Advice on audio interfaces/mixers

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Re-tox_stl

Re-tox_stl

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Howdy everyone! I am fairly new to recording and am currently in the market for some way to connect instruments to my MacBook (audio interface/mixer/sound card etc.). I have been doing some heavy duty research and have found one combination that will hopefully suit my needs. A Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 Usb audio interface and a Behringer EURORACK UB1202 Mixer. Now of course i would like something much nicer, but i happen to be on a very tight budget and need something cheap and reliable. So would these 2 pieces of equipment give me fairly quality recording or should i keep looking?

Much love, Drew
 
Hey drew, welcome to HR! The mixer and interface will work together, if you have yet to get a mic, Id go with the st59. has yet to let me down. the mxl 990s. they are WAY cheap and usually comes with 2 mics. sometimes an audio buddy as well but it's usually A p.o.s. good luck and again. welcome to the fourm!
 
Just so long as you realize you'll only have two inputs into the computer and so only be able to record two tracks into your DAW at a time.

Some people don't realize this when they're first starting out.
 
If you can live with 2 tracks at a time, you can do it ridiculously cheap. A $100 yamaha usb mixer served me well for a few years, and it worked great as a standalone mixer too.
 
on the cheap a behringer mixer would be ok. but IMO i don't think that the UCA222 is any good. it comes with nothing besides behringer's shitty software that you have too download from their site. not too diss behringer, i own several pieces of their equipment. the mixer i own is the behringer xenyx1002b, so far so good. IMO behringer makes well working products but cheap parts, meaning if your not careful they can break easily.for my interface i use a phonic firefly 202, i paid $80 for it new on musicians friend. it came with cubase le4, and with my mixer it all works just fine. and in addition too the interface you get cubase, unlike any of the behringer products. well there is my two cents. let me know if you got any more questions.
 
A ton of interfaces come with cubase, I'm kinda suprised the behry stuff doesnt.. I've had 3 interfaces in the last 5-ish years, they ALL came with cubase le. I still love usb mixers for a 2-track solution, you can keep all your stuff plugged in and just mix the 2 you want to main mix L/R and record em. No swapping cables every time you switch instruments/mics. And if you need a standalone little mixer for a gig or something, you have one.
 
how will i only be able to have 2 tracks? The mixer has i think 12 inputs, 4 of witch have pre amps and phantom power
 
yeah, you can plug 12 inputs to your mixer, but you have only two outputs;)
so, if you are recording a live band with your mixer you can record only two tracks: right and left channel.
also, your soundcard has only 2 inputs.

however, for example allen & heath r16 mixer has built-in sound card, that allows you to record every track separately
 
Yeah, on USB mixers, typically only the main mix goes to the usb. Firewire interfaces always send all the individual tracks. There are a few exceptions, but that's generally the rule. USB will start causing a lot of problems when you stream a lot of channels. Even tho the bandwidth is technically capable in theory, usb uses a lot of cpu so you'll be running less tracks, less plugins, etc.. USB is fine for 2 channels, but if you need more channels, go firewire,
 
ok i think i get what your saying. So if right now i only plan on doing vocals and guitar, one track at a time (Im not worrying about recording drums at the moment) this setup will work?
 
Yes.
It'll be unnecessarily complex/expensive for just recording vocals and guitar, but it will work for it.
 
The Cancers said:
Yes.
It'll be unnecessarily complex/expensive for just recording vocals and guitar, but it will work for it.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? That'll be the cheapest easiest way :confused:

And yeah, you can even do a guitar and vox track at the same time, pan one hard left and the other hard right, then set up 2 mono tracks in your DAW with L/R as the inputs.
 
$400 for two inputs?
There are cheaper easier ways.
And that mixer isn't ever gonna be expandable, so if he ever wants to record more than two tracks at once, he's gonna end up needing to buy a more expensive interface. Why waste money on features he's not gonna need?
 
its not $400. The mixer and interface together is only like $110, thats why Im going with this method. But i can cover the drums with midi (Im a percussionist by trade), so thats why recording drums isn't a need right now.
 
$400! You must be talking about the mbox which I think is overpriced too.. I paid $100 for my Yamaha mw10 new off ebay, which is basically the same mixer as what OP is considering. There's a ton of 2channel stuff in the <$150 range.
 
i have been using behringer xenyx 502 with my computer for two years and it serves me well. I bought it at $76.
 
ok. So lets say that i want to be able to get more than 2 tracks at a time, could i just use the behringer mixer and get a firewire interface?
 
Sorry, I was remembering a different thread, with a more expensive mixer (a yamaha usb thing).
Yeah, that's not particularly expensive or complicated, though the mixer is still unnecessary with the cheap price of, for example, a lexicon alpha, lambda or omega.

And if you end up buying a firewire interface, it'll have preamps that are as good as, if not better than, the ones on that behringer mixer.
And since you'll be recording separate tracks into your DAW, you'll be using it as a mixer.

Basically, you don't really need a mixer.
That's what I'm getting at here.
 
ooh ok, i got ya. is there any way to get more than 2 channels with a mixer though (im only asking because it seems mixers tend to run a little cheaper than most audio interfaces)
 
You can't add a 2nd interface later. You could get a firewire interface, then run the mixer outputs to 2 of the channels, that's it. The mixer wouldn't be conneted via usb. AFAIK, you can have 2 audio interfaces ONLY if they have the same driver, and if you're using asio4all. 2 firestudios, no prob. A firestudio and a usb mixer isn't gonna happen.

Edit: Also - If I knew I was gonna want an additional 8 channels, I'd get an interface that had lightpipe inputs or something, plug a 2nd interface into that, and present it to the computer as a single 16-channel interface. Just cuz you CAN have 2 interfaces on your PC doesn't mean it's a good idea. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea either, IDK. Just something to research before plunking down a buncha $$.. I would think it'd be simpler on the computer side to have ONE interface coming in.
 
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