Analog console vs. Cubase vs. small audio interface

manuel_vdn

manuel_vdn

New member
Quick, simple question. But I want to make sure I'm correct before I'm spending the money.

I can get my heads on a cheap 2nd hand Mitec the joker VarydeskIn. But I want to make sure that I can use it in my setup.
So, can I connect the Mitec the joker VarydeskIn to my Behringer UMC1820 which is connected to my Windows pc where I mostly work with Cubase? In a way that Cubase recognises all the 24+ Mitec inputs, though my audio interface only has 8? (I saw some videos where this seemed possible, but not sure if its possible with these combinations).

Thanks in advance!
 
Not familiar with the Beri interface, but it seems you’d need more than 8 analog inputs to have it all do what you want.

But then again, when would you be using all 24 mixer outs simultaneously?
 
Yeah the max simultaneous input channels to your DAW through the UMC1820 is 18. That’s using the 8 analog inputs, 8 channels of ADAT Lightpipe, and 2 S/PDIF channels. So in between the Mitec and the UMC1820 you will also need a S/PDIF converter and Lightpipe converter, and, again, all that will get you to 18 simultaneous inputs to the DAW.
 
I’m using an analog mixer. But I’m running a 16 in 16 out Analog to Digital converter with no internal preamps.

My desk preamps work well and I’ve never found 16 channels to not be enough. Most times I have too many ;)

Usually the only time I’m using all 16 channels is when I’m doing 16 track tape transfers into the daw.
 
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Thanks all for your insights. It's not that I would need all the 24 inputs all the time. But 8 was very limiting. Since I'm also willing to track bands playing live (and I'd like to use +/-6 mics on drums only).

@sweetbeats answer is very helpfull. Going to look into that. Are there any downsides on connecting with ADAT of S/PDIF or is it exactly the same sound-wise (and information-wise to my Cubase) than the other inputs? Or is it more convenient in any way to have a bigger audio interface so all connections are made via the same kind of inputs?
 
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manuel_vdn said:
Thanks all for your insights. It's not that I would need all the 24 inputs all the time. But 8 was very limiting. Since I'm also willing to track bands playing live (and I'd like to use +/-6 mics on drums only).

@sweetbeats answer is very helpfull. Going to look into that. Are there any downsides on connecting with ADAT of S/PDIF or is it exactly the same sound-wise (and information-wise to my Cubase) than the other inputs? Or is it more convenient in any way to have a bigger audio interface so all connections are made via the same kind of inputs?
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I usually don’t use more than 8 inputs at a time on my interface, but it has Lightpipe as well and it’s nice to have when more inputs are needed. I’m with @RFR that’s usually when I’m doing a bulk transfer of some sort. It’s been awhile but I do remember doing a live tracking session once with a band…4-piece…and we were using a church basement for recording space. There were 3 large separate rooms and a really long hallway. With direct and mic feeds from the guitars, stereo keys, scratch lead and backing vox, all the mics on the drum kit as well as mics I put out in the hall for natural reverb, it was 21 track simultaneous recording. It’s the only way to record a band AFAIC but I’m a bit of a dinosaur. These guys had amazing live energy but they were working with a fella trying to record it one instrument at a time “because of their busy schedules”, and in some cases one mic/track at a time with the drums. 6 months in there were only halfway through the project and what I heard of it had the soul of old carpet mixed with damp concrete dust. I was like “we can get that whole thing done in one night.” The bass player was a good friend of mine and I told him what I wanted to do and asked him to help get me in front of the band. They had it in their heads they way they were doing it was the only way. They were like “you wanna do what…?” They were pensively reluctant but agreed to take the gamble. Anyway I showed up at 6:00 PM and we were packed up by 4:00 AM, 6-song EP tracked including final vocal parts. Only way to go. My point is it sure is nice to have something in the rack that can do 16 or 24 inputs at once.

And no @manuel_vdn i would *not* get hung up on different sources going to different types of inputs. Your analog inputs end up at analog-to-digital converters. If you get another box with 8 mic/line inputs that has Lightpipe output that box handles the analog to digital conversion and it’s all digital from there to the DAW through the UMC1820. Same with the S/PDIF I/O. Be mindful though generally at 24-bit, ADAT Lightpipe can only handle 4 channels at 96kHz sample rate. And you’ll have to look in the manual to verify if the S/PDIF I/O goes up to 96kHz…it likely does. So for sure you have 18 in and 20 out at 24/48, but that drops to at least 14 in and 16 out at 24/96. Me personally I have no problem tracking at 48kHz sample rate. Bit depth between 16 and 24 is much more important than 48 to 96kHz sample rate. Just want you to be aware.

Sure you might notice some slight differences between different inputs, but that’s not because it’s converted to Lightpipe or S/PDIF protocols, but rather the analog signal path and quality of the clock and converters between each device. Sometimes it’s nice to have some variety…some devices might sit a little better with certain sources over others. You get to know this stuff the longer you use your gear. And, depending on what kind of work you do with audio, I generally find it better to have multiple options in the rack than one interface with 24 line inputs and 24 line outputs for instance.
 
If you need more than 8 channels, get a different interface that has the IO you need.

Going out and buying analog to light pipe and analog to spdif converters will probably cost more than just getting the interface you need.
 
Farview said:
If you need more than 8 channels, get a different interface that has the IO you need.

Going out and buying analog to light pipe and analog to spdif converters will probably cost more than just getting the interface you need.
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Yeah, that’s true…if you really like the UMC1820 (and I have to admit it has some nice control room features), then you know what you need to do. But they’re right, you need to evaluate the cost and hassle of multiple devices. You might be able to get a different interface with all the right I/O you want, that does it all at 24/96 and costs the same or less, and uses the same or less rack space…less interfacing cables, etc.
 
It might be cheaper to see if a digital mixer, like a behringer x32 rack pop up second hand. It could be cheaper than an interface and you could just hide it away, and pretend you’ve not gone digital. You could even set it up to manage routing and switching. It would add loads of possibilities to how you use the analogue mixer
 
Wow, thanks everyone for all the advice.
As a newbie I'm learning a lot on this forum, the internet told me so many different things that I couldn't tell wrong from right. And it's getting clearer now if I combine all the things I already knew with what you guys said. Decided to buy the analogue console. And just update my Audio Interface to a bigger one when a good one pops up second hand.

@sweetbeats your story got me interested though, anywhere I can listen to that 6-song EP online?
 
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manuel_vdn said:
Wow, thanks everyone for all the advice.
As a newbie I'm learning a lot on this forum, the internet told me so many different things that I couldn't tell wrong from right. And it's getting clearer now if I combine all the things I already knew with what you guys said. Decided to buy the analogue console. And just update my Audio Interface to a bigger one when a good one pops up second hand.

@sweetbeats your story got me interested though, anywhere I can listen to that 6-song EP online?
Click to expand...
No, ironically the band revealed to me after the session they had already determined they were breaking up, and that the EP was sort of a last exhale of new material they’d written, and they’d committed to releasing it as a sort of farewell. I know they took the stems to a mastering house for post-production, and I believe that was completed, but it was never released, and to this day I’ve never gotten to hear the mastered tracks. So all I have is raw mixes. Here’s one of the songs, and again this is raw so there are level issues, these are the vocal scratch tracks, and all sorts of stuff is sonically fighting for space, but it was a good time and they had great energy:

https://www.torridheatstudios.com/Audio/test 2010_04_07/mix a.wav
 
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