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Thread best way to connect analog mixer to sound card?

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Topic best way to connect analog mixer to sound card?
hello from sweden!
my name is torin and I'm putting together a home studio for my own projects and hopefully demos for smaller groups. I have a behringer eurorack 1604a (12 channels) and will be purchasing an Athalon xp 3000+ computer. I believe for the wide range of styles I want to record (acappella to jazz to velvet metal), that Cubase SX will be my software (other suggestions welcome!).

my question is this:
which card should i get for recording at most 6 tracks simultaneously (up to 250$)? how should i connect it to the mixer for optimal signal fidelity? i need a pa for the monitors, right? does it have to be expensive?

i guess that's more than one question - please help :?
2
or what about reason?

me again. :?
3
Welcome Torin!

I like Cakewalk for the software. Not all the home or lite versions will record more than 2 tracks at once, so look carefully before you buy.

A multiple input card for under $250? Try the MAudio Delta 1010 LT. MAudio makes good stuff. I use the full version Delta 1010.

For monitors, you need a set of near field reference monitors. I use the Event 20/20bas, but there are lots. Don't skimp here. It'll be a lot harder to turn out a decent mix on lousy speakers.

Your mixer will be fine for recording 2 channels at once. It might do four at once, although monitoring will be a challenge. More than that, you'll need a new board. You want to look for a board that has direct outs on the channel strips themselves.
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
4
i was looking at cakewalk too, but i thought the price was too good to be worthwhile. Which version should i get? The delta 1010 is exactly what i thought i wanted plus the price is great.

i still am not sure about how to connect the mixer to the card for high fidelity (I'm a bit skeptical of anything involving an rca plug) should i do a y-plug with two 1/4" to spdif, or should i try some sort of xlr to spdif?

thanks,
torin
5
Spdif is strictly digital data, so hooking an audio source to that won't wok at all. You keep mentioning the hookup that'll give you the best fidelity, but really any line or mic level signal will do fine so long as you don't mix and match them.

If your recording just yourself with mono sources one or two tracks at a time, I would hook the Aux 1 and 2 up to one of the line ins and route the signal using the options on your mixer. Hook the monitors up to the Mains out on the board. The advantage of this setup is that you can set the level of the instrument your recording in the monitor mix using the board channel and master faders, but you can control the record levels separately with the Aux send.

Other hook up combinations are available and are the ones you would want to use for other situations. What you should do is study the block diagram in the mixer manual very carefully. A mixer is just a giant bunch of switch options for routing signals to different places, and you can be as creative as you need to be so long as you watch your impedences and levels.
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
6
thank you kind sir for your wisdom and clarification. i shall indeed study the tome of squiggly diagrams and chart of polynomial equations. if all else fails, i'll play around with it till it sounds good ;)

thanks,
torin