A few questions getting started.

[RonaldMiller]

Im just starting out and know very little regarding equipment being a drummer so I have a few questions that could help me get started.



1) Are the USB devices any good or is it better to stick with soundcards for recording?

2) What exactly is the difference between 4 and 8 buss mixers. Does a buss refer to how many outputs the mixer can output at one time? Im a little confused on exactly what a buss is

3) Does XLR provide better sound quality or any advantages verses a normal connection and is XLR limited to mics or can they be used with other instruments.

 

[longsoughtfor]

Hi Ronald - It sounds like you are doing the right thing by doing as much research as you can before buying stuff so you know exatcly what you are getting. One question; what are you trying to do?

1. USB devices do not in general provide as good A/D & D/A conversions as some of the PCI card devices. It depends on how much you are willing to spend and what quality conversions you are looking for.

2. In any mixer, a buss is a common pathway for individual channels to be summed together. A simple stereo mixer is considered a 2 buss mixer. More busses are good for grouping similar instruments (drums for example) to a single fader. More is not always better but could be more usefull. I have an 8 buss mixer but rarely if ever use all eight busses.

3. XLR is a type of connnector. I think you are asking about the difference between balanced (3-wire) and un-balanced (2-wire). An XLR connection is usually balanced but not always. A 1/4" connector can be either balanced (TRS) or unbalanced (TS). As you mention, a mic cable with XLR connectors is an example of a balanced cable. A guitar cable is an example of an unbalanced (TS [TIP/Sleeve]) connector. Balanced cables in general are quieter then unbalanced but not all gear accepts bancend signals. You will end up with a collection of both.

Hope this helps.
Kevin.