Mixer vs audio interface

[primeholy]

Gonna set up a home studio. Thinking about getting a mixer that will function as an interface, that way I can use it to record and for live use. Any big downsides to this?

[EndTime]

Not really. But I wouldn’t consider it ideal. .. I’m assuming you are speaking of these digital mixers. Or at least digital connectivity and acting as their own sound card.

I haven’t tried too many of these. But I have used the Yamaha digital mixers and the Tascam ones. The 16 track model. They sound good. Solid and generally suitable for most things but in the end these mixers, like ALL audio being converted to digital info, are as good as their preamps and converters. This is what makes or breaks most DAW systems. And most mixers aren’t bringing forth the BEST in that regard, but I believe the new tascam stuff gets pretty solid reviews.

In case you want to upgrade one day to a higher end converter, then I would personally make sure the mixer I get is capable of a total analog path as well as the digital outs. So if I up grade converters I could use the analog outs Into the better converters. But certainly not necessary.

Altho if you are never gonna record drums, or at least mic up 6 or more people at once. A mixer might look convenient, but most sound cards can accomplish the same thing. Just without the EQ section and routing capabilities. Which most aren’t utilizing these days unless you are planning to kinda run your own sound at live shows as well.

[primeholy]

Not really. But I wouldn’t consider it ideal. .. I’m assuming you are speaking of these digital mixers. Or at least digital connectivity and acting as their own sound card.

I haven’t tried too many of these. But I have used the Yamaha digital mixers and the Tascam ones. The 16 track model. They sound good. Solid and generally suitable for most things but in the end these mixers, like ALL audio being converted to digital info, are as good as their preamps and converters. This is what makes or breaks most DAW systems. And most mixers aren’t bringing forth the BEST in that regard, but I believe the new tascam stuff gets pretty solid reviews.

In case you want to upgrade one day to a higher end converter, then I would personally make sure the mixer I get is capable of a total analog path as well as the digital outs. So if I up grade converters I could use the analog outs Into the better converters. But certainly not necessary.

Altho if you are never gonna record drums, or at least mic up 6 or more people at once. A mixer might look convenient, but most sound cards can accomplish the same thing. Just without the EQ section and routing capabilities. Which most aren’t utilizing these days unless you are planning to kinda run your own sound at live shows as well.

Whats best to mic drums? We are getting our daughter a drumset for graduation, and plan on recording drums at some point. Ill probably use her drums for band rehearsals at my place too.

[EndTime]

Not really. But I wouldn’t consider it ideal. .. I’m assuming you are speaking of these digital mixers. Or at least digital connectivity and acting as their own sound card.

I haven’t tried too many of these. But I have used the Yamaha digital mixers and the Tascam ones. The 16 track model. They sound good. Solid and generally suitable for most things but in the end these mixers, like ALL audio being converted to digital info, are as good as their preamps and converters. This is what makes or breaks most DAW systems. And most mixers aren’t bringing forth the BEST in that regard, but I believe the new tascam stuff gets pretty solid reviews.

In case you want to upgrade one day to a higher end converter, then I would personally make sure the mixer I get is capable of a total analog path as well as the digital outs. So if I up grade converters I could use the analog outs Into the better converters. But certainly not necessary.

Altho if you are never gonna record drums, or at least mic up 6 or more people at once. A mixer might look convenient, but most sound cards can accomplish the same thing. Just without the EQ section and routing capabilities. Which most aren’t utilizing these days unless you are planning to kinda run your own sound at live shows as well.

Whats best to mic drums? We are getting our daughter a drumset for graduation, and plan on recording drums at some point. Ill probably use her drums for band rehearsals at my place too.

For a modest home studio. A mixer is definitely a solid choice. Since I am drummer as well, and record drums sometimes, I use a cheap Behringer ADA8000 for the additional inputs. This is a digital connection to my sound card that adds 8 mic preamps. The new ADA8000(don’t know if that’s the exact model number now) is supposed to be pretty awesome. For the price anyway. The one I have has been around forever. And is still a solid deal at the $80-100 used they go for. . And is as middle of the road as it gets but is suitable for TOM mics which is all I really use it for as I have my 4 good mic pres on my Apogee soundcard to mic Kick/snare/2 OHs. Most soundcards have digital inputs to add something like the Behringer to extend the amount of outputs.

[Marc G]

my production company uses the Midas boards for our shows when we have to do multitrack live recordings and it always works out great..... Midas is not cheap, we rent the board, BUT the Behringer versions of the Midas boards are pretty solid IMO

[EndTime]

my production company uses the Midas boards for our shows when we have to do multitrack live recordings and it always works out great..... Midas is not cheap, we rent the board, BUT the Behringer versions of the Midas boards are pretty solid IMO

Yeah the Behringer new one is ADA8200, with the Midas designed preamps. It’s $300 so it’s a bit of an investment but MIDAS has long been a live sound mixer mainstay. And Behringer usually sounds great at whatver it’s copying. Lol. Their main issue was will it last and most of the times Behringer will. Unless you get the one that doesn’t. Haha.

[Marc G]

my production company uses the Midas boards for our shows when we have to do multitrack live recordings and it always works out great..... Midas is not cheap, we rent the board, BUT the Behringer versions of the Midas boards are pretty solid IMO

Yeah the Behringer new one is ADA8200, with the Midas designed preamps. It’s $300 so it’s a bit of an investment but MIDAS has long been a live sound mixer mainstay. And Behringer usually sounds great at whatver it’s copying. Lol. Their main issue was will it last and most of the times Behringer will. Unless you get the one that doesn’t. Haha.

nice... that's a cool rack unit especially if you have a mixer already..... if I was building a rig from scratch I'd look in to the X32 line and the smaller XR units from Behringer... the XR18 is $600 and minus a control surface is a killer all in one unit, once you have a tablet you're good to go..

[primeholy]

So, I have a decently powerful pc, but it doesnt have a soundcard, only what is built into the motherboard. I have no idea what I am doing, so what all do I need to record? I know I'd like to have 4-8 xlr inputs on what I use so I can mic drums, or record multiple tracks at once.

[jgreenwd]

Gonna set up a home studio. Thinking about getting a mixer that will function as an interface, that way I can use it to record and for live use. Any big downsides to this?

So, I have a decently powerful pc, but it doesnt have a soundcard, only what is built into the motherboard. I have no idea what I am doing, so what all do I need to record? I know I'd like to have 4-8 xlr inputs on what I use so I can mic drums, or record multiple tracks at once.

No downside, really. The line between digital mixer and interface has become very blurred in the consumer space. Generally speaking, you can use your mixer/interface as your soundcard. Some may excel more in one arena or the other, but that goes for anything.

We used a Behringer XR16 X Air at work for a while. It worked fine as a mixer if you were cool with "set it and forget it." If you needed to actually change anything on the fly, connectivity SUCKED. We switched to a Presonus StudioLive 16, which was a MASSIVE improvement.

In your case, I would start with whatever connection format you're working with (USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt) and go from there. If you're filtering at Sweetwater, go Live Sound -> Live Sound Mixers -> Digital Mixers.