do not want anything in the monitor path that will degrade the signal.

As I understand them, audio "enhancers" are usually used on a specific track or group of tracks? Then, the device would only be used as an outboard effect on PLAYBACK! Once "enhanced" there is no going back and the general rule these days is to record "flat and dry".

And last of all of course, that Behringer unit is not likely to be super quality. Ok for a bit of fun and interest perhaps but FCS don't commit anything to it!

Oh! And I am sure there will be a way to route it in as an effect using the Scarlet MixControl software?

Dave.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the advice, maybe I didn't phrase my original post as well as I could have. I meant that I want to use the unit as an effect on a group of tracks, not on the total output. The tracks would be recorded dry as you say, but I want to process those with the unit before mixing everything down. A friend has sent me some guitar and vocal parts that aren't great quality. I'm hoping the unit will improve the quality a little, before I send them back to my mate.

Anyway, apologies if my original post was confusing. Somebody on another forum has already answered my question and detailed how I would go about doing what I want to do, but I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Cheers,
Steeplemouth

 

[ecc83]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the advice, maybe I didn't phrase my original post as well as I could have. I meant that I want to use the unit as an effect on a group of tracks, not on the total output. The tracks would be recorded dry as you say, but I want to process those with the unit before mixing everything down. A friend has sent me some guitar and vocal parts that aren't great quality. I'm hoping the unit will improve the quality a little, before I send them back to my mate.

Anyway, apologies if my original post was confusing. Somebody on another forum has already answered my question and detailed how I would go about doing what I want to do, but I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Cheers,
Steeplemouth

Well, I hope it all turns out nicely for you. I cannot however keep from thinking that, to mix my metaphors, you are about to attempt to polish turds with a pig's ear!

Dave.

 

[Bobbsy]

Well, from a routing point of view, the 18i20 has 8 line outs plus monitor outs. It would be a simple matter to set the routing so you take a pair of line outs to the Behringer inputs then from the Behringer back to a pair of Scarlett line inputs. You may find you get some latency but is should a fixed amount making it easy to slide the resulting track a few ms.

However, I have to agree with ecc83. You could likely find a goodly number of software plug ins that could "enhance" your sound (if that's what you want) with a fair bit better quality than the Behringer box--and less faffing around.

 

[Steeplemouth]

Well, I hope it all turns out nicely for you. I cannot however keep from thinking that, to mix my metaphors, you are about to attempt to polish turds with a pig's ear!

Dave.

That may well be the case, but a turd polished with a pig's ear is better than an unpolished turd.

I have Isotope Ozone 5 which I'm sure would do the job more efficiently but, as you can probably tell, I could do with some practice in routing hardware so this is also an educational exercise. The end result doesn't really matter, were just playing with some ideas.

Thanks for the advice.

Steeplemouth

 

[Dan_Focusrite]

Hi Steeplemouth,

What you have said is correct; using the Behringer unit in this way will cause the effect to only be applied on playback. However, you may wish to read this guide from our answerbase - setting the unit up in this way will allow you to create a dry/wet mix of clean signal and signal processed by the Behringer unit.

How do I set up and use an external effects processor as an insert when mixing? | Focusrite

If you have any questions, feel free to drop us an email at supportteam@focusrite.com - let us know you're from this forum to help us get up to speed with your setup.

Thanks!