Mackie 1604 vlz3 and Apollo quad core

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Joe Red

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Hi guys, how should i connect a Mackie 1604 vlz3 to an Apollo Quad Core interfase, in order to record 8 track songs in Logic Pro X (overdubbing) and mixing in this Mackie console?
Best Regards!
Joe
 
Mackie direct outs to Apollo line inputs, Apollo line outs to Mackie inputs 9-16. But why in the world would you want to mix the way we had to back in the bad old days?
 
Actually, the better question is: why would you want to mix on a cheap mackie, when you have awesome uad channel strips available?
 
Farview said:
Actually, the better question is: why would you want to mix on a cheap mackie, when you have awesome uad channel strips available?
Click to expand...

Thanks guy. Actually i've always mix on the box. But recently i got this mackie borrowed from a friend and decided to give the old school way a chance.
Joe
 
You are still going to want to do all the eq and compression in the box. The Mackie eq is pretty useless and you probably don't have enough channels of outboard compression to insert.

Also, that mixer doesn't have inserts on the groups, which makes them useless.

For curiosity's sake, it could be fun. But the reality is, that mackie is a live mixer, not even a good one. A studio board would tend to have more eq and routing capabilities, but you would also need to have racks of outboard gear to take advantage of it.
 
Farview said:
You are still going to want to do all the eq and compression in the box. The Mackie eq is pretty useless and you probably don't have enough channels of outboard compression to insert.

Also, that mixer doesn't have inserts on the groups, which makes them useless.

For curiosity's sake, it could be fun. But the reality is, that mackie is a live mixer, not even a good one. A studio board would tend to have more eq and routing capabilities, but you would also need to have racks of outboard gear to take advantage of it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i've got outboard preamp, compresor and eq.
I just wanna have fun with the outboard process for some demo tracking and mixing.

I read that for control room monitoring you must connect subgroup 3-4 to 2 apollo inputs, and back from 2 apollo outputs to 2 available mackie channel inputs. This means that there will be just 6 channels for tracking?
 
What are you using for the monitor controller?

I don't think the mackie has monitor control, I suppose you could take the main output of the mixer and send it to two inputs on the Apollo and set the Apollo to only send those inputs to the monitors.

That would be the most straight forward way to monitor. If you are recording through the mixer (ba idea, the mackie signal path is an order of magnitude worse than the apollo) you will end up with 6 individual inputs on the Apollo at one time.
 
I can think of several more ways to overcomplicate this, but it looks like you've got it handled.
 
I think skipping the Mackie on the way in is the way to go, but you don't have to go through all that trouble for monitoring. Just connect the eight outputs of the interface to eight channels of the mixer and connect the control room output of the mixer to your monitors. When you come to your senses and go back to mixing ITB you just move the monitors from the Mackie to the Apollo.

Actually, I wish everybody doing home recording was forced to use an analog mixer for a while before mixing ITB. It would give them a better foundation in the basics of audio, from signal flow to terminology, and a greater appreciation for how good ITB really is.
 
Learning to use a mixer is good, the thing that got me going was plugging high quality stuff into the cheapest mackie pos in the universe to mix through. You have the potential for awesome sound, but you are choosing to run it through pro-sumer garbage.
 
Last edited:
Joe Red said:
Hi guys, how should i connect a Mackie 1604 vlz3 to an Apollo Quad Core interfase, in order to record 8 track songs in Logic Pro X (overdubbing) and mixing in this Mackie console?
Best Regards!
Joe
Click to expand...
A better question would be: How do I chop up this beautiful filet mignon so it tastes just like a McDonald's hamburger?

Edit: Okay nevermind, just read the rest of the thread and you caught enough grief already. :D
 
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