Has anyone recorded Mixer to USB Interface using inserts as direct out?

[tothemax]

I'm upgrading my recording rig in the practice room to support 8 channels out from the mixer to my USB interface. I have a Behringer Xenyx X2222USB board and have found the USB out from the board pretty limited in that by default creates a Stereo send of the mix. So unless you are live recording you are stuck doing single tracks from the board if you want to do multi-track recording. My solution was to order a Tascam US-16x08 USB interface and build the TRS to TS mono cables I need to go direct from the mixer via the inserts to the interface (DAW). The new interface should arrive in a few days, pretty excited about the new options. It's my understanding that the signal from the inserts on the X2222 will be the raw signal from the board, pre-EQ, pre-fader which I think will be a plus.

Cables: The instructions I found for the cables show a bridged (TR) on the TRS and standard mono config on the TS side. The Tascam has TRS jacks so the recommendation is to use TRS plugs and bridge the ground and ring (RS). Apparently this has been a practice for a while. It's important not to interrupt the signal, the bridging allows it to return to the mixer bus.

Just wondering if anyone has done this and can provide any guidance or tips.

 

[Paulabass]

Yes, that is REALLY common, and the best way of getting lots of outs. You can also subgroup things and use the insert of the subgroup.
I have always just used regular 1/4" cables pushed in half way to the first click.

 

[filmtex]

Yes, that is REALLY common, and the best way of getting lots of outs. You can also subgroup things and use the insert of the subgroup.
I have always just used regular 1/4" cables pushed in half way to the first click.

Yep. Been doing it that way since the mid 70's. Good on ya.

 

[tothemax]

Appreciate the vote of confidence, I've been getting more serious about my tracks and am looking forward to having 8 channels direct from the mixing board, with the option of 16 channels to the DAW. With the customized TRS to TS cables, the mixer signal won't be affected, correct?

 

[And I]

So you use the board to run a PA in the practice room and want to record each channel? This will get you there for sure. The 16-08 has 16 inputs, so if you wanted to record some stuff that you didn't need in the PA (drum overheads let's say) you've now got 16 mic pres between your board and your interface. Nice upgrade!

 

[Paulabass]

Appreciate the vote of confidence, I've been getting more serious about my tracks and am looking forward to having 8 channels direct from the mixing board, with the option of 16 channels to the DAW. With the customized TRS to TS cables, the mixer signal won't be affected, correct?

Honest, you don't need to make custom cables. TS plugs pushed in 1/2 way do the same thing.

 

[tothemax]

Gotcha on the cables, thanks for the follow up.
I look at this as an exercise in soldering and a better understanding of the signal chain. I ordered a 6 pk of 10' TRS cables and 8 TRS plugs from Amazon. I'm cutting 4 of them in half to make up the cables. I'm looking to leave it as more or less a permanent set up and I end up with a pair of 10' TRS cables for whatever.

 

[tothemax]

So you use the board to run a PA in the practice room and want to record each channel? This will get you there for sure. The 16-08 has 16 inputs, so if you wanted to record some stuff that you didn't need in the PA (drum overheads let's say) you've now got 16 mic pres between your board and your interface. Nice upgrade!

I was watching a YouTube on the Tascam US16x08 last night and one thing I'll need to verify is that the 8 XLR inputs are available all the time, where the additional 8 TRS inputs are only available when the Tascam software is running. In the video it looked like the user was running a much earlier version of the software v2.x. The latest version is v4.x and maybe the firmware has been updated. I'll follow up when after I've had time to work with it.

 

[And I]

I was watching a YouTube on the Tascam US16x08 last night and one thing I'll need to verify is that the 8 XLR inputs are available all the time, where the additional 8 TRS inputs are only available when the Tascam software is running. In the video it looked like the user was running a much earlier version of the software v2.x. The latest version is v4.x and maybe the firmware has been updated. I'll follow up when after I've had time to work with it.

Install the latest drivers and you'll be all set. My DAW always sees all 16 inputs and I've never had a problem with inputs not working. I've used all 16 simultaneously several times. I only open the tascam control panel app if i need to adjust the buffer settings.

 

[tothemax]

Excellent, thanks for the follow up.

 

[tothemax]

The unit arrived last Saturday and I got it installed and configured. I did perform a basic test to see if the inserts are sending a signal from the mixer to my DAW and verified that the mixer is working normally. Aside from that I haven't had the time to actually try any recording yet. As "AndI" had responded, with the latest drivers all 16 channels are available 8 x XLR inputs on the front of the unit and 8 x 1/4" TRS line inputs. Once the driver and UI were installed I was really surprised at the low latency numbers showing on my DAW. In the Cakewalk driver config page, if you click on the Asio panel it launches the Tascam UI. All very cool...

Some background: About six months ago I decided to look into a new DAW platform. Having hovered between Cubase and Audacity for a few years (liking the features of Cubase but finding the UI clunky while really liking the simplicity of Audacity but frustrated with its lack of features). In searching I found the new free Bandlab version of Sonar (Cakewalk). It seems to be a good compromise. It has nice features and compatibility, really is available for free, and there are all kinds of online tutorials from a large group of users. and... being a Windows guy, Cakewalk is a snap to install and configure (WIN10).

My last batch of recordings prompted the upgrade to the Tascam interface. I've been reading "The Art of Digital Audio Recording: A Practical Guide for Home and Studio" by Steve Savage and am finding it a really good resource for the novice engineer. Just thought I would share for anyone else moving down this path.

 

[DirkP]

But why don't you go directly into the Tascam? Why degrading the signals with a cheap Behringer Mixer if you want to record the direct pre-EQ signals anyway? For Monitoring purposes the Tascam has 8 analog outs that you can feed from the DAW.
Or if you need the mixer in the rehearsal room for mixing the live sound, you could as well go directly into the Tascam with all sources and feed the mixer with the signals from the Tascam 8 analog outs.

I do both with a digital Mixer/interface, the Tascam Model 12 (a bit similar to the Zoom Livetraks, but I prefer the Tascam).

 

[tothemax]

My original goal was a quick and easy way to have a multi-track recording option available during practices. We usually run a digital recorder off the stereo line out from the mixer for review. My thought was that with this new setup it will be pretty quick to fire up the DAW and set up a few channels without having to change any mics or cables. We end up with individual tracks that can used to work out arrangements. You do make a good point, for dedicated recording it would probably be best to go direct to the Tascam. I'm pretty much a newbie at this and really appreciate the input.

 

[tothemax]

Got a chance to play around with some recording the other day and ran into this. I've got my 8 insert channels from my mixer going to the 8 direct line inputs on the Tascam US16x08 - channels 9 - 16. I'm seeing all the channels in the Tascam interface GUI but all of the channels are not available in my DAW. The Tascam channels that are available in the DAW driver selection all seem to work fine but on my mixer I'm using XLR channels 5 and 6 to mic a guitar and bass amp respectively, they map to channels 13 and 14 on the Tascam inputs. Those channels are not showing up in my DAW driver preferences or audio drop down list. I'll need to read the manual a bit, hoping it will shed some light on this.

The other item I'm wondering about is that on my DAW driver config and in the audio channel drop down, I'm seeing three options for each channel (right, left, and stereo). That would make me think that the Tascam input is expecting a TRS stereo configuration. The cables I made up are TRS tip signal, ring signal, sleeve ground on the Mixer end and TRS tip signal (both tip and ring wires joined), ring and sleeve ground on the Tascam end. I used option 3 from the diagram below. I know there was a recommendation to use regular mono cables and insert to one click. I was hoping to have a semi-permanent install with this, hoping it's not an issue.

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[DirkP]

Got a chance to play around with some recording the other day and ran into this. I've got my 8 insert channels from my mixer going to the 8 direct line inputs on the Tascam US16x08 - channels 9 - 16. I'm seeing all the channels in the Tascam interface GUI but all of the channels are not available in my DAW. The Tascam channels that are available in the DAW driver selection all seem to work fine but on my mixer I'm using XLR channels 5 and 6 to mic a guitar and bass amp respectively, they map to channels 13 and 14 on the Tascam inputs. Those channels are not showing up in my DAW driver preferences or audio drop down list. I'll need to read the manual a bit, hoping it will shed some light on this.

The other item I'm wondering about is that on my DAW driver config and in the audio channel drop down, I'm seeing three options for each channel (right, left, and stereo). That would make me think that the Tascam input is expecting a TRS stereo configuration. The cables I made up are TRS tip signal, ring signal, sleeve ground on the Mixer end and TRS tip signal (both tip and ring wires joined), ring and sleeve ground on the Tascam end. I used option 3 from the diagram below. I know there was a recommendation to use regular mono cables and insert to one click. I was hoping to have a semi-permanent install with this, hoping it's not an issue.

View attachment 3974085​

Just guessing, but as the Tascam inputs are mono, I would suppose if you choose >stereo< on a channel, it is combined with the next channel/input, so the DAW sees one stereo-input instead of two mono-inputs and you can manage both channels with one track of the DAW and don't have to use two mixer-channels with one stereo signal. Mono is mono, no matter what cable you're using.

The non-available channels in your DAW are most likely a software/routing problem. But as I said, I don't know the Tascam US16x08.

 

[tothemax]

I played around a bit with it again over the holiday. It's looking like I might end up using a mix of the insert outs from the mixer and xlr in channels on the Tascam. One of my goals was a seemless way to record practices with individual tracks. That may not be as easy as I had hoped for. Will have to keep playing around with it.

 

[tothemax]

Tonight there was a breakthrough. I went through and tested each of the insert (outputs) from my mixer and verified that the channel was available to my DAW. This may help anyone trying to understand the Tascam US16x08 driver interface. This is a long post and I apologize for that, but it may be helpful to any other newbies with this hardware. Long story short - it's going to work exactly the way I had hoped for. Thanks to the folks that helped get through this effort.

Tascam US16x08 Driver / DAW clarification
What was throwing me is that the channels are doubled up as Stereo and appear as single channels in channel selection list, but only the odd numbered channels. I'm using Cakewalk for my DAW and when I select the channel drivers in my "Preferences" I see this view which appears to only have the odd numbered channels. 8 ins and 4 outs.

When I go to select a source for an audio input channel I get this view, which in my mind is still confusing. Instead of 16 mono channels I see 8 Stereo channels with options for Left, Right, and Stereo. So Left channel 1 is actually channel #1 XLR input, Right channel 1 is actually is actually #2 XLR input and so on. Selecting stereo combines XLR channels #1 & #2.

To add to the confusion the Tascam interface panel displays as 16 mono-channels

If you look at the bottom of the channel strips, between each odd and even channel, there is a link - which creates a stereo channel as shown below with channels 9 - 16.

Hope this is helpful, it sure had me going for a while.​