In a band, want to make quick demos.

[PatrickS]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and interested in building a my own home recording studio slowly. Right now, I am interested in making some quick demo recordings for my band. We play around Cleveland, OH and have a PA system with a Samson MDR1688 16 Channel Mixer. I just want to know the most basic way of getting that mixer hooked up to my computer and doing some simple recordings with something like audacity or any other free recording software anyone may recommend. Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[CFox]

What's your budget ? Whats your computer specced at ?

You need an audio interface to take two channels from your mixer to your computer.

 

[PatrickS]

$300 dollar budget right now.

My computer has 3GB of ram a 2.0 GHz processor, and a 160 GB hard drive.

What kind of audio interface would you reccomend? Is there something that can take XLR outs from the mixer into my computer, via USB? I really have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[CFox]

Have a poke around for "audio interface" in this site, plenty of discussion.

If you are new to recording and you fall in love with it, you may wish you had bought an interface with multiple ins rather than just the standard 2

Plenty offer XLR ins. Do you have firewire ?

I recommend Reaper as your DAW

 

[D_Vincent]

If you want to seperate tracks in the recording you will need a multiple ins interface.

The mixer wont be needed if you get a decent interface with some decent preamps in it.

I would get an 8 or more multiple input interface if you can swing it.

Ive been looking at a few interfaces lately myself and cant decide what to get yet.

Hopfully one of these interface companys start making mixers that are interfaces as well...that would be the ultimate thing to have.

Ive been looking at the zoom R16...Its an interface and a recorder all in one...pretty decent...noit sure how good the preamps are in the unit however Ive been reading what people are saying about it and people seem to give it decent reviews.

Price is in the $300 - $400 range.

Check you tube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoB92H0o8I

They also have a zoom R24 thats about $500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFQfQ4h-bBE

R24 has 6 channels of phantom power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6_5SLyK-A&feature=related

 

[suprstar]

You could just get a 2-channel interface and record the main mix. You won't be able to mix it later on, but that's the cheapest simplest way to get any audio recorded on your computer. Something in the $100 ballpark, you'd be set. Your mixer has 2 aux's - you could use those to send a secondary mix to your PC to record - a mix that's independent of what you're hearing thru your mains when you'r PA is cranking away at rehearsal.

If you want to mix and really get it sounding good later, you need separate channels. 8+ channels over firewire. That's gonna cost you $300 minimum if you can get a good deal on a used firepod or something. There's a lot of options for multitracking...

 

[moresound]

If you want to seperate tracks in the recording you will need a multiple ins interface.

The mixer wont be needed if you get a decent interface with some decent preamps in it.

I would get an 8 or more multiple input interface if you can swing it.

Ive been looking at a few interfaces lately myself and cant decide what to get yet.

Hopfully one of these interface companys start making mixers that are interfaces as well...that would be the ultimate thing to have.

Ive been looking at the zoom R16...Its an interface and a recorder all in one...pretty decent...noit sure how good the preamps are in the unit however Ive been reading what people are saying about it and people seem to give it decent reviews.

Price is in the $300 - $400 range.

Check you tube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoB92H0o8I

They also have a zoom R24 thats about $500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFQfQ4h-bBE

R24 has 6 channels of phantom power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6_5SLyK-A&feature=related

+1 .... for the zoom all in one recorder.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

My vote goes to a simple portable 2-track recorder. Hook it up to your board or use the onboard mics. Demos for getting gigs don't have to be great quality, they just have to show that you can play a decent set. Use it to record rehearsals so you can critique your playing, then make a demo, then take it to the gig.