Mixers and Home Recording

One thing to consider...

...I'd be a little wary of the Studiolive 16.0.2 because it uses Firewire as its interface. Speaking as a Firewire user, it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep going and I'm actively looking at other alternatives for the next time I change/upgrade gear.

The other thing might be that if 12 mic inputs is "sufficient" you may be falling foul of what I'm about to christen "Bobbsy's Law": the number of mic inputs you need is always what you have plus one more.

Something you might consider would be the Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK ( Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK | Sweetwater.com ), It's similar in price to the Presonus, (actually a bit cheaper) has more mic inputs, has Soundcraft Ghost pre amps which I know to be very nice...and it connects via USB which a nice element of futureproofing.
 
Thanks for chiming in Bobbsy!! This is exactly why I'm here! :-)

Speaking as a Firewire user, it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep going
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Elaborate just a bit for me please... do you mean it's being 'phased out' or general connectivity issues?

Also, the Soundcraft looks nice, but in addition to that, I'd still have to purchase a DAW. My primary usage will be the home studio (vs.) live (which could be years down the road by the time I can invest in new speakers, etc...). With that being said, would I be better off (in your opinion) to forego a console all together, and just go with a Interface and do everything IN the software??

Thanks again, keep it coming!
 
So what's the actual problem with firewire? I have it on two units and find it to work great. Never any kind of issues.
If it was a bad system of connectivity, wouldn't the flaws with it show up?
If it's a fine method of connection, why the push to phase it out?
All I hear is anti- firewire talk, but no supporting reasons.
 
RFR said:
So what's the actual problem with firewire? I have it on two units and find it to work great. Never any kind of issues.
If it was a bad system of connectivity, wouldn't the flaws with it show up?
If it's a fine method of connection, why the push to phase it out?
All I hear is anti- firewire talk, but no supporting reasons.
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Do your computers have PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports?
 
"All I hear is anti- firewire talk, but no supporting reasons. " (nope, would not "quote" the full last line. Had to copy and paste it...?)

I blame Apple. They are punting ThunderBolt and yes, that is excellent but if you have FW gear you have to buy an adaptor AND TB cable (and VERY few gear makers, even of $2000+ stuff give you a TB cable!) .

As a connection protocol FW was better than USB 2.0 (but mainly due to AI mnfctrs being lazy bstds. RME have cracked it) and it has the big advantage of much more bus power, even more than USB 3.0*.

But FW has had its problems. Quite rare over here 5 years ago on mid-priced "office" machines whereas USB was universal (Boom! Boom!) . Then there were shedloads of posts with peeps having trouble with FW and audio. The TI chipset fix a lot of those but by no means all and if you had a laptop without card slot you were stuffed.

As a technician I have to deplore a connection that CAN be made the wrong way around and then of course we had the whole "hot plugging" SNAFU!

So, it was a good connection protocol IF the AI was happy with the version in YOUR PC and you were a careful bod who always made connection powered down (as we all should really...But?) and never pissed and tried to ram the fekker in. Of course, if your mate's/ works PC did not have FW, again..Stuffed.

*When, FFS are we going to see AIs in the $200ish region that take advantage of the 900mA of USB 3.0?

Dave.
 
rwank0646 said:
Thanks for chiming in Bobbsy!! This is exactly why I'm here! :-)



Elaborate just a bit for me please... do you mean it's being 'phased out' or general connectivity issues?

Also, the Soundcraft looks nice, but in addition to that, I'd still have to purchase a DAW. My primary usage will be the home studio (vs.) live (which could be years down the road by the time I can invest in new speakers, etc...). With that being said, would I be better off (in your opinion) to forego a console all together, and just go with a Interface and do everything IN the software??

Thanks again, keep it coming!
Click to expand...

Firewire is simply becoming far less common in the world today. Practically no computers come with it as standard and it is increasingly difficult to find plug in Firewire adaptors. This leads to a vicious circle where manufacturers of audio hardware are ceasing the construction of FW gear and, with that, no all are still doing driver updates.

If you have a working system then Firewire is fine but, as I consider audio gear a long-term investment, I probably wouldn't start down that road just now.

As I said, my main interface is Firewire--sort of. I have a digital mixer with ADAT outs and an old M Audio Profire Lightbridge to interface the audio data into my computer. When up and running, it's very reliable but I have to say I agree with those who say "Fussywire". For example, I have to be careful about switch on order--I have to start the mixer, turn on the Lightbridge and only then boot my computer. Every bit of Firewire gear I've used comes with warnings not to "hot plug" and this can also be a pain since sometimes I swap from the mixer/lightbridge to a simpler USB interface.

As others have said, the Interface you're looking at would be the better choice or, if you want the functionality of a mixer, have a look at the one I listed or there's an Allen and Heath Zed series with multitrack outputs on USB.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
They're those mini-DINs that computers used to have for mouse/keyboard. Pretty soon Firewire will go the way of the PS/2 connector.
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And good riddance! If a PS2 connector was pulled out when working you had to re boot.

I have also bought several PS2/USB, USB/PS2 adaptors over the years, none of them ever worked!

Dave.
 
Were they those little round jacks that were color coded for idiots?

But still, when something works leave it the hell alone! Manufacturers just keep on changing shit to make more money . Case in point, the new iPhone without a headphone jack. Ahhh, but we'll gladly sell you our new wireless earbuds for a hundred and fifty bucks.
 
RFR said:
Were they those little round jacks that were color coded for idiots?

But still, when something works leave it the hell alone! Manufacturers just keep on changing shit to make more money . Case in point, the new iPhone without a headphone jack. Ahhh, but we'll gladly sell you our new wireless earbuds for a hundred and fifty bucks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, was going to mention the vanishing headphone jack debacle (forgot, old, meds..ga-ga) .

I am not sorry to see the back of PS2 and I never had FW but instead of dropping it they should have fixed it's problems. As Bobbsy said, when it worked it worked well.

But this is the way of the computer audio industry. "Make a buck and fuck the consumer" Got $2000 worth of kit that won't work with El Cap? Tough.

Dave.
 
My last Apple product was a ][e and I intend to keep it that way. I can understand why some people like their stuff but the cradle-to-grave "our way or the highway" philosophy of the company just isn't for me. I like doing things my way, including using a big mixer as a front end to a recording system when appropriate.
 
Quick question here.. I'm looking for a new mixer primarily for my wife's karaoke setup. I was originally wanting something that would work for live sound as well as multitrack recording but from what I've learned here that seems unnecessary.

The issue that I'm finding is that the low channel mixers are short on features, the biggest being effects inserts so that I can compress signals when louder singers take over.

With that said, I found the behringer x air xr12, which provides digital effects, including compression & eq, on each channel. I also like that I can control the mix from a mobile device over wifi or even on a pc connected to the ethernet port.

I do know that behringer doesn't have the greatest reputation so I was wondering if any other manufacturers had something with a similar feature set. I've done fine with gear from behringer so I'm not opposed to this one, I just want to consider any options out there.

Thanks!
 
First off, the Behringer reputation has moved up a notch in recent years, particularly with their digital mixers. The x32 was very much a game changer.

I have no experience with the XR12 so can't comment personally but notice that it's had some good reviews.

Two points...the XR12 has only 4 microphone inputs and 8 line level. If this is sufficient for your needs (and it's likely fine for karaoke) great. However, it might prove limiting for multitrack recording. If I read the spec correctly (and please double check me) the USB output is limited to simple stereo output--which might not be what you mean by multitrack.

Second, which it can be very useful during set up, mixing live on a computer or touch screen does have it's limits. Sometimes there's nothing like grabbing a handful of faders all at once.

Beyond that, I can't suggest anything in the same price range. If you can spend a bit more and want genuine multitracking, have a look at the Soundcraft Signature MTK models.
 
I agree with Bobbs, Behringer's "pro'ish" gear has generally been very well received.

I still cannot forgive them for ripping off "our" amps but from a purely pragmatic point of view, worth a look.

Dave.
 
I think the first thing to consider are your exact needs, particularly with regard to your desire for "multitrack recording". (The karaoke needs are relatively simple). How many mic inputs do you need and, just as important, how many tracks you need to be able to record at the same time. Your thoughts on these questions will dictate which mixer will best serve your needs.
 
I have got hold of a Sprirt FX 16 and would like to use it in mys setup as it may offer me some extra flexibilty for outboard FX etc..

Spirit FX 16 | Soundcraft - Professional Audio Mixers

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My question is what is the best way to hook it up to my interface? My interface is A Roland Octa capture

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I would like to mix my song using Reaper using the Mixer has I find mouse frutsrating.

Is it a question of Taking the Direct outs 1-8 from the Mixer to the Inputs 1-8 of the octa capture?

These Direct outs are switchable pre/post fader

http://rdn.harmanpro.com/product_documents/documents/4942_1478290799/Fx16brochure_original.pdf

Then the line outs 1-8 of the octa capture to Line in 9-16 of the mixer?
 
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