Need information on mixer ASAP

S

sunflowerbean

New member
Hi i'm looking at this: Amazon.com: Phonic Impact II 16 mixing console: Musical Instruments (not this EXACT one, it's on a different website and is the 8 channel version) and i want to know a few things before i buy it:

1. To connect it to my macbook pro would i be able to use (also is there a better way? considering there is no line in on my macbook, just a joint headphone and mic input) an alesis phonolink: Alesis Phonolink | Maplin to connect it through USB and then in to cubase/a DAW etc?

2. Will it be multitrack recording? baring in mind it will be going through the alesis phonolink if that affects it. e.g if I were to record a drum kit with 5 different mics, could i then go on to the DAW and add effects to the snare track alone? This is vital for me really, as i was going to buy a USB mixer but they rarely have multitrack recording and a good amount of inputs.

3. Would i be able to plug a guitar straight in to the mixer? e.g just a usual guitar lead straight from the guitar in to the mixer? i know this is not normally recommended but i don't really have any good quality amps.

Thanks.
 
A little demanding, are we?
Two posts on the same topic with all this urgency.
Why not slow it down a bit and research the mixer. The manufacturer's own info might be a good start. .or do you want us to do that for you?
 
Yeah i need to find out these things as soon as i can really, sorry about that. And i wasn't really sure which thread it belonged in to be honest. And I can't seem to find any information on the mixer at all really, must be pretty old. I'm pretty useless with buying mixers as i don't know much about them.
 
sunflowerbean said:
1. To connect it to my macbook pro would i be able to use (also is there a better way? considering there is no line in on my macbook, just a joint headphone and mic input) an alesis phonolink: Alesis Phonolink | Maplin to connect it through USB and then in to cubase/a DAW etc?
Click to expand...
The phonlolink will work

sunflowerbean said:
2. Will it be multitrack recording? baring in mind it will be going through the alesis phonolink if that affects it. e.g if I were to record a drum kit with 5 different mics, could i then go on to the DAW and add effects to the snare track alone? This is vital for me really, as i was going to buy a USB mixer but they rarely have multitrack recording and a good amount of inputs.
Click to expand...
No. It will only give you a stereo out fom the console into the Mac. For multitracking, you need a 'phonolink' with as many inputs as tracks you want to simultaneously record. In other words, you need a dedicated audio interface.

sunflowerbean said:
3. Would i be able to plug a guitar straight in to the mixer? e.g just a usual guitar lead straight from the guitar in to the mixer? i know this is not normally recommended but i don't really have any good quality amps.
Click to expand...
There seems to be enough functionality on that console to get away with plugging a guitar straight in. But you would have to experiment.
 
Thanks for all the help. Would've ended up buying it and wasting my money. Are there many analog mixers that will connect to the alesis phonolink and give me multitrack recording or is that the reason as to why multitrack recording is not possible?
Thanks.
 
sunflowerbean said:
Thanks for all the help. Would've ended up buying it and wasting my money. Are there many analog mixers that will connect to the alesis phonolink and give me multitrack recording or is that the reason as to why multitrack recording is not possible?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

There are no analog mixers that will connect with the phonolink and give multitrack recording. The phonolink is the bottleneck, only delivering two tracks.

There are digital desks (such as Presonus StudioLive) that will do what you want. And there are audio interfaces that will do what you want. If you are recording via an interface intoyr mac, then you can easily get away with having no mixer at all.
 
Hey sunflower, sorry if I came off a bit harsh. Thankfully others were more helpful than I.
 
Yes, you need a multitrack AI or one of very few (and expensive) MTrack recording mixers.

Then, although they might be better these days, there used to be a saying about Behringer gear (largely undeserved now at least) "At least it is not a Phonic!"

Dave.
 
Hi, I've decided that I'll probably get the alesis io4...which is either going to be very handy or very annoying, it only records multitrack on the 16bit setting and it requires installing ASIO4ALL so this functions. The thing is though, that should be alright for now as I won't be recording the drums very soon, it'll most likely be everything else first e.g guitar etc. The alesis is also very cheap as I'm getting it second hand, and it's probably the only 4 channel interface with multitrack recording that I can get at this price. It also has some handy features such as the guitar input and each channel has an insert.
The only frustrating bit is that I was planning on using my MacBook Pro, yet I won't be able to do multitrack recording as ASIO4ALL is windows only. So I was thinking that would it be hard to record everything BUT the drums on my MacBook (Logic Pro) and then when I need to record the drum tracks, do them on my computer with asio4all etc on cubase probably. But then is the possible to transfer the individual raw tracks to the project on my MacBook? I'm sure there must be a way of doing it as I'm pretty sure this must happen to a lot of people where they go to a studio to record certain instruments yet want to mix at home...I'm just not sure how to do it, could anyone give me any advice?
Thanks.
Also, don't worry about it RFR haha, it's my fault more than anything, I think I expected way too much help.
 
Check to see if you require anything for your Apple product. The ASIO4ALL is a Windows hack. You may be good just with what ever your OS has.
 
I cannot immediately see the 16bit limit for 4 tracks? But I would not worry about that too much. If the O4 is as good as my iO2, the noise levels will be low enough at 16bits for all but the most critical recording in a VERY quiet place! The "legroom" 24bits allows is very welcome but not vital.

You only need ASIO drivers if low latency is required (ok, Windows also pokes its nose in but that can be fixed) I know not of macs but I seem to think they run pretty low latency anyway?

As for moving tracks from one machine to another? I am sure the Old Soldiers here like Bobbsy and Co' will tell you how, if you need to do it, which I doubt.

Dave.
 
According to pretty much everyone that has an alesis io4 and a Mac are saying that you don't need to download any drivers etc. So i'm ok for recording on my mac really, just need to sort out my computer, yet it's not vital until i start recording drums/more than 2 tracks, which i can't see being very soon as my kit sounds pretty bad at the moment. And the ASIO4ALL is supposed to enable the multitrack recording somehow? I really have no idea how or why but apparently it's vital for it.
 
sunflowerbean said:
According to pretty much everyone that has an alesis io4 and a Mac are saying that you don't need to download any drivers etc. So i'm ok for recording on my mac really, just need to sort out my computer, yet it's not vital until i start recording drums/more than 2 tracks, which i can't see being very soon as my kit sounds pretty bad at the moment. And the ASIO4ALL is supposed to enable the multitrack recording somehow? I really have no idea how or why but apparently it's vital for it.
Click to expand...

Since the Alesis has no ASIO drivers, on a Windows OS, this is their work around. For an Apple OS, sounds like it is not required. Most interfaces have their own drivers, and they are ASIO compliant. Your until does not and for your OS, should not be a problem for multichannel input. Multi-track is something different and is a function of the DAW you use.

Multichannel inputs would be the interface and the drivers to enable all of the channels to the tracks.
 
What do the specs of that interface say about operating Macs? There may be specific drivers for that application. I use a MacBook Pro but different interfaces than you.
 
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