Can't figure out how to make it work

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haseeb7181

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i have a behringer Mixer a Xenyx 802 and i am trying to use that in conjuction with my M-Audio Fast Track Usb. Now i have recorded music before but it was with a phantom power supply box and i inputted directly into the mictrophone jack on the computer. i know that the quality is lost there so i went ahead and bought the digital audio interface. Now i dont know how to get it hooked up. Im running Windows Vista 32 Bit SP1

I bought the items from guitar center and the associate told me that in order to make everything work, i would have to first install the fast track usb drivers on my computer. Done. But to connect the mic from the mixer, he showed me this monster cable that basically connects from the main output feeds on the mixer to the guitar input on the fast track. Thats where im getting lost. Any ideas?

Link to the cable i bought:
Monster StudioLink Insert Cable

Links to both items:
Mixer

Digital Audio Interface
 
That cable is all wrong no matter how you're trying to connect it.. You're running the 2 TS ends of the insert cable into your mixer, and the TRS and into your interface? That means you're running a stereo signal into your interface.. You need 2 TRS cables to maintain a balanced connection, or 2 TS cables. If the cable run is short there's nothing wrong with using unbalanced. Just 2 little guitar cables that you probably have lying around anyway. TRS can be a stereo signal, OR a balanced mono signal. That GC guy is an idiot, he suckered you for an extra $40...

That being said, why don't you just connect your mics to the interface instead of putting that mixer in the middle? The M-audio pre's are gonna be quieter than that behry ones, and the xenyx has no fx right? Even if it did, plugin fx are gonna be WAY better than any budget mixer fx... I can't see what you're getting out of that mixer...
 
There are no Preamps installed on the Mic channel of the fast track USB.
I would completley recommend Pluging your mic into your mixer..........Behringer doesn't get the credit they deserve..........yea its not top of the line Mackie stuff.........but if you are new to recording Behringer is the way to go............I dont know about you guys........... but i dont have hundreds of dollars just laying around that i can spend on expensive top of the line mixers.

So are you not getting a signal to your fast track? If not..........im sure you know this but your mixer should have an alt 3/4 bus........or something of that nature that will route your signal to the master output. From the master output your signal is routed through your cable to the input of the Fast track usb. If im not mistaken your Fast Track has 3 dials or volume knobs........1 for the XLR insert or mic input which is on the far left of the fast track and 1 for the "mix" which is to the right of the XLR or mic input. The 3rd knob is for output........ which only increases the volume on the overall "mix".

Not sure how you are going to set this up........but if you hook up via an XLR cable into the Mic insert...........turn the XLR insert Dial clockwise halfway or whatever you feel neccassary...........after you have turned your XLR dial clockwise..........turn you "mix" dial counter clockwise......as you feel nessasary........wow my spelling sucks!!!! lol.

If you hook a TRS cable or TS or whatever you are going to use into the Line input............turn your XLR dial completley counter clock wise........Then turn you MIX dial clockwise until you can hear the signal.

Note: make sure your ouput knob.......the one on the far right is turned up or you wont hear anything.

Let me know if this works out for ya.


Do you have a myspace page? I would love to hear the quality or your recordings/ add you as a friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used a Fast Track/ M-Audio producer usb mic combo for 2 years or so.

Also all of the songs i have recorded that are on my myspace page have been recorded with that setup as well.

Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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keithersgsx2003 said:
There are no Preamps installed on the Mic channel of the fast track USB.
I would completley recommend Pluging your mic into your mixer..........Behringer doesn't get the credit they deserve..........yea its not top of the line Mackie stuff.........but if you are new to recording Behringer is the way to go............I dont know about you guys........... but i dont have hundreds of dollars just laying around that i can spend on expensive top of the line mixers.
Click to expand...

What?? That's dead wrong, of course there's a preamp on the FastTrack! The pic you posted, what do you think you plug the mic into, that's EXACTLY what it is! There wouldn't be an XLR mic jack if there was no pre behind it.. There's 1-4 mic pre's depending on which FastTrack he has. And I'm not knocking Behry, I got tons of it myself, I'm not rich either.. But the M-audio pre's are NO DOUBT better than behry's. I want to know why the you think he ought to have a mixer in the middle of the chain, when all it can do is add more noise to the equation.

The ONLY setup that includes that mixer should be if the OP has the FastTrack Ultra USB 2.0 - there's 4 mic pre's and 2 line-in's. He could achieve 6-track recording with the mixer on the 2 line-in's. Otherwise the other 2 FastTrack models have a mic pre for each channel, and you should definitely use them.
 
ok dude.....you totally missed the point. Now as far as i no there is ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE "PREAMPS" installed in the Fast Track usb.............I would know this because this is what i USED TO USE.

Dont get me wrong though.........if it does have preamps they are not advertised. He is talking about the Fast Track usb. Not the Fast Track Pro.....Or the Fast Track Ultra...........or The Fast Track ultra 8 R.........THOSE HAVE VERY GOOD "PREAMPS"......FOR THE PRICE.

Also the OP has already bought the Behringer Xenyx 802 WHICH ABSOLUTLEY HAS EFFECTS. If he already has this system "why would he not use it?????????????????????????

And i was most certainly not dogging on you about anything...........if it came out that way I sincerly apologize.

And guess what!!!!!!!!! Now that the op has a mixer.................when the time comes to upgrading his studio he can now buy outboard gear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Any device that has an xlr jack made to plug in a mic has a preamp. Some pre's are noisy and hissy, some are clean. M-audio has fantastic pre's, nothing in the price range can touch em. Behry pre's are notoriously hissy. I've used both, they're worlds apart in SQ.

Also, the 802 does not have fx, it has one fx send and return. Same thing as an fx loop on a guitar amp. Nothing onboard, and the best he could do is ONE outboard fx unit shared by all channels with one common return. So there's nothing to be gained there until/unless he does have some outboard fx. Even then he'd be better off using plugins. Even free plugins are vastly superior to hardware, until you start getting up into the real high end rack stuff.

peace,
 
I got it working but I got a couple questions. Let's say I want to upgrade. With a budget of let's say 400. What mixer would you suggest? My goal is to have input coming through USB to my computer. I'm using a condenser microphone so phantom power is a must. Any ideas on stuff that I could purchase that would be of some help
 
I googled 'USB mixer' and found:

Yamaha MW10C
Alesis Multimix
A&H ZED14
Mackie ProFX12
Behringer XENYX1832FX

all in the $200-400 range. With a mixer, the USB sends the mix, not the individual channels, so you'll basically have a 2 channel interface no matter how many inputs the mixer has.
 
I checked out the mixers you posted and i see a couple im interested in preferably the Behringer. Now i don't see how i would hook it up through usb. Can you please clarify? Thanks
 
I record rap/ hip hop music and have used Acid Pro 6 and one of my friends uses Cool Edit and says its a lot better so im about to get into using that. Now I already have the condenser microphone and everything listed in the first post but i want advice on what i should use. Lets say the budget is $400. What way should i go so that i can get the most out of my microphone and to have it recording through USB input. i heard from a lot of musicians that recording through usb is a lot better than recording through the microphone jack on a laptop. I've heard from guitar center to buy a Mixer with a preamp built in and phantom power and connect it through the fast track usb to get the sound coming in. Now does that sound right or is there other ways? I want to be able to adjust the sound of the microphone while its coming in like with a mixer.
 
per http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/1832FX.aspx

"This XENYX mixer comes with a USB/Audio Interface for direct plug & play connectivity to your Windows or Mac computer. Get your audio to and from any DAW and make your XENYX mixer the perfect globetrotter in both analog and digital worlds."

And there's a little icon with this external piece of hardware, it looks like it takes 4 analog inputs and has a usb cord. Looks like this little interface device would work with any mixer, altho I'd expect this to be about the worst A/D converter you could get, probably about as good as the mic input on your laptop, which are notoriously terrible.

I think all the other mixers listed have a usb port on the back of the mixer. The behringer would be my last pick in that list, I'd go for the yamaha if I was on a tight budget (~$150 new/shipped on ebay), and the A&H ($400) if $$ wasn't that big an issue. The A&H has the best pre's in the list, then (imho) Yamaha, Mackie, Alesis, and Behringer at the bottom. I've only ever owned yamaha (great!) and mackie (meh..), so take it fwiw..

A USB mixer would be better than your FastTrack, because you'd have 2 channels, whereas the FastTrack is only 1 channel.
 
So basically if i buy a usb mixer im good to go? I will just need to hook my microphone up and use a usb cable?
 
Thanks for the advice and insight sir. Greatly appreciated. I'm looking into the A&H but its $400 and the Yamaha is $199 on ebay
 
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