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RKfan

I am looking to buy a mixer for the following:

2 x keyboards (Kronos and Juno-G)
USB connection - recording to sonar for example and sound playback
Microphone (s) and electric guitar (x 1 at the moment)

Digital effects on the mixer would be good but not essential.

Outputs (USB, headphones, monitors)

Set up is in a small office, not needed for gigging.

I have looked at a few selling around the £200 mark (Allen and Heath Zed 10FX, Peavey PV10, Behringer Xenyx 1622, Mackie Pro FX8) - but not sure which might be best.

Recommendations welcome....

keyplayer14

marianghioda · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:11 pm Post subject:

I am using a Line 6 UX-8. Works perfectly for live and studio use.
One problem, I checked their website and it says it's not longer sold.
I saw one on E-Bay for $350, I paid $850 for mine.
Good luck!

Ojustaboo · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:23 am Post subject:

Something to be aware of.
The USB functionality is usually very basic on low end mixers (haven't looked into any over £200)

I brought the Peavey PV8 for use with Cubase, but its impossible to say do the following.

You record say a guitar or synth as audio track 1 (or use a VST instrument).

You want to record audio track 2.

There is no way over USB to have track 1 playing through your mixer from your PC while recording track 2 to your PC.

What you end up with is track 2 also containing track 1.

It simply sends everything that is being sent to the main L and R outputs, to the PC via USB, there is no way to route certain channels.

I looked at a few others, and they all seemed to be the same, the USB being meant as a simple way to record a live peformance to the PC and very little else.

I sold it on ebay and brought myself a Mackie 802-vlz3 which isn't USB but does have a second L and R output in addition to the main outputs. Pressing one button on any channel routes the sound to the second output, meaning I simply connecting this to my PC audio input, and in my above example, have Cubase track 1 happily playing through the mixers main outputs and whatever I want to record as track 2, going through the secondary output at the press of a button.

Thought I'd warn you as it seems its not only me that was confused over how these USB mixers work, first two ebay enquiries were to do with what USB software came with my mixer and I was honest with them in that it simply acts as a sound input/output device and no channel routing is possible. They both said that they thought they would be able to have some sort of plugin to use with say Cubase to determine what channel was recorded when, hence didn't buy (I also pointed them to the Mackie USB mixers online manual where that confirmed that it too worked in exactly the same way as the Peavey)

The music shop guy also implied I had control from within Cubase.

So it seems theres a lot if confusion around.

Best

Joe

djcactus · Senior Member Joined: 03 Dec 2011 Posts: 375

I have a xenyx 1622 and it is not a usb mixer, it comes with an external sound card that allows you to connect via usb but its only good for the main mix L/R stereo channel. Now dont get me wrong its a great analog mixer but you will be sore if you purchase one hoping to interface with your DAW.

I like the looks of the mackie onyx i series they have firewire on them and are compatible with your DAW. Though i know to some people a mackie isnt a first choice but they are affordable and this version seems to sound good, at least in comparison to the old 8-bus i was using.
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2xds-10, ds10+, m01

X-Trade · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:32 am Post subject:

If you have a truly multichannel interface then you will be able to configure and select your inputs for different tracks in cubase.

It's two or three years since I bought my interface but at the time it was pretty much only firewire interfaces that did more than four channels (two stereo) at a time. USB interfaces had this limiation. I don't know if newer interfaces take advantage of USB3 or even just USB2 yet.

I'm using an Alesis MultiMix Firewire and can record up to 12 channels into my computer at once (four stereo channels, four mono channels). Very handy when you're recording a jam.

I couldn't figure out if their USB mixers offered as much multi-channel capability, but I suspect it may be whole-mix in. At least they are nicely integrated into the unit.
I originally bought an Xenyx 1832 FX mixer. Great for live use but useless for me in the studio unless I spend £1000 on an interface to hook up to it with multiple ins and outs. The USB interface thingy that came with it was not at all what I was expecting, considering it was marketed as a USB mixer. It was also a little buggy but still quite handy from time to time.
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Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro

djcactus · Senior Member Joined: 03 Dec 2011 Posts: 375

Hey X being an osx user you might be interested in an interface that uses thunderbolt http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep11/articles/apogee-symphony.htm .

Sorry a little off-topic.

I do know with the you can set up the channels to the faders in the DAW, there is even a tape playback function where pro-tools or whatever sends the mix back the the mixer inputs that allow you to record to a "master" stereo track. Its not the best of both worlds but you get a nice analog mixer with DAW interfacing.

Edit: Sorry should have linked a while ago: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may10/articles/mackieonyx1640i.htm it comes in various sizes depending on how many channel strips you really need or can afford.
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2xds-10, ds10+, m01