headphone connections and settings

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cmswannabe

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Hi,
Been singing a long time but never recorded anything. When I connect my headphones through my mixer that is connected to my laptop I can hear the music I have playing but cannot hear my voice as I'm recording. Is there anyway to hear both the backtrack music and my voice as I am recording? How do I connect the headphones (input...output...ect.) How do I set computer or mixer settings for headphones? Any help or comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks:listeningmusic:
cmswannabe
 
At least do us the honor of providing some relevant information.

WHAT mixer?

HOW is it connected (USB, adapter to the onboard soundcard etc.)

WHAT software are you recording with?

Welcome to the forum. With the right info I'm sure we can get it all working, or at least identify the problem and offer a path toward a solution.
 
My appologies. I'm pretty new to all this but will give it my best shot.
Mixer is a Gear One PA2400. Microphone is a Shure PGX Wireless mic. I am using a Behringer U-control UCA202 for connection from mixer to computer usb port. Headphones are Ovleng (cheap) headphones. I connected the uca202 to my usb port then connected the input of the uca202 to the output of my mixer where it says stereo in/out. I then connected the output of the uca202 to the input of the mixer where it says stereo in/out. Headphones are connected to speaker output on back of mixer. Mic is connected to line in of channel 1 on mixer. my laptop is a Dell pc with windows 8.1, with processor Intel core i3-3227u cpu @1.90 ghz, 6gb memory and the soundcard i have installed (came with computer) is realtek high definition audio soundcard. I am using the audacity program for recording. As i'm not well blessed with money i have a pretty cheap setup but will get what i need for a basic recording setup. I would just like to be able to hear my voice and music at the same time while recording. Again sorry about lack of information and let me know if i still need to give you more info as i'm very new at this and don't know for sure what all info is needed. Thanks again
 
Well, the gear you have is really not suited to recording the way you want to record. The UCA202 is handy for transferring audio to the computer but it's not equipped for music production. It could be used with a mixer if the mixer has the right features, which yours doesn't.

The most direct solution would be a proper audio interface. These are specifically designed for music production, including provisions for headphone monitoring of the inputs and the playback at the same time. There are lots of options on the market, the specifics of which I'll leave to others.
 
Just wanted to say thankyou to bouldersoundguy for your answers. I will be looking into getting an audio interface. Thanks again!
cmswannabe
 
IF, that mixer has "Tape/CD" RCA phono inputs and outputs* then the 202 could be used to route signals in and out and monitor them but as BSG says, you would be much better off with a dedicated interface.

Reccies? Cheap but pretty good is the Alesis i02 £70ish. Better the Steinberg UR22 £100. More than that and you can't really go wrong!

*Cannot be arsed to find a manual!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
IF, that mixer has "Tape/CD" RCA phono inputs and outputs* then the 202 could be used to route signals in and out and monitor them but as BSG says, you would be much better off with a dedicated interface.

*Cannot be arsed to find a manual!

Dave.
Click to expand...

I looked at pictures of the thing. The problem is that that mixer doesn't have pre-fader aux sends or any other way of hearing a mix (with playback) that's different from what you record (live inputs only).
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I looked at pictures of the thing. The problem is that that mixer doesn't have pre-fader aux sends or any other way of hearing a mix (with playback) that's different from what you record (live inputs only).
Click to expand...

I hear you Rocky...OP, get an AI!

Dave.
 
I take that back. You could record from the aux and listen to the main. But it's still a bit of a Rube Goldberg setup.
 
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