Setup question

[JesseP]

Hey everyone,
Im pretty new to this forum and recording in general I am a bass player and i play with a guitar player who is also our singer. Every once in a while we have a drummer as well. I am looking to pick up some home recording equipment. I have a brand new Macbook Pro and it has an Audio In on the side. My question is if i buy some Mics and a mixer can i go from the mic into the mixer right into my computer with garage band? Do i need an Analog to Digital Converter or does my computer/garageband already have that? I plan on buying a Mackie ProFX8 Channel Mixer. How do you guys think this setup will work out for me?

 

[JesseP]

Bump! Noone has an answer for me that isnt spam?

 

[Chili]

Bump! Noone has an answer for me that isnt spam?

Thanks for reporting the spam. Got rid of it for ya.

In regards to your question, browse through the Newbies section. This question gets asked on a daily basis. There's many ways to go about recording you and your friends. Only you can decide which is best and how much you want to spend.

If you're just starting out, there's a lot to learn before making purchases. You want to be sure you're buying the right equipment from the start. Not do what I did and spend $1000 bucks on useless equipment and software because I didn't have a clue. The Newbies section will be a big help. My advice is read, read, read.

Have fun.

 

[JesseP]

Thanks for reporting the spam. Got rid of it for ya.

In regards to your question, browse through the Newbies section. This question gets asked on a daily basis. There's many ways to go about recording you and your friends. Only you can decide which is best and how much you want to spend.

If you're just starting out, there's a lot to learn before making purchases. You want to be sure you're buying the right equipment from the start. Not do what I did and spend $1000 bucks on useless equipment and software because I didn't have a clue. The Newbies section will be a big help. My advice is read, read, read.

Have fun.

I dont seem to find an answer to my question anywhere. I know there are plenty of ways to go about recording but my question is if i need an ADC to go from a mixer into garage band.

 

[Chili]

Yes, you can plug your mixer into your soundcard and it should work. BUT, if you're getting the mixer you mentioned, it has a USB interface. Why would you want to go through the computer's soundcard?

Another thought: Why would you want a mixer in the first place? If it's for gigging, that's one thing. But if you want it solely for recording, there's better options than using a mixer through a 2 channel interface. Unless you just want to capture practice sessions or gigs and don't really care about how it sounds.

 

[noisedude]

Bottom line - the converters in any laptop are cheap and less than cheerful, and as an Apple user I can report that they are no different.

Do yourself a favour and get at least a basic USB interface to go with your fancy laptop and sexy microphones.

But your post shows that you don't quite understand what some of these things are yet, so Chili's advice to hit the Newbies board and start sponging up some knowledge about signal chains and the whole recording process is spot on.

Good luck!!

 

[gcapel]

I plan on buying a Mackie ProFX8 Channel Mixer.

Not a good mixer for recording or mixing. I would go with a vlz or onyx.

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to just make some ruff demos? Or trying to learn this stuff for real and make decent recordings?

I ask these questions because there are a lot of ways to get from A to B but they will have different results.

Use the search function here. Poke and prod. Read a ton. And then read some more before buying something. You may save yourself some cash.