Adding a mixer to the equipment

O

Orson

Well-known member
Hope this is the correct section for this appologise if not.

Vocal booth..........microphone into a DBX 286Dser then into Scarlett2i2............then out of booth to PC.

Other equipment now added outside booth .....monitors, headphones (for me at pc) and intercom/pa microphone to talk to voice in booth.

I am thinking of adding a good mixer Soundcraft? to this set up so all can be joined together in one system etc.....It doesnt really matter if all equipment except voice microphone is outside booth.....maybe the better way?.

Question ...if the voice mic - DBX then go through the mixer before the Scarlett 2i2 will I lose sound quality because I am now going through the mixer instead of straight into the Scarlett?

I know I can get a mixer with an interface but the interface may not be as good as the Scarlett's?

:)
 
Hi there,
Are you both the performer and engineer?
Could you describe and/or photograph the booth? There are a lot of misconceptions about sound treatment/proofing etc. Might be good to get a look at that.

What do you want to achieve by adding a mixer? Is this to have some sort of hand-on control at the microphone location?

Your question about losing quality; Every analog stage will do something to the signal. Whether that's perceived as something good or something bad...Just depends, I suppose.
There's no solid reason you can't chain devices like that but tell us a little more about your setup and requirements and we'll see what we can advise! :)
 
What is/are the use case(s) you are trying to address here?

I’d probably start just with a headphone amp in the booth and move the interface out.

If I was trying to control everything by myself and had separate workspaces I’d probably start saving for something that let me run the interface and DAW remotely from a tablet.
 
Thanks.

No I am/will be the engineer kind of with limited experience.

My aim is just to tie everything together so with the touch of a control I can turn on/off adjust at my pc instead of going inside the booth and kicking the wife to speak up louder or to stop mumbling etc.

I have purchased a Monacor desktop mic so I can shout at her from my pc and the idea was to put everything into the mixer but with mixers cost $50 to $5000 it makes me think .....do I lose sound quality with what I can afford approx 200.00?

Also it allows me to add more gear at a later stage etc.

I was looking at the Soundcraft epm 6 which appears to have good things said about it.

Anyway whatever happens I do not want to lose the use of the DBX.
 
A mixer can be convenient and, in some cases, essential, but I'm not sure it'd be all that useful in your setup.

If you set up microphone and pair of headphones in the booth, with cable runs to the PC setup, and keep the rest of the gear at the PC,
you have the gain control for headphones, her mic, and your mic at your finger tips.

Having a mixer does let you plug in more gear at a later stage, but with a caveat.
If the appeal is using it as a 'patchbay' to mute/fade between different sources or processors then that could be useful,
but remember no matter how many channels the desk has, the input to the computer is limited to stereo.
 
Steenamaroo said:
A mixer can be convenient and, in some cases, essential, but I'm not sure it'd be all that useful in your setup.

If you set up microphone and pair of headphones in the booth, with cable runs to the PC setup, and keep the rest of the gear at the PC,
you have the gain control for headphones, her mic, and your mic at your finger tips.

Having a mixer does let you plug in more gear at a later stage, but with a caveat.
If the appeal is using it as a 'patchbay' to mute/fade between different sources or processors then that could be useful,
but remember no matter how many channels the desk has, the input to the computer is limited to stereo.
Click to expand...

But in this way how does she hear her own recording/playback and me barking at her through the desk mic? To be able to hear me and her own line they must be joined somewhere ... ie the mixer or other?
 
With her headphones, feeding from the Scarlet output, she'll be able to hear whatever you pipe out.
The mix/backing, her voice, your voice.

You can turn the direct monitor knob on the interface so both microphones are heard directly, or you can just make sure both microphones have an armed track in the DAW.
Either works; The latter means you can feed her her own voice with reverb or whatever, if you want.

Of course if you both want to use headphones at the same time you'll need a small headphone amp or a passive splitter would do on the cheap.
A mixer with dual headphone outs would get around that issue, but it's heck of a piece of gear to have if that's all it's doing. ;)
 
I'm lost but do you mean I have the scarlett outside with me at the pc and plug my desktop mic into the second mic/instrument input on the scarlett? I never thought you could put 2 mics in the scarlett2i2.........I thought it was 1 mic and 1 instrument as they only give you 1 headset output.
 
Orson said:
I'm lost but do you mean I have the scarlett outside with me at the pc and plug my desktop mic into the second mic/instrument input on the scarlett? I never thought you could put 2 mics in the scarlett2i2.........I thought it was 1 mic and 1 instrument as they only give you 1 headset output.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I mean ^.
Steenamaroo said:
If you set up microphone and pair of headphones in the booth, with cable runs to the PC setup, and keep the rest of the gear at the PC,
you have the gain control for headphones, her mic, and your mic at your finger tips.
Click to expand...


The 2i2 has two microphone inputs.
The headphone output plays any/all sound from your recording software, regardless of your I/O.
 
I'll say again, [multi-channel] headphone amp.

For more flexibility, I just look at a beefier interface with more inputs. If it came with 2 headphone outputs, you could skip the headphone amp, but that's always a nice to have in case you want to check other headphones/earbuds during mixing.
 
I'm with Keith- go from the 2i2 outputs to a headphone splitter/amp, one phone in the booth, one out. As stated both inputs can have mic's. Lot's of presenter type mic's have an on/off switch and are pretty inexpensive which is exactly what you want from a talk back mic
 
Gtoboy said:
I'm with Keith- go from the 2i2 outputs to a headphone splitter/amp, one phone in the booth, one out. As stated both inputs can have mic's. Lot's of presenter type mic's have an on/off switch and are pretty inexpensive which is exactly what you want from a talk back mic
Click to expand...

Yes the Monacor desktop mic which I have waiting does have that switch to it.
 
Orson, it is late here and I am knackered but it sounds like you want to setup a mini two room recording setup with talkback?

Can you solder and make VERY simple passive devices? If so the whole thing can be done on a shoestring. Talkback with a super cheap Berry one mic mixer.
Talk more in the morning.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Orson, it is late here and I am knackered but it sounds like you want to setup a mini two room recording setup with talkback?

Can you solder and make VERY simple passive devices? If so the whole thing can be done on a shoestring. Talkback with a super cheap Berry one mic mixer.
Talk more in the morning.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Yes Dave I could solder something together.
 
Hi again Orson, on 2nd cup 'o' Joe so brain is BIT improved!

First, Quality: The DBX>Focusrite route will give excellent quality SO LONG as you set the gain staging twixt the two correctly. The 286 comes out at "pro" levels and thus feeds the line input of the 2i2 but the 2i2 cannot really handle such levels so you might have to operated the strip at less than optimum levels OR put an attenuator in the path. If this turns out to be the case I can work up a simple network for that. (3 resistors in a tin)

Mixer: No you don't really need one (well, not in the main signal path) but the really "pro" way to use the compressor would be to either put it in an channel "insert" or in and out of the mixer via AUX out, Return back) Problem is, you would then be paying for multiple mic pres only one of which you would be using!

My solution idea: Mic from booth to ch strip to 2i2 line in (but see caveat above) to PC. That gives you a "clean" recording path. Now buy a really cheap ass mixer and use that as a talkback device. The headphone out feeds wife's cans in the booth. The two signal paths are entirely separate and cannot crosstalk*

*Well, they might! You might pickup a squeak from the cans but can I suggest an alternative scenario? Many people do not like headphones especailly wearing them for protracted periods in a steamy booth! They can also influence/depress vocal quality. Personally I would rig a tiny, powered computer speaker in the booth and drive that from the C.A. mixer. Snag. If send mic and T/B speaker are on at the same time you will get howl round, acoustic feedback that could land you in the divorce court. The solution is an interlock system and the Push To Talk button on the mic should enable such a system to be made.

Dave.
 
I like that idea Dave the Monacor mic has a flip switch which leaves it fully open one way and open the other way as long as your finger is depressing it. So the speaker in theory is not live until that switch is activated.
 
Another querie going through my head which is future related to this set up I have................Does anybody know if the Soundcraft Signature mixers which have usb interface built in to them........would they have as good interface as the Scarlett's interface?

And if you wanted to expand in the future with additional mics.........would a mixer be not the way to go and be better off having a larger/more mic input Scarlett?
 
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Orson said:
Another querie going through my head which is future related to this set up I have................Does anybody know if the Soundcraft Signature mixers which have usb interface built in to them........would they have as good interface as the Scarlett's interface?

And if you wanted to expand in the future with additional mics.........would a mixer be not the way to go and be better off having a larger/more mic input Scarlett?
Click to expand...
According to the Soundcraft site, the Signature mixers *except* MTK models only have "2-in/2-out USB interface" capability. So, no matter how many inputs you plug into it, you'll get 2 tracks (or one stereo track) in the DAW.

Most home recorders would find that limiting, but you seem to be set on a mixer solution, so sometimes you just have to give something a whirl and see if it delivers what you want.

Now, if you are looking at the MTK models, they would simply replace the Focusrite.

Signature 22 | Soundcraft - Professional Audio Mixers

P.S. Still does not resolve the monitoring issue IMO.
 
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