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Help a newbie get some peace of mind, please

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demetrius2

Guest
Nov 27, 2016
4
0
#1
I'm trying to understand something that happened today.

A friend called me to help him capture his band's rehearsal.

He had an analog Yamaha MG166 Cx, so no USB. And a Laptop with Windows 10. So, since I couldn't use an interface or ASIO driver, I downloaded Audacity.

Bare in mind, I'm still learning things. So I tried, three days ago, at home, with a simple analog mixer, to record some tracks in my living room. I plugged in the mics, used a double RCA to single 1/8" coming out from the mixer's Main Outs to the Line input of my Laptop, selected Stereo Mix as "Recording Device" in Audacity, it all worked all perfectly. And my laptop, like my friends, also only had one jack input.

Now, today:

Everybody looking at me, and I said: "don't worry, guys, I know what I'm doing". then my nightmare begun.

I did everything exactly like I had done before. The mics were capturing the sound, sending it to the mixer, perfectly. But no sound at all going into the laptop, to Audacity. With the same type of cable (RCA to single 1/8"), and appropriate adapters when necessary accordingly to the input jack, I must have tried EVERY combination possible from that god damn mixer to the laptop: Stereo Out, Monitor Out, Rec Out, 2 track in, left/right from channel 13/14, from channel 15/16; tried plugged only one RCA to the phone jack, to AUX1, to AUX2, I even tried foot switch!

I left there destroyed, knowing that, If only there was a f..cking interface there to work with, I would certainly make that thing not only capture the sound, but capture it much better than with that stupid Windows-driver ridden Audacity stupid worthless software.

Please, help me put my mind at ease: what, besides not sucking at this and using an interface, could I have done to make this work in this particular situation? What did I do wrong? Help a newbie - albeit, perhaps quite possibly in the verge of quitting all this - to understand.

Here are some pics to clarify:

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#2
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#4
Did you arm a track and/or tried to record any input? Was everything configured properly in Audacity to record? IME with Audacity, sometimes you have to test record before you know you are getting signal. Probably pilot error on my part, but that's my experience, nonetheless.

The mixer should only have to send from a stereo L/R output. Most small mixers have regular main (1/4") and tape out (RCA). You should be able to use either. If recording a multimix, make sure to record to stereo (two track) and pan individual channels as desired. Did you confirm the output from the mixer through another device or PA?

Definitely disable mic in Windows, but leave stereo record enabled. Make sure you are going in the audio/line in, and not a mic in (I think most laptops don't have mic inputs nowadays, anyway). If the laptop has a video camera, the built in mic will be on if mic is enabled. At least that's how it has been with my Dells. Since you are recording a live mix, keep playback disabled, and use headphones or whatever if you need to monitor the live feed from the mixer.

I'll bet it's just something you forgot to check. Frustrating, but it happens to EVERYONE. Especially right at the worst times. Been there. Done that. DON'T QUIT. There are always tons of variables to deal with in audio recording. It takes times, years really, to get good at.

EDIT: like you said, it's best to have a USB interface. But if you don't have one, there are cheap solutions. Behringer has the UCA202/222 that can at least help you bypass the soundcard. They actually don't sound as good as soundcards, IMO. But they make the job easier if you already have a mixer, reduce latency, for dirt cheap.
 
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#5
Sorry I don't have any specific technical advice... but whenever I get a "ghost in the machine," sometimes just quitting & restarting the laptop does the trick. In your case, I'm thinking your buddy's laptop may have something missing -- a driver or incompatible sound card. Can you bring your own laptop next time?

When you go back through your set-up, start from scratch and take extensive notes and pictures as you go. Label your cables if it helps keep things straight. Keep a running list of problems you encounter and what you did to solve them. WRITE IT ALL DOWN AND SAVE IT.

I'm also thinking that a stereo mix from the board might be a little raw, unless you really take the time to get a good mix. That takes some trial and error and some patience from your buddies while they wait for you to dial it in. If you don't need a multi-track recording, maybe a handheld ZOOM recorder would be an easier way to go for now?

Thinking next level...I sold my Yamaha MG166CX a few months ago and bought a used Behringer XR-18 digital mixer. It took me a few days to get up and running, but now I can record 18 tracks (+stereo mix) directly into Reaper with ease. Might be worth considering if you're interested in getting more involved in producing.
 
#7
When a laptop only shows Microphone and Stereo Mix on that sources list, that means its only input is a mono 1/8" mic-level. It may not work at all with a TRS stereo cable (physical jack short), and it is not ideal in terms of gain staging for your mixer's line level input. Irrespective of all that, you are not meant to record the Stereo Mix.

You may have been recording on your own laptop through a mono mic-level input without realizing it. Very few laptops have a stereo line in. It's almost always a mono microphone input. When it's not, it'll show on the panel from your screenshot as a third recording source called "Line In", in contrast to the "Microphone". As a recording source "Stereo Mix" perhaps does not mean what you think it means; it refers to whatever sound is playing out of the computer's speakers currently, including any volume reduction from volume controls and any audio effect processing. The stereo mix also won't contain your line in or mic signal unless you are playing it through the computer's speakers... i.e. live monitoring it. And muting your computer's speakers might mute the stereo mix. So yeah, you never want to be recording the stereo mix / your own monitoring.

That should help you figure it out. Those light green bars next to the sources light up when a signal is present. I think the reason your recording didn't work was either because you were recording your own monitoring instead of the input (and you weren't monitoring the input), or if you were truly getting no signal, perhaps it was the stereo cable in a mono jack. Even if it had worked, it would have been going through a cheap preamp with a big fixed gain, and probably in mono. You can try with your computer, or a cable that isn't TRS. Or as others mentioned, these days $60 or $70 can score you a nifty little 2 channel USB interface, which not only avoids this problem, but conveniently contains clean preamps miles above a computer's onboard.
 

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