I'm new to home recording. I have a PC, some mics and some live equipment. I want to record guitar based alternative/ rock/ acoustic songs on to my PC so I can make my own CDs. Same sort of style as "Surfa Rosa" and Nick Drake.
I want to get a mixer to build a home studio around. I've heard great things about digital mixers, whilst others say that digital signals are weedy and thin compared to analogue, and not at all suitable for music that needs "valve warmth".
I was thinking of getting either an analogue Mackie 1642VLZ, or a Yamaha 01v96 digital.
Can anyone give me some advice?
Fri Aug 15, 2003 9:25 pm
AUdIoCoUrSeS
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 2014
Mackie 1642VLZ - Keep it simple
Forget about the digital vs analogue quality debate along with the Valve warmth "madness".
As you are a newcomer I would suggest keeping things as simple as possible to ensure you can actually get recording quickly and learn some good stuff along the way, without getting bogged down with digital technology.
An analogue mixer would be a good option for the following reasons:
1. very simple to operate
2. certainly good enough quality for home recording
3. interfaces easy (you need a soundcard)
4. you'll learn mixing desk techniques easier [imho]
As you are going to record drums you will probably want to record more than two microphones simultaneously. So you need a sound card for your PC that can do this. Something like the [url=http://www.zzounds.com/25825/item--MDOD1010E]
MAudio Audio Delta 1010 and Ableton Delta-Live Bundle (8in/8out PC Card
)[/url] will do a remarkeable job.
For the desk you need to think about how the desk operates and sends signals out for recording. i.e. you will need direct outputs, or some other means.
The [url=http://www.zzounds.com/25825/item--MAC1642VLZPRO]
Mackie 1642VLZ
[/url] comes with 8 direct outs. This is plenty for what you want to do. It means you can send 8 signals out (directly out) to your sound card.
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