Is buying a mixer an overkill?

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skot44

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Hey!

So I'm setting up a budget and list of gear that I'll need soon as I'm beginning the process of recording at home. I'll simply be doing stuff like drums, guitar, piano and vocals, with no more than three instruments at once. Right now I have the Mackie ProFX12 mixer in mind, which I thought would be useful since I plan to run a snare, kick, and two overhead mics as well as a vocal track and guitar track. What's nice about this mixer is the built in usb so it can plug directly into my computer, unlike other mixers which require RCA cables to convert to USB, etc..

I've been doing a lot of research and a lot of people say mixers are overkill, and all you really need is an interface if you're doing home recording. A lot of people recommend the Tascam US-800 interface, which has 8 inputs. I understand the main reason for this is money and size of each device. I'm willing to spend the extra cash for the mixer because eventually I'll probably end up recording more tracks at a time, and it will probably be a good investment for a few years...HOWEVER, I need to know if it's too much for me as a beginner.

This question probably gets asked a lot, but I couldn't find it on this forum so any help would be awesome :) thanks.
 
Right right right.. lets start from the top here. I don't think you understand the point of a mixer. Going for something like the Mackie is only going to give you 2 channels at most, no matter how many signals you run into it meaning that if you want to record on a computer you'll be "Live Mixing" a lot of stuff. Also you mention a tascam AI, personally I've never used one. See pretty common though. The advantage of this is not the small size, but the fact you can record 8 separate and discreet channels.

So say you wanted to record as you say, drums guitar and vox, It'd be either a stereo mix, with the mixer, or kick, sn. oh l , oh r, room, gtr. amp, gtr amp +room and vocals all on separate channels. Just as a for insance.

The practical use of a mixer lies in its ability to Mix signals. I use mine in both tracking and mixing. wherein I have MIDI sound modules on channels, I have all my interface returns, I have FX returns, I have dedicated busses for this that the other. And I can also send things around the rooms much easier. So a mixer will come in handy when you move up to working with larger groups of audio signals.
 
You don't need a mixer. Forget mixers. The Mackie PROFX12 only outputs stereo over USB so even though it has 12 inputs, you'll only be able to record 2 audio tracks. I wouldn't waste time or money.

A US800 would do the job. As would its big sister the US1800. I would consider the US1800 if you think you might want more tracks down the road.

:thumbs up:
 
+1 to all that with knobs on . You do not want a mixer as you main audio interface.
Not only because you will only get a stereo mix but also because almost all such devices are 16bits* only and you really wan to be recording at 24 bits (44.1kHz).

All that said, a small, cheap mixer CAN be very useful. If you have a few pieces of external gear to organize, a tape machine, a synth, hi-fi rig say, then a small mixer can be pressed into service to feed a pair of inputs on the main AI so as not to take up connections for things you only use one at a time.

Then, a little Behringer job can be used as an extra headphone amp, talkback system, paper weight, doorstop!!

*NOT! That there is anything wrong with a 16bit "system" per se, CD afterall. No, it is just that IMHO 16bit mixers and other cheaper audio devices do not even get to CD quality.

Dave.
 
Mr Clean said:
You don't need a mixer. Forget mixers. The Mackie PROFX12 only outputs stereo over USB so even though it has 12 inputs, you'll only be able to record 2 audio tracks. I wouldn't waste time or money.

A US800 would do the job. As would its big sister the US1800. I would consider the US1800 if you think you might want more tracks down the road.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^This really, in principle and in actuality.
A mixer isn't a redundant piece of equipment as long as you know precisely what you want it for and it serves it's purpose in your scheme of things and you don't end up having to buy more gear to cover for it's shortfalls.
I use a mixer when I'm recording drums because I have an odd way of combining overheads and toms and it works for me. But an interface with 8 or more inputs and outputs gives you more for what most home recorders do than a mixer ever will.
 
Great advice here.
A mixer has the clue right in the name. It's mainly for mixing things.
Most home recordists these days are doing the mixing in a computer, and are more concerned about recording separate inputs down to separate tracks in their recording software.
The us1800 is definitely the more suitable piece of equipment, if this is the case for you.
Even if you need more simultaneous separate inputs, you can still add an 8 channel preamp via adat to total 16 discreet ins.

Sure, you can get a mixer with 32 channels, but you won't get 32 separate simultaneous tracks into your recording software unless you buy a mixer with direct outs per channel, and add a few racks of converters.
At that point, what is the mixer even doing? It's basically just a bunch of preamps and eqs bolted together.

Some USB or firewire mixers will let you have discreet outputs to your daw, but even then it's not really worth having, IMO.

ECC83 pointed out that a small mixer can be handy for several jobs around the studio, but as the core of the studio?
I wouldn't bother unless it's got a hell of a name on it and you're tracking full live bands in a great environment, or something.
 
What they ^^^^ all said X2. Read this informative thread. The Tascam US800 has been discontinued, but is a very good interface - but it only has 6 mic preamps. The US1800 may be the one you want, but from your initial inquiry, I think you need to do a lot more reading first.
 
Ok I completely understand now. So basically no matter how many XLR inputs on the channel, I can only record two at a time because it outputs over USB. I'll look into the US1800!

Thank you all for your advice! :)
 
skot44 said:
Ok I completely understand now. So basically no matter how many XLR inputs on the channel, I can only record two at a time because it outputs over USB. I'll look into the US1800!

Thank you all for your advice! :)
Click to expand...

Not Qu.....ite Skot! The mixer would allow you to record signals from ALL the inputs but only as panned, stereo pairs. Maybe that is what you meant? No matter just wanted to clear it up.

Yup! Go for the Tascam.

Dave.
 
I am lucky, I have the Tascam bigger interface plus I have an x32 which we use as out live sound mixer but it outputs 32 channels handy for recording.

In my studio, I have a Soundcraft lx7 with 32 inputs. All it really does nowadays is provide me a way to hear the older keys and modules I've collected over the years. The stereo output channels from the Tascam go into it, and that's how I hear through the monitors. I could use the x32 in the studio but there's really no point. All the faders on the lx7 sit is a row, never touched. Master fader is my monitor volume control. The Tascam sits in a rack and I can get to the input sockets and gain controls very easily. My computer has all the eq and effects I need, and if I need to send something out of external processing it's easy. It isn't USB that is the issue, it's what is in the data stream, and many cheap mixers just squirt the stereo output down the cable for a quick stereo recording. Cheaper mixers don't have the complexity to do all the routing to send individual inputs to specific outputs but the more expensive ones do. The real job of a mixer is to blend multiple inputs, and that can be done better in the computer nowadays!
 
Some boring old git on this forum wrote a FAQ about mixers and home recording which you can read HERE.

Executive summary: you don't need a mixer at this stage...and, if you get to the stage where you DO need a mixer, it'll likely be a pretty expensive one with lots of features you don't need for the time being.
 
Just!
to show that there is always an exception to prove the rule....

My (our) set up evolved from early, impecunious beginnings and it eventually ended up as an M-Audio 2496 soundcard, one in each of two computers side by side (don't ask!) the cards being fed from a Behringer X802 mixer on balanced line some 5mtrs in length and Ubal'ed by a pair of OEP 10k:10k transformers at the PC end.

Monitoring is achieved by another small mixer, A Wharefedale 16:2 which takes the feeds from the cards (now 3 in total) and sends those onto the Tannoy 5As.

A couple or so years ago the Berry was replaced by an A&H ZED10 but the X802 is still doing sterling service in our bedroom where it amps up a pair of dynamics in the garden to capture the wildlife. That little mixer is never turned off and so must have clocked up at least 30,000 hours of trouble free use!

Dave.
 
The question was "is a mixer overkill".

If one mixer is overkill, your use of three going round and round in circles is some kind of over, overkill and very definitely not the best way to do what you need. It's certainly not what I'd suggest to somebody just starting out.
 
Bobbsy said:
The question was "is a mixer overkill".

If one mixer is overkill, your use of three going round and round in circles is some kind of over, overkill and very definitely not the best way to do what you need. It's certainly not what I'd suggest to somebody just starting out.
Click to expand...

Just FYI Bob!
Ten years ago son realized he needed a very low latency system and the best, cheapest solution (still is!) to that is a PCI sound card. Thus the 2496 was installed. Back then all the best AIs were (said to be!) Firewire and expensive especially since Fussywire was not found on many "office" grade PCs.

Getting the cheap mics I had at my disposal then into the card was an electronics simplicity for me and the card originally fed an 80+80W Maplin power amp* kit I had built and this fed my PERSONAL hi fi speakers! (I bought a pair of cheapies for the living room) .

I had a 3 year on-off dalliance with a Behringer BCA2000. Super bit of kit, no! Not kidding! ONCE they got the drivers sorted (sort of) and WHEN it worked it worked very well. Never been equalled since IMHO. The SPL Crimson comes close but even that lacks ADAT which the BCA2K had.

So yes, you're right. Everybody's right...NOOBS! Don't get a mixer! (but if you have some electronics smarts you can have some fun!)

Son was also into recording a lot of stuff from BBC radio iPlayer and you cannot do that with most external AIs.

Dave.
 
Let's be clear...mixers can have a place in home recording. They can do things like set up multiple different headphone monitor mixers, make level adjustment easier when you have a lot of channels going, etc. etc. When I do a big session I use a large digital mixer--but I carefully checked the specifications I needed and spent a lot of money on it.

However, when starting out and/or on a limited budget, you're almost always better off putting you money into the microphone(s), a good interface, monitors and acoustic treatment. Until you know what you want the mixer to do, you're better off without one...and when you DO know what you want the mixer to do, you'll probably want something more than a cheap entry level unit.
 
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