Behringer Eurorack MX2004A

The preamps in Eurorack mixers have a very bad reputation over at www.homerecording.com, while not quite as many complain on the Mackie's. I've also heard that people have had reliability issues with Behringer products. I have no first-hand experience myself, but doesn't it make an old (?) saying come to mind: "you get what you pay for"?

Remember that if you go straight from a mixer to a consumer grade, two-channel sound card you will have to mix the song BEFORE you record it: not much multitrack post-production will be possible since it's already a mixed down stereo track. Kind of defeats the purpose with recording onto a computer with its outstanding editing capabilities. For instance, there will be no way to pick out a single instrument and add effects afterwards. Could be really tedious to get it right but it's by no means impossible to do.

 

If you could do with 8 simultaneously recorded channels (simultaneously recorded I said, there's virtually no limit on the overdubs ), I'd HIGHLY recommend saving some money and get either the M-Audio Delta 1010 ($599 at MF) package or the Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 ($749 at MF, which also includes Cakewalk PA9 multitrack software!). These packages contain a sound card and a breakout box with 8 XLR/line inputs, and they have much better quality preamps than Eurorack mixers. Yes, it's more money, but if you get a package such as this you won't need a mixer at all, and you have a great quality recording setup!

Have a look in any case:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/m-audio/delt1010.htm

http://www.aardvark-pro.com/direct_pro_q10.html

 

To be honest, I don't. If you have $600, I'd say spend it on the 1010 package instead. And until you have money for proper multitracking software, well, there are always ways... like your brother, or dare I say, the Internet?

PIRACY IS ILLEGAL! THOU SHALT NOT STEAL SOFTWARE!

There, good to have that one done with.

 

The Delta 1010 is bundled with Emagic Logic Delta, which should be more than sufficient.

 

Would that be a "customized" version of MicroLogic? If so, I've used that one for a while too. No track inserts? Fixed 3-band EQ with sweepable mids? "More than sufficient" isn't exactly what I'd call it!

 

It's sufficient for starting out, I meant.

 

True.

 

If you really need 3 tracks for bass (mic, DI, and...?), keep in mind that you have to set the levels right BEFORE you record it, i.e. BEFORE you hear how it actually sounds! If it ends up sounding crap, you'd have to reiterate the process of setting the levels and redo the ENTIRE performance of the WHOLE BAND, not only your own performance. If the same thing was done in a multitracking environment, you'd mix the song AFTER it was recorded, so if your 3 bass levels are set incorrectly it will take a couple of seconds to adjust them and you're done!

I'm just trying to save you some (a whole lot!) trouble in your home recording ventures, please understand that.

 

I'm steering you towards spending $600 for a COMPLETE PC recording package which will do you a lot more good than a $300 mixer and a $300 card used for the same purpose: to record music onto your PC! It's not "each component", it's the ONLY component!

 

Alright, i'm kinda jumping in on the middle, but i'm gonna do it anyways. Let me just give you another example of why you'll want independent tracks for recording each instrument.

The say you discribed your plan is, you connect all of the instruments in, and then you plug the mixer into the recorder (computer, tape deck whatever). Now you say that you're not gonna get a special recording sound card, therefore, all of your recording goes to two tracks Left and right. Bass, guitar drums, vocals, all must be recorded at once if you want to do it that way, and then they all will be set at the recorded volumes, tones, and if theres a mistake the mistake is stuck there, unless everyone redoes the whole song. If you record with everyone with independent recording tracks, say you want more bass, you turn up the bass, less guitar, turn down guitar.

Even if you do do a sound check before you record though headphones, you're gonna need a WHOLE lot of cable, because unless the room is sound proof, the live sound is going to mix with the sound coming from the headphones, and give you a biased opinion on a single track. There will almost always be a problem like that. You need to have a sound proof room for this to work.

My recomendation is to start saving your pennys more untill you can afford good stuff, because if you buy satisfactory stuff now, you might end up regretting not saving it up. Dont sell yourself short, because in the long run you'll probably end up buying hte stuff you originaly wanted to buy but didnt want to wait that long. You may say now that you dont want to do any over dubbing, but what if you do if you're tired of re-recording everyone because of one small slip in drums bass or guitar? Or what if the guitar doesnt come out as thick as you planned? you cannot just duplicate the guitar track, and add it, automaticly thickening it, you're stuck wiht the sound you've got. Consider ALL factors before you make a buy, its worth it in the long run.

 

If you buy the EWS88MT, you'd still need preamps to bring up the input levels. You'd have to buy them separately, or buy a mixer and use its preamps. I know that you immediately think of the Behringer again, but using the cheap-ass Eurorack mixer preamps with a top-grade card like the EWS88MT, is doing yourself and the card a major disservice. IMO.

A stupid, 4 AM analogy: A Porsche with flat tires is still a Porsche, but it's no fun to drive and doesn't behave well on the road. Of course, you could later on inflate the tires and have an excellent car, but the roads you'd have to travel before that happens will be a pain. I would prefer buying a "lesser" car, say a SAAB, with inflated tires.

See? Told you it was stupid.