ivory

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ivoryigey

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I have a Mackie dfx12 mixer & a sm58 Mic. I'm tying to record to Audacity through a very cheap interface but, the mixer volume control & effects have no effect, have I connected wrong?, should I get a more expensive interface or do I really need to use a interface?.
 
I could look up that mixer and go through the various operational permutations but frankly you have answered your own question!

Get a proper interface. Cheapest of any use (and really pretty good!) Alesis i02 Express, around $100. After that look at the sticky.

And, Audacity is great for its purpose, an editor but not a good DAW for general recording work. Lots of folks rate Reaper (got it, paid for, don't get on) but look at Studio One freebie. Samplitude Silver freebie and virtually all the others allow a 30 day trial. The i02 comes with Cubase "lite". Bit tricky to learn but excellent.

Dave.
 
I downloaded what I think is your mixer which includes a block diagram/(road map) of how the signals go through the mixer. It will benefit you in a long run to try and learn how to read a block diagram. Just start at the XLR input and follow the lines through. The lines may go through some controls and/or switches, but will somehow lead to the output side of the mixer. The lines may also branch off to effects or EQ blocks. It will also help learn some of the terminology of the mixer.

- the mixer volume control has no effect - I'm going to guess you have the mixer connected from the 'Tape Outputs' to the inputs of the 'cheap interface' with RCA type cables. The 'Tape Outs' are before/prior the 'Main Mix' faders, thus the 'Main Mix' faders will not affect the level of signal going to the interface. The 'channel' fader however should be able to control the level. Do not expect to get particularly high recorded levels in the recording software as most typically won't and you'll need to adjust levels after recording.

- effects have no effect - It may be that you need to 'send' the audio signal to the effects block using the 'AUX 2/EFX' bus control. There is a 'Level Set' LED to indicate when the signal is correctly set. The effect gets sent back to the 'L/R Main' bus by the 'AUX 2/EFX Send' knob.

Audacity is OK for simple recording such as voiceovers or similar, but if you intend to have multiple tracks for vocals, guitars, or other instruments, then a better DAW would be recommended such as Reaper that Dave suggested.

What I stated above may not be totally correct, but simply a guess with the limited info you gave.
 
You haven't given any information such as what the interface is, what cables you are using and how they are connected to and from. As I stated in my previous post, we are only guessing with the limited info you gave. If you plug headphones into the mixer can you hear the microphone?
 
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