Members fishfartz Posted August 4, 2005 Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 i am debating on getting a mixer. i know for sure i need a mic preamp and have found a few mixers with mic preamps and even phantom power. also, with my Pod i could route the signal in a way so i could record a clean direct guitar, and then play it back using my Pod as a monitor and keep changing the amp models/settings and find the exact sound im wanting while listening. but im not sure just how useful the mixer will be. how important is it say when micing amps, what about vocals? will it give me more control than just using a mic>preamp>soundcard? thanks for any help and i welcome any thoughts on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jotown Posted August 4, 2005 Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 Having some kind of mixer will give you much more flexibility and more options. Unless you have a pre-amp bank with several channels you will need a mixer to record multiple signals at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted August 4, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 Originally posted by Jotown Having some kind of mixer will give you much more flexibility and more options. Unless you have a pre-amp bank with several channels you will need a mixer to record multiple signals at the same time. in bands in the past we have used a mixer to get live jams to a cassette based 4 track. will it work the same way if i wanted to record to PC? what im wondering is how much more can i have control over my signal with a mixer - than if i went simply guitar>amp>mic>preamp>PC? i need a mic preamp and was considering getting a mixer with one built-in if i can get more use out of it than that. i dont gig anymore but it would be nice to record more than 1 thing at once (drum machine/guitar, maybe drum machine/bass, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jotown Posted August 4, 2005 Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 If you intend to record multiple signals at the same time you will need some kind of mixer, and if you intend to have the ability to process those tracks separately after recording you will need a sound card/audio device that lets you record the channels discreetly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bongfodder Posted August 4, 2005 Members Share Posted August 4, 2005 Originally posted by fishfartz in bands in the past we have used a mixer to get live jams to a cassette based 4 track.will it work the same way if i wanted to record to PC? what im wondering is how much more can i have control over my signal with a mixer - than if i went simply guitar>amp>mic>preamp>PC?i need a mic preamp and was considering getting a mixer with one built-in if i can get more use out of it than that. i dont gig anymore but it would be nice to record more than 1 thing at once (drum machine/guitar, maybe drum machine/bass, etc.) Why would you need to record drum machine/guitar at the same time,I don't understand. For me,I need a mixer to record/mixdown,I get irritated quickly trying to do it in the software.Just personal preference I guess,it can be done preamp>PC. Have you looked at some of the digital mixers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted August 5, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 Originally posted by bongfodder Why would you need to record drum machine/guitar at the same time,I don't understand. For me,I need a mixer to record/mixdown,I get irritated quickly trying to do it in the software.Just personal preference I guess,it can be done preamp>PC. Have you looked at some of the digital mixers? the reason i mentioned drum machine and guitar together is that sometimes i dont want to sit and work things out precisely. i get alot of ideas and usually forget them if i dont at least record an idea. i used to write down the tunes but then look back months/years later and forget what kind of groove i had going. it would be cool during those moments of inspiration if i could hit record and sing (mic), play the guitar, and have the general drum beat going at the same time - just to jot down as a reminder in my "ideas" folder. i keep an ideas folder and like to add to it when possible. so rather than try to seperatly record each little thing when all i really want to jot down is the "gist" of it (because my songs/projects constantly change), i think that would be cool so in that sense it would be great for me - but of course when recording i take things 1 at a time since im pretty much doing all my stuff alone as opposed to reording others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bp Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 A great piece to look at for recording is the ATI 8MX2. It's both a great 8 channel mic pre and a 8 channel line mixer. Top quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 Originally posted by fishfartz i am debating on getting a mixer.i know for sure i need a mic preamp and have found a few mixers with mic preamps and even phantom power. also, with my Pod i could route the signal in a way so i could record a clean direct guitar, and then play it back using my Pod as a monitor and keep changing the amp models/settings and find the exact sound im wanting while listening.but im not sure just how useful the mixer will be. how important is it say when micing amps, what about vocals? will it give me more control than just using a mic>preamp>soundcard?thanks for any help and i welcome any thoughts on the matter. I have a dual tube pre amp and a dual tube compressor, made by DBX, it's the 500 classic series that is no longer made, but I use it for just about everything and it works real well. I mic all guitars, vocals, bass amp, acoustic guitars ect thought those amps and it really warms thgis up and gives it some life. The only thing I use a mixer for (Spirit M8 analog mixer) is when I record the drums, as I usaully mic the kit with 4 mics, 1 sm75 on the snare, 1 beyer Dynamic M88 on the kick ,and 2 Beyer ribbon mics on the over heads, some times a large condensor for the room, but not to often. I am very old school. I send it all in to my Roland digital recorder, with put the pre and mixer the sound is just fair at best. I have done some band stuff where I needed a few more inputs and the mixer has come in handy. My M8 has the same pre's as Soundcrafts Ghost mixer. That's one thing I did some major research on. After you have a great song you're gonna was it to sound great too. Look for the best mixer you can buy, see hwat your needs are and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fred5 Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 If you need one it's very important. Right now, I don't need one. I use a Revox A77 tape deck as a preamp. It also performs some mixer related functions for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted August 5, 2005 Members Share Posted August 5, 2005 Originally posted by fishfartz the reason i mentioned drum machine and guitar together is that sometimes i dont want to sit and work things out precisely...it would be cool during those moments of inspiration if i could hit record and sing (mic), play the guitar, and have the general drum beat going at the same time Drum machine = MIDI so you wouldn't necessarily have to record the audio just the MIDI, that way you could go back and edit the part later without rerecording your guitar track...analog mixer will not help you there. If you want to get into digital recording from the mixer perspective, look into some of the interfaces which allow streaming multiple tracks at once (and MIDI) to your computer, I think the TASCAM USB models are the cheapest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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