| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| DaveP |
Posted - 30/06/2012 : 00:23:45
Anyone ever recorded stuff with one?
I'd like to be able to record 8-16 chans straight to hard disk - any recommendations?
cheers
Dave |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| moosetication |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 13:56:04
I got a Helix board 24 (16 mic pres) for £300. |
| DaveP |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 13:47:42
quote:
Originally posted by stakka
Aha - this is handy stuff. I use a "mixer-less" Saffire Pro interface to Mac Book set up but have promised to help a new starter (son of a friend) out with suggestions to get up and running on a budget and I was unsure of the whole USB / Firewire Mixer providing how many channels malarky.
..... so........ is it safe to say that most Firewire Mixers will provide multi channel (hopefully Pre Everything) interface functionality ?....... and all USB 2.0 mixers as well ?...... I couldn't immediately see this standing out anywhere in the usual marketing gumph I wall trawling through.
£400 - £500 will probably still be a little over budget though but based on the above we might be able to widen our search. I do have a spare Behringer USB mixer lying around but always assumed it would only interface 1 stereo or 2 mono channels.... maybe I'd better dig it out and see what it does - he can have that if it does provide more interface channels.
I have checked out a Saffire Pro interface amongst others (the Tascam interface Sharklaar mentioned is new to me and looks excellent VFM), but I was looking into recording a band live rather than setting up a studio, hence my choice. The Multimix looks great for this - it allows you to send everything coming through the mixer to the DAW (importantly, irrespective of whether it is in the FOH mix or not), record it raw, and post-process at your leisure.
Generally the mic pre-amps on dedicated interfaces such as the Sapphire or Tascam will be quieter and of better quality than those in mixers like the Multimix, so if your friend's son just wants to record stuff, that's probably the way to go.
I'm not sure that it is safe to say that most Firewire/USB 2.0 mixers work like this - you need to look at the technical spec for the model to be sure.
The Alesis can be found for about £450 - they go on eBay (where i got mine) for £230-£260. One of the options I looked into was this Phonic mixer
http://www.phonic.com/en/helix-board-18-firewire-mkii.html
which has the same number of channels as the Alesis, but has better mixing facilities and effects. It's more expensive than the Alesis but probably worth the extra - they don't come up on eBay that often but this looks like a good deal
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Phonic-Helix-Board-18-MKII-Firewire-Mixer-Helix-Brd-18-MKII-FW-/120929802155?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item1c27fa57ab
cheers
Dave |
| stakka |
Posted - 04/07/2012 : 12:54:10
Aha - this is handy stuff. I use a "mixer-less" Saffire Pro interface to Mac Book set up but have promised to help a new starter (son of a friend) out with suggestions to get up and running on a budget and I was unsure of the whole USB / Firewire Mixer providing how many channels malarky.
..... so........ is it safe to say that most Firewire Mixers will provide multi channel (hopefully Pre Everything) interface functionality ?....... and all USB 2.0 mixers as well ?...... I couldn't immediately see this standing out anywhere in the usual marketing gumph I wall trawling through.
£400 - £500 will probably still be a little over budget though but based on the above we might be able to widen our search. I do have a spare Behringer USB mixer lying around but always assumed it would only interface 1 stereo or 2 mono channels.... maybe I'd better dig it out and see what it does - he can have that if it does provide more interface channels. |
| DaveP |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 19:41:25
quote:
Originally posted by moosetication
Reaper is quite excellent and highly recommended. Yes, you can use it for "free" but a single user license is no more than £25 so be sensible and pay for the talent that produces and supports the software.
Firewire out is pre-EVERYTHING. It comes right off the input stage. Yes, 18 out and 2 returns.
I'm more than happy to pay that as is everyone I know that uses it - their business model seems to work?
Pre-everything is what I want, so that's excellent
cheers for the info - appreciated
Dave
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| DaveP |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 19:36:49
quote:
Originally posted by Sharklaar
I did point this out, maybe he missed it.
I hereby retract my previous comments as they appear to be rubbish.
The USB 2.0 and Firewire versions send all the individual channels - the earlier USB version sends just L and R outputs, so I think that's the one your guru was referring to? |
| Sharklaar |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 15:27:22
I did point this out, maybe he missed it.
I hereby retract my previous comments as they appear to be rubbish. |
| moosetication |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 15:23:23
You may have omitted to inform your guru that we're discussing the Firewire version of the Alesis mixer. |
| Sharklaar |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 15:17:46
quote:
Originally posted by moosetication
quote:
Originally posted by Sharklaar
The Alesis will just send two channels to your PC...
No, it won't.
Fair play. I got this info from our band recording guru. It may be inaccurate. |
| moosetication |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 14:56:21
quote:
Originally posted by Sharklaar
The Alesis will just send two channels to your PC...
No, it won't. |
| Sharklaar |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 14:51:50
We've just invested in one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tascam-US-1641-16-Inputs-Computer-Interface-USB-2-0-NEW-/390397644515#vi-content
The Alesis will just send two channels to your PC so you will need to do the mixing before you record, which may be fine for your needs; but the Tascam (or something similar) will send all of the individual channels to your DAW so you can mix it on your computer - we'll be using Reaper for mixing. |
| beezerk |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 14:16:23
Yes Reaper is free  |
| moosetication |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 14:13:12
Reaper is quite excellent and highly recommended. Yes, you can use it for "free" but a single user license is no more than £25 so be sensible and pay for the talent that produces and supports the software.
Firewire out is pre-EVERYTHING. It comes right off the input stage. Yes, 18 out and 2 returns. |
| beezerk |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 13:25:24
Reaper is excellent and free. |
| DaveP |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 13:21:14
quote:
Originally posted by moosetication
Yes, I have one. And an Alesis Multimix 8. Works just fine for what you need. The pres are not stellar but perfectly acceptable (in my humble). What's the DAW?
When you say 16 channels - you know that the Multimix 16 pulls the usual marketing stunt and that it's 8 mic channels and 4 stereo channels?
g'day moose
I haven't even picked the mixer up yet so open to suggestions about which DAW - Reaper seems to have quite a few fans round here so I'll probably give that a go.
Any suggestions as to alternatives are welcome.
Yep I think I understand the techno-babble about channel count - as I understand it you get the stereo channels sent across the firewire i/f as individual channels, and the two main outputs as well ie a total of 18 - is that right?
One thing that was unclear which you might be able to clarify - as I understand it, the audio sent across the firewire is pre-EQ, but what about the level? Is that affected by the channel slider?
all help appreciated?
cheers
Dave |
| rufusisdrumming |
Posted - 30/06/2012 : 16:44:18
If your looking for an 8 channel interface then there are many other much less expensive and "better" sounding 8 channel interfaces out there. |
| moosetication |
Posted - 30/06/2012 : 08:40:43
Yes, I have one. And an Alesis Multimix 8. Works just fine for what you need. The pres are not stellar but perfectly acceptable (in my humble). What's the DAW?
When you say 16 channels - you know that the Multimix 16 pulls the usual marketing stunt and that it's 8 mic channels and 4 stereo channels?
|
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Alesis Multimix 16 Firewire
