Hi all, newbie here, first time recording

[Simbo]

Hello All

New to all of this so bare with me if I ask a dumb question

Quick back ground and why I am asking.

My son plays bass and has hooked up with some friends to form a band (just jamming around) I told him if he stuck with it I would help buy the gear they need, a co-worker has a band that plays small bar gigs, now they both are interested in doing some basic recording.

So here I am looking for gear to help them both out.
What we want to start out with is the basics, mic all amps and drums and record L/R channels, sounded simple till I started reading forums and looking at mixer spec's, now I am more confused then ever.

Couple of things that confuse me.
I was going to by a PV mixer that had USB, but after reading a post, they didn't like the recorded mix vs. the live acoustic sound, reason given was the USB was tapped off the main outputs, I agree with that reason,

Question 1,
What’s a good way to record a live show using a mixer, a mixer with Pre fader aux and record it in mono, or if it has 2 aux can I record it with some type of patch cord to simulate a L/R recording, or just stick with rca outs

Question 2
USB vs. Line-in, (just for L/R recording) if am looking at mixers would USB be a plus, if it has the ability to send the aux buss to the USB processor instead of the main mix. Or should I just stick with the RCA outs if 1 they can be controlled by aux buss, or if it has a few sub-outs that I can record separate for main mix,

I'll stop here, but I still have a million questions.

Was looking at the A-H ZED24 but the $700 price tag maybe out of my league, anyone like the Yamaha MG166CX as a starter board, has a ton of option, but I know nothing about it's clarity, preamps or quality.

Thanks

Simbo

 

[Monkey Allen]

Maybe you need something like this:

http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=5

Plus some kind of headphone amp/ mixer/ splitter for all the band

Sorry, I couldn't keep up with all the RCA aux talk

 

[Simbo]

Sorry about the confusion as i said i am a newbie.

Thats not the route we want to go, we are looking at mixers.

Just trying to figure out the best way to record out of the mixer into a Mac

 

[gecko zzed]

If you have a PV (=Peavey?) mixer with USB, then it should give you something other than the Main outs to send to USB (perhaps the Aux send, or maybe subgroups if the mixer has them).

This means that you can mix the band and send them out the mains for their PA, and send out a similar mix to USB via the alternative send. To deal with the clinical dryness you typically get from a straight-off-the-desk mix, you can add another couple of mikes to capture the room sound, and send these the same place as the other stuff going to USB, but not to the main mix. There are some technical difficulties with this (mainly due to the delay of sound getting to the ambient mikes compared to the signals going to the mixer), but it might give you a reasonable result.

Alternatively, you can run the house mix of an aux bus, and send the main mix in stereo to USB. A house mix in mono is not a bad thing, so you are not losing much here. Do the same thing, of course; feed a couple of room mikes into the mains going to USB, but not to the house mix.

As for USB versus line in? My first thoughts are that USB will give you better results than going to the line-in of the computer. Most on-board computer suond cards are not that good at giving the quality you need for recording audio.

 

[Simbo]

Thanks, would not of thought off doing it that way, house on AUX's, record mains

Just looked at the PV's with USB, block diagram shows it tap off the main L/R buss only. so that ones out, unless i do what you suggested.

did a search here for Yamaha MG166CX, not much info, anyone have this mixer, GC has one for $429.00

Any thoughts on a board that has 10 mic preamp channels for under $600.00

 

[gecko zzed]

Any thoughts on a board that has 10 mic preamp channels for under $600.00

Sure . . . why not? Budget mixers are budget mixers, and you risk the potential problems inherent in budget gear; lack of durability, quality and functionality. But you get good value for money, and you can get respectable results. You note that a $700 price tag was out of your league, which means you are constrained. There is, therefore, little to be gained at this stage by lusting after grander gear.

 

[Simbo]

Yes, on a budget

Agree, buy junk, get junk, i was just looking for something in the middle just to learn on.

My friends band are looking into studio time to record, so it's just me and the kid, so i'll stick to my budget.

Thanks anyway

 

[Simbo]

OK

Talked the wife into delaying a home project to get more cash for me

What i want to do.

Have a mixer to do live mixing and have the abilty to record off the board. 8 tracks to start out with

Looking at A-H ZED 24, or possible Soundcraft M series with direct-outs.

Will getting a PreSonus FP10 10x10 FireWire Interface work, and if i go with A-H am not sure how to route the signal from the board to the PreSonus,(line in) just read something that Inserts can be used as direct outs? with the M series i assume it's just direct out to the interface.

Sorry, but the more i read the more i get confused

Thanks

 

[gecko zzed]

OK

Talked the wife into delaying a home project to get more cash for me

What i want to do.

Have a mixer to do live mixing and have the abilty to record off the board. 8 tracks to start out with

Looking at A-H ZED 24, or possible Soundcraft M series with direct-outs.

Will getting a PreSonus FP10 10x10 FireWire Interface work, and if i go with A-H am not sure how to route the signal from the board to the PreSonus,(line in) just read something that Inserts can be used as direct outs? with the M series i assume it's just direct out to the interface.

Sorry, but the more i read the more i get confused

Thanks

For live mixing, you (obviously) need a mixer. If you have the FP10, you don't need a mixer, you can plug mikes etc straight into it.

If you want live recording off the desk, and eight simultaneous tracks, then you have to make use of the track inserts.

Now . . . you might like to consider this.

Add up the price of the FP10 and ZED24, and compare it with the price of a ZDR16. The ZDR16 is a mixer with an internal firewire interface, and will send 16 tracks at once to your PC down the ifrewire.

 

[Simbo]

thanks ZZed

I like the idea of the Firewire on the mixer, but, i know you don't like the budget thing, A zed 24 and a fp10 would cost around 1200.00, and the zedr is 3000.00.

Having both maybe nice, more options, the question i would have is, you have mic's on the gear into XLR on board which runs through a preamp, then it would come out on a insert into the fp10 which has preamps again, would thart be a problem,

should i look around for a interface that does not have preamps.

Just read the manual for FP10, i see you can set it to line in on 3-8

 

[bdenton]

A lot of people dis Behringer, but I have had nothing but good experiences with their equipment...

Given your budget and your noob status, let me suggest this unit:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Xenyx-2442FX?sku=631274

$349.99 so it's within your budget, and the capabilities will get you started.

You feed your PA speakers from the main outputs, and you can use one of three auxillary busses to feed monitors. It also has built-in effects so you can throw a little reverb on your vocals.

It comes with a little dongle that connects to the tape out jacks on the mixer and has a USB connection to the computer. You can download some basic recording software for free from the Behringer site.

Caveat...the mixer only sends two channels (usually left and right stereo) to the recording software, but this should be adequate for getting started.

Hope you find this info useful, and good luck...

 

[Yonce N Mild]

A lot of people dis Behringer, but I have had nothing but good experiences with their equipment...

Given your budget and your noob status, let me suggest this unit:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Xenyx-2442FX?sku=631274

$349.99 so it's within your budget, and the capabilities will get you started.

You feed your PA speakers from the main outputs, and you can use one of three auxillary busses to feed monitors. It also has built-in effects so you can throw a little reverb on your vocals.

It comes with a little dongle that connects to the tape out jacks on the mixer and has a USB connection to the computer. You can download some basic recording software for free from the Behringer site.

Caveat...the mixer only sends two channels (usually left and right stereo) to the recording software, but this should be adequate for getting started.

Hope you find this info useful, and good luck...

I was going to make a similar suggestion. The great thing about that board is the amount of routing options for the price.
You get 8 direct outs 4 subgroups plus the mains. That's enough to do 14 separate tracks at once. Couple that with a decent multi input interface and you are good to go.
I use it in conjunction with a M-Audio 1010lt I run the 8 direct outs to the 8 analog ins on the 1010lt. That setup would run you about $550 new if you go the ebay route you could get it even cheaper.


Bonus it's so simple to use even the bassist can figure it out.

 

[Simbo]

Thanks all for the great advise.

Still reading and trying to understanding the technical mumbo jumbo of recording.(for myself and my son).

I may go the lighter route for now, (do like the reviews on the A-H mixers though) because who knows, my son my give it up in 6 months.

I'll keep reading, and keep you posted.