Is a small mixer necesssary?

[Smoulders]

Hi there

I just wondered if someeone might be able to clear up the following for me.

Let's say, you have 1 synth and 1 sound module in your rack and and you run Cubase on your PC with an audiop interface that has several inputs. What would be the point, or advantage to buying a small mixer and incorporating this into the system.

At the moment, I can happpily mix any incoming levels within Cubase within the sequencer. Are there any advantages to adding a mixer into the equation apart from the obvious hands on control?

I have seen setups where any audio instruments and mics are connected to a mixer and then the direct outss of each channel then connected to inputs of the audio interface. The levels are then mixed on the mixer rather than in Cubase. But, why not just connect straight into the individual inputs of your sound card (assuming you have enough), mix within Cubase and not bother with the mixer. I am aware that the hands on control of a real mixer is obviously a bonus, but is there anything apart from this?

Thanks very much for your time.

Kind regards

Smoulders

 

[ez_willis]

Are there any advantages to adding a mixer into the equation apart from the obvious hands on control?

Not really.

 

[dwillis45]

For your setup there may be few if any advantages to adding a mixer. If, however, you needed a large number of preamps/inputs to record live with a bunch of other musicians, a mixer would be very useful. It can also be used for mixing outside the computer where you need to sum tracks in analog. This can be a benefit depending on your tastes and the quality of your DA converters and mixing board. If you have an average quality soundcard with average converters and you have a compact, inexpensive mixer, it probably makes more sense to mixdown inside your computer using a software mixer.

 

[Smoulders]

Thanks alot guys