Need some help setting up..

[Aroko0023]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. My name is Aaron and I need some help. I have all the compnents I need to record my stuff at home, but I'm unsure of how to get it all setup in terms of cables.

Here's what I have so far.

Alesis UltraMix 8 (USB to computer)
Line 6 Guitar Port (USB to computer)
Sony TC-200 Reel to Reel (from 1967...no USB...have to go into mixer through AUX jacks)
Mic's (XLR and 1/4inch)
Soundcard (Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Platinum - the one with that front end thing and remote as well as the onboard soundbard on my motherboard...which is using the Realtek HD Audio driver)
Cubase SX-3
Guitar Rig 3
Sonar 6 Producer
Fruity Loops 7 XXL Producer

If you look up the mixer I have, you'll see all the plugs it has...I guess I'm a little confused by them all...)

What I would like in the end (if possible) is to have The mixer into the computer, and the Guitar port into the computer seperatly...but at the same time...that way when I go into Sonar or Cubase I can just select which one I would like to record with...Guitar Port for guitar, the mixer for vocals and keyboards.

I would also like to have it set so that not only can I record to my computer, but have the Reel to Reel plugged in somehow so I can record onto that as well...and record onto it from the computer if possible. I have two sets of speakers, one being my main set, and another just kicking around. It would be cool to keep my main set as my primary speakers, so I can listen to my mp3's through my computer as well as listen to my Guitar Port playback (which I can currently do), and have the spare set acting as monitors for my vocals VIA the mixer.

Sound confusing? Well, I'm sure stumped. I have a box of all different kinds of cables and stuff, so if I need things like 1/8th inch to 1/4inch or to RCA (red and whites) I have those. Please guys, I'm begging you for help!

I'm about to format my computer and start off fresh. I'm running Windows XP by the way.

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Aroko and ko-ko-mo:

1. Study the manuals.

2. I always like to paraphrase the words of BLUE BEAR when it connects to hooking up gear:

"What goes in must come out...."

Cheers,
Green Hornet

 

[Ethan Winer]

I'm unsure of how to get it all setup in terms of cables.

Maybe this will help:

www.ethanwiner.com/mixer2daw.html

--Ethan

 

[Treeline]

Why can't you simply use the Alesis mixer as a front end? Leave the SB card and the computer motherboard out of the picture entirely (except for the USB connections). Plug everything except the guitar port into the Alesis. Here's a video. And here's a 4 track setup from the Mackie site based on its mixers. Explore these sites a bit and you will find that mixers tend to operate in fundamentally similar ways.

You can use a mixer as a front end for multichannel analog gear in another way (illustrated in the Mackie example) by using the channel inserts as signal taps. Push in a 1/4" plug to the first, but not the second, click (the "one-click trick"). You will have a direct signal, usually immediately post - preamp, without interrupting the channel signal headed elsewhere through the mixer. This allows you to tap a channel directly to a recorder if you wish.

So: signal goes into the Alesis channels and into the computer via USB. Monitoring signal should come right back and be monitored on playback from the Mixer. Signal goes to the Reel to Reel from any of many outputs on the mixer. Signal goes from the Reel to Reel to the mixer either by the tape inputs (RCA, red and white) or by using a cable converter and plugging into any channel on the mixer. What you hear from the monitors will depend on what's playing back at any given moment.

Here's a glossary of terms: http://www.mackie.com/support/Glossary/index.html

Here's a cable connector guide: http://www.mackie.com/pdf/CMRefGuide/Tips_Ch9.pdf

 

[carlosguardia]

you bought sonar AND cubase?? why spend the money on both?

 

[Aroko0023]

Thank you very much! This is greatly appreciated and is a gigantic help I'll write back when I have everything hooked up, and let you know the results.

Thanks again

 

[Aroko0023]

you bought sonar AND cubase?? why spend the money on both?

Sonar was from a friend who never ended up using it, and who is going to say no to free software? I did buy Cubase though....that was expensive.