Allen and Heath mixing console integration into my present set-up

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nickolej
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Nickolej

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Hello folks,

I’m new to these boards and I apologize if I come off a bit daft, but I am a novice when it comes to recording set-ups. Any clarification you could provide will hopefully aid me in my purchase and make my life a tad bit easier.

Presently I am using this set-up to record and mix my tracks:

Instrument and/or mic > Universal Audio LA - 610 > Apogee Duet > imac running Logic 8

Now this set-up is good, I get a lot of colour with my mic pre and seem to get pretty high recording quality. I do desire more of a hands on approach and the ability to record many tracks simultaneously. Recently I have been reading a lot about the Allen and Heath ZED mixing consoles and have been hearing many positive things, and at prices that fit my ever dwindling budget. The main question I can’t seem to find an answer has to do with Logic recognizing each channel as a separate track ie. If I have 4 to 6 pre’s in use on the mixing console will logic also recognize these as four/six individual tracks or will it simply recognize all the instruments as one mono or stereo output? I would love to maintain post control over my recordings for future mixes.

Perhaps the answer is so simple that I have yet to stumble upon something viable online, but alas my searches have turned up nothing concrete.

If these mixers do work in tandem with logic as suggested, could my present set-up be more beneficial or a hinderance?

These are the two mixers I’ve had in mind:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZED22FX/

and

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZED24/

In your professional opinion which would be a better mixer and would either of them be able to fulfill my recording wants?

Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Wade. That is bizarre, if it supported 2.0 usb or firewire would it have more of an output capability? Do you know of any ADAT or mixers that do support many outputs in that price range?
 
I'm afraid you might need to ask someone who knows a little more than I do. I'm in a similar position as you right now, and am also trying to find a way to record more than two channels at the same time.

Also just for clarification the two channel limitation is only when you use the usb. I assume if you have an audio interface with lots of inputs you could use those instead without a problem. Though I can't say for certain.
 
Generally you need the same number of inputs and outputs on your interface as on your mixer. This is why most people on a budget buy an interface with the most inputs and best pre-amps that they can afford. If you don't like mixing on your computer a control surface is an option.

USB - up to about 4 I/O
USB2 - up to about 8 I/O
Firewire - up to about 16 I/O
PCI - depends on manufacturer Pro Tools supports up to 96 simultaneous tracks.

Pro Tools allows you to input 8 channels of ADAT Optical audio depending on your interface. Not sure if there is other hardware or software that complies.
 
Hmm...thanks for the Yamaha suggestion. I got to looking at other Yamaha products and I came across the Steinberg 816csx and although it's not a mixer and just an audio interface. It has on board reverb and compression and supports 8 tracks in unison. I think this might be an alternative, what do you guys think?
 
For the money, the Motu 8Pre is going to be your best bet. Very nice preamps for the price, it has adat support or straight in using firewire.
 
Hey guys thanks for the quick suggestions, I think I need to evaluate my current set-up. I'll let you know my results.
 
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