[Cardinal Rob]

I'm trying to find myself a good mixer that will last me on a budget of 150£ (280-300$ for you Yanks).
Right now I'm looking at Mackies due to their high reputation and am hoping to bag a Mackie 1402 VLZ Mixer.
However, when declaring this to my papapa to get his credit card at the ready for tomorrow evening (when the bidding ends for one of these models) I got quite a long lecture on not knowing enough about mixers, it not being able to last with me (due to not being top of the range) and me not practising enough for getting a mixer to take me anywhere (though once my exams are over I'll be recording like hell onto this thing methinks).
So what I really need right now is that extra advice on what I'm doing, the Mackie's advantages and disadvantages, from anyone who thinks they're in the know.
Please, I need this...

[!@#$%!]

do you want a mixer for live performance for analog recording or for computer recording?

you could impress pops by discoursing on the different requirements of each situation.

--

gotta go now but will check on this later.

[Cardinal Rob]

Home-made computer recordings. Sorry for not mentioning that.

Anyway, I must sleep/lie awake for three hours. I'll check back on this thread. *departs*

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Rob

Home-made computer recordings. Sorry for not mentioning that.

Anyway, I must sleep/lie awake for three hours. I'll check back on this thread. *departs*

a reasonable naptime. let me tell you if you want to do COMPUTER recordings what you need is a firewire interface and some mics. the firewire interface is superior to the mixer because it preserves every channel, so that you can tweak AFTERWARDS instead of freezing the mix at the time of recording.

oh yeS!!

papapapa will be impressed when you show him this:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...hile-main.html

$249 is less than 150 pounds so maybe you can go a little upscale. but whatever you do never forget to thank the old man for teaching you to apply your brains before you spend your money. go and kiss his hand now in gratitude.

if you need more options, scheck:

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Firewire...terfaces--2420

yes that is not a british site i know. but the mackie

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MAC1402VLZIII

will not preserve those 16 channels for later touchup.

oh no.

anyway, i should go shower & scrub. i am feeling a bit, hm, rank.

[terminal pharmacy]

ok things to look for in both sound cards and mixers: ok firstly with mixers, you need to know how many mic inputs you want, how many line inputs you, do you plan to use a condensor microphone if so you will need something that has phantom power which will allow you to use condensors and di's, you need to listen to the mic preamps of different desks to see which sound better because their are alot of shoddy products on the market waiting to be sold to people who aren't sure what they need or want. fader length... alot of the smaller footprint consoles have 60mm fader throws which sucks a bit, 100mm faders are better just for sheer control. how many auxilliary in/outs do you want for fx and monitoring etc? xlr3 outputs are preferable to 1/4 jack outputs. are the outputs balanced or unbalanced? are the line inputs balanced or unbalanced? is there metering on every channel, does the desk have direct outputs on each channel? do you need it for your purposes? if the desk doesn't have directouts then you won't be able to record mulitple channels at once because you will only be able to send out in stereo via your master faders, or you will have to set up a stereo aux send. how much eq is there on each channel? any questions about any of this just ask.... rather than the vlz i would probably go the onyx 1220 with the fireward card than you have you soundcard and some fairly good mixing capability on an alright sounding desk, however i would look at small format soundcraft consoles, allen and heath, even midas have a small fun console now however midas, soundcraft and allen and heath may be a little extra from the wallet but you are garunteed quality and long lasting joy

ok soundcards, i would stay away from the mboxes if you aren't going to use protools because they don't function well with other software, the preamps aren't that good and they are probably also out of the price range you are looking at. brands i know and trust and are reliable are motu, edirol, rme, presonus, metric halo, focusrite. i am not a fan of m-audio sound cards because they are structurally fairly weak and they also sound on the less than average side for my ears but they may suit exactly what you want to do. look for similar things in a soundcard as i have outlined for the console, phantom power, how many ins/outs do you need, is it fire wire or usb, what sort of monitoring options does it have, again you need to listen to the preamps....


http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sh...product_id=121

http://www.midasconsoles.com/venice.html have a look at the spec for the venice 160

http://www.allen-heath.com/uk/wz_series.asp

[val-holla-ing]

i have an alesis 12 channel USB mixer and it works pretty dang okay. i use it for performance and recording and it does everything i need.

[terminal pharmacy]

Originally Posted by val-holla-ing

i have an alesis 12 channel USB mixer and it works pretty dang okay. i use it for performance and recording and it does everything i need.

looks not too bad, how much was it

[val-holla-ing]

i wanna say it was right around 200 USD + sales tax. there's one's for cheaper with 8 and maybe even 6 channels and i'm sure you can find them even cheaper on ebay.

[Cardinal Rob]

Aw shiz, thanks, but the interfaces you showed me, !@#$%!, would they be able to record a whole band all at once? (this would be needed in the near future, a vocal mic, a bass mic, a guitar mic, two drum mics, violin mic and what have you (which would amount to 6+ mics))

And terminal pharmacy, I'm honestly really not good with all this tech speak though I appreciate your help no end, is it OK if someone can explain it all out fully to me? =\

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Rob

Aw shiz, thanks, but the interfaces you showed me, !@#$%!, would they be able to record a whole band all at once? (this would be needed in the near future, a vocal mic, a bass mic, a guitar mic, two drum mics, violin mic and what have you (which would amount to 6+ mics))

And terminal pharmacy, I'm honestly really not good with all this tech speak though I appreciate your help no end, is it OK if someone can explain it all out fully to me? =\

to boil down some of terminal pharmacy's points:

there are 2 basic types of microphone: dynamic & condenser. dynamic mics work just like that; condenser mics require "phantom power" which is an added voltage provided by a mic preamp.

xlr jacks are better than 1/4"

balanced vs. unbalanced

metering... ah, find everything here:
http://www.dfwsound.com/glossary.html

he's got a point also about m-audio cards/firewire interface.

i think you need to read a little more before your purchase. is it possible to stall a few days? might earn you the chance to get more $ for it because it will be well thought out.

[Cardinal Rob]

Oh yeah, if I give you a few days to find something fantastic for me of around 300$/150£ I'll be more than happy. That would be ace.
I'm cramming in on the terms right now.

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

1. Don't buy Behringer
2. Get one with Phantom power

[val-holla-ing]

amen to the phantom power thing.

[Prisstina]

i'd recommend something like this:

 

[Cardinal Rob]

That was so funny I forgot to laugh.

[terminal pharmacy]

ok for what you want to do Rob a whole band (and if you want them all on seperate channels) you will need things that are out of your price range, but if you just want to have a stereo recording of a mix of your band you will be fine with what you want. I have a motu taveller which is a nice sound soundcard this is 22 inputs and 22 outputs however only four micro phone preamps with phantom power; so I also have a digital console (o1v96v2) which has direct outs on every channel which allow me to get all my audio signals going to seperate channels in my rec software. These things are not cheap. You can do what you want with that mackie vlz and get reasonable quality recordings but you will have to work alot on your mix from the desk before you even hit record because you will only be able to record a stereo track unless you are going to buy a soundcard as well.

obviously you can track your drums, then your guitars, basses then vox seperately which will give you multiple stereo tracks withing your software.

[Cardinal Rob]

Fair enough - that can do for now - Thanks for your help!
So I guess I could be settling for a 4 input-at-a-time interface thing and a soundcard?
I'll see what !@#$%! has to offer.

[terminal pharmacy]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Rob

Fair enough - that can do for now - Thanks for your help!
So I guess I could be settling for a 4 input-at-a-time interface thing and a soundcard?
I'll see what !@#$%! has to offer.

you dont need a desk and a soundcard just a sound card will do, but you will have to track everything individually, i would recommend that you just get a sound card with 2 mic inputs and away you go, unless of course you want to get a very basic knowledge of using mixing consoles.

[!@#$%!]

cardinal rob, in this case soundcard=firewire interface, it's the same thing

your computer has a soundcard (what you hear through the speakers), but rather than jack your mixer into it, with all the additional componets & electronics & distortion, you feed the audio signal through its own little shielded box & firewire cable, with the added benefit that all the channels from your mix are preserved for whatever multitrack software you choose to work with.

[Cardinal Rob]

Oh yeah, I have really horrorshow software to work with already which has a decent lot of things a 'traditional' mixer would have - Thanks for clarifying that with me anyway chaps. So would your first link be the definite choice - or saying I have the money would I buy something a grade higher? Damnit you guys are good.