Mixer, Mbox Mini 2, Control Room, and Main Out questions

[thoughtsatwerk]

I'm new to this home studio setup.

Sort of confused with the difference between Main Out and Ctrl Room Out. Just wanted to see if some people can verify if this setup is right, or how I can improve it.

The mic and headphones go into a vocal room.

How can I set it up in a way where when recording the monitors don't go on, only the headphones for the vocalist, without having to remove the monitor cables, because that's how I've been doing it.

I'm open to all suggestion, if purchasing extra cables or gear is necessary, I will look into it as well.

Mixer is Eurorack UB1202

Here's my setup:
Inputs:
1. iMac headphone out -> Ground Loop Isolator -> split to input 1 and 2 of mixer, one panned left, one panned right.
2. AT3035 Mic -> input 3
3. Record Player -> Phono Preamp -> Tape in

Outputs:
1. CTRL Room Out L/R -> BX8 monitors L/R
2. Main Out L -> Input 1 of Mbox Mini 2
3. Phones to headphones in vocal room

Another question:
1. Do I need a mic preamp for this setup?
2. Do you suggest a compressor for mic? and whats the difference between digitally compressing vocals with a vst and analog compression?


Thanks alot for your help!

 

[bouldersoundguy]

A better way to connect headphones to the mixer is from a pre-fade aux send to a headphone amp, but (shockingly) your little mixer doesn't have a pre-fade aux send. Just turn the monitors off or disconnect them.

 

[Re-tox_stl]

My opinion.. Ditch the mixer. All it is going to do is degrade your signal path. Just plug everything (mic, headphones, record player and monitors) directly into the M-box, then usb out of your m-box into your mac. The mixer is of no value to your current setup.

Drew