Helix/MultiMix firewire question.

[andyKCIUK]

Hi, I'm new here.

I've been playing bass for number of years. I use old Sonar 2.0 for recording and my "home studio" is very basic (BOSS GT6B connected to X-Fi Platinum via S/PDIF). I want to buy a Firewire mixer. My choice: Alesis MultiMix 8 or Phonic Helix 12. Basically, I want to record a few tracks at the time (bass direct/bass+Boss/bass+Yorkville XM200. I want to have an option of recording small band live and working with a guitarist using headphones in the future. I'm quite new to Firewire recording and have a few questions:

1. I use headphones all the time. Can I use headphone output on the mixer for monitoring the signal coming out of computer? I'd like to record my bass lines playing along drum loops in Sonar.
2. Obviously I wouldn't be able to record along MIDI tracks, would I?
3. I've read a lot about problems with drivers for these mixers. Does anyone of you use Helix or Alesis with Sonar? I'm going to buy Home Studio 6XL.

Greetz from Ireland

 

[daveblue222]

hey.

i own a multimix firewire mixer, and yes you can monitor using headphones from the mixer. firewire mixers are great for small band recordings, and me and my friend got one for that purpose in mind. im not sure what u mean by recording along side a midi but if you mean recording along side a midi keyboard/drum machine/ than im sure this is possible.

the alesis multimixs are know to be a nightmare to get installed properly. i had a few problems but nothing serious. my advice would to be download the new drivers from alesis`s website and follow the manual from there using these drivers. from what i have read the driver problems were only on the 16 track multimix so you should have no problems. once you get it setup its perfect as you can be recording in no time on seperate tracks. the effects on the multimix are great, however many people prefer to add reverb/delay/compression ect later.

when i was researching on the net about firewire mixers the other option i also had was the helix board, which has no installation problems whatsoever (from what ive read). I still choose the alesis as it seemed a better mixer overall.

hope that helped


-dave

 

[andyKCIUK]

Thx, Dave.

I sometimes create projects involving a few Midi clips (let's say keyboard/guitar lines) and a good few audio clips (drum loops/samples). Then I just want to arm 3-4 other tracks for recording hit Record and start improvising on the bass. Obviously I want to hear metronome click and my midi/audio tracks in the background during recording using headphones plugged into headphone out on the mixer. Can it be done? I use Sonar, sometimes Fruity Loops and SoundForge.
I'm a newbie/noob.