Delta 1010 / Mixwizard Question

[tbrain]

Hi. Michael here. Thanks for such a great forum!

Generally speaking, I've always been just a musician and left the recording process to others. Unfortunately now that I'm developing an interest in it, I find that I know barely enough to be dangerous. But I had the sense to pick up a couple of pieces of recording equipment over the years and I was hoping maybe you folks could help me figure out a way to put them to use as a starter system. Here's the nuts and bolts. My band plays a combination of genres - rock, reggae, funk, folk, blues, etc. Instrumention - 6 and 12 string acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, electric bass, typical drum kit, full percussion (timbales, congas, bongos, gyro and the like), and harmonica. We would like to record our live shows for improvement purposes, and definitely some home studio recording as well. As far as recording equipment goes, what I currently have is as follows:

Allen & Heath Mixwizard 16_2 (older model with really good mic preamps but universal phantom power)
M-Audio Delta 1010 rack unit with PCI card

Now I know there is newer, better equipment out there. But in order to save $ I would like to try and use the items above if at all possible (at least until I determine whether this is something I'm going to stick with or just a passing fancy). The Mixwizard is familiar to me as a live mixer. I am comfortable with it's plusses and minuses and I like the sixteen direct outs, 6 aux and 2 stereo returns. Although I've never used the Delta 1010, I've read enough about it to know it has a very good track record. But are the two compatible without a bunch of headaches? Either way, hints and suggestions are welcome.

As far as a computer and DAW software is concerned, I'm open to suggestions. The Delta 1010 PCI card will need to be installed in a cpu, so I'm willing to go that route. And I know said cpu will need to meet certain requirements based on the Delta 1010's and the DAW's needs. Obviously in a perfect world, I'd like a DAW and pc that could continue to be useful if/when I upgrade the mixer and/or interface, but let's not get to far ahead of ourselves...

Thanks in advance!

 

[PRHunt]

Hi and welcome!

With the A&H, can you configure the direct outs as pre or post fader? I see no reason why you could not use the mixer as your pre-amp, connecting to the line-in's of practically any pro audio interface. You'll quickly determine if it sounds good or not.

If you are looking at the Delta 1010 with the dongle plug, then I am not sure if handles balanced connection on the inputs, and I couldn't get a clear idea from the manual I downloaded. You can get quite respectable multi-channel performance from firewire audio interfaces. Although there is talk of firewire disappearing, I don't think it will happen quickly. Have a look at products by Echo, Focusrite and RME just for starters. Yes, they will cost more than the Delta 1010.

Pretty much any current PC will be up to the task of tracking, but can you ever have too much computing power? A system based around an i5 processor would be fine, i7 even better. RAM is pretty cheap so get 8G or more. If the system is kind of mission critical, I suggest you install a good power supply (such as Seasonic) rather than the generic psu that comes in the case.

For DAW, there is a lot of love for Reaper. If you use Linux or OSX, consider the free open source DAW, Ardour.

Hope this gets the ball rolling.

Paul

 

[tbrain]

Thanks, Paul.

 

[tbrain]

To clarify, I already have the Mixwizard and the Delta 1010 and would like tips on using them together. Not interested in buying a firewire device or other. The Delta 1010 definitely accepts balanced connections on the inputs, if that helps. As for DAW's, I will consider Reaper, as it seems to be a highly respected program. But one of my bandmates has now invested in Apple Logic. Not sure if this would be te best for the above combination, but is it compatible? Thanks!

 

[tbrain]

Anyone?