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Mixing with UB1204FX

  • 7 replies
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Topic Mixing with UB1204FX
Hi all,

I have been singing to karaokes for a few years now, and just this year, I purchased a copy of Adobe Audition (for Sony Vaio laptop running WinXP Pro). I've been steadily learning to use what Audition has to offer, and I thougth it would be a wise idea to get a mixer which would allow me to "feel" what I'm doing as opposed to doing everything with a mouse. I tried playing around with the mixer and found myself completely overwhelmed at what it can do. It is much different than what I expected. Is there a good "general" tutorial on what mixers do and what the terms mean? By profession, I'm nowhere close to a musician, so it's like being a little kid that wants to learn to walk and is looking for some support. I'll be grateful for any pointers that anyone can provide.
2
For some very good online resources, I highly recommend Tweakeadz.

Now, if you're a more patient type, there are free online audio classes being offered at https://bruceamiller.us - just click on the Audio Course button. No, I am not an endorser of this site; but I have signed up inspite of having worked in audio post-production and I operate my own midi project studio... who knows? I just might learn something new.

Best,
3
Hi KitC,

Thanks for the pointers. I have already started reading at Tweakadz, and I've learned a lot from the couple of articles I read. I also registered at ); return false;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bruceamiller.us, and I'm waiting for a reply from them.

From whatever I learned at Tweakadz (and one of the posts here on the newbies corner), I connected my laptop to the UB1204FX.

The problem I'm having now, is that when I hear through earphones from the "PHONES" output, I can hear all the music properly, but the voice/vocal seems to be supressed. I've plugged the output from the sound card of the laptop to "LINE IN 1" with all other channels muted. I turned the knobs to see if it would make any difference, but it didn't do anything to the vocal part. I connected "TAPE OUTPUT" to my stereo system but the effect is the same of the music that comes out. I have also tried what Axeman suggested in the post "...Connecting Soundcard to a Mixer" (http://forum.studioathome.com/viewtopic.php?id=1295), but have not found any success.

FYI: I'm using WinXP version of Adobe Audition on Sony Vaio laptop for editing music.

I appreciate the help.
4
Hi,

What audio interface are you using? Are you using the Vaio's onboard sound? Do the recorded vocal track have ample level in Audition? There are so many variables to your problem that its hard to pin it down at the moment.

Your routing is ususual for me in that you seem to be routing the laptop's output into a strip on the mixer while the mixer's outs go into the lap and you are monitoring thru the tape outs and headphone outs. You have the potential for a feedback loop in your routing. It's possible that the feedback is coming in at a reverse phase from the laptop causing attenuation of your vocal tracks.

If you're using onboard sound, I suggest getting a better soundcard. There are several affordable PCMCIA and Firewire solutions out there. I don't particularly recommend usb audio interfaces because of their low data bandwidth.

Best,
5
For the time being (just for conceptual understanding), I am connecting the Vaio's built in sound card directly to the mixer. I'm working on getting a proper desktop set up which has a sound card like what you suggested.

The setup I have currently is as follows:

The Vaio's "line out" is connected to "Line 1" of the mixer
A mic is connected to "Line 2" of the mixer
Mixer's "Tape out" is connected to a stereo system
Earphone is connected to mixer's "Phone"
Nothing is connected to Vaio's "line in"

When I talk on the mic, I hear proper output in the earphone and stereo system, but when I play some music on the laptop, I hear distorted music on the earphone/stereo. Interesting thing is, that, when I connect earphones directly to laptop's line out, I hear proper music again. I have connected the laptop to the mixer several different ways (different lines), and I get the same result, so I don't think that it's the mixer's effects being applied. Further, the cable that I'm using to connect the laptop's line out to the mixer, I'm using the same cable to connect to the stereo system directly also, and again the music sounds ok.

I will be recording vocals later, but for the time being, I just want to get comfortable with using the mixer, so all I'm doing is connecting the laptop and mic to the mixer's input and giving the mixer's output to the stereo system.

Thanks for the help.
6
With nothing connected to the laptop's line-in, that eliminates the feedback loop potential. Remember that the Viao's line outs are in stereo and the mixer strip you're feeding signal is probably mono. If your 1/8" y-adaptor is summing the 2 signals from the laptop instead of being a true stereo adapter, it's entirely possible you're overdriving the mixer's inputs. There are also potential impedance problems because of a summing Y-adaptor but let's not get into that right now.

If your 1/8" adaptor is stereo, it would be better to connect it to the mixer's tape ins. The distortion you're hearing is probably because of the gain knob being set too high on the channel strip. Or it could be that the laptop is outputting too high a volume for the channel strip to handle.
7
Hi KitC,

Wow, I really appreciate the info. I think the mistake I was making is that I was connecting the laptop's line out directly to line 1 of the mixer without a Y adaptor. I never thought of the possibility that the mixer strip could be mono. And that also makes sense in case of the mic working properly because (to my understanding) the mic is also mono, so I should hear the mic's signal properly, which I do. I will go out and get a Y adaptor immediately and see if that's the solution. Thanks again. :)
8
You're welcome.

Typical of small mixers, the first 4 channels are mono with XLR and line level inputs while the next 2 channels are stereo line in - you can connect the lap's line outs to the stereo channels, aside from the tape ins. Set the stereo channel for -10 operation when routing the lap's outputs to those. The stereo channels probably accept 1/4" TS jacks so if your Y-adapter is terminated with RCA plugs, you might need RCA-to-1/4" adapters as well.

Good luck!