Decent 8-channel mixer for recording and mixdown/mastering?

yoyo said:
no. All I want to do is be able to record individual tracks coming out of the mixer. I know that sounds ironic, but think about it. In the big shot studios, they don't record everything as a stereo track. They record a lot of channels at once, but all under separate tracks. I want to do this on a smaller scale, is it possible?

thanks man btw
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Yep, it sure is possible. As long as you have some interface (like the firepod) to keep those channels separate as they go into the computer/recorder. No prob!

In fact, you don't really even need the mixer for recording because you can plug the mics right into the firepod and control the volume there. But the mixer is nice for playback and mixdowns. You can indeed do it anyway you like as long as you understand where all the signal is going.

I was just trying to make the point that there is a big difference between studio mixers and everyday common live mixers. Mostly in those routing capabilities.
 
RawDepth said:
Yep, it sure is possible. As long as you have some interface (like the firepod) to keep those channels separate as they go into the computer/recorder. No prob!

In fact, you don't really even need the mixer for recording because you can plug the mics right into the firepod and control the volume there. But the mixer is nice for playback and mixdowns. You can indeed do it anyway you like as long as you understand where all the signal is going.

I was just trying to make the point that there is a big difference between studio mixers and everyday common live mixers. Mostly in those routing capabilities.
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Ok, yeah, figured that much.

Should I just save for a mackie onyx and use the parallel port outs??
 
Yes, you could. Those ports are balanced analog. On the other hand, if you wanted to skip the firepod altogether, you could get an Onyx and the firewire option card. Then you would have the ability to send all separate channels straight to your computer already in digital format. That's really a nice option.

Maybe someone else can chime in and tell us if that firewire send is post EQ and fader.
 
RawDepth said:
Yes, you could. Those ports are balanced analog. On the other hand, if you wanted to skip the firepod altogether, you could get an Onyx and the firewire option card. Then you would have the ability to send all separate channels straight to your computer already in digital format. That's really a nice option.

Maybe someone else can chime in and tell us if that firewire send is post EQ and fader.
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yeah, the small format ones are. But if i used the analog parallel outs, I could take those straight to my pc right??
 
yoyo said:
yeah, the small format ones are. But if i used the analog parallel outs, I could take those straight to my pc right??
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It must go through some sort of "interface" which converts the analog signal to digital signal. There are a million of them out there. That's one thing the Firepod does. It has 8 mic preamps and 8 A/D converters built in. (A/D stands for Analog-to-Digital.)

The Mackie mixer has the preamps built in each channel and the firewire option card has 18 A/D converters in it. So your computer can receive and record 18 separate channels simultaneously. (That is, as long as the mixer has at least 18 inputs.)
 
RawDepth said:
It must go through some sort of "interface" which converts the analog signal to digital signal. There are a million of them out there. That's one thing the Firepod does. It has 8 mic preamps and 8 A/D converters built in. (A/D stands for Analog-to-Digital.)

The Mackie mixer has the preamps built in each channel and the firewire option card has 18 A/D converters in it. So your computer can receive and record 18 separate channels simultaneously. (That is, as long as the mixer has at least 18 inputs.)
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What I'm talking about is those big long connectors at the back of the onyx. They're called parallel ports. Mostly used for printers on pc's. Surely I could take that to a pci card in my pc which would do the same?? Firepod's don't have a parallel port in them
 
yoyo said:
What I'm talking about is those big long connectors at the back of the onyx. They're called parallel ports. Mostly used for printers on pc's. Surely I could take that to a pci card in my pc which would do the same?? Firepod's don't have a parallel port in them
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Yes, I know what you are referring to, and no, it wouldn't work like that. It doesn't matter what the plug is shaped like, it only matters what type of signal goes through the wires. Even though printers use the same kind of plug the signal and voltage are "very" different. That "parallel style" plug on the Mackie mixer needs a special fan-out cable which has that DB-25 on one end and 8 XLR or 1/4" plugs on the other.

Sorry dude
 
RawDepth said:
Yes, I know what you are referring to, and no, it wouldn't work like that. It doesn't matter what the plug is shaped like, it only matters what type of signal goes through the wires. Even though printers use the same kind of plug the signal and voltage are "very" different. That "parallel style" plug on the Mackie mixer needs a special fan-out cable which has that DB-25 on one end and 8 XLR or 1/4" plugs on the other.

Sorry dude
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oh. ok. whoops. thanks. I understand it a lil better now!

Explain to me one thing. How do the big moma consoles in the studios connect to the pc? Do they go through interfaces??
 
yoyo said:
oh. ok. whoops. thanks. I understand it a lil better now!

Explain to me one thing. How do the big moma consoles in the studios connect to the pc? Do they go through interfaces??
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Yup, every one of them. If it goes from an analog microphone to a digital recorder, (or computer) it has to be converted somewhere along the way. (I don't know if a true digital microphone has been invented yet but, 99.9% of all mics are analog. And 99.9% of all computers are digital.)
 
RawDepth said:
Yup, every one of them. If it goes from an analog microphone to a digital recorder, (or computer) it has to be converted somewhere along the way. (I don't know if a true digital microphone has been invented yet but, 99.9% of all mics are analog. And 99.9% of all computers are digital.)
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I mean like, big shot studios use big shot mixers. How does the mixer attach to the pc??? This is not including pro tools HD, I know about that. Do they use a direct out on each channel into an interface which connects to the pc? do they millions of firewire cables going from the mixer to the pc?

thanks :D
 
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