Which type of a Mixer to use??

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soundking

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Hi!
Excuse me if this has already been covered. I have this small doubt. I have a PIII 700Mhz, 128 Mb RAM,Soundblaster Live Value card etc. I use N-Track to lay down the tracks (both audio and MIDI). Now my doubt is, if want to mix the tracks using an external mixer and not the one that comes with N-Track,and record the final output again to the HD what type of mixer should i go for (Company etc.)? i.e how can i control the tracks from an external mixer? How do i connect it??

Once again excuse me if this is a newbie question.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post!

Soundking.
 
there are 2 situations first to be addressed here. ill start first with outs. you will need more then the stereo outs that you get from your SB Live! you would need something like the echo mona with 8 outs atleast to get yourself enough tracks out to mix. and that is still skimping it. second, and more importantly, why do you want to send your signal through anothher D/A conversion mix it then back into A/D ? the converters are definitely decent quality and while for demos for gigs, band setting up to go into a real studio, or for yourself this card is a great buy. for commercial use. this is probably not the best route.
 
with a sb live card, the only true way to mix would be to use the n-tracks mixer. Adding an outboard mixer wouldnt do anything for you regarding a mix down. It is a good move to get one though if you plan on recording drums or anything that will require bussing. it will also save you the hastle of repatching fter you record each instrument. and factor in all of the other features mixers have like eq and auxes. But basically with sblive, the mixer would really only function as a live mixer. if you add a card with multiple outs then you are in business. as kristian said, it would be kind of illogical to take the digital signal, go through and analog board, and then covert that back to digital again, when you can basically avoiding going to the mixer in the first place. dsp on computers is getting really decent these days, its probably to stick to the digitial domain as long as possible. (pro tools is a good example)

bottom line: if you want to mix on an external board, you need a sound card wiht multiple outs.
 
Hi!
Thanks a lot for your replies.
I know that SB Live is not the right choice for DAWs but i am just trying to manage. Regarding the point 'sticking to the digital domain' i'm afraid i was not quite clear the first time. I wanted to virtually 'Control' the tracks layed by me using N-Track with my outboard mixer (I don't have a big one right now. I am planning to go for a MACKIE CFX 20). I think I will probably need a digital out or something of that sort on the sound card.

btw, what are your oppinions on a MACKIE CFX 20 mixer? I need out board effects and i think i will go for this mixer which has almost all the effects which i may ever need. Can anybody tell me how much it costs? I tried to find out on the Mackie website but it is not there.

Thanks once again!

Sound King
 
behringer.

try behringer mixers. very good quality and cheeeeaper...
 
i am not sure if i know what you mean, but as i see it you want to control the n-tracks mixer through your outboard mixer?? The only true way to do that is with a digital mixer, and they are gonna run you a bit.
 
Hard to argue with keeping things in the digital domain as much as possible. The reason to use a mixer is mainly if you have a lot of signals coming in at once, like recording a band "live" which is what I usually do.

The Mackie CFX-20 will set you back about $900. It would not be my first choice. Yes, it does have built in digital effects and it does have Mackie reliability. But the mic preamps are their older models. When you think about it, the mic preamps are the most important thing - you need to get that analog signal into your system sounding as good as possible. The Mackie 1604-VLZ (about $975) has nicer preamps without the effects. It is a better unit for recording while the CFX is designed more for live performance, where the difference in preamps is probably not noticeable. You can buy outboard effects if you want, or use cpu plug-ins for the best possible sound quality.

If your budget is not up to this check out the Behringer boards. Something like their MX2004A gives you a similar number of inputs but only runs about $300. I have one of their baby mixers - model 802A - eight inputs, cost me $120. I have it set up in my upstairs computer room, works very well in its role. Or for something in the middle range, Alesis makes a board called the Studio 32. I've got one of those, use it with my main system hooked into a Gadget Labs 824 box. In its usual configuration it is recording two tracks of drums (Roland digital kit), bass guitar, lead guitar, keyboard, and three vocal mics going onto 8 tracks. The Alesis cost me $760, I have been very happy with it.
 
i own a studio 32 and feel is has been the most efficient purchase i ever made. It hasnt let me down once. And the negitive points people make about it, i really dont see it that bad. definitely look into it
 
Do digital mixers...

...maintain the integrity of the digital signal put through them? If there's no A/D D/A conversion, then the signal shouldn't be altered, right?
 
No mix if no change

Even a sum across a multi-channel mix is an "alteration"
and as such must be done right to sound right.
 
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