Good mixers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric Dantanus
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Eric Dantanus

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Hello. I just recently bought the Soundcraft Ui12 only to find out it lacks the ability to record. And here I was thinking every mixer should have this ability. Oh well, "newbie" as I am, Im wondering, what should I get instead after Ive returned it? I want to be able to record drums, guitar amps, vocals etc etc at my studio room and then be able to smoothly bring it all back home to mix everything there (using pro tools on my imac). Should I get a new audio interface (currently using a saffire 6 USB interface with only 2 inputs), or a mixer? What do you guys think would be the best fit for me? Thanks in advance!
 
A Boss BR-800 digital recorder might be a good bet. Up to four input simultaneous record (the minimum you will need for a decent drum recording) 8 tracks total without bouncing (two tracks are stereo pairs) and the capacity to mix in the box to a reasonable degree with decent onboard FX. You can dump all the wavs you have recorded into your DAW and mix from there. Alternatively a laptop and audio interface with at least four inputs.
 
There are many good interfaces that would meet your needs...Tascam 16x08 has 8 mic inputs on the front (plenty for just about ANY drum recording) plus 8 line ins on the back and 8 line outs (great for patching in outboard gear or making multiple output mixes, say for your ears in the control room and others' ears in the listen room.)...$300. Steinberg's UR824 gives you the same number of mike pres with a lot more flexibility, but runs $800. There are several in the $400-$600 range, and MOTU's 8M @ $1500. Hooked into a portable computer system, most of these can even be used live as a mixer...

Then there are live digital mixers from Behri, PreSonus, and others. They offer the flexibility of a digital mixer that is also a USB interface. Cost usually starts in the $1700 range.
 
Thanks for the replies guys!! I will check all of these out!

Quick question, I tried plugging the left and right master outputs of the Ui12 mixer into the first and second inputs of my USB interface. Would this be a good solution for recording from the mixer or is it a big no-no? Are there any cons of recording this way? If there are, I'll definitely look into that boss recorder, or any of the interfaces mentioned. Thanks again for your replies!
 
The major con would be having only two channels going in. If you have, for example, 6 mikes cued up on your drums, you can't edit how loud your snare or kick went into the system later. You would need to completely retrack.
 
^^ What BH said^^^ Works fine if you are only using two inputs on the mixer, pan one left, the other right. But then why not just plug those straight into the interface?
 
We have been around this mixer/AI May pole many a time before!

I am not rabidly anti mixer but in the OP's case, IF he has the opportunity to swap it for an multitrack AI then IMHO he should do it, especially if his expectation was multiple, discrete recorded tracks.

There ARE some Mtrack mixers. The latest I have seen (April SoS) is the Soundcraft Signature but likely over $1000 US.

So for multiple tracks go for one of the Tascams or Rolands but don't forget, mixers have some unique features not found on many AIs and the AIs just mentioned have line inputs and could take a mixer in the future. Uses for that could be a 4+mic stereo drum mix or even a very cheap mixer would serve for "collecting and selecting" a gaggle of synths/drum machines or indeed any other audio source.

But yes, at present go AI!

Dave.
 
When I first started doing recording, I chose a USB mixer for the simple reason that I was tired of plugging and unplugging cables every time I wanted to record - I was using a stand-alone recorder (only 2 inputs), so I used the same mixer when I started doing computer recording, too. As I only needed to do 2 tracks at one time, it was useful that way. But it was the lack of good monitoring options (as well as the high-pitched whine from the A-D when cranked too loud) that was enough for me to jump on the US800 that Jimmy offered after he did his testing!
 
Thank you for all the tips! I've decided to return the Ui12 mixer and get an audio interface instead, as this indeed seem to fit my needs better. Your help has been very appreciated!
 
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