Mixer, DI, and Audio Interface questions

[MicG]

Hey guys,

In an effort to get away from using an amp in my rather small practice space at home, I went out today and bought a Behringer Xenyx 802 mixer. I was hoping I could simply plug in my (passive) Jazz Bass using the standard 1/4" instrument cable straight into the line-in of the mixer and monitor myself using the headphone out on the mixer. The line-in claims to accept balanced or un-balanced signal. Can I do this or do I need to use a DI box?

For recording, I purchased a used Tascam US-144MKII audio interface as I hope to run my signal in stereo with the mixer. The problem is, it appears that the drivers for this interface not great, especially for Windows 7 64 bit, which I will be upgrading to in the near future. I was thinking about returning the Tascam for a Presonus Audiobox USB interface instead.

This is my first experience in recording and unfortunately my budget is tight. Any opinions on the Presonus or the Tascam for that matter?

Thanks

[Charling]

Originally Posted by MicG

Hey guys,

In an effort to get away from using an amp in my rather small practice space at home, I went out today and bought a Behringer Xenyx 802 mixer. I was hoping I could simply plug in my (passive) Jazz Bass using the standard 1/4" instrument cable straight into the line-in of the mixer and monitor myself using the headphone out on the mixer. The line-in claims to accept balanced or un-balanced signal. Can I do this or do I need to use a DI box?

You could do it but it wouldn't be the ideal setup.. balanced/unbalanced doesn't have a lot to do with this case,

Balanced = 3 wire cable (TRS jack or XLR etc.) = Noise rejecting
Unbalanced = 2 wire cable (Normal jack, phono etc.) = No noise rejection.

Your bass is unbalanced but the issue with going into a line input is that you bass is quite a bit quieter than a line-level signal that the input is expecting. You will need to crank the line preamp, potentially to the noisy end regions of the pot, to get a decent signal.

A DI, amongst other things, is an easy way to send your bass down an XLR cable, meaning you can now plug it into the MIC input on the desk. Although this often shares a gain knob with the line input its a much more powerful amp and will have no problems getting your bass up to a decent level!

In fact, you could make a cable that has a mono jack one end and an XLR the other (ground to ground, + to +, - disconnected) and that would do the job without a DI for now...

However the bass's output is VERY high impedance, the inputs are expecting pretty LOW impedance, and although the above would work it will change the sound a bit. It can be a bit unpredictable but worth a go to see if you like the results. The addition of a DI box will convert the impedance of you bass, so you will just get the plain, uncoloured sound of your bass, thats normally a good place to start!

I haven't used the soundcards you mention...

[MicG]

Originally Posted by Charling

Your bass is unbalanced but the issue with going into a line input is that you bass is quite a bit quieter than a line-level signal that the input is expecting. You will need to crank the line preamp, potentially to the noisy end regions of the pot, to get a decent signal.

A DI, amongst other things, is an easy way to send your bass down an XLR cable, meaning you can now plug it into the MIC input on the desk. Although this often shares a gain knob with the line input its a much more powerful amp and will have no problems getting your bass up to a decent level!

Hmm, it would seem that a DI would be a smart investment then. I have experienced this before; turning up gain just to get audible signal while dealing with noise. That's one of the problems I'd like to avoid. Thanks for the tip!

Does anyone else have thoughts on this or the audio interface- is it even really needed?

[giacomini]

Originally Posted by MicG

Hey guys,

For recording, I purchased a used Tascam US-144MKII audio interface...

Thanks

I was considering this device but I learned from a few reviews of it that the guitar input has a BIG flaw... Just try it out: plug in, switch it to guitar mode and record your playing. Pay attention when the green led of that channel blinks. Now look at the recorded waveform. The click you hear when the led lights up gets recorded. This made me go away from this unit. I'm considering now M-Audio, the new Fast Track or the Fast Track Pro.

Note: if you run the bass to the Tascam thru a DI into one of the XLR inputs you won't have the problem.

Question: (I don't own it so I didn't bother to look for a pdf of the manual...) does it have ASIO support?

[MicG]

Originally Posted by giacomini

... the guitar input has a BIG flaw... . The click you hear when the led lights up gets recorded. This made me go away from this unit. I'm considering now M-Audio, the new Fast Track or the Fast Track Pro.

Question: (I don't own it so I didn't bother to look for a pdf of the manual...) does it have ASIO support?

You'll have to forgive me as I'm just getting into home recording. I'm not sure what ASIO even is?

I'll keep the flaw you mentioned in mind.

Here's a question: do I even need an audio interface? Why couldn't I simply plug my mixer into the mic input on my PC? Grant it, my PC is a dinosaur but still.

[Charling]

Originally Posted by MicG

You'll have to forgive me as I'm just getting into home recording. I'm not sure what ASIO even is?

I'll keep the flaw you mentioned in mind.

Here's a question: do I even need an audio interface? Why couldn't I simply plug my mixer into the mic input on my PC? Grant it, my PC is a dinosaur but still.

ASIO is a range of drivers that work for a great number of soundcards for PC's. However, it doesn't matter if a soundcard you buy has asio support, because it will come with the correct driver on a CD (or at very least directions of where to download it). This driver may or may not be based on ASIO, but it doesn't really matter, the point is they'll give you a driver that works for the soundcard you buy. just to clarify soundcard=audio interface, same thing essentially, I'm just stuck in the past with my terminology

That flaw is a big one, and not something I imagine is a common flaw amongst those units. Call the companies support and they should be able to help you out. Of course, if the green LED is a clip light then that explains it but I wouldn't imagine it is! Clipping is almost always associated with a red light, and 'signal' present' associated with a green one.

A PC's input is low quality and may also introduce delay in the audio (latency) though you can sometimes get it to a workable level. The problem with plugging your bass into a line-input will still exist so you'll still need a DI (ideally) or jack>xlr cable.

To be honest, to get good results the first thing you get for a setup is normally an interface, then after that a DI and maybe a mixer if your setup requires it. A low cost interface is capable of some pretty decent recording these days.

The computers built-in input will work ok for just hearing yourself back and VERY rough demo's, however.