newb in seek of desperate help.

  • Thread starter Thread starter tama
  • Start date Start date
T

tama

New member
first and formost. looking forward to gaining vast amounts of knowledge from ya guys, and hopefully i will be able to contribute what I know also :)

I am a drummer, and need to get my band recorded, and also for my own personal growth.

So this is what i have..

I have a couple of SM57 mics and the audix fusion 6pc set.

I want to record to my PC/Laptop via firewire.

I was thinking about the MG16/4 16-Input 4 Bus Mixer.. but what do i need to get this to output to go into my pc for for pro tools or cubase..

Thanks for the help guys :)

O, btw.. im a drummer.. hence the name.. my real name was taken, which really suprised me.. didnt think that was possible, and this is the next thing that popped in my puney brain lol..
 
Since no one else has jumped in I guess you're going to have to go with the second string...

Note, I have not done this, I am passing on advice I have heard on this board.

You will need to have between two and eight channels of conversion. Broadly speaking, you can go one of two ways.
  • You can sum your drum mics through a board so that they go into one channel, and sum your vocal mics through a board so that they go into one channel.

    or
  • You can have each mic go into it's own channel.
Needless to say, the more channels, the more money.

If you are going with option B then you do not need a mixer, unless, of course, the mixer provides the conversion. Examples of these are the Mackie Onyx 1620/1640 with firewire option. The Mackie Onyx 1640 with sixteen channels of preamp/EQ/conversion is arguably the cheapest 16 channel solution extant. The Soundcraft Spirt line also provides digital out, but it is S/PDIF digital and all channels (I believe) are summed at the mixer's output, so this is kind of a hybrid approach and useless if you want to tweak each channel on the DAW.

If you are going to bypass a mixer and run eight channels of preamp/conversion directly into the DAW then you need something like the M-Audio Octane. This particular piece of gear outputs ADAT, so you need a card that accepts ADAT in your computer such as the E-Mu 1212m.

A number of companies have come out with these eight channel digital output preamps including RME, Presonus, and Mackie. A number of people have spoken well of the Presonus FirePod, which is (a) affordable, and (b)uses firewire, which most PCs now include as standard equipment.

Hope this helps. Luck.

Naturally, whatever digital signal your gear outputs, you need a matching input on your PC, so if firewire, then your PC needs firewire, if S/PDIF, then your PC needs a S/PDIF in and out, etc..
 
thank you soo much for this info.. this is exactly what i needed kudos to ya.. im gonna go ahead and get the mackie if i dont get this tascam.. a co worker had mentioned the mackie onyx... thanks again soo much... you have cleared up quite a bit for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top