Advice if a Mixer is the Answer for my PC based Home Studio

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Just get a line mixer in that case.

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you missed the point, but you know best

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IgnisMalleus wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:37 pm
I thought those mentioning being able to EQ each channel were telling me because they were creating for others who were listening and they wanted it to be just right for listeners. If that is the case then how is the fact that listeners are going to sculpt the entire final mix into what they think sounds good according to themselves irrelevant? Time is very precious to many people these days and sitting there pre-EQ'ng every track on a 30 track song for others to enjoy is pointless.
I'm not sure where you get these ideas.

A well chosen arrangement may not need to be eq'd at all.
A poorly chosen arrangement with everything stacked on top of each other and too crowded - then you need to eq if they cover each other, or better remove stuff.

I don't think anybody is doing eq on 30 tracks - then they chose the wrong instruments that all cover each other.

You title says pc home based home studio - and people just try to help.
Then you start talking about live and other things as well.
So it becomes confusing.

Common process
- tracking - you record what is to be part of mix
- mixing - you balance volume, and pan tracks etc so all blends nicely. Sometimes a little eq can improve things.
- mastering - the very final touch to it all, if many songs that they match in volume just about etc.

Nobody listening to their playlists on phones have time to adjust between every song. So idea is for a mix to translate decently to all listening devices. That is what people tried to tell you.

If vocal total slam the mix and you hardly hear instruments and arrangement you put a lot of effort into - not so good. Or other way around, you don't hear vocals - if any - not good either.

So don't get so emotional - and straighten us out
- what is your need regarding recording or live?

If you focus on live - then a mixer is a good way to get all you instruments to a stereo out for PA. Many single act performers do that and they adjust levels of various instrument as they go.

If focus on recording as title says - then more separate inputs to computer is very useful for full control. And less work on the total to get each instrument on separate track.

If while recording on computer you focus on too many things - like both get a proper mix from start and perform - and it will be a mess.

But if you want to sound recorded as you do live - a mixer could be your choice - but you loose control to adjust one instrument just a little bit becomes an obstacle. You pretty much record onto a stereo track and that is what you send out there.
Last edited by lfm on Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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IgnisMalleus wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:37 pm . I could care less about sitting there an entire day to EQ a 30 track song where no cares about the music.
if you as the musician dont care, why are you doing it at all?
why wouldnt you want the best for yourself?
why do you care about whats in the charts?
is this about making product or art?

mixing isnt some pointless excercise to waste time in production. if you think it is, well, maybe you might do better as an accountant?

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As fellow musicians, you understand having analytical minds, sometimes if we are not careful this carries over to other parts of life that are best left alone. Assumptions can be correct at times and sometimes wrong. I can't expect that everyone that has been part of this thread to have followed this entire thing and have read each and everyone's responses. I started responding like that though, and I apologize if anyone was offended, please don't get the idea that I always know what's best, and even if the industry aspect of music has issues, that is not what this thread is supposed to be about.

Ifm, yes, I want to do both. I have seen a lot of Youtube videos of people by themselves in a home studio doing really cool live performances, there are those with way more stuff than me and tweaking pots all over the place, and I wanted to be able to have synced videos like that too. I also want to sometimes skip the video aspect and just write a song. I'm sorry that my wanting to do both wasn't clear from the start.

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If you have a reference on youtube - ask them how they do it, and what gear they have. They are usually happy to communicate with viewers.

Some youtuber's have tutorials even how to do things.

You see something that appear to be live, but could be a full recorded soundtrack onto a daw while performing that. Then fixing up that mix and replace in video so it sound really nice.

If they actually did a live broadcast it could be that sounded quite different than final video that turn up later that most of us watch.

I really fond of buying live performance music dvd's of artists I like - and also read that some of what you hear is done in studio afterwords etc. They fix up things and sound way better than the actuall live performance even.

Sometimes buying gear we all make mistakes and have to consider it education money and just sell it off with some loss. Some could though these days even just be returned with minimum loss within 30 days and similar. So selecting a good store purchasing gear could be the most important choice.

But saw in another thread of yours that you do monthly payments of the gear you have. So just check that return policy still works when doing downpayment monthly - condition may not apply.

But I join the choir here in thread that extending the number of simultaneous channels you can record will benefit you the most - meaning each instrument on it's own track in daw. Then you have full control to fix up some levels that were not perfect while performing. If just making a music track or there is a video to go with it where soundtrack can be replaced later adjusting a bit.

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lfm wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:13 am But I join the choir here in thread that extending the number of simultaneous channels you can record will benefit you the most - meaning each instrument on it's own track in daw. Then you have full control to fix up some levels that were not perfect while performing.
Yes, and you guys are all correct about the importance in simultaneous channels, and I am taking that advice. BTW, I increased my budget to be between $300 to $400. If I may then, what do you and the rest that were helping think of this?

A device that can function as a way to mix it all to 2 channels for the live video stuff or video streams but also have its own USB Audio interface, allowing each instrument to be on its own track in a DAW for post-sculpting of that instrument. How then do you all think my DAW would respond to a nice Mackie ProFX12v3. I am looking into whether its driver is ASIO or if I would need to use ASIO4ALL and whether all of its inputs will be available Separately inside Cubase or Maschine. I like very much the 1/8" stereo input on channel 11/12, it would nice for the SE02 to use one cable instead of using a 1/8" Y cable with RCA to 1/4" dongles.

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Delete...
Currently trying to turn noise into music. :neutral: Is boutique the new old?

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Regarding the Mackie ProFX12v3: yes, the USB driver does ASIO. But it can only record two channels (one stereo track) so there's no point getting this in terms of flexibility. Always read the manual, not just product descriptions.

Also with ASIO, you cannot select more than one interface to use at a given time. So it's probably out of the question to use both the mixer's USB and your interface at the same time to record many channels.

So the best solution I see is to use ADAT to extend your current interface with an extra 8 input channels. On eBay I see some ADA8000's (previous model, nothing wrong with it) for less than $100. In case you're already in debt (I'd personally never go in debt to finance a hobby) every saved buck is welcome.
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