Looking for comparisons of Mixers/Audio Interfaces?

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BurningMusician

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So, my band is just starting and we're thinking of recording. I've tried googling 'home recording' and such, but I don't really get a lot of useful stuff. What I'm asking is: what equipment (specific; brand/model) do you use/like/recommend for recording?

The band consists of a keyboardist, a drummer who's also vocals, and me on guitar/bass/ukulele/fiddle.

any advice appreciated
thanks
 
Okay, before you even start thinking of specific items of gear, have a read of the stickied FAQ threads at the top of this very forum, particularly THIS ONE written by our very own Arkadeko.

The reason I suggest this is simple. There no one solution and no one best set of gear. Before laying out some money, you have decision to make. Do you want to lay down things one track at a time or record the whole band "as live" in one take. Do you want to individually mic every instrument and vocalist (which will give you a sound closer to a commercial studio recording) or do you want the "raw" feel of what you sound like when you play live. And, very important, what's your budget? You could easily spend a couple of million dollars recreating a top studio--or several hundred buying a bare bones set up. There's a huge difference between a single microphone and a two track audio interface and a 48 channel mixer with direct outs and the ability to feed all this into a disk recorder of some sort.

I hope I don't sound too condescending--but your question is the audio equivalent of "some friends and I want to start driving--could you recommend and compare some cars?". Until we know where you want to drive, how much you need to carry and your level of interest and skill, it's hard to know whether to recommend a hatchback, an SUV, a Ferrari or a semi trailer truck.

Bob
 
I feel a bit of a rant coming on. So you Google "home recording" find nothing useful, then ask "what specific brand/model" should you get.

Maybe some of us should just record for you. Then you wouldn't have to do anything!

Better yet, most of us went through the same dilema as you. What we did is find a forest, stand with our eyes closed and arms out, and eventually gear fell from the sky. Now that you know the secret, go find a forest!
 
The reason I'm asking for 'specifics' is because all I've found, after weeks of googling, is things along the lines of 'you should definitely get at least one microphone.' you can see how that would be frustrating. Also, as for the forest, there is really nowhere within a hundred miles of me where i can just go and try out, or even find, recording equipment. Even if there was, I have no basis for selection, no starting point to build from, no data at all about where i should start. Maybe the rest of you could or had to find these things out for yourselves, but I have recources, like this forum, and i intend to use them

So instead of wasting my time by posting a reply that basically amounts to "I'm not going to help you, go figure it out yourself," you could make yourself useful and give me even the vaguest modicum of advice.
 
Bobbsy-

We're students, so something low-budget would be preferable, and we're looking for something that will mix the tracks evenly without the instruments losing their identity. Eventually, we plan to do live concerts as well, so an audio interface that functions as a mixer as well would be nice.

The software itself is not a problem, there is plenty of that available to us. I'm just looking for a nudge in the right direction of some hardware.
 
If it were me I would go for an interface with preamps in it.

But I guess it would boil down to how many channels you wish to record at one time Burningmusician.
 
BurningMusician said:
Bobbsy-
we're looking for something that will mix the tracks evenly without the instruments losing their identity.
Click to expand...

I know that device! That's called a "person who's good at mixing" :)

If you're just getting started and you're more interested in playing music than you are in recording, why not start really simple, and just focus on making great music? Get a simple handheld recorder with built in mics and record rehearsals and shows. Something like a zoom H4N, or maybe something even simpler.

This way, you'll have to mix yourself, as a band, on stage, which will put you miles ahead of any of your friends who are tooling around on computers and forgetting to practice. Then, when you're ready to record, you can get people to help you out who record bands as a hobby or profession, and you might just be one of the most kickass bands they've ever had the privilege to record.

If, on the other hand, you're interested in getting into recording, go ahead! Dive in with both feet! Buy A whole bunch of books! A ton of gear! Then more gear and more books!

To my ears, it doesn't sound like that's what you want. And that's okay. If you'd prefer to specialize in rocking the f* out instead of fiddling with a mouse and knobs then more power to ya! We need more of you.
 
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BurningMusician said:
Bobbsy-

We're students, so something low-budget would be preferable, and we're looking for something that will mix the tracks evenly without the instruments losing their identity. Eventually, we plan to do live concerts as well, so an audio interface that functions as a mixer as well would be nice.

The software itself is not a problem, there is plenty of that available to us. I'm just looking for a nudge in the right direction of some hardware.
Click to expand...

And there is the problem. Most of the ideas that have been provided already will let you RECORD the tracks nicely but there is nothing on the market that will mix them for you. That's a manual process and results depend on the person doing it. Frankly, for the most part, the interface you choose doesn't even play a role in the mixing process--that's done in the software you use.

If you want a mixer you could use live that can also function as a computer interface for recording, you might want a look at the Alesis Multimix 16 USB2. This would give you 8 mic inputs, another 8 line inputs (arranged as stereo pairs) that could handle keyboards and anything on a DI box. I've never used one but several people on this board have/do and seem to recommend them. The other manufacturer to look at would be Allen and Heath for their Zed series...better mixers than the Alesis but you pay for the quality. At the economy end of the market are Behringer with their Xenyx series but I can't in good conscience recommend them on quality grounds...and, despite the number of fader channels they have, they only output 2 channels at a time to the computer via USB.

However, I think if it was me, I'd separate your recording ambitions and your live ambitions. Buy a good, cheap interface with sufficient inputs and use that for recording. Jimmy's Tascam US 1800 would probably be a good choice for what you specify. When you start doing live gigs, buy a good live mixer second hand.

So...if you want specific recommendations...Tascam 1800 now to do your recording and a specific mixer for live use when you get to that stage--you can even rent PAs fairly cheaply to start with and see what you like.
 
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