MIXER is it useful?

[christos]

I curently bought a berringer 1622 fx pro
my recordings that i create on pc are mainly done through a mic.
I record all the stringed instruments one by one from the mic plus the vocals
Do you guys beleive that the 1622 is a waste of money for my use?
Can someone advise me on possibilities that i might find the mixer useful?

Thanx in advance

Chris

 

[wjgypsy]

Yes. Even thought your just useing one mic for yourself, when you try to record some drums like if your getting paid to do, then you will need more than one mic (4-5) then you can plug all of them in the mixer and send the mixer into the sound card's one input. But if you want better recordings, when you get some more money, buy you a computer interface that has 8 or more mic inputs and a sound card.

 

[christos]

Yes. Even thought your just useing one mic for yourself, when you try to record some drums like if your getting paid to do, then you will need more than one mic (4-5) then you can plug all of them in the mixer and send the mixer into the sound card's one input. But if you want better recordings, when you get some more money, buy you a computer interface that has 8 or more mic inputs and a sound card.

I still cant understand why one needs more inputs and outputs on a sound card.

Lets say you use a mic to record from the mixer and a quitar on a seperate line on the mixer ( i use the mic for the quitar for an acoustic sound effect)
Why does one need more than 1 input and 1 output on the souncard?

I have recorded in the past using an old turtlebeach soundcard and it worked fine.......

I am now confused when i hear about many inputs and outputs on the sound card when i can input all the instruments on the mixer................

The way i was going to set my system up was as follows

Mic and instruments on the mixer inputs mixer subout to soundcard in soundcard out to mixer line in and main out or control room out to an amplifier that drives the speakers.....
The confusing part to me is this
If i have a sound card with more ins and outs HOW do i make use of them????

 

[gospel]

We were thinking about getting the 1832 for our group. Let me know how the effects on the 1622 are. It is the same effects processor on both.

 

[christos]

We were thinking about getting the 1832 for our group. Let me know how the effects on the 1622 are. It is the same effects processor on both.

The effects are realy good and theres a lot to choose from also.

 

[justwantyou2kno]

You need more then one input on your soundcard if you want each instruemnt to be on a different track. If you record everything onto one track then when it comes time to mix you won't be able to do anything really. I'm not familiar with your mixer, but if it has inserts on each channel then you'll be able to send each channel to a seperate input on your soundcard if you get a multi-input soundcard.

 

[wjgypsy]

and you want a output on your soundcard so you can hear your music

 

[christos]

You need more then one input on your soundcard if you want each instruemnt to be on a different track. If you record everything onto one track then when it comes time to mix you won't be able to do anything really. I'm not familiar with your mixer, but if it has inserts on each channel then you'll be able to send each channel to a seperate input on your soundcard if you get a multi-input soundcard.

THIS IS WHERE I GET CONFUSED

i have recorded songs that have more than 10 tracks and each track has a seperate instrument on it
The sound card i was using had 1 in 1 out
I record one track then while listening to it i was recording the next and so on i could have recorded as many tracks as i wanted and all tracks were with difrent instrument.........

 

[Toki987]

THIS IS WHERE I GET CONFUSED

i have recorded songs that have more than 10 tracks and each track has a seperate instrument on it
The sound card i was using had 1 in 1 out
I record one track then while listening to it i was recording the next and so on i could have recorded as many tracks as i wanted and all tracks were with difrent instrument.........

this is the whole deal:

"I record one track then while listening to it i was recording the next and so on i could have recorded as many tracks as i wanted and all tracks were with difrent instrument."

Yes you can, but you can never record more than 1 stereo or 2 mono sources at the same time and they stay discreet, nor could you ever send more than 1 stereo or 2 monos sources outbound..say to another mixer or bring them out for tweaking purposes on a mixer and they be discreet. Above 1 stereo or 2 mono and the tracks will always be merged. That shouldn't ever be problem though if you only do things one at the time.

 

[malcolm123]

THIS IS WHERE I GET CONFUSED

i have recorded songs that have more than 10 tracks and each track has a seperate instrument on it
The sound card i was using had 1 in 1 out
I record one track then while listening to it i was recording the next and so on i could have recorded as many tracks as i wanted and all tracks were with difrent instrument.........

I think what they are saying is ,, you need multiple inputs to record multiple inst.s ( being played at the same time) to be then stored on indiviual multiple tracks /channels.

If you play each instrument one at a time,, then you only need 1 in and 1 out

malcolm

 

[Chibi Nappa]

Drums are the most common culprit for needing multiple inputs. I record my drums using between 6 and 9 mics. If I only have 1 input to my sound card, all 9 of those mic signals are squashed down to 1 track, and I can no longer edit them in relation to each other. If I use a soundcard that has 16 inputs for example, then I can record all of my drum tracks on their own channels. Multiple inputs are also useful for making full band live recordings.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

I think what they are saying is ,, you need multiple inputs to record multiple inst.s ( being played at the same time) to be then stored on indiviual multiple tracks /channels.

If you play each instrument one at a time,, then you only need 1 in and 1 out

malcolm

Again, if that 1 instrument that you are playing is drums, you may very well need more than 1 input.

 

[malcolm123]

Again, if that 1 instrument that you are playing is drums, you may very well need more than 1 input.

LOL

Agreed. That goes without saying.

Yeah,, Real Drums,, multiple inputs.

 

[roman]

okay, how about this:

What if you did NOT have a mixer.. how many inputs would you need on your soundcard then?

What you do is LIVE mixing and stream it STEREO into your pc. Fine, but you cannot (re)mix it at that stage. it is allready mixed.
But that's not a problem. If you mixed it good, no problem.

But what if you wanted to crank up the volume of the kickdrum for example? you can't 'coz it is already mixed.
Now, if you had tracked all the inputs into your pc (using multiple inputs, just like your mixer) you could POST mix the whole darn thing. and mix it again, and again...

So, why do I need a mixer you might ask.
ah, well it is your REALTIME mixer for that moment and, more important, it has PRE-AMPS.

so, have the band play their stuff into mics through the preamps on your mixer, to your pc (direct out on mixer to multiple inputs for example) and feed the LIVEMIX (stereo output on mixer for example) to either the band (monitor) and/or your monitor set up in control room (you want to HEAR it right?)

Just thing about your question again, and you will see the light some day.

 

[christos]

Well in my case when i only record ONE intrument at one time
and NEVER 2 at once the mixer might be a waste of time apart from the fact that it has a preamp for the mic
And also having more than 1 in 1 out on the card might also be wasted (unless i get someone else to play one instrument while i play the other)

 

[christos]

""""so, have the band play their stuff into mics through the preamps on your mixer"""""""


This way might not work as if lets say you have 4 people play an instrument on seperate mics at once ALL mics will pick everyone else s sound
unles each one sits in a difrent room........

If they all plug the instruments in the mixer and one uses a mic for vocals then the mic used for vocals will pick up any acoustic instrument that is pluged in.......'

This is why i choose to record ONE track at a time while im listening through headphones at the previous track, so it makes sense to me that by only having ONE in and ONE out on the card is all you need ( at least the way i record)

 

[alfalfa]

Yes many people only record one track at a time while listening to previously recording tracks just as you say. In that case you only need a 2 input soundcard (2ins in case its a stereo track you are recording eg from synths or with stereo micing - I dont think 1 input cards exist). You probably dont need a mixer though it can come in handy for routing purposes and if you have lots of synths and rack effects units to connect. A dedicated preamp will give you better sound quality for your buck as you are only paying for the pres and the signal path is cleaner.

 

[christos]

Yes many people only record one track at a time while listening to previously recording tracks just as you say. In that case you only need a 2 input soundcard (2ins in case its a stereo track you are recording eg from synths or with stereo micing - I dont think 1 input cards exist). You probably dont need a mixer though it can come in handy for routing purposes and if you have lots of synths and rack effects units to connect. A dedicated preamp will give you better sound quality for your buck as you are only paying for the pres and the signal path is cleaner.

Ok
i have the mixer 1622 fx pro i have a mic Shure SM 57
at the end of the week i will have my NEW computer system and ofcourse the new sound card prop. the terateck
What else do you think i need?

I have in the past recorded and created a cd here on my own and the only difrence i have found by listening to a cd that we as a band recorded proffessionaly my cd that was created here lacks depth it is hard to explain but you prop have an idea what im talking about.
The music i record is mainly from stringed instruments and sometimes from the midi recorded in analog form.

 

[pipelineaudio]

sheesh, I got 52 I/O's into my pc (2xrme hdsp9652)and every once in a while I need a few more!

1?

ouch

if you stick to one instrument at a time tho, youll be alright. You will sooner or later find yourself in a situation that would be IMPOSSIBLE without that mixer, so keep it. Even if for utility's sake

 

[roman]

""""so, have the band play their stuff into mics through the preamps on your mixer"""""""


This way might not work as if lets say you have 4 people play an instrument on seperate mics at once ALL mics will pick everyone else s sound
unles each one sits in a difrent room........

NOT TRUE!
Look, any mic will ALWAYS pick up ambiant sounds... ALWAYS, even if you track with one mic (just listen how your solo mic will just pick up the headphone sound while dubbing)

If you track drums.... same thing.
But not to worry, 'coz the mic will pick up the CLOSEST sound and probably this sound will be so loud that the ambiant sound will be lost... (how about gating by the way?)
You can even use omni's on drums (toms for example).. b'coz it's the attack of the tom that will be superior to all other sounds. And that is what you will use during mixing.

Don't worry too much
I've done sooooo many semi-live recordings which sounds just like the over-dubbing sessions. Live recording is also great for the 'feel' of the recorded track. When musicians play together in one take, they will 'feel' the mood of the song better.

But I'm not to push you in any corner here, do how you feel is best. I'm just advising and giving hints...

succes, roman