Multitrack Recording with USB Mic's? (No Mixer) Advice needed

R

ray.meer

New member
Hi Guys
Im new to this forum, i apologize if this is in the wrong thread.

Anyway i'm new to this whole recording thing. i'm looking to basically record my band on multitrack (2 Guitars, 1 Bass, 3 Vocals and Drums) as well as monitor everything that's going on. in the past when we were recording i used to basically use around 3 USB Mics and plug them straight to the USB ports of my computer, then in Adobe Audition (software i use to edit/record) i use to configure each mic on a new track and it use to work pretty well.

My question is, is instead of buying a mixer etc, i just want to buy a few usb mics 6/8 and get USB Powered Hub to connect them to, and just record straight off the usb mics, then use the Monitoring feature in Audition to monitor each track. i use ASIO 4 ALL to reduce latency. Do you think this method would work? Will there be a lot of latency if i do it this way? what are the risks etc?

If you dont recommend it, what alternatives would you recommend? that is still cheap and wont cost me a fortune, basically what i need is to record around 8 mics on multitrack on my laptop to Adobe Audition, and have an option to monitor each track. I would prefer going with the first option (USB HUB/USB MICS) but any expert advice would be good!

Help would be much appreciated
Let me know if you need more clarifying

Cheers
Ray
 
USB microphones are a dead end. You would be much better off spending your money on a few conventional mics (i.e. with XLR outs) plus a single USB audio interface with the required number of mic inputs. This will allow for expansion and buying new mics in the future and will also be far more flexible with things like your ability to monitor when multitracking. You'll have a far great selection of mics available to you and generally get a better sound since the mic pre amps and A to D converters built into USB mics aren't generally the best quality. Software problems and conflicts are also pretty common with USB mics--you were lucky in the past but you can't count on that luck holding!

What you don't need, though, is a mixer. You can plug your mics directly into the interface and thence into your computer.
 
Hey mate thanks for the reply

I was actually look at getting Samson R21's as seen here: ebay . com . au /itm/Samson-R21-Handheld-Dynamic-Vocal-Mic-3-Pack-Microphone-/320711266784?pt=AU_Pro_Audio&hash=item4aabe191e0

Then just getting USB to XLR cables as seen here: ebay . com . au /itm/USB-Microphone-Mic-Link-Cable-Adapter-XLR-Female-3M-PC-Comverter-Record-/200654163336?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb7eb8d88

(remove spaces in links)

Do you think that would work? how about the latency? do you think the more mics i plug in, the bigger the delay will be when recording?

Regards
 
This is a bad idea! I don't think plugging multiple USB mics into a hub will work. The computer and software is not going to see 6 or 8 usb mics.. you will not be able to separate them. As Bobbsy said get an interface and go from there
 
Hi, thanks for the reply

Can you recommend any interfaces for me? that will record multitrack we need to be able to plug in about 8 or more mics (and guitars)
Off course the cheaper the better and it has to record each input to multitrack and i want to be able to monitor each track


Help would be appreciated

Regards
 
The cheapest (but still decent) I know with that number of inputs would be the Tascam US-1800. I've not used one but several HR members have it and all of them recommend it highly.

If, once you do a track count, you find you can do with fewer mics and some instrument/line inputs, then the even cheaper US-800 might do the job for you.
 
Hey thanks for the reply, i'll have a look around, im guessing these interfaces cost a lot of money, thats a reason why i wanted to go with the usb option :/

For the guitars i was just gonna get those USB Links and plug the guitar straight into the computer and use an VST on Audition to take care of the amp sounds etc

Im not sure though if the Software will see the Hub USBs and if they will be separate, does anyone know for certain that it will read it as one input?
 
Hmmmm....well, I strongly recommend you use only 1 USB audio device at a time...i.e. an interface...and plug everything else into that in analogue.

Working any other way is just asking for driver issues and hardware conflicts--and, even if you luck out on that, there will be monitoring issues etc.

But that's just my take on it.
 
hey i've been looking around. if i get the Tascam US-1800 will all 5 members in my band be able to monitor through headphones? because that's what i need.
Also i need to plug 3 guitars in (either directly or mic'd up) 3 vocal mics and 2 drum mics, would this be possible?

Cheers
 
Hi All,
from reading the previous posts, if i don't want to use a mixer;

i deduce that multi track recording with multiple mics is still possible if we have a usb audio interface like a Behringer ufo202 plugged into the computer, and multiple mics plugged into the Behringer ? Am I right ?
This model can record 2 tracks at the same time as it can only support 2 pairs of RCA input ?

Is there any usb audio interface that have 3.5mm female ports instead of RCA like the Behringer ufo202 ?
 
Hey there,

It's best to start your own thread for more specific answers.

Generally speaking in pro audio, microphone, line, and instrument inputs are carried either over XLR connectors or 1/4 Jack connectors.
They are usually balanced (three connectors), whereas phono is not.


A quick google tells me that the ufo202 is a vinyl audio interface, and has a phono preamps, so is not suitable for a line level input.



Phono, line and mic signals are all different 'strengths' of signal and not really interchangeable.

There are stacks and stacks of usb interfaces out there that will take microphones directly.
Put simply, look for anything with usb at the back and xlr at the front.
 
The UFO202 is for transferring signals from a tape deck or turntable to your computer to digitize your music collection. You can't plug USB mics into it. And it doesn't have mic-quality preamps in it, either.

Why are you asking about 3.5mm jacks? You can get adapters that go from 3.5mm to RCA - but why? No quality mics are going to use 3.5mm jacks.
 
Last edited:
Haha, yep, definitely 3.5mm mics won't be of any quality...it's just that i'm curious if it is still possible to record multitrack with four or more cheap 3.5mm mics AND without a mixer, into a computer with Audition. (something like what TS wants)

Any suggestions for an audio interface that can do the above ?
 
In theory, yes, but you'll be up against several problems that make this impractical.

The big issue is that no interface capable of multitrack recording is going to have 3.5mm mic inputs. "Proper" recording uses XLR connectors for microphone inputs--3.5mm stuff is more designed for Skype and Windows Live chatting where quality doesn't matter. You could make up or buy 3.5mm to XLR adaptor cables but the quality of the mics would still be crap.

But Audition doesn't care what your sound interface is sending it. If you have 4 channels of crap mics, Audition will record exactly what's sent to it.

Recommendations of interfaces with 3.5mm mics inputs? I don't know of any and am pretty sure there aren't any. Interfaces with XLR inputs you could use adaptors with? All the main companies (M Audio, Tascam, RME, MOTU, Alesis etc. etc.) all do them. For 3.5mm buy whatever you find cheapest...if you have cheap mics they won't merit any better.
 
Do yourself a favor and stay away from usb mics and adapters.

They're made mostly for podcasting (internet chat radio)
Not as good analog>digital converters (cheaper chips)
You'll have problems monitoring for track overlays
you wont be able to use anything else with it (asio- the low latency drivers you need to use- only lets you use 1 device at a time)
short usb cords will put more computer noise into recordings

Get a regular usb interface and regular mics.

A Tascam 800 or 1600 and some Shure SM-57/58s are a FAR better choice....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top