Mixer to mac

[Oreomeister365]

So were looking for something to record our jams with. Our drummer has had these drum mics forever, and my guitarist and I have the proper mics, so we were considering instead of getting an expensive recording console, how bout we just get a mixer and send that to a PC? (or a mac, in this case).

Is it as simple as that or am I missing something..?

Would a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter work so we can send it to the line in on the mac? (I'm assuming most macs have a line in...I'm not familiar with them at all, it's not mine).

We'd use garage band or whatever program to record the signal.

From what I can tell the only thing we'd be missing is the ability to go back and change the mix after recording, but since we'd be able to optimize the mix beforehand anyways. Even so, we can still record individual tracks when needed.

Opinions? Sure beats the hell out of using a single computer mic on the entire room...


while I'm here, what are your opinions on behringer mixers? We don't plan on using the FX built into them or anything. Really just looking for something with at least 7 inputs.

[roosterbass]

i use an maudio interface and run a single xlr into it from a mackie 12 channel mixer. it works fine for recording band practices, and you can actually get some decent recordings if you do it piece by piece. my suggestion would be to get a firewire interface, a mixer with the least amount of built in effects possible, and using garageband and a mac will work just fine, thats what I do.

[Oreomeister365]

Thanks, I'm looking into the firewire stuff.

Theres something that's a tad confusing though, there is mic inputs, line inputs, and instrument inputs. I know that mic inputs are "hotter' than line, but then where does intrument play into that? A DI would go to a line input, a mic, naturally to a mic input, and instrument is directly from and instrument I take it?

[Nick Kay]

Instrument inputs are generally the same as mic inputs, but they have an internal DI tacked in there.

Mic inputs: Microphones, DIs, anything balanced and low-impedance
Instrument inputs: Basses, guitars, keyboards, anything unbalanced and high-impedance
Line inputs: Any other gear. Includes outboard preamps, tape machines, samplers, some hardware synths, etc.

Basically, you can treat an instrument input the same as you would a microphone input with a DI in front. Line inputs are strictly for things that have been brought up to line-level already, which means that they've been through a preamp already. Mic and instrument inputs have a ton of gain on tap - usually around the order of up to 60dB before the fader. Line inputs usually have something more like 15dB plus whatever the fader is capable of.

[sasebastian]

I like the Mackie stuff. I use the Mackie Onyx 1620, which has 8 XLR inputs and 8 line inputs over Firewire to the computer. The plus is that it's a mixer which can also be used for live, as well.