Cords, Interfaces and Compatibility?

[cincy_kid]

How can I find out which cords or interfaces I will need when setting up my first PC home recording device? Here is what I plan on getting:

-Maya 44 MKII 24/96 sound card (or another cheap card for under $150)
-Alto S-6 Mixer (or another cheap mixer under $100)
-Mics (SM57 and most likely cheap CAD condenser mic)
-I dont need mic-preamp since I have mixer which has built in ones and/or phantom power I think..?

So, if I run my mics and what not thru the mixer, and then go from the mixer to the sound card, how can I make sure that the cord that goes from the mixer to the sound card will fit in my sound card and vice versa? I mean I think the sound cards have balanced 1/4" inputs, so will the mixer out be 1/4" or 1/8" or even some other connection I dont know about?

Sorry I am a big noob on this stuff, and figured I better find this stuff out before I go spending money on the harware and it not working together.

Thanks for any advice

 

[manning1]

firstly you have a very good start home daw.
probably better quality than a lot of past hit records were done on.
to put things in perspective some of the old ampex and other multitracks yrs ago that did hits had a noise floor of about -55db.
the altos mixer i believe is -100 db i think and the sound card is as well.
in fact there is probably more noise in any mic.
so dont worry. a good engineer with experience would be able to do pretty decent songs with what your anticipating. as long as that maya works with your pc ok..
on the hookup chords, no big deal. the alto prolly has quarter inch outs,
and i dont know about the maya but if it has quarter inch in. then you need a chord or two with quarter inch males on each end. if the maya has eigth inch. then quarter inch to eigth. i would email altos and maya and ask them and just get the correct chord from a pro audio supplier. ive used fostex and tascam chords in the past and found them good. but there are many suppliers. radio shack have connectors that chnge rca to qter or rca to eigth or xlr to qrter or whatever.

 

[manning1]

by the way which multitrack software are you going to use ?
you will need that. i use magix music studio and poertracks.
but you might want to try ntrack as well. great package.

 

[cincy_kid]

Hey manning ~

You following me?!

Jus kidding, umm, I have a wide selection of software.

I have Sound Forge 6.0 cd with Acid 3 and Acid 4, Cool Edit Pro, Vegas, and a lot more utilities. I also have adobe Audition. Was thinking acid 4 would be my program, but have no experience with any except maybe 2 hours i played with acid 4.

 

[manning1]

nope - just like helping folks. ive helped tons of friends and know the pain they went through getting a rig set up. i'll stop responding with suggestions
if you wish. i'm off to the casino now with my wonderfull wife.
wish me luck ! if i win big i can buy some of those nice cad mics
and maybe a new fancy mixing console.
take a listen to a rough ditty of mine sometime
soundclick.com/bmanning called aint no lyin fool its all about how i like helping folks. also listen to limeyrap if you want a laugh !