What equipment do I need?
- Thread starter gjkung
- Start date
you need to decide how many tracks you need to record at one time. If you record one instrument at a time, you need 1 or 2 channels. 1 microphone = 1 channel. The drumset requires the most channels. if you want to record individual drum onto a discreet track, you need at about 8 channels.
the recording process is known as overdubbing.
why do you need a live mixer?
the recording process is known as overdubbing.
why do you need a live mixer?
blueprintstudios
New member
gjkung : I believe kith's talking about the Onyx 1640 something.
haha your qn regarding sample rate. as you know CD = 44.1khz 16 bit. most ppl record at 24bit/48khz. some do it at 24bit/88.something khz, depending on preference and according to their own reasons/theories why.
but on a general scale. 24/48 will be enough. even my recordings are done at 16bit/44.1khz, lower in quality but I try my best to make it up in mixing to sound good so people don't bother so much with it. you gotta remember though, recording at 24/96 or even 192khz will eat up loads of hard disk space. be prepared.
soft : he wants a 16 channel recording thing. live mixer for live gig use. and at the same time he wants to record the live gig (guitar bass 3 mics, vocals 2 mics, drums 9 mics, etc) multitrack.
haha your qn regarding sample rate. as you know CD = 44.1khz 16 bit. most ppl record at 24bit/48khz. some do it at 24bit/88.something khz, depending on preference and according to their own reasons/theories why.
but on a general scale. 24/48 will be enough. even my recordings are done at 16bit/44.1khz, lower in quality but I try my best to make it up in mixing to sound good so people don't bother so much with it. you gotta remember though, recording at 24/96 or even 192khz will eat up loads of hard disk space. be prepared.
soft : he wants a 16 channel recording thing. live mixer for live gig use. and at the same time he wants to record the live gig (guitar bass 3 mics, vocals 2 mics, drums 9 mics, etc) multitrack.
yea blueprints thanks for writing stuff out.
soft, what i need the mixer for is both live mixing and studio recording. We don't wanna spend the cash on two separate mixers(which I think will dilute the quality of each of them).
I think I'm pretty clear about how to go about choosing it now. But i still have one more question:
http://www.mackie.com/home/showimage.html?u=/products/onyx24-4/images/24.4-Rear.jpg
Some mackie mixers have DB-25 direct outs, can we use that to record straight to a computer? IF yes, should I consider it alongside firewire I/Os?
Also, what is 4/8 bus operatioN?
Sorry if this is a lot to ask, tried to find out online but the multiple names for one thing is confusing.
Thanks everyone for helping out
soft, what i need the mixer for is both live mixing and studio recording. We don't wanna spend the cash on two separate mixers(which I think will dilute the quality of each of them).
I think I'm pretty clear about how to go about choosing it now. But i still have one more question:
http://www.mackie.com/home/showimage.html?u=/products/onyx24-4/images/24.4-Rear.jpg
Some mackie mixers have DB-25 direct outs, can we use that to record straight to a computer? IF yes, should I consider it alongside firewire I/Os?
Also, what is 4/8 bus operatioN?
Sorry if this is a lot to ask, tried to find out online but the multiple names for one thing is confusing.
Thanks everyone for helping out
blueprintstudios
New member
err buss ah.. I don't know how to explain,but vaguely = group a few channels lets say 5 channels into 2. or something like that. how to effectively use it, I forgot.
unsane
Member
you'll still need an interface of some sort to get the audio into the computer..i'm not sure what the DB-25 ports are,probably some sort of proprietary tascam interface/connector. but dont be fooled by the looks, its not a computer connector.
buses are like what ron said..a group of individual channels. for example you could assign all your drums tracks to one stereo bus, that fader will control the overall volume of all the drums at once. you can also use it to apply effects to everything in that bus at once, but its primarily a live thing i suppose,unless you're mixing or recording with outboard effects.
4/8 bus operation just means that the mixer has 4 or 8 seperate buses available to route your tracks to.
for recording your DAW will typically have internal/virtual bussing, same concept applies.
another thing about the phonic that i remembered is it comes with cubase LE which only records a maximum of 8 tracks at once? correct me if i'm wrong. at least it includes something though, dont think the mackie or alesis has anything bundled.
Mackie comes with Tracktion.
Alesis comes with Cubase LE.
Some stuff about Cubase LE (don't know if its updated though):
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/cubase/cubase.html
From that site, it says the LE version only has 4 channels.
Definitely, you'll have to get a proper full blown software to do 16 in.
One more thing about the Mackie... you have to get the additional firewire card. That will put another hole in the pocket... Alesis and the Phonic seem to already have it inbuilt.
Alesis comes with Cubase LE.
Some stuff about Cubase LE (don't know if its updated though):
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/cubase/cubase.html
From that site, it says the LE version only has 4 channels.
Definitely, you'll have to get a proper full blown software to do 16 in.
One more thing about the Mackie... you have to get the additional firewire card. That will put another hole in the pocket... Alesis and the Phonic seem to already have it inbuilt.
blueprintstudios
New member
gjkung : so far I think out of all the mixers, the phonics mk2 would be the most suitable. don't forget the amount of mics you gotta get for drums... and the amount of cables which are not cheap either. and also you may need to upgrade your PC to be able to record 16 channels at once.
blueprintstudios
New member
www.phonic.com either look for international dealers/singapore or by shipping global
