Setting up my recording studio

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deejuks2

New member
I apologize if i post this in the wrong section, as this is going to get pretty in-depth; but i AM a NooB so i figured i'd come here... I am going to explain my plans, id appreciate if someone could just butt-in and stop me if i am doing something terribly wrong.

I am currently building my small (15x25) jam room/recording studio. I have watched countless videos on youtube to see setups pertaining to Computer-to-mixing board-to-microphone relationships, but all anyone seems to be concerned with is recording MIDI and having 1 microphone for rapping (see:frustrated)

I have purchased a Behringer Xynyx 22-input USB mixing board. I assume i do NOT need to buy a preamp now, because they are built into the board, correct? I assume i am just going to connect the mixing board to the computers USB port.

Now i am not interested in having a MIDI keyboard, I am planning on buying half a dozen sm57's to mic my drum kit, organ, and guitar amps, and getting a decent condenser mic for vocals. when i have my shure mics plugged into my board, and i flip on phantom power for the condenser mic, will it ruin my sm57s?

Do i need a soundcard if i am using a mixing board? what the hell is firewire? Is my mixing board considered my "audio interface"?

I have more questions but ill address them later
 
You are squarely on the right track. Answers to your questions (which are refreshingly specific :), BTW!):

Correct, Zenyx mixers have built in pre-amps on the mic channels. Plenty of folks on here will say that someday you may want "Better" pre-amps, but I have a Xenyx mixer, too, and have yet to outgrow those preamps

No, phantom power will not harm your SM 57s. Just be a little bit careful about whether phantom power is on or not when you plug and unplug your mics. You want it to be off. I don't think "hot plugging" will hurt you mics, but it can make a loud pop that can harm your speakers if they are on when you do the plugging. Plugging mics in and out with speakers on is bad practice anyway, but with phantom power on, it is potentially much worse.

You should not need a soundcard. Your USB board will do everything you need to do.

Firewire is an alternative to USB for high speed digital connections. Since you are using USB, you won't be using Firewire.

I don't think I missed any...

Good luck!

J
 
SM57s are handy mics - not sure you're doing yourself any favours by bulk purchasing them to mic a drum kit though... I'm not a drummer, so don't take my word for it, but check in the drum forum before you commit to tihs course of action.

There may be better options, and options that aren't necessarily more expensive either.
 
wow! thanks for the fast replies guys..

Oh good, you have a xenyx also. I'm going to have questions on this, im sure. I have no idea what alot of things are on that board, like all the AUX buttons and knobs- aren't those just for effects to be run in parrallel with the board? Since theres effects already built into the board, i assume that most people dont use the AUX ins and outs.

Now all effects, compression, EQ, and volume levels on this board effect the signal ONLY as it's being recorded, correct? All adjustments i want to make AFTER the track is recorded I'll have to do on my PC, I'm guessing.

Forgive my ignorance, im just trying to come to terms with the fact that the stuff on the computer screen looks like it does the same stuff as my 300 dollar board :confused:
 
Sorry to get ahead of yous, but i've done some snooping on the internet and discovered that my Xynyx x2222USB board, which is a USB board, will only send the MAIN MIX out to my computer, combining all tracks being recorded on my board into ONE track on my software. Is this true? Is there any way i can have it so "Track 1" on my board, which will be vocals 1, is put in its own track on my computer, along with "track 2", "track 3", etc., etc....

If not, no biggy, seeing as my studio is small and each microphone will pick up alot of the other instruments anyway..... wich is why i should probably focus on doing 1 track at a time and overlapping myself - which sounds like a hell of a challenge as far as staying in time goes, but that's another forum.......


thanks alot
 
Your mixer sends the 2TR Main to the PC by the USB out. Whatever input signals are routed to the Main outs will be sent the computer as mixed/effected/etc on the mixer. There is no multitrack capability in this mixer. Sorry.

On the bright side, unless you really want to record multiple sources live, this isn't really such a big limitation...

J
 
As for your prior question, yes, anything you do on the board will be done on the way into the computer, meaning it will be recorded that way. You want to be very careful with this, though, because it CAN'T be undone. As an overwhelmingly general statement, it is best to record your tracks raw (ie. no effects applied in the mixer). That way you can add your effects in the software so that you can adjust them based on how it sounds in the mix.

That said, right or wrong, this is not what I do. Disclaimer: Most folks here with waaaay more experience than me will probably tell you this is a bad idea, but I like it...

If I had a real studio, I'd record vocals and drums and acoustic guitars in an awesome room that would have SOME sound to it. I wouldn't purely be close micing everything. Given that I don't haaaave a nice room, I have to close mic everything. To "make up" for this, I use just the teeeeeeeeeniest, weeeeeeniest little bit of reverb from the xenyx effects processor to make my raw close mic'd vocal or dry drum module or piano or acoustic guitar sound like I imagine it would sound in a great studio.

Maybe this is no different than adding that reverb after the fact, but I like the sound I get from the xenyx processor for that teeny little bit of ambience. I usually add additional reverb in the DAW, as I imagine I would in a pro studio... Like I say, probably a bad idea, and there are no doubt better ways, but it seems to work.

J
 
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