Home recording mixer question

[yobo01]

I plan to start recording vocals from home for hip hop.
I have a behringer b1 condenser mic, stand, XLR cable and pop filter.
Im using a pc not a mac and this is all my equipment
Im new to the recording scene but know some things.
I have my eyes set on a tapco mix 60 mixer which has phantom power and good preamp and also CHEAP (£32 local store)
However im not sure on how everything will connect?
I know the mic will connect usin XLR but how will the mixer connect to my pc?
And are there any other things im missing?
Thx in advance

[RTWmaniac]

If you don't have a good sound card, you'll need to get a USB or a firewire interface. Check out M-Audio; they seem to be everyone's favorite.

[yobo01]

Thx man, i just checked out the fast track pro that looks like the thing i need
If it helps to anyone i also have a toneport GX

[JIMBOdrummer]

ya he's right. find something with USB for firewire depending on your computer. they actually sell "sound cards" but its an install to your comp i.e. permanent (or at least not portable).

you just ding vox right? i have an alesis mixer but i only got it cuz i record drums.

just go with a nice 1 or 2 preamp

[Simbo]

Well if you were to go with that Tapco, you could just get a Y cable, 2-RCA- to 1 3.5mm stereo jack, go from Tape out to Line-in on the PC.

I don't how good it will sound, but it should work

[Sir_Matthew]

Tapco's a good choice, I use it to stream my live shows. Y-cable from the tape out to the sound card input, bammo. Great, clean quality.

[suprstar]

Originally Posted by Simbo

Well if you were to go with that Tapco, you could just get a Y cable, 2-RCA- to 1 3.5mm stereo jack, go from Tape out to Line-in on the PC.

I don't how good it will sound, but it should work

It'll work, but It'll sound like ass.. Your PC soundcard has the best AD converters 42¢ can buy. If you dont want to (or cant) spend any $$, this will get you started, but you'll be limited to 2 channels and the sq will be pretty god-awful..

Get a mixer with firewire or USB, it'll do a WAY better job. Typically, a USB mixer will send the stereo main mix L/R, and a firewire mixer will send all channels individually along with the main mix L/R. Or just get an interface, it's basically the same thing without all the knobs and faders. (they're in the software instead) They use 1U in a rack, and don't take up desk space. Interfaces and mixers with fw or usb appear as a sound card to windows, you can even disable your via-xxxxx or whatever in bios.

[Sir_Matthew]

Originally Posted by suprstar

It'll work, but It'll sound like ass.. Your PC soundcard has the best AD converters 42¢ can buy.

Just to add, I'm not advocating the above as a long-term strategy, just that if he's getting a cheap mixer, Tapco's a good choice.

It is true that at some point, there will need to be a better A/D converter purchased. Kinda depends on financial circumstances.

[suprstar]

Yeah, no prob, Tapco's decent, same pre's as Mackie I believe. That'd be one thing if he already had one, he could hook it up to the soundcard line-in for practically free. But since he has to buy the mixer anyway, he could put that $$ to better use, and not re-buy something later when he gets sick of the poor sq. Despite the fact that there's 6 inputs, there's only 2 channels to the PC, so might as well get something like a M-audio Fasttrack or pretty much anything else. If £32 is his max budget, then that's about as good as he'll get I guess, but he can throw in a little extra he can get something far superior for say £50-ish.

[yobo01]

wow thanks guys its helped quite abit
£32 isnt my maximum budget its £60
Im most likely to get an interface now probably but i just need cheap option.

[Simbo]

A'm just learning too before i buy gear.

Question is how many channels are you going to need now and how many you may need in the near future, this will help you deside on what gear to buy.

[yobo01]

Just need the 1 channel because just plan to do vocals

[suprstar]

Yeah simbo that IS the question! I I only needed a single channel for as cheap as possible, I'd consider one if these:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Icicle/ or http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicMate/

I think they both do only 16 bit samples tho.. And if you buy a multichannel interface in the future, you might not be able to use this and that at the same time. The asio drivers I have only let you use 2 devices simultaneously if they use the same driver and I think the same sampling rate, so the kinda defy expansion. Something comparable with 2 channels that does 44.1/24 wouldn't cost twice as much.

[dodgeaspen]

Originally Posted by suprstar

It'll work, but It'll sound like ass.. Your PC soundcard has the best AD converters 42¢ can buy. If you dont want to (or cant) spend any $$, this will get you started, but you'll be limited to 2 channels and the sq will be pretty god-awful..

Get a mixer with firewire or USB, it'll do a WAY better job. Typically, a USB mixer will send the stereo main mix L/R, and a firewire mixer will send all channels individually along with the main mix L/R. Or just get an interface, it's basically the same thing without all the knobs and faders. (they're in the software instead) They use 1U in a rack, and don't take up desk space. Interfaces and mixers with fw or usb appear as a sound card to windows, you can even disable your via-xxxxx or whatever in bios.

You are right it will sound awful. I have ran my mixer to my sound card and recorded with audacity. The sound wasn't horrid until I converted to MP3 or flac . At that point things start to sound like crap. I just do that for our band practice. When we record I run my 38.

[pint07]

I was in this same situation not long ago. Get a M-Audio Mobilepre. They sell on ebay for in your budget. GREAT buy. and if you ever want to upgrade, you can easily sell it back on ebay for the same price you bought it for. Also, you may want to record in your closet, or somewhere with a lot of clothes or something. It'll help the quality.