Connection, software, mixer, computer questions...

[Vandy12]

1. Do you need a separate stand alone mixer if you have a mixer in the computer as part of the music software?
2. When you buy a mixer how do you connect it to the computer (USB, Firewire, serial?? some connections better than others??) and do most mixers come with software so you can either use the mixer manually and/or manipulate the mixer functions with the picture (virtual) mixer on computer screen?
3. How do you match the computer sound card with your software and mixer? Do you need special sound card specifically for studio muli-track recording or will any standard card be OK?
4. I saw a SoundBlaster card that comes with a separate piece that loads into tower slot on computer. It allows you to input a 3/4 inch microphone jack along with various other connections. Will this give you a better quality recording on your computer than a tiny 1/2 standard sound card microphone connection?
5. If you were just making a simple 4 or 8 track digital studio and wanted an all inclusive workstation--which would be a good one to start with for someone like me who is just getting starting learning the basics?

Thanks,

Vandy12

Vandy12@aol.com

 

[AlChuck]

1. Do you need a separate stand alone mixer if you have a mixer in the computer as part of the music software?

Only if you need to collect a bunch of signals together and control their routing before they go into the soundcard or after they come out. Example: I have two soundcards, so I use a mixer to combine the outputs of both so that I can hear them from my monitors.

Also, mixers are the most cost-effective way to be able to deploy a bunch of microphones. Mixers usually have a bunch of microphone preamps and also usually provide phantom power to condensor mics. If you were recording a session with six or eight mics, you would otherwise need seperate mic preamps.

2. When you buy a mixer how do you connect it to the computer (USB, Firewire, serial?? some connections better than others??)

None of the above. You connect its analog outs to the inputs of an audio interface. (Or, if it's a digital mixer, you use whatever digital audio port is available to you on both the mixer side and the audio interface side -- ADAT, AES-EBU, S/PDIF.) An external audio interface would use USB or Firewire -- but never a serial port, not enough bandwidth. Then there are the PCI interfaces that are on a card that fits in a standard PCI slot in your computer.

and do most mixers come with software so you can either use the mixer manually and/or manipulate the mixer functions with the picture (virtual) mixer on computer screen?

No, not usually. I suppose some digital mixers might have a software app that comes with them. It's audio interfaces that would more commonly be bundled with recording software.

There are also MIDI control surfaces that are used to manipulate software mixing by using MIDI commands. Perhaps you are confusing these with actual audio mixers. There are also some hybrid audio interfaces that include a small on-board mixing console, preamps, etc., much like the old PortaStudios.

3. How do you match the computer sound card with your software and mixer? Do you need special sound card specifically for studio muli-track recording or will any standard card be OK?

You need a special soundcard if you want to do real multitrack recording, with a number of tracks recorded silultaneously -- like my example earlier of running six or eight mics and getting the signal from each mic onto its own track in the multitrack recording application. Standard soundcards are stereo -- you can use the right side input for one track and the left side input for another, but that's all you can get at one pass. Furthermore, cheap standard soundcards usually do not have the best specs, though they are pretty much always going to be superior to a cassette recorder.

4. I saw a SoundBlaster card that comes with a separate piece that loads into tower slot on computer. It allows you to input a 3/4 inch microphone jack along with various other connections. Will this give you a better quality recording on your computer than a tiny 1/2 standard sound card microphone connection?

I never heard of a 3/4" mic jack. It probably has a 1/4" input. like a standard guitar cable. With a good mic, this would give you a better mic signal than the little piece-of-junk mics that come with a computer or cheap soundcard, but the preamp on this SB box is not very good, You'd do better without the "platinum" I/O module and just use a good preamp and mic into the regular Line In with the acppropriate cabling (which is a 1/8" minijack, not a 1/2", another audio cablke size I have never seen.)

5. If you were just making a simple 4 or 8 track digital studio and wanted an all inclusive workstation--which would be a good one to start with for someone like me who is just getting starting learning the basics?

Do you mean, rather than a computer/soundcard/mixer setup?