Yet another question about a studio setup: Audio Interfaces

[Vantec]

I'll recommend m-audio and focusrite gear any day. Never failed me and used them for years. Probably the quickest 2 brands to release/improve drivers come a new OS like W7 etc...
Currently using my Saphire pro dsp 24. Absolutely awesome unit.

[^catalyst]

I always hear from industry friends that the focusrite stuff has good mic pre-amps, so I would consider one of those.

[Raykay]

Originally Posted by Vantec

I'll recommend m-audio and focusrite gear any day. Never failed me and used them for years. Probably the quickest 2 brands to release/improve drivers come a new OS like W7 etc...
Currently using my Saphire pro dsp 24. Absolutely awesome unit.

Would these work in Logic on Mac OSX?

[Raykay]

wrong thread. whoops

[Vantec]

Originally Posted by Raykay

Would these work in Logic on Mac OSX?

Sorry for a belated response. Yes they do work in Logic. I've got my focusrite plugged into my iMac as i type this.

[Raykay]

Originally Posted by Vantec

Sorry for a belated response. Yes they do work in Logic. I've got my focusrite plugged into my iMac as i type this.

Cool no probs, still looking at the Tascam, although I would be lacking USB ports on a macbook pro if I were to get one.

[insidahdev]

Hi, Sorry to come in late to the story...

I currently use a line mixer for all my inputs (synths, etc) and then output that to my audio interface device (Lexicon OMEGA).
I find that this free's up a lot of line's at the back of my audio interface. I've output XLR from the mixer straight to the audio interface, which even saves more channels. I can then dual output, from either the audio interface, or the line mixer, to wherever I want (that is, if I have a singer, and I want them to be able to hear themselves). I have also connected it to external audio gear, such as a hifi system, and I can listen to that again, so ultimately, I can hear my audio at 4 stages; my KRK reference speaker/monitors, a headphone out on my audio interface, a headphone out on my line mixer, and a headphone out and speakers on my hifi system. This generally helps me when I master my work, so I can get an idea of levelling, and getting the right balance of the frequency spectrum.

So yeah, get yourself an audio interface with at least 4 line inputs, and a line mixer. Plug in your gear to the mixer, then output the mixer to your audio interface, of which your audio interface will usb link to your pc, and also output (via XLR or 6.35mm unbalanced) to your reference monitors (speakers)

cheers

[Raykay]

Originally Posted by insidahdev

Hi, Sorry to come in late to the story...

I currently use a line mixer for all my inputs (synths, etc) and then output that to my audio interface device (Lexicon OMEGA).
I find that this free's up a lot of line's at the back of my audio interface. I've output XLR from the mixer straight to the audio interface, which even saves more channels. I can then dual output, from either the audio interface, or the line mixer, to wherever I want (that is, if I have a singer, and I want them to be able to hear themselves). I have also connected it to external audio gear, such as a hifi system, and I can listen to that again, so ultimately, I can hear my audio at 4 stages; my KRK reference speaker/monitors, a headphone out on my audio interface, a headphone out on my line mixer, and a headphone out and speakers on my hifi system. This generally helps me when I master my work, so I can get an idea of levelling, and getting the right balance of the frequency spectrum.

So yeah, get yourself an audio interface with at least 4 line inputs, and a line mixer. Plug in your gear to the mixer, then output the mixer to your audio interface, of which your audio interface will usb link to your pc, and also output (via XLR or 6.35mm unbalanced) to your reference monitors (speakers)

cheers

Thanks for the advice, the problem I see is if I don't get a good mixer, I might be sacrificing sound quality as well.

Do have any recomendations for brands?

[insidahdev]

Rane is a pretty good brand for mixers, if you got the cash - check out the RANE TTM57 mixer..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8zu4ac-rg

This is a clip from Beardyman.. it's pretty good. He uses Serato, which Rane natively supports.

Just google RANE TTM57 demo for more videos

I hope this helps your quest to find a good mixer.

[Raykay]

Originally Posted by insidahdev

Rane is a pretty good brand for mixers, if you got the cash - check out the RANE TTM57 mixer..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8zu4ac-rg

This is a clip from Beardyman.. it's pretty good. He uses Serato, which Rane natively supports.

Just google RANE TTM57 demo for more videos

I hope this helps your quest to find a good mixer.

That specific model looks like its geared towards DJ's which got me worried.

Would that mixer be similar to say a behringer xenyx?? Just trying to get an understanding for if there are different types of mixers.

[insidahdev]

hahaha!! i really should have read the topic first- I thought I was replying to another thread, where someone wanted a setup for digital dj'ing... apologies there, and please disregard.


ok, so a studio mixer... it really comes down to 3 main factors:
1. money
2. how much gear you want to plug in
3. sound quality


if you have a budget of about $400 you could check out Allen and Heath's ZED10FX mixer, which suits a few line in's, but if u up that to about $700, you can get the ZED12FX which will give some more inputs (i believe 6 lines unbalanced/3 stereo). This is probably the best option for a beginner who still wants to maintain good sound quality and be able to connect up several devices. I believe it has a USB in/out, but this could be an attachment box which sends a channel of data to the computer back and forth, rather than act as an audio interface as such. I have this on my Behringer, but never used it.

Look, if I had enough money to get a mixer for my studio, I would be getting a Mackie 1604 VLZ3... its a high quality mixer that supports 16 line in's and the internals are fantastic. I would probably be lucky enough to fill half of this unit with my gear, so that would leave me plenty more room to increase my synths, drum machines, instruments (mics and guitars, etc) and the like.

So ultimately, it comes down to cash. I could go on for a while about mixers. I have a Behringer Xenyx1204FX which does the job. Sound isnt really too much of an issue here, as I run processors on the inputs (i use Propellerheads Record). Have a look at some of the Record video clips on youtube, and you will see how people can shape their audio by running effects over their line ins (a good way to change the sounds of guitars and singers).


Is there anything else I havent covered? I hope this answers your question about mixers.

[Raykay]

Originally Posted by insidahdev

hahaha!! i really should have read the topic first- I thought I was replying to another thread, where someone wanted a setup for digital dj'ing... apologies there, and please disregard.


ok, so a studio mixer... it really comes down to 3 main factors:
1. money
2. how much gear you want to plug in
3. sound quality


if you have a budget of about $400 you could check out Allen and Heath's ZED10FX mixer, which suits a few line in's, but if u up that to about $700, you can get the ZED12FX which will give some more inputs (i believe 6 lines unbalanced/3 stereo). This is probably the best option for a beginner who still wants to maintain good sound quality and be able to connect up several devices. I believe it has a USB in/out, but this could be an attachment box which sends a channel of data to the computer back and forth, rather than act as an audio interface as such. I have this on my Behringer, but never used it.

Look, if I had enough money to get a mixer for my studio, I would be getting a Mackie 1604 VLZ3... its a high quality mixer that supports 16 line in's and the internals are fantastic. I would probably be lucky enough to fill half of this unit with my gear, so that would leave me plenty more room to increase my synths, drum machines, instruments (mics and guitars, etc) and the like.

So ultimately, it comes down to cash. I could go on for a while about mixers. I have a Behringer Xenyx1204FX which does the job. Sound isnt really too much of an issue here, as I run processors on the inputs (i use Propellerheads Record). Have a look at some of the Record video clips on youtube, and you will see how people can shape their audio by running effects over their line ins (a good way to change the sounds of guitars and singers).


Is there anything else I havent covered? I hope this answers your question about mixers.

Definitely does, thanks for that, I've been looking at the xenyx but I dont know if I'll need the extra inputs from a mixer. Because I'm only beginning and I dont know if I'll go far (I really want to though), I want to start relatively cheap and go up from there.

If there comes a case where I need a mixer, I'll be getting one.

[insidahdev]

yeah, I thoroughly recommend it - it will allow you a lot of expansion, should you choose it in the future...


If you make a purchase of one thing decent, you'll soon get the bug, and want to keep buying.. next thing you know, you'll have a tower rack with synths, processors, drum machines, effects units, etc loaded into it, and begging for more space...

I stumbled across this video clip of the Mackie mixer..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttOtfozJeeQ

[^catalyst]

Originally Posted by insidahdev

yeah, I thoroughly recommend it - it will allow you a lot of expansion, should you choose it in the future...


If you make a purchase of one thing decent, you'll soon get the bug, and want to keep buying.. next thing you know, you'll have a tower rack with synths, processors, drum machines, effects units, etc loaded into it, and begging for more space...

I stumbled across this video clip of the Mackie mixer..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttOtfozJeeQ

Man so true, I can't produce music to save myself yet.

But...

Monitors, Audio Interfaces, Speaker stands, midi pianos, maschine (<3), then it's always the 'next' thing.

Just got 'The Mouth' to appease myself without needing more powerpoints!

[BassKat]

Go for the Motu Ultralite

You can find them for roughly $500 considering the strong AUD.

Plenty of input and output for a decent price. Should last you a long while