Adding a mixer to the equipment

Thanks Keith.

No I am not intent on having a mixer. My reasons for varied questions of the same theme are I have been looking at other home/studios and seeing what they do.

One professional studio uses a Soundcraft Sig 22 mixer and puts everything through including the telephone line.

Another home studio with same set up as me but plus the telephone uses a Soundcraft epm 6, but how they connect it up with or without the Scarlett is a mystery.

I would prefer no drop in quality or added noise. The larger Scarletts have the amount of mic inputs that I require and more and quality so no need for a mixer but I am unsure if all mic inputs would be heard through headphones? If so I could put all mics in the larger Scarlett and monitor to booth.........and room for (more mics and additional studio etc).

A cheapo small mixer to power my Monacor desk mic (48v) and a poundshop little monitor speaker in the booth is a great idea aswell..........but no room for future expansion (more mics and additional studio etc).

Are you saying the Soundcraft Sig MTK will give the same quality of the Scarlett and no added noise or other?

No sleep tonight again it seems.
 
Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK |

From the above I would think that mixer is every bit as good as the F'rites for sound quality but then you really need to be dropping that $800 on a single, high end 2 in 2 out interface before there is much of a jump in quality (Prism, Benchmark etc) and even then I doubt you could hear it on bog standard cans and speakers and in a bog awful room (they ALL are unless you do something about them!)
So, at this sort of Soundcraft, A&H, Focusrite, Presonus et al price point, there is nothing in it. You will not have noise problems unless your good lady is 1/2 mtr off an Sm7B and whispering OR you cock up the gain staging in some way.

There is another way to future proof, a modest AI, 4 mics say but with ADAT expansion and if you want close to THE best quality and certainly THE best support in the industry, look at RME.

Quite honestly I would try the 2i2/DBX as the record path and the cheap mixer (to cans or speaker) to start with. K.I.S.Sir? Just thought, if YOU monitor on headphones, at least whilst tracking, you don't need the interlock gizmo for a speaker.

BTW, I love my gadgets and boxes (used to drive musician son MAD!) Two come to mind. In the booth an LED box, green for start, red for shurrup. Also in the booth, a "cough key". Could save ears, a fortune in the swear box, even the marrige? But, get the basics cooking first.

Dave.
 
Ahh Dave but you see I am like you........If a jobs worth doing its worth over doing.

You forgot the remote control panel for inside the booth were she can do the whole lot herself on the computer not forgetting to put my dinner on and wash the dishes for when I get home from the pub or fishing.

Dunno I am all mixed up now so need to think what to do.

For future what would be best a Soundcraft Signature MTK 12 or a Scarlett 18i18/20?
 
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Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK |

From the above I would think that mixer is every bit as good as the F'rites for sound quality but then you really need to be dropping that $800 on a single, high end 2 in 2 out interface before there is much of a jump in quality (Prism, Benchmark etc) and even then I doubt you could hear it on bog standard cans and speakers and in a bog awful room (they ALL are unless you do something about them!)
So, at this sort of Soundcraft, A&H, Focusrite, Presonus et al price point, there is nothing in it. You will not have noise problems unless your good lady is 1/2 mtr off an Sm7B and whispering OR you cock up the gain staging in some way.

There is another way to future proof, a modest AI, 4 mics say but with ADAT expansion and if you want close to THE best quality and certainly THE best support in the industry, look at RME.

Quite honestly I would try the 2i2/DBX as the record path and the cheap mixer (to cans or speaker) to start with. K.I.S.Sir? Just thought, if YOU monitor on headphones, at least whilst tracking, you don't need the interlock gizmo for a speaker.

BTW, I love my gadgets and boxes (used to drive musician son MAD!) Two come to mind. In the booth an LED box, green for start, red for shurrup. Also in the booth, a "cough key". Could save ears, a fortune in the swear box, even the marrige? But, get the basics cooking first.

Dave.

oooh a "cough key" I never thought of that-Me likey:D
 
Ahh Dave but you see I am like you........If a jobs worth doing its worth over doing.

You forgot the remote control panel for inside the booth were she can do the whole lot herself on the computer not forgetting to put my dinner on and wash the dishes for when I get home from the pub or fishing.

Dunno I am all mixed up now so need to think what to do.

For future what would be best a Soundcraft Signature MTK 12 or a Scarlett 18i18/20?

The two are not comparable EXCEPT that sound quality will be virtually the same. A Range Rover and a big Jag are both bloody nice cars but have different uses.
If you want the hands on controls of a mixer, do that, if you want to do it "all in the box" go 18i18 and a good DAW. Download the manual for that mixer and see how it works. Do you need all that?

Yes, you want to do a good job but trust me/us. The 2i2 WILL deliver very good quality.

Dave.
 
but I am unsure if all mic inputs would be heard through headphones?

There's no correlation between the number of inputs/outputs on a mixer/interface, and the headphone output.

The headphone output is (99/100) a mirror of the main outputs.
It's there to let you hear everything that's plugged in and armed, or set to direct monitor, or playing back from your computer.

There's also no direct correlation between the number of inputs and the number of outputs.
Input one isn't hard routed to output one, for example.
You could have an interface with 20 inputs and 2 outputs, for example. You'd be able to listen to all 20 inputs live, if you wanted.
 
Cheers Dave thanks for your help. I have lots of ideas for future projects spinning in my head hence the many questions.
 
"There's no correlation between the number of inputs/outputs on a mixer/interface, and the headphone output.

The headphone output is (99/100) a mirror of the main outputs.
It's there to let you hear everything that's plugged in and armed, or set to direct monitor, or playing back from your computer.

There's also no direct correlation between the number of inputs and the number of outputs.
Input one isn't hard routed to output one, for example.
You could have an interface with 20 inputs and 2 outputs, for example. You'd be able to listen to all 20 inputs live, if you wanted."

Yes thanks I just wasnt sure.
 
Until you get the hang of it signal flow can get you cross eyed. Bit of patience and you'll do great.
 
Cheers Dave thanks for your help. I have lots of ideas for future projects spinning in my head hence the many questions.

I cannot recall now (or be ***'ed to look!) what gear you actually have now but. IMHO you are getting dangerously close to what I call "Newbie's Block" This manifests itself as the inablity to get started with a basic system and flailing about for a "perfect solution".

I am pretty sure you have..Mic (for long suffering) DBX strip and 2i2 AI? So, get that lot setup and have a go! You will only find out the wrinkles of what is needed for a smooth workflow by DOING it.

This experience will soon tell your better half and yourself what changes/additions you need to make. E.g. Is she happy to sit with cans on and DO they compromise her delivery? BTW, a couple of pointers re peeps and VOs?

Do not give them a paper script. Write or print things out on stout cards and if possible get them to use one per take. If you haven't finished the booth quite yet, the desk surface should not be hard. Often made of perforated steel but there are various forms of perforated hardboard* you can buy then cover with a thin, 6mm, foam.

*British name for a 1/8th" 3mm compressed wood product.

Dave.
 
Dave I am English although from the midlands so can hardly speak it:) But I no longer live there and I know what hardboard is.

What started off as a plan has as time progressed splintered into different directions and because we fell into this with no experience and by accident then everyday is a 100% learning day.

She stands when talking into the mic, she never sits and I wouldn't like to spoil her.;)

The perfect solution always costs more than you imagined or intended to spend which makes the whole decision even more complicated.
 
Dave I am English although from the midlands so can hardly speak it:) But I no longer live there and I know what hardboard is.

What started off as a plan has as time progressed splintered into different directions and because we fell into this with no experience and by accident then everyday is a 100% learning day.

She stands when talking into the mic, she never sits and I wouldn't like to spoil her.;)

The perfect solution always costs more than you imagined or intended to spend which makes the whole decision even more complicated.

Well, whilst not for one moment suggestion you strive for anything LESS than perfection, there are realities involved. For instance, I don't know if you can receive any BBC radio but R3/R4 will give you possibly THE best speech quality broadcast anywhere on the planet but even then it is variable. (and if you can get Classic FM you will hear that everybody has a hairy chest, even the gals!).

So, she is stood up? Best way for singists of course. One trick that helps clarity, suspend the mic just above her eye level. This causes the speaker to "open their throat" and aids diction. The downside might be a bit too much room effect but there is MUCH to be done when you have all the kit in place. The usual advice with dynamics is to get very close, almost kissing the grill but this accentuates the low frequencies (proximity effect) though maybe not with a female voice so much? (keep her OFF the Capstan Full Strength!) .

Aside from sound quality, and I doubt you will have much trouble there, the most important part of speech work is consistency and the most important part of that is sound level. You can use software meters of course but often you need to balance different takes (maybe days apart) by listening to them.

Since you freely admit to being VERY green I am sure some very basic advice will be recieved in the spirit given? Backup: As soon as you have a few minutes "in the can" warts and all, save it. I tend to also "export as .wav" to a desktop folder then periodically dump that to a USB stick. NOT that I do much recording these days. You can of course backup the backups in a Cloud as well.

Dave.
 
Seems like a lot of over thinking here. Your OP was simple. I say yes, get a mixer. It does what you want, mixes or controls multiple sources on their path to the computer. Even if your current path doesn't demand it, its convenient, flexible. Will let you have multiple mics set up for different voices without having to change mics. Why not? I record through a mixer for just this reason and it sounds fine.
 
Seems like a lot of over thinking here. Your OP was simple. I say yes, get a mixer. It does what you want, mixes or controls multiple sources on their path to the computer. Even if your current path doesn't demand it, its convenient, flexible. Will let you have multiple mics set up for different voices without having to change mics. Why not? I record through a mixer for just this reason and it sounds fine.

WTGR that ^ seems like a LACK of thinking. The point of posting on a forum is surely to get advice from a variety of sources and from people with different setups and ideas? There is no "One Stop Shop" method to sound recording.

Then, in Orson's original post we did not get a full description of his intended MO. The very next post had to ask for clarification. This is usually the way with a new post and problems. We have to tease out information to get a full picture of what the person want to do exactly. NOT the fault of the OP! That is why there is a "noob" section.

the statement "I record through a mixer and it sounds fine"..is a subjective judgement, as pointed out in the thread, there are Gen1 mixers around that use 16 bit converters and most generate low level artifacts. Ok for punk down at the Mucky Duck with an ambient noise level of 75dBA but B awful for voice overs!

Dave.
 
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