Mixers and Recording applications - How to's.

S

Spitz

New member
Hi,

I roughly understand what a mixer does, and I'm going to buy my first mixer ever. This is the one I'm looking at (click here).

My question is: can I somehow plug this mixer to my computer and have my recording application (Adobe Audition 2.0 or 1.5, I have both) "recognize" the different tracks of my mixer as I record them?

I just basically want to know what's the most common way of using a mixer to record in a computer-based studio.

Where would you plug the mixer's "out" into my computer (supposing that's what you do)...to the line-in input jack?

Do I need some sort of preamp to go between the mixer and the computer?

I would really appreciate it if you could help me supposing I do have this mixer.

Thanks a LOT!
Your input is of tremendous help to me.
 
To use that mixer you will also need a pci soundcard like the M-Audio Delta 1010LT, which will allow you to record 8 tracks at a time.

However for about the same money you could get an 8-channel firewire interface with inbuilt preamps, (better sounding than those Yamaha ones imo - I used to own an MG12/4) and needs no sound card, totally portable
 
Can you give me a link to that "8-channel firewire interface" please?

I have another question (btw, thanks a lot for replying in the first place! I'm really thankful for that), If I were to buy the Yamaha mixer I showed you, and if I plugged the mixer's main out to my computer's line-in...would the mixer serve sort of as a preamp?

Also, if I were to use this mixer in a live situation, could I just plug the main outs into two speakers or would I need a power amp between the speakers and the mixer?

UPDATE: I don't think I'll buy this mixer anymore because I was planning on using it for live and recording situations, and it seems that for live I need powered speakers and power amps (or powered speakers, for that matter) can be very expensive and I'm on a tight budget.

Having said this, are powered mixers good enough for recording too?

And while we're on topic, powered mixers differ from unpowered mixers in the sense that powered mixers' outs can be plugged to passive speakers while unpowered mixers' outs, if connected to a passive speaker, won't make any sound?

To what can I plug the main out of an unpowered mixer?
 
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I wouldn't recommend using a powered mixer for any recording applications...... for what you want.....I think you should stay on the yamaha route and buy a power amp(or just use powered speakers instead of passive).........if you wanna save money.....buy the MG16/4 without effects....I honestly doubt that you would really miss them very much especially in recording situations...
 
For about the Same Price or a Little More you can get something like an "Alesis 16 Channel Firewire Mixer" which will let you Record 16 Simutainius Tracks to your PC at the same time withou the need for an Interface...

You could also have a "Mackie OnyX 400F" which has Probably better preamps than the Alesis of the Firepod or the Yahama Mixer.....

You could get that Yahama Mixer and a Delta 1010 and use the Mic inserts to output to the Delta 1010 and record up to 10 tracks at once (If the Yahama has 10 outputs).....

there are Many options you can choose just be sure you research your Purchase before you Buy....

Cheers
 
Thanks a lot Bulls Hit and Minion. Very informative!

That link you gave me (Bulls Hit) offers quite a nice deal, and it is exactly what I need. I'll think about purchasing that. (I'm in a kind of tight situation because I live in South America and around here it's hard, borderline impossible to get the variety of equipment I could find in US).

Thanks though!
 
That's the outfit I got my firepod from.

I found them very good to deal with and they've got no problem shipping overseas, or in your case transcontinental
 
Yeah, the problem is I live in Venezuela. And with Hugo Chavez and his anti-US policies...it's not the same as Brazil for example. :/

I know where I can find the Yamaha mixer I showed you, and after reading the manual twice (I'm a slow learner, and as you can see, this is, more than a thread, a process of discovery for me :P), I've learned that the mixer has 4 outs that I can connect to the computer. They're group outs, so I could group 4 tracks (say, the drum mics) and group them to one out. I would then have three left, which I could use for the guitar, bass, and possibly vocals. Or I could set the four outs to four different microphones recording the drums and then move on to guitars and bass...etc. That should be no problem.

Very important (and my main concern):

These group outs (again, there are 4 of them) are the guitar amp/guitar cable-type inputs. I wonder how could I plug these to the computer simultaneously though. Will the Delta 1010LT work for this? And will I be able to set each group out to a different channel in Adobe Audition and have them all record at the same time?


I'm sorry if I seem a little stupid (haha). I'm researching as I post and this is, like I said, a process of discovery.

Thanks a lot for your input! (No pun intended, in case anybody gets it hehe).

: )
 
Yes the Delta 101 will accept the Outputs from your Mixer...You might need an adapter to go from RCA to 1/4 in TS, that is if the Outputs are RCA Outputs which they probably are.....

You should be able to send say the Drums to the Delta 1010 as a Stereo Track into Inputs 1 and 2 of the Delta and then Buss the Guitar and Bass into the Delta 1010...

I use a Simular setup useing a Delta 44 and a 8 Channel Mixer and it works quite well you just need to have the Drums mixed Properly on the Mixer cuz you can not adjust the Drum levels after recording....

Cheers
 
Alright, I think I'm getting this a bit better.

The only thing is that I don't think the mixer's 4 outs are RCA outputs. They're more like the type you'd find in a guitar amp. You would have to use a cable like this (click here) to connect them to the computer.

I'm really sorry if I sound a little repetitive, I just want to make sure that everything will work fine before I go out buying equipment that might not work as well as I hoped it would.

If I can record, connecting the mixer's 4 outs to my computer via the Delta 1010LT, four tracks at the same time in Adobe Audition and have them broken up in four different channels in the application (AA 2.0), then I think I will buy both the mixer and the Delta 1010LT because I would be happy with a setup like that.

I would like to know what else I might need, as well. (Besides converters from the guitar-type cable into RCA-Delta-1010-friendly inputs...right?)

I can't stress enough how helpful you guys are. I know the patience it takes to help someone who is completely clueless about something and I am really thankful for that. I think I'm getting closer to knowing what I should buy to setup my first small, decent home studio.

Thanks!
 
Well if the Mixer has 1/4inch Outputs (Like a Guitar Patch Cable) then that is perfect as those are what the Delta has for inputs and Outputs....

Yes if you Buss the Drums to One Buss and ther Bass to a different Buss and the Guitar to a Different buss then you can record the Drums in Stereo and record Bass and Guitar to seperate Tracks...

So you would Have a Single Stereo Drum Track (Or 2 seperate Left and Right Drum Tracks) and a seperate Guitar track and a Bass track.....

You could also just Go directly out of the Guitar and Bass amp into the Delta 1010 on seperate Tracks.....

Cheers
 
Oh well, then the Delta is a great option so far.

What I was trying to say earlier is that I wouldn't mind using the mixer's 4 outs for the drums to record into Adobe Audition.

Then I could go back, listen to the recorded drums, and record the guitar, then the bass, etc...

I wouldn't mind doing it all separately. Just as long as I can record four separate tracks into Adobe Audition at the same time.

So, in other words... is it possible to do what I mentioned above? If so, then I guess I'll buy both the mixer and the Delta card.

Thanks A LOT Minion.

: )
 
If you only need 4 outputs, then the Delta 44 card would be a cheaper option than the 1010LT, and it has balanced 1/4" inputs.

However if you think you might need more inputs in future, then get the LT. You just need some 1/4" to RCA adapter jacks.

With that mixer you can also use the Inserts on each channel to go directly out to the sound card, i.e. you don't have to restrict yourself to the group buses
 
Awesome! Thanks a lot Bulls Hit and Minion!

I didn't know there was a Delta 44 and a Delta 1010LT. I didn't notice they were different cards.

I'll look into the Delta 44. :)

Bulls Hit, by "inserts" do you mean the AUX jacks for each track? What exactly is an "insert"?

Again, thanks!
 
If you look at the picture of that mixer in the link you posted, round the back you'll see on channels 1-8 each channel has an xlr input, a line input, and an input called Insert I/O. This is typically used if you want to include some outboard gear like an eq or compressor in your signal chain using a special Insert I/O cable. However you can also use the '1 click' trick to just output the signal straight into your soundcard
 
Oh, that's awesome!

Will the onboard EQ (the one in the mixer) affect the channel if I use the "1 click" trick? (after reading some threads, I get why it's called like that now :P)

Does this trick compromise sound quality? I don't know if I would feel comfortable using these jacks for a purpose other than their original, but if it works fine, then I would be fine with that.

In the mixer manual, it says that the Insert I/O jacks are positioned "between the equalizer and fader." Does that make them post-fader if they are after EQ but before fader or simply pre-fader even though they're between EQ but before fader?

Thanks!
 
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