Using mixer with MR-8

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Ricklh

Ricklh

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I'm thinking strongly about getting a Behringer 802 mixer for complimenting my MR-8 and hopefully, get more benefits from the little red box. So, I just wanted to find out from those of you here who use one of these mixers (or one very similar to the 802) what all will I be able to do with the 802 - what added benefits will I be able to enjoy from the MR-8 that's not already contained on it? I know about the 3-band eq - I think what I'm mostly interested in finding out is how many more instruments I can record simultaneously. How will this work in conjunction with the MR-8?
 
I have not worked with the 802, but I have worked with a behringer board and the mr-8. My 1st Question would be, Are you going to be dumping the recordings into a computer?, and if so why are you getting the 802 and not something bigger. The mr-8 already has 2 xlr's and 1/4", I would go for something more "in's" but thats just me. Anyway, behringer boards are not the greatist thing in the world, the eq' is nice to have but if your dumping it into a computer I would just mess with the eq in there, but again...just me.

hope that helped
 
benifits from mixer

first and formost, you will get the preamps from the mixer, the pre's on the mr8 are weak and you will definetly get a better recording, and the eq is important, always try and get the best sound you can before going to the computer or mixdown, you will get phantom power so you can use condensor mics, and say you are recording drums, one mic for each available channel on the mixer, or guitar, you mic the amplifier, and use another in the room , or two... or three how ever many channels you have, one of my mixers is 12 channels, i use 8 mics recording drums, 4 when recording guitar... and so on...
 
Another point I failed to mention in my post - I have Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks 2 already and have become quite adept at using it. So, if I use GT2 to work with the MR-8 instead of getting the mixer, is there any need to even buy the Behringer?
 
yes

import one of yur tracks you have into yur software, you will see the wavform is not very thick, that is the loudness, then record a tgrack using a mixer, with the gain of the mixer as high as it will go without clipping, then adjust the trim on the mr8 as high as it will go without clipping, import the track into your software, the waveform will be musch thicker, and louder and stronger....the file without the mixer when burned to cd will be very soft in comparison to other cd's, and if you do the mastering right, the level will be equal to or close to that of a commercial cd...`
 
dave in toledo said:
the file without the mixer when burned to cd will be very soft in comparison to other cd's, and if you do the mastering right, the level will be equal to or close to that of a commercial cd...`
Click to expand...

you might also want to try turnign up the main in the program :D
 
turn up the main

if the gain structure is right turning up the main anymore then it already is will cause digital clipping, have you heard it..... yuck....

this will give the hottest signal possible without clipping which is what causes digital distortion...
 
dave in toledo said:
...then adjust the trim on the mr8 as high as it will go without clipping, import the track into your software, the waveform will be musch thicker, and louder and stronger....
Click to expand...

I don't mean to be confrontational, but I'm curious, do you really find that using the MR-8 trim as well helps get you a BETTER sound??? I've always heard, and found in my own experience, that it's best to use your "good" pre's (in this case the Behringer ones) to give you gain but to turn the MR-8 trim all the way down to "line" so as not to incorporate noise from its shoddy pre-amps. What do others think about this issue?
 
Kind of along the same lines

I have a small two channel Behringer mixer model 602C.

I've used it primarily to record stereo recordings "live in the room" with two mics directly to a free standing JVC CD burner and the results have been excellent. The sound quality is really good on those recordings.

What I'm trying to achieve is to be able to capture an equally good sound by recording straight to two tracks on the MR-8. I thought that should be fairly easy but the results are not as good. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong/different, but the sound going direct to the MR-8 is not as full and clear, and not as realistic.

I've been bypassing the signal on the MR-8 and simply using the mixer as a pre-amp. So the question of whether to combine signals from both pres could be an important factor. I'd like to hear other's opinions on this!

I'm mostly recording Djembe, which sounds excellent going straight to the CD Burner through the Behringer but not as good going to the recorder with same mics, mic placement etc...

All I want is just pure authentic sound reproduction.

Is it possible that the internal workings of the CD Burner are that much superior? Any ideas??

Thanks
 
tomleblanc said:
I don't mean to be confrontational, but I'm curious, do you really find that using the MR-8 trim as well helps get you a BETTER sound??? I've always heard, and found in my own experience, that it's best to use your "good" pre's (in this case the Behringer ones) to give you gain but to turn the MR-8 trim all the way down to "line" so as not to incorporate noise from its shoddy pre-amps. What do others think about this issue?
Click to expand...

Not really an answer to your question but I recently made a recording of my acoustic guitar and vocals and had the MR-8 trim turned as high as possible (miking the guitar pretty close) and it's the best sound I've got so far of my acoustic (on two different tracks). I was really impressed with how well it sounded on playback. It's a low-end Takamine but I had some decent strings on it and you'd think it was a Taylor or something on the cd-r.
 
ub802

I use the 802 and very happy with it. The preamp and eq gives you a much fatter sound and easier to deal with at mixdown. Like Dave said, you want to record your takes with the hottest signal without clipping. And I use the trim for maybe a 1 or 2db gain, depending on what my audio source is. As far as how many instruments you can use in the mixer,there are 2 xlr inputs and 4 line inputs that can be used simutaneously. Pj
 
tomleblanc said:
I don't mean to be confrontational, but I'm curious, do you really find that using the MR-8 trim as well helps get you a BETTER sound??? I've always heard, and found in my own experience, that it's best to use your "good" pre's (in this case the Behringer ones) to give you gain but to turn the MR-8 trim all the way down to "line" so as not to incorporate noise from its shoddy pre-amps. What do others think about this issue?
Click to expand...
That works great if you have good pre's. But if you don't, you don't really get too much noise from the mr-8 preamps. At least not that I've noticed. I don't have to peg my noise gate in my software with the mr-8 by itself. The biggest issue I've had with it is recording vocals. The pre's aren't good enough for decent vocals. I feel I have to use a pre amp with vocals, but I've used just a mic on acoustic guitars, and on my cabs without any pre amp with good results. But if you don't have good pre amps (the $70.00 ones are decent), go with the mixer. Especially on vocals.
My 2 cents...
 
missing the point

by not using the trim on the mr8, you still have levels that fall way below the target area of o db (in a perfect world) the mr8 pres are weak, and yes the a/d converters arent the same as a more expensive machine, but they should be weak , not noisey, does the red light ever blink when you record, that is clipping and introduces digital distortion, is that the noise?????

proper gain structure at all time, get mixer as hot as possible with ut any clipping, the bring the trim on the mr8 up to where its just below the red light flashing, you should get a good hot signal with no noise...

if i import one of these files created this way to the computer and look at the wav form , you will be able to see a good set of peaks and valleys, and of ther was noise you could see it and hear it this way..
 
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