Mixer or Audio Interface?

paulegavin

Senior Member
I'm working on getting the equipment together for making some higher quality recordings and videos. I have the microphones I intend to by figured out, next is what to plug them into.

I'm deciding between getting a mixer or an audio interface. I'm curious about the number of inputs to get as well. I'm thinking eight will do it, I use 6 drums total so 1 mic for each and two overheads should be good right?

Any suggestions regarding what to go with and particular recommendations would be great. For the budget let's go with $400 or less. Thanks folks!
 
PreSonus Firepod is a good unit. It will allow you to record eight different tracks into your computer. If you get a mixer, usually that will only output a stereo mix via USB, unless you spend alot more money ;)
 
I you want to have everything covered and the ability to close mike all the drums you need
One mike for each drum - 6 pc
One for the hihat - 1 pc
Two for overheads - 2pc
Two for room mikes - 2pc
One under the snare - 1 pc
One extra for the kick(subkick or addional mike) - 1pcs

Thats 13 channels, but then you have everything covered.
A Presonus StudioLive16.4.2 or Mackie 1640i mixer gives you 16 channels and the ability to physically mix on the board during playback of what you have recorded. Need Firewire port on your computer. You also get a mixer that can be used when playing live.


Otherwise, as already suggested, you can do it with an 8 channel interface and stick to 8 mikes.

thx

jorn
 
Thanks Bo, it looks like The firepod needs Firewire while I only have USB. Any USB suggestions?

By the way, I've really appreciated your posts all across the forum, you're great!

EDIT: How's this look? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/US1800/

Oh yeah! I forgot about that one. That's a good unit. It's even cheaper than I remember! Maybe you can get two and string them together to be able to record 16 channels simultaneously!
 
I definitely agree with the Firewire Firestudio interface. ($399)

I have mixed and produced music on anything from ridiculous
Mackie mixers to simple interfaces.

Let me tell you.

Our studio's Firewire trumps it all.


You can track 8 channels immediately into your software all
on separate channels- which is the most ideal thing you can
do when tracking drums.


From there, all the mixing could be done internally, very easily..

Even better, you can daisy chain MORE Firewire interfaces
as you add on. (You can't do that with mixers..)

I track drums and shoot videos for a living and I've
never backed a product like the Presonus Firewire interface. :)

-Josh

P.S. They come with a firewire cable. And if not, they're only $20.
 
I definitely agree with the Firewire Firestudio interface. ($399)

I have mixed and produced music on anything from ridiculous
Mackie mixers to simple interfaces.

Let me tell you.

Our studio's Firewire trumps it all.


You can track 8 channels immediately into your software all
on separate channels- which is the most ideal thing you can
do when tracking drums.


From there, all the mixing could be done internally, very easily..

Even better, you can daisy chain MORE Firewire interfaces
as you add on. (You can't do that with mixers..)

I track drums and shoot videos for a living and I've
never backed a product like the Presonus Firewire interface. :)

-Josh

P.S. They come with a firewire cable. And if not, they're only $20.

Didn't our OP just say he didn't have firewire?
 
PreSonus Audiobox 1818VSL 18-Channel USB Interface

$450 at GC, and based on my very positive experience with my two Firestudio Project units. Presonus makes a great product, and I recommend it every chance I get.
 
It's not hard to add Firewire to a PC, with prices on interface cards ranging from about 13 dollars to around 80 dollars. Definitely worth the investment if you go with a PreSonus, as you can expand later. It will take you outside of your budget, but it's better to decide what you really want first and then spend wisely.

USB is fine, but my Tascam is limited to 16 inputs, and I have to buy an awful lot of outboard gear to make that work (additional mic preamps, analog-to-digital converter for the S/PDIF input and possibly an XLR patchbay).
 
I just went through a similar search after getting a new USB-only laptop, when I'd been using a firewire Presonus Firestudio Project with my old laptop. The first thing I considered was the Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, since it seemed largely similar to the Firestudio I had. The price felt a little high, though. And using it as a monitoring/mixing device while playing is very clumsy. All the mixing for your monitor levels has to be done on your PC. Also, while it calls itself an 18 channel interface, keep in mind that 2 of those channels are SPDIF digital, and 8 of those channels are via the ADAT interface. So don't expect to plug 18 mics into it without enough extra gear to make it not worth the trouble.

I ended up ordering the Zoom R16. Since I had some Guitar Center gift cards, I got them to pricematch Amazon's $350 for it. It's fully functional as an interface and can stream 8 channels at 24/96 to a PC that way, or it can be used as a completely standalone recorder writing to an SD card, limited to recording 8 channels at 24/48 to SD. For my use, the convenience factor of the R16 which can be used standalone, and has mixing controls for setting my monitor levels should make a big difference compared to the Presonus or TASCAM interfaces. At least, I hope it does; it's on the UPS truck for delivery today.
 
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