Looking For a Trcky Mixer

B

BaltimoreDude

New member
Hey Guys,

I am going to try to make a complicated question as simple as possible. Basically I am looking for a mixer for home recording.

I am running vista which does not let you monitor what is being recorded like xp did. I need a mixer that will allow me to come out of the pc into mixer to monitor live sound of the tracks while I record. The tricky part is I will be coming out of the mixer into the pc mic port... while plugged into the phones or ctrl room on the mixer I need to monitor both my guitar (plugged into the mixer) and the track (plugged into the mixer from pc speaker out). But I need it routed where cakewalk only records my guitar coming from the mixer, not the track coming from the pc to the mixer. I think this all has something to do with submixes.

I have a small mixer and tried to make it happen by coming out of the pc to the tape in on the little mixer... but alas, fail.

Any ideas are MUCH appreciated.
 
BaltimoreDude said:
Hey Guys,

I am going to try to make a complicated question as simple as possible. Basically I am looking for a mixer for home recording.

I am running vista which does not let you monitor what is being recorded like xp did. I need a mixer that will allow me to come out of the pc into mixer to monitor live sound of the tracks while I record. The tricky part is I will be coming out of the mixer into the pc mic port... while plugged into the phones or ctrl room on the mixer I need to monitor both my guitar (plugged into the mixer) and the track (plugged into the mixer from pc speaker out). But I need it routed where cakewalk only records my guitar coming from the mixer, not the track coming from the pc to the mixer. I think this all has something to do with submixes.

I have a small mixer and tried to make it happen by coming out of the pc to the tape in on the little mixer... but alas, fail.

Any ideas are MUCH appreciated.
Click to expand...

sounds like you're using the stock or integrated soundcard in you computer. Get a real soundcard or an interface and disable or remove the stock card. There is no reason you couldnt record, playback, monitor, etc. with any respectable soundcard/interface regardless what operating system you're using.

As for a mixer, *most* small format mixers are made to do exactly what the name implies... mix sounds together into one... i.e. take a bunch of mics, etc and mix them to be played together through a house PA. To the contrary, you want to be able to keep your recorded tracks separate until AFTER you've recorded them so that you maintain control of your mix. The Mack mixer mentioned above is also a firewire interface and will accmplish this. You could also consider either a Soundcraft M serier or an Allen and Heath mixer which have direct outs on each mic channel, then get a multi channel soundcard to get everything into the computer separately... or the simplest solution would be an standalone interface that combines preamps and soundcard into one "interface".
 
Instead of a mixer, you should consider just an interface. This will allow you to do exactly what you want. If you're recording just yourself, a 2-channel interface is more than adequate. Most interfaces come with some kind of 'Lite' version of a popular DAW program, like cubase or Sonar (Cakewalk). The converters will be better than what you have on your computer.
 
Thanx so much for the response Guys.

I have done the piggy back method so long this was a bit new to me. I have grasped that it is a sub/monitor mix issue. I had thought of getting another 502 as a dedicated monitor side, but the interface sounds interesting. Any suggestions and what one will accomplish my goal for the best possible price?
 
BaltimoreDude said:
Thanx so much for the response Guys.

I have done the piggy back method so long this was a bit new to me. I have grasped that it is a sub/monitor mix issue. I had thought of getting another 502 as a dedicated monitor side, but the interface sounds interesting. Any suggestions and what one will accomplish my goal for the best possible price?
Click to expand...
What is your price range?
In the low end, you can look at some of the M-Audio offerings. In the Mid range ($400 - $700) there are some decent ones from MOTU, PreSonus, Tascam and the like. In the upper mid range ($800 - $1200) the possibilities are even better with again MOTU, Tascam and then RME and the like. Then you got the high end with the likes of RME, Apogee, Lynx, etc.

Set your budget, how many channels of simultaneous I/O you need and I am sure we can come up with some good suggestions.
 
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