mixer or Audio Interface - questions

H

hullpancake

New member
Hi everyone ... great site and as someone who last played about making music on a computer using OctaMED !! its taking some time just finding my way around , but after reading the essential newbie guide (and Tweaks guides) i think im armed with better information in how to ask my question.

Ive converted a garage into a fledging studio in our garden in the bottom of the garden for my 2 lads and friends for their Jam sessions etc etc .

They now want to edit and record their work , and ive offered to help out and wot not.
Our equipment
5 piece DrumKit
1 Bass
2 guitars
1 acoustic
1 XLR mic (not my own)and currently no way of connecting !!!
1 bass amp
1 guitar amp (practice)

1 laptop
1 USB1 eridol UA1 audio interface (damaged outs)
guitar rig 2



More of the time the Drummer and Bass player play together , so i would be glad to hear which option below would suit recording them both playing together -
After reading a fair bit on here i think i have a plan ...

For starters i'd buy 2 mics for Drum recording Kick and overhead - (later a mic for snare )
and the bass more likely to use the plug ins on the laptop rather than micing the amp .

before reading here i was leaning towards a Mixer (Allen & Heath) http://www.allen-heath.com/zed/zed-10FX.asp or the Alesis multimix 8 - but since then ive learned that an Audio Interface may be all i need like the Tascam us144 mkII as it ships with Cubase LE (thats gonna be another lesson !! lol )
Now to tailor the sounds from the drums would that be fine to record direct to a laptop using Cubase LE via the US144mkII , or would i still need a sound mixer to get levels and compression needed to make them drums sound better?

i hope ive included enough info and that it makes sense , as i know what i want to do in my head , but ive got this bypass filter (noobness) that make me talk waffle ! .


thanks for taking the time to read my post , much appreciated :)
 
Mixers are very useful things, but as you're working down the budget end of the spectrum, you'd probably not be getting one that had great functionality.

Almost universally, people will tell you to get an audio interface, and if you're recording drums, then the 8 channel variety to allow for expansion.

So, what the buzzard said, basically, from my point of view. ;)
 
hey thanks for the replies ,
I kinda got the idea that for my simple needs a mixer wouldn't be required - tho i just wanted to be sure as ive not used Cubase before.
But as a bloke all those buttons , knobs and dials on the mixers appealed to me :D

Right on that advice im gonna plump for the Tascam US 800 , allowing much more than my earlier thoughts .

cant wait to get my stuff together and experiment ,
Also looking forward to sticking around here too :)

cheers !!!
 
I'm hearing good stuff about Tascam, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed since I just got a US 1641. I'd also keep an eye on Ebay, I've got some real good deals there, and Edirol U25, or something like that factory sealed for 150, way less than they usually go for. Another thing I've found is watch for discontinued items on clearance, again some unreal deals on very good equipment.
 
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