Newbie...help please.

[LoserFriendly]

Hi...i'm totally new to digital recording so no flames please I have the following gear:

Maxi Studio Isis XL with 8 input box
Behringer Eurorack MX802a 8 channel mixer
900mhz computer running Vegas Audio
a pair of powered monitors...

basically i need a sort of tutorial about which inputs/outputs connection should i do from the mixer to the breakout box etc...

In my understanding, Vegas and Cakewalk doesn't support multiple input soundcards like Maxi Isis...when i choose a an audio input from Vegas it only shows 1/2 or L/R ...and from cakewalk, i can only pick a pair from my breakout box like 1/2, 3/4 etc...How can i take advantage of all the 8 inputs in my soundcard??? are there other multitrack software that support multiple inputs?? I thought using a mixer would solve this...plus i would need one anyway for the phantom power mics and also it would be easier to control the volumes of the sources from the mixer...right??

Now the mixer has 8 channels and 4 of them are Mono Mic/Line while the last four can be stereo/mono...has two stereo aux returns and two aux sends and a L/R Main Out. I'm confused about the aux sends...what do they do...i understand that they are for FX purposes...but can i use them to route the channel signals to the breakout box...? they are labeled as AUX send 1 and AUX Send 2...also each of the 8 channels has an Aux Prefader (1) and Aux Postfader (2)...do these knobs control the two Aux Sends respectively??? what do they do?

Right now, i'm using the Main OUTs (left and right)of the mixer to route the signals to 1/2 of the breakout box...can i use the aux sends instead to free the Main Outs of the mixer for monitoring purposes??? but even if this was possible, i still would only be using 2 of the 8 inputs of the soundcard...is this a problem??? cuz basically we will be needing to record drums, guitar, vocals and bass simultaneosly...

Also, what's the best way to setup the powered monitors...? the breakout box has monitor outs...should i connect the speakers there?? or can i also route them to the mixer?? how?

Vegas audio says it cannot record and playback at the same time...so how do i monitor the recorded tracks while recording other tracks??

can anyone show me an efficient way to setup my gear??? i know this is just a simple task...but like i said, i'm totally new to this stuff...ive read several books but they don't cover mixer connections or show any diagrams at all...i also tried the manuals...still confused.


can somebody help me please???? any advice would be appreciated...

 

[dachay2tnr]

I am not familiar with Vegas Pro; however within Cakewalk the assignments are done by stereo pairs. Therefore Channels 1/2 represent the left and right stereo inputs of pair 1/2. You can use all 8 inputs in your sound card by simply selecting mic 1 as Channel 1/2 Left, and mic 2 as Channel 1/2 Right. Mic #3 becomes Channel 3/4 Left, and so on... In other words, simply go to Track Properties in Cakewalk, and for the source for Track One select your soundcards 1/2 pair Left. For Track Two select the soundcards 1/2 pair Right. This way your source for Track One will be #1 input and Track Two will be the #2 input.

I am also not familiar with the Eurorack, I use a Mackie 1642. I set mine up as follows:

I run the mixer's Channel Direct Outs to my soundcard (Channels 1-8 go to the equivalent soundcard inputs 1-8). If you do not have Direct Outs on your mixer, you can use Channel Inserts in the same way (except they won't be balanced). This setup allows me to record 8 individual tracks simultaneously.

I run the Sound Card outputs back to 2 unused channels in my mixer (e.g. 9-10). Typically I only run one pair of outputs, since on playback or monitoring I simply need to listen in stereo. Therefore I assign all the Track outputs in Cakewalk to the same stereo output pair (e.g. Wave 7/8).

I also run my monitors and headphones off the mixer. The Mackie has "Control Room Out" connections and two headphone jacks for this purpose.

The reason for going from the mixer to the soundcard and back to mixer is so that I am actually monitoring what is being recorded (rather than simply what is going to the mixer). My source channels (1-8) are not assigned to the Main Mix, whereas my monitoring channels (9-10) are. Therefore what I hear through the headphones or through the monitors is only what is on Channels 9-10 (i.e., what is coming FROM Cakewalk to the Mixer).

Don't know if any of this helps. But, if nothing else, it should at least answer your question about Cakewalk's support for 8-input sound cards. I use a Delta 1010 which has 8 ins and 8 outs and works just fine with Cakewalk (BTW, I assume we are talking about Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.0 here).

 

[dachay2tnr]

LoserFriendly - I'm not familiar with Cakewalk Home Studio. However, I would imagine if it allows multiple tracks it should accept multiple inputs (i.e., your 8-input sound card). You probably need to go to the manual, unless someone else on this board has more knowledge of Home Studio than I do.

As for the control room outs, the answer to your question is yes - you can connect your monitor speakers directly to these outputs as long as they are active (i.e., powered) monitors. If the are not powered, you will need to run the control room outs to an amplifier first, and then from the amp to your monitor speakers.

Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.

 

[dachay2tnr]

LoserFriendly wrote:
"...so if i use my powered mixers with the ctrl room outs...what would be the volume knob for them...the phones volume???

also, you said you run your mixer's channel direct outs directly to your sound card's 8 inputs...does that mean your mixer has a channel out for each channel??? mine doesn't...all the outputs i know of are the aux sends, main outs, etc...so does that mean i can't do 8 for 8 directly?...cuz that would be much easier i guess huh??

would you recommend i go for a mixer that has channel direct outs??? what mixer do you use...??
which mixers do you recommend? does mackie have any entry level model that has a channel out for each channel??? i don't need anything big...an 8 channel with four mic/mono would do...so long as each channel has direct outs..."

My Mackie has a volume knob for the Control Room out. However, if your mixer doesn't you can simply use the volume knob(s) that are on your powered speakers (if they're powered, they should have a volume control.)

My mixer is 14 channels, it has direct outs for the first 8 channels (which is plenty for my needs). If you don't have direct outs for each channel, check to see if you have channel inserts - they can be used for the same purpose.

Yes, I would recommend a mixer with direct outs - however, they tend to be more expensive. Ones with channel inserts are typically cheaper, but inserts are not balanced. You need to decide on the cost/benefit for yourself.

I use the Mackie 1642. I believe this is the cheapest model they make with direct outs (runs about US$800.00). I hestitate to make any recommendation to you, since my only experience has been with the Mackie. However, I am quite happy with it. Mackie does make smaller, cheaper models (which still have the same pre-amps), but they have less channels and no direct outs (they have channel inserts instead).