Geting from Mixer to Sound Card on the cheap...

  • Thread starter Thread starter MagicMatt
  • Start date Start date
I have an old Peavy that I used for voice recordings for audiobooks, etc. I plugged the line outs (RCA plugs) into a analog to USB adpater and told my Adobe Audition to use that as a source.

I have NO IDEA if this works for you, but you did say cheap, and it is.
 
Forget my suggestion, I reread your post and it sounds way more complicated than I would know about.
 
it can work i suppose but remember a TRS is a send and return using a send for tip and sleeve for return... a mono plug will work depending on how far you insert the 1/4 mono... you will only get pre eq signal send however... unfortunatly you do not have "direct outs" for every channel ( i had that same mixer at one time for a cheap extra inputs for drums for small club gigs with nothing more than a Mackie powered mixer ) the big venues was all together different... if i am understanding what you are trying to do exactly, i would consider however in this instance mixing the drums on the peavey into a stereo mix into 2 channels of the interface and use the other 6 for guitar in, bass in and whatever...if all you are doing is making inexpensive demos or rehearsal listens
 
Rod Norman said:
I see this a lot. So you finally discovered why professional recording studios have all that expensive equipment.
Click to expand...
No, I KNOW why they have all that expensive equipment. Now if you want to buy it for me, then awesome! However, as I do not have that kind of money floating around, I need to do things on the cheap until such time as I can.

Just as aside, even cheap consumer grade sound interfaces now beat the crap out of a lot of the 70's and 80's studio gear. I've also had better results that budget studios using nothing more than a Sound Blaster Live!, so I know that expensive gear doesn't equal an expensive sound, it is EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE that ultimately make the biggest difference. Also, I don't want to be messing around with tons of gear, as I want to be concentrating on playing, after all, if we don't play well, what's the point in recording it!

Rod Norman said:
You need a AD/DA converter.
Click to expand...
I have 16. 8 in, 8 out. There's also an ADAT interface, so I can add 16 more, should I decide to buy one.

Rod Norman said:
They run about $100 to $500 depending on the number of inputs.
Click to expand...
Heck, why don't we just buy an individual Apogee setup while we're at it, Avid digital interface, separate time clock, new Mac, Pro Tools.... and a truck.

Rod Norman said:
I use an eight channel M-Audio that ran about $500. Pay attention to your question: cheap ideas produce cheap sounds.
Rod Norman
Engineer
Click to expand...

...and I know that many of those MAudio interfaces also use the same consumer level line inputs, so unless you would have the same problem I do! Sure, I could run a separate desk and separate mics, but I don't want to do that, because it just means too much gear for what is intended to be a quick setup to record and archive some of our gigs.

If I were buying an interface, personally I'd go for the MOTU stuff, as the ADC/DAC and pre-amp stages are a lot cleaner, plus you can use the unit without a computer, as a mixer and FX processor, so you get a lot more for your money. Match that up with a laptop that also has an M-Audio card of some sort (cheap 2 channel is fine) and you can even use Pro Tools LE. The MOTU drivers are also far more stable and future-proof than M-Audio stuff.

...but I don't know what I'm doing, right? ...which is why I'm just trying to match impedance and levels on the input of a mid-range consumer 8-channel DAC using about $30 of stuff, rather than shelling out $700 for a comparable interface that has pro level line inputs and individual gain adjustments per channel, or more gear than I can sensibly carry...
 
kevin6string said:
it can work i suppose but remember a TRS is a send and return using a send for tip and sleeve for return...
Click to expand...

Sleeve is ground, it's ring that is return. ;)
Yes, hence the short between send and return so the signal goes back into the desk. If I leave plugs half out, I just know somebody "helpful" will push them in mid-set while I'm on stage.

kevin6string said:
i would consider however in this instance mixing the drums on the peavey into a stereo mix into 2 channels
Click to expand...
Good idea, thanks! Yes, I'll try that and see how it sounds. Assuing levels aren't wildly out, I can probably just EQ to balance the drums a bit of required.

kevin6string said:
if all you are doing is making inexpensive demos or rehearsal listens
Click to expand...
Pretty much!
The demos are to send out to pubs/clubs to get more gigs.
I may make a Live CD to sell at gigs dirt cheap (£5 or similar), but under no illusions of it being up to the standard of a commercial release. I don't really want to get into MCPS licensing etc. either really. :)
 
Last edited:
bouldersoundguy said:
So now you know that you need 30dB, not 12dB, of attenuation so 0dBVU on the mixer's meter ends up at -18dBFS in the computer. Good thing you did the test.
Click to expand...

I've revised my circuit, and the 3.6k is now a 100k log (audio) pot. I'm going to then work out where some key values are (-6dB, -12dB, -20dB etc.) and mark them on a scale. :)
 
Re the "half in, half out, half arsed plug scenario?

Those that suggest it have obviously never done time on the "pan deck" of a theatre doing sound for Gang Shows and AmDrams!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Re the "half in, half out, half arsed plug scenario?

Those that suggest it have obviously never done time on the "pan deck" of a theatre doing sound for Gang Shows and AmDrams!

Dave.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he's using a TRS with the tip and ring connected so he can fully insert it.
 
ecc83 said:
Re the "half in, half out, half arsed plug scenario?
Those that suggest it have obviously never done time on the "pan deck" of a theatre doing sound for Gang Shows and AmDrams!
Click to expand...

Ha-ha! I can imagine that would be very similar, yes! :)

bouldersoundguy said:
Pretty sure he's using a TRS with the tip and ring connected so he can fully insert it.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's my work-around. :)
 
MagicMatt said:
Ha-ha! I can imagine that would be very similar, yes! :)



Yup, that's my work-around. :)
Click to expand...

Yup I knew that! But always, when the issue of running out of inserts comes up on any forum, the cunning stunt of the half inserted jack plug comes up and I dooos not likes it Olive!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Yup I knew that! But always, when the issue of running out of inserts comes up on any forum, the cunning stunt of the half inserted jack plug comes up and I dooos not likes it Olive!

Dave.
Click to expand...

I have other solutions now but once upon a time I did it quite a bit. I found the most common problem was when one of my helpers "fixed" a partially inserted plug by pushing it in. So I made spacers out of fuel hose which prevented that problem. Some connectors have strongly sprung ring contacts and some don't. The latter are absolute don'ts while the former are just risky. But since I now have all of my board's inserts occupied by compressors I just run splitters on the send side of the insert cable.
 
Just updating this for the curious... yes, I built it, and have done a few recording sessions with it. It actually worked far better than I expected! Sure, it's no comparison to a professional studio rig, but it's not supposed to be. I can setup and tear down the whole recording setup in about 15 minutes, which is perfect for grabbing a usable and listable recording of the live performances. Once into the PC on separate channels, a quick spit'n'polish with some EQ and levels, and I can burn a CD for my archive. Quality wise it's better than a lot of the old blues and soul recordings that our band covers.

I'm going to make a version 2 that's a bit more versatile - a push-button to choose whether to "short out" the tip and ring, so it can be used to attenuate other signals (eg a DI from the bass amp etc. if required) and a better enclosure.

Lesson to be learned here - don't knock doing things on the cheap - these solutions still have their place!
 
my first multi-channel interface was a c-port. it uses the envy24 chip.

i have also used the TRS plugs into the mixer insert jacks method into an Alesis HD24 to record my brother's band at a local club. here's what that sounded like after i did some mixing and processing of the tracks at home.

https://soundcloud.com/tom-hicks888/chicago-medley
 
Tip? Ring? Fully insert?

Come on fellas - we're not being nearly childish enough here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top