Interface v Mixer

E

enuenu

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A friend has begun his journey into the DAW world. I haven't actually been in the room while he uses the gear he has as he lives 1,000 km away. My question is on his behalf and about where to use a mixer and where to use an audio inteface.

He has a Behringer Xenyx X1222 USB physical mixer. He connects his mics to this and the output goes to Reaper on his laptop when recording at the rehearsal space and the PA when playing live. I think he can also perform both of these functions simultaneously when the band plays live (record to Reaper and also output to the PA), but I'm not sure.

I am guessing that he would get a single stereo track recorded in Reaper in this way. Do I have this correct?

We are wondering if he wasted money buying the physical Behringer mixer and instead would have been better off buying an audio interface with the same number of inputs as the Behringer mixer.

Here is my take on it. Please correct me where I am wrong. The physical mixer is primarily geared towards live performance, not recording. This is because it just outputs a single stereo signal that a PA at a venue can use. He can record this output at the same time as the gig takes place, but he will only get a single stereo track in Reaper. Thus he won't be able to tweak each instrument individually later.

A good interface (in concert with a powerful computer and Reaper) would do everything the physical mixer can do in the live performance scenario. It would create a single stereo signal the PA at the venue can use. However by using an interface rather than a physical mixer he would be recording each mic individually on its own Reaper track, allowing for a lot more tweaking later on.

The only problem with using an interface is that you need a lot of computing power to make it work without jumps and pops. The physical mixer is probably also more reliable in a live performance situation. It is also easier to slide physical sliders up and down on a nice big mixer rather than using a mouse on a little screen.

Do I have all this correct? Should he sell his mixer and buy a good multi channel audio interface? Maybe there is an argument for owning a physical mixer and an audio interface?

Thanks.
 
Close, but a couple of misconceptions.

Your friend can use the mixer when recording in a studio; he will only get 2 channels at one time. He can assign one channel to each side of teh stereo output then set Reaper to record a mono from each channel. So, he can use channel 1 for an acoustic guitar, pan it to the Right, then channel 2 for vocal and pan it to the left, then set up Reaper to record a mono track from the Right channel and a mono track from the Left channel and it will captures two mono tracks each with only a mic and a guitar. Make sense?

For live performance, you really want a mixer and not an interface. However, there are some interfaces available that can perform both duties. They are full blown mixers which can stream the individual channels to the computer through a firewire connection. They are much more expensive than your friend's Behringer mixer.

There is an argument for owning both a mixer and an interface. Most mixers will have an insert plug where you can tap off the incoming signal after the trim knob and send each channel to an interface. But cost would be the big concern, especially since there are mixers that have built-in interfaces like I mentioned already.

hope this helps.
 
Mixers have uses. Just not so much in recording. Your friend's mixer is cheap but it does a certain job quite effectively. He won't get all that much for it if he sells, I imagine. I'd hang onto it and get an interface anyway.

I don't know the band's finances, but seriously, there are plenty of reliable, cheap multichannel interfaces available for not much. Pony up.
 
Thanks for the responses. Got to be honest, it is all getting a lot clearer, but I still have a little way to go.

So with his Behringer mixer he can only record two tracks. It seems that at some point he will need an interface if he wants to record more than 2 tracks/channels (sorry about poor use of terminology) simultaneously. We need to investigate how to tie an interface in with his mixer and create a single recording/mixing rig that can do it all.

I think it is a question of what level of recording detail he wants at a live performance. Maybe it is usual that when recording a live gig you only record two tracks/channels. Only in the studio do you want a separate track for every instrument. Thus when gigging he uses the Behringer mixer and Reaper to record and mix for the PA. When in the studio he switches to using an interface to give finer control over each instrument.

However if there is a reasonably priced interface that he can somehow put into the equipment chain at a gig, he may be able to send many signals to Reaper for recording while simultaneously outputting a basic 2 channel signal to the PA. Ideally I believe this interface could and should be used standalone (no Behringer mixer) in the studio. Any ideas on which interfaces would do this?

Again, any corrections welcomed. Learning a heap here.
 
I think something like THIS would work best for you. I had a smaller version and loved its flexibility. If not this brand name, then you can search for something similar.

Good luck.
 
Thanks a heap. That Phonic Helix or similar would be the ideal piece of gear for him I think. However he has already bought the Behringer. The budget is not huge, just taking baby steps before plunging on expensive gear. Once we know how all this gear hangs together, more $ may be forthcoming. That is down the track a bit as you don't spend big when you don't know exactly what you are doing.

Is there an interface that could piggy back his physical mixer somehow? Ideally he would end up with two bits of gear that when used together give all the functionality of the Phonic Helix. In this way he might be able to put more $ towards quality interface functionality and at least make use of the Behringer mixer, rather than blowing the Behringer money out the door.
 
mjbphotos said:
You can take the track 'send' from each mixer track and go to an interface from that
Click to expand...

Great. So if the Behringer mixer has 4 stereo channels you would need and interface with 8 inputs (or maybe it's 4 inputs). You then put the interface between the mixer and the computer. How does this sound?

I've been reading the info on his Behringer mixer and found the following;

XENYX USB Series mixers are designed to handle your live gigs, and they provide the state-of-the-art tools you need to make stunning, professional-quality recordings. Along with their built-in USB/audio interfaces, XENYX USB mixers come with all the recording and editing software you'll need to turn your computer system into a complete, high-performance home recording studio.

So does this mean that this mixer can do what the Phonic Helix can? Maybe he already has an 8 input interface in the Behringer mixer? So at a gig he can record 4 x stereo tracks in Reaper while simultaneously outputting a single stereo channel for the PA, all done using only the Behringer mixer. Furthermore, in the studio he has an 8 channel interface in the form of the Behringer mixer. Based on the decsription above, I can't work out what the Phonic Helix does that the Behringer mixer doesn't or why he needs an interface at all.
 
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