Mixer or audio interface?

[fletch1988]

Hi all,

Just sorted all of the equipment that I am going to be using for home recording, and I was going to be recording guitar,vocals, synth etc through Peavey PV8 mixer, which then is connected to the m-audio audiophile 24/96 soundcard. However someone has told me that it would be better to record through an M-Audio fast track audio interface.

Please could I have your opinion on which is the best to record through? And if so how much of a difference in quality I will see. When I have used the mixer in the past it has always sounded pretty good!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[gehauser]

Your mixer can only send stereo (2ch) output to your interface/computer. Thus, with your mixer in the chain there is no opportunity to mix in the computer. I suspect this was the issue that "someone" was referring to.

If you want to mix all tracks in the computer, you will need an audio interface that accommodates the number of tracks input and output that you will be needing.

 

[tmix]

Well..... it depends....
I think the fast track is limited to 2 tracks input also unless you are recording at 16 bit.
I don't know that you will see much of a difference recording from the Peavey to the Audio card than from the Fast track thru USB.
If the Peavey Preamps are acceptable to you it is a way to learn while sounding relatively good until you decide to upgrade (if you even do).
It depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
You might find it difficult to achieve a full album's worth of huge track count songs at a superior level of sonic clarity, but if you are working out arrangements of songs with vocals , guitars and keys recorded at seperate times it should be a reasonably decent way to do it.

I expect you will be recording just one or 2 tracks at a time and then mixing the seperate tracks on your computer.

 

[jjjtttggg]

Yup depends what your doing. If you are recording with friends and want to record say bass, guitar, and drums at the same time you'll need to upgrade to a multi track interface. If you're doing your own thing one track at a time, though, mixer into sound card will be fine. That's a pretty nice sound card, too, so I think your audio quality should be quite good. Mixer into sound card works fine for me. Another advantage is that, depending on what you're doing, is that you can leave things set up so you can move quickly from intrument to instrument without having to fiddle with cords. There are probably other ways to achieve this.

One other tip: if you want to record guitar and vocal at the same time (or any two sources: guitar and bass, two guitars, whatever) and you want to actually try to keep both tracks and still be able to mix them after the fact, pan one hard left and one hard right in the mixer and then pick them up as two mono tracks in your DAW. Maybe that's obvious, but it wasn't to me. The only challenge is getting the two back in both ears if you want to monitor while you play/sing. Your mixer may or may not support that directly. Mine doesn't. I use the mixer in my old multi track cassette portastudio (separate from my main mixer) to put them back to center for the headphones while letting the panned signals go to the computer. Works great!

J

 

[phriq]

Like mentioned by everyone else. It does depend on what your trying to do, but it also depends on the quality of sound your going for and what mixing options you are hoping to do.

If you are looking to make rough demos or just "lay down" your tracks, then you could mix the drums, guitar, vox and what ever else through the mixer and record it all "live" to your soundcard. If you want to track everything individually (drum wise) then you will need a 4-8+ input interface. Another option is recording things separately and recording the drums through the mixer and then sound card, then all instruments separately through the mixer/card.....Interfaces are going to allow you to separate each input to different tracks on the DAW and also will typically give you some sort of mic-pre and allow for better analog to digital conversion.

When I was in high school I did all my recording through a Peavy mixer straight to soundcard.

 

[fletch1988]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone.

I am not going to be recording a whole band, just one instrument at a time separately - Vocals, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer. I never really record more than one track at the same time. Been testing my mixer today and the quality sounds pretty damn good when I play it back! Will probably stick with using my peavey PV8 mixer, just thought I'd check so I knew what the differences were.

Let me know if anyone has any other tips!

Cheers

 

[Shadow_7]

The sound card is fine. If you only need two inputs or less then the mixer should suffice.

That being said, there are probably better sounding preamps and the likes depending on the mics in question. Your setup is functional for two or less channels. Whether it's optimal (room not withstanding), is the real question. Phantom power, noise floor, available gain, and other factors come into play depending on the purpose and the gear.

Basically use it, determine what it lacks in your opinion and then address that flaw (or flaws). I got better preamps for my setup, even though my setup has preamps. Better low end, better battery life and other reasons for my upgrade. And someday I'll likely get better mics. Many means to an end. Some of which depends on what you consider good, or at least good enough.