Advice needed - I need recommendations for a good set up for recording

Gary Toward

New member
I am still new to recording music. I have a Rode NT1A mic and a Focusrite Scarlett and I use Garage Band on my Macbook Air. However I want to start getting a cleaner sound and also enjoy playing live gigs on FB with other musicians so I need it to do more so I can plug in multiple mics.

Long story short I need recommendations for a decent mixing desk preferably small in size and at least 4 inputs and channels. Do I go second hand on ebay to get more for my money or buy new. I am not rich so I am looking to get something for about £150 at the most. Can someone recommend something for me.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
There are plenty of mixers out there - Allen + Heath, Mackie, Behringer, Yamaha. You will take the main output from the mixer to your Focusrite into the computer.
 
An interface with multiple mic inputs is what you need. When you say "mixing desk", I'm guessing you mean a multichannel mixer. The issue with these is that while they may have more inputs, most of them only provide a couple of channels to the computer. They are often limited to 16bit/44.1 or 48kHz. If you are concerned with getting the cleanest signal, 24 bits is the way to go. You get significantly more headroom to work with.

You could go with something like the Behringer UMC404HD which runs £110 from Thomann. If you can spring for a bit more, you can go all the way up to the UMC1820 with 8 mic preamps.

The NT-1A is generally good. Some people find it bright, but you can tame the top end with some EQ adjustment. Mics tend to have more "personality" than audio interfaces. Is there some particular aspect of the NT-1A that you don't care for? Do you have any recordings that we can hear that might help us make suggestions. Sometimes its not the equipment, but the room that causes issues. Some acoustic treatment might help.
 
Thanks man, the NT1A is the bit I am really happy with. Your advice is really good thanks think I will go for another Audio interface so I have more channels running through the computer.
 
An interface with multiple mic inputs is what you need. When you say "mixing desk", I'm guessing you mean a multichannel mixer. The issue with these is that while they may have more inputs, most of them only provide a couple of channels to the computer. They are often limited to 16bit/44.1 or 48kHz. If you are concerned with getting the cleanest signal, 24 bits is the way to go. You get significantly more headroom to work with.

You could go with something like the Behringer UMC404HD which runs £110 from Thomann. If you can spring for a bit more, you can go all the way up to the UMC1820 with 8 mic preamps.

The NT-1A is generally good. Some people find it bright, but you can tame the top end with some EQ adjustment. Mics tend to have more "personality" than audio interfaces. Is there some particular aspect of the NT-1A that you don't care for? Do you have any recordings that we can hear that might help us make suggestions. Sometimes its not the equipment, but the room that causes issues. Some acoustic treatment might help.

Have looked at some online, the Behringer one looks like good value for the amount of channels. Would you say it does the same thing as the Focusrite ones with similar specs or is the focusrite worth spending more money to get ? Sorry for all the questions
 
You said 'live gigs with other musicians on FB', rather than recording multiple tracks simultaneously, so you really don't nee that ability. You can certainly use an AI with more inputs, but will then need to use an app like OBS to do the actual mixing (other than the relative volumes you can adjust on the interface).
 
I mentioned the 404UMC partly because of the cost limitation you posted. Obviously Focusrite, Presonus, Tascam, Motu and other make similar devices, but generally they charge more. The Behringer and the Focusrite will do the same thing for the most part. There may be some differences in terms of usability or control, and there may be differences in latency due to driver differences, but soundwise, unless you are running on top notch monitoring systems, I doubt you will hear a major difference.

I've never done any live internet work with other musicians, so I don't know how well those things work. All of my recordings have either been done as multitrack bullds or were live performances in a single spot, pre-covid style.
 
I was intrigued by the "cleaner sound" element. An NT1 (any era) and a Scarlett on a Mac with any DAW is pretty clean, so I wonder if Gary has something in his 'sound' so far he doesn't like? I doubt swapping to the Behringher would sound different at all - but would give you more inputs.
 
I was intrigued by the "cleaner sound" element. An NT1 (any era) and a Scarlett on a Mac with any DAW is pretty clean, so I wonder if Gary has something in his 'sound' so far he doesn't like? I doubt swapping to the Behringher would sound different at all - but would give you more inputs.

Yeah they are pretty clean but I think having more inputs will mean I can mic my guitar up better to make a cleaner sound. I had the Scarlett solo so only had one mic in and a line in for my guitar and I just wanted to flexibility to do more and was tossing up between the mixing desk or a bigger sound card
 
I think one important consideration is the kind of music you want mainly to record. To give an extreme "frame of reference," you would probably want a different setup for classical music recordings from the one you might pick for "heavy rock." The recorder itself might work for either kind of music, but the needed mikes would surely be different. Even a mixer used for classical music might not be the best choice for rock, where you might want all kinds of reverb, echo, flanging, and other types of distortion competely foreign to classical music.
Since you mentioned Garage Band, my first take is that you plan to do rock, country, or the like, though Garage Band would probably record classical stuff; but the name of the software certainly suggests the "garage-band era" when garages often became the studios for practice and at least recording demo takes. Your statement that you want a cleaner sound indicates to me that you are wanting something more than Garage Band.
Your ballpark figure of $150 will limit what you might be able to afford; but don't give up on looking. If I were going to buy a piece of used equipment, I believe I would lean mainly toward stores such as Sweetwater or Guitar Center unless I knew the person who was offering the piece to me or the price was so good that I could take a gamble on it. Used equipment bought from the stores I mentioned - and probably from other stores of which I am not aware - come with at least some degree of warranty - maybe thirty days or maybe more. By contrast, the purchase of used equipment from a person perhaps on an ad is by default an "as is" deal. Now I know that my position here is a personal preference; but I feel better when I buy something that has at least a minimal guarantee on it, considering that it will cost me more than "peanut money." Still, it pays to keep your eyes open for something worthwhile that you see.
One more tip if you are considering the purchase of a used recorder using magnetic media: Take along a recording which is not a valuable original recording. There is always the possibility that the recorder you are testing could somehow be stuck on Record and thus erase part of your recording before you discover that the tape is not playing.
 
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