USB Mixer? Or New soundcard/USB soundcard?

[Luke15_7]

Hey all,

Been away for awhile, and my podcast has been put on hold for a few months, and now I'm back to solving my sound issues. I'm close - I'm really close. I went to Musician's Friend and bought the following (I know, I know... it's not necessary, but I want to use the equipment for more than podcasting):

Behringer UB1622FX-Pro (No UB1222 to be found, this was the same price)
MXL V63M with shock mount and a mic stand
5-Ft Balanced XLR cable
LiveWire 1/8" stereo to two 1/4" mono plugs

I connected it to my old iMac, and the sound quality was good, still had a low hiss, but the thing just couldn't keep up.

Then I looked to the PC with the jet-engine sounding fans in it, and remove all but the power supply and CPU fans, then connected the mixer to the line input. The hiss was horrible, and the signal coming out of the mixer is pretty clean, so it has to be my sound card.

So I'm faced with two choices:
Shell out probably $50+ on a decent sound card
Or take my mixer back and wait until March 15th and get the new Behringer XENYX 1222FX for an additional $30.

My question is: are USB mixers worth it? It just seems to me that running a digital signal between the mixer & PC/Mac is a better idea than running an analog signal to a 3rd device's line in.

So, if you had a choice between them, what would you choose?

Thanks for your time. :)

Luke

[colinrego]

I am interested in this question as well. Although, I was looking at the Yamaha MW10/MW12. I guess, my questions would be how having a USB2 connection would affect recording in Garageband (et al.)? Would the USB2 connection allow for 2 Mics to be simultaneously recorded to separate tracks in Garageband (or other software)? Is this even possible? What [other] benefits would having a USB mixer provide?

[X Pat Radio]

There are also firewire mixers too. The Mackie Onyx is probably the way to go, if you have the money for it.

[Luke15_7]

There are also firewire mixers too. The Mackie Onyx is probably the way to go, if you have the money for it.
Ooh! That's actually the concept that I had from the beginning, but that's a steep price. It just makes sense to me that a track on the mixer should be a track in the software. Problem is, the 1220's Musician's Friend price is nearly $470, and that's more than I've budgeted for the whole project. Still... that sounds exactly what I really would prefer to have. Do all firewire mixers do this, or just a few?

Luke

[NML-Simon]

I agree go for the firewire mixer. Now that I'm addicted to this podcasting gig, I'm saving up for a alesis multimix. If you want to make payments try http://americanmusical.com/

[SFEley]

Folks -- I've got the Onyx 1220 w/ Firewire and I love it, but please be aware of what you're recommending. Street price on the mixer itself is $530 and the Firewire card is a separate $400. It is a fantastic solution, but probably not worth $900 to the average starting podcaster. The only reason I have one is because there was a short-term promotion last year where they threw the Firewire card in for free.

While the ability to capture separate tracks is wonderful on paper, and someday I might need it, in practice I never use it for my podcast. I'm always recording from the final stereo mix, because it's the only line that's post-fader and post-EQ. (I use the Onyx's EQ for my voice; it's easier than fiddling with software EQ.)

...Which is all a roundabout way of saying that the new Behringer USB mixer, or the Alesis, or any other digital-integrated mixer will probably suit your needs just fine. The Onyx is a better mixer, but also several tims more expensive, and the digital integration from the USB mixers is probably more than adequate.

There are other good solutions too -- a whole range of USB or Firewire converters that you can put between the mixer and the computer -- but yeah, if you can get it in the mixer and you're happy with the mixer on other grounds, it's probably cheaper. And I agree that this is likely to give better results than running the line into your computer's sound card.

[colinrego]

Unfortunately, I began podcasting as an excuse to fiddle with the tech as I am a bit of a tech geek. Thus, I am always looking for something better (whether needed or not). Has anyone used the new Yamaha USB mixers (MW10 and MW12, iirc)? They look nice and are quite reasonably priced.

[Steve Pinder]

I run a Tascam interface/ mixer into my usb with no hiss at all
I use Cubase software
The Unit codt me 199.99 at zzounds and it came with the software as a trial.
when the trial ran out, it only cost me 10.oo bucks for rhw code to unlock it.

Steve Pinder
www.karatekast.com

[X Pat Radio]

There are also firewire mixers too. The Mackie Onyx is probably the way to go, if you have the money for it.
Ooh! That's actually the concept that I had from the beginning, but that's a steep price. It just makes sense to me that a track on the mixer should be a track in the software. Problem is, the 1220's Musician's Friend price is nearly $470, and that's more than I've budgeted for the whole project. Still... that sounds exactly what I really would prefer to have. Do all firewire mixers do this, or just a few?

Luke

Just so you are aware, you need the firewire card as well as the Onyx. Now I great place is American Musical Supply, they offer payment options over 3 or 5 months depending on product price. You get the item right away, get you get charged in equal parts. That's what I do quite often on the more expensive products.

I just had a wonderful customer service eexperinace with them.

[Steve Pinder]

wow,
If you guys owned a MAC, non of this would be necessary.


Steve Pinder
www.karatekast.com

[SFEley]

If you guys owned a MAC, non of this would be necessary.

Say what?

I do my podcast on a Mac. It's a Mac that has no audio line in. Even the Macs that have line ins have received complaints about the lack of hardware gain control, and some people find their audio input hardware noisy. That's why I beileve USB or Firewire interfaces can be a good idea regardless of whether you're using Mac or Windows.

Now what are you talking about?

[Steve Pinder]

You have to understand, I am a graphic artist, I know Macs like the back of my hand, and the only problem I have, Is taking advise from a PC guy.


Steve Pinder
www.karatekast.com

[NML-Simon]

:shock: BUUUUUUURN.......... :P

[SFEley]

You have to understand, I am a graphic artist, I know Macs like the back of my hand, and the only problem I have, Is taking advise from a PC guy.
Who's giving you advice? This was a thread about mixers and digital interfaces. No one here was talking about PCs vs. Macs until you came in and started trolling.

I'm a Mac lover too, happily typing this on my Core Duo iMac, but it just isn't relevant here. There are great tools for recording and editing audio on both platforms. Neither choice will make you a better podcaster.

[NML-Simon]

As a musician I would say stay away from the brand name Behringer. I've had the guitar amps and bass amps. They looked great and sounded great at first then they fell apart. Samson makes some good gear, That's a good name brand. And they also make the best bass amps Hartke. But yeah if you are'nt multi tracking, like recording your band, then there's no need to go firewire.

[WyethDigital]

But ****, "Firewire" just sounds so much cooler than USB or analogue.

Actually, I've had some noise from my Behringer Eurorack UB802 when feeding into several different computers. At first I thought it was the Mac line-ins. Until I got the noise directly from the unit going into a Canon XL-1, so I can attest that there are better mixers out there. Still, they are quite portable, which was my primary goal in buying it. And if it gets too hissy, I have some great clean-up software for that.

Eric

[TheBiblePodClass]

Folks -- I've got the Onyx 1220 w/ Firewire and I love it, but please be aware of what you're recommending. Street price on the mixer itself is $530 and the Firewire card is a separate $400. It is a fantastic solution, but probably not worth $900 to the average starting podcaster. The only reason I have one is because there was a short-term promotion last year where they threw the Firewire card in for free.


I found a deal on eBay for a new Onyx 1220 w/ free Firewire card about a month ago so if you can find a good deal and have the spare cash it might be worth it. And if you do find a reasonable deal -- don't overlook the tracktion software that comes with the card. I use it "sweeten" my Garage Band output. I wrote up a summary of this on this thread http://www.podcastalley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8941 But I wouldn't spend 900$ when there are other options. But one thing to know is that the Onyx board is a little over-kill for podcasting. The firewire options are prefade as far as I can tell. This means that the Mackie EQ and volume controls don't affect your signal. So unless you have another application for the board other than podcasting it might be overkill.

[Luke15_7]

I returned the UB1622 today, and at least at this moment I'm planning to pick up the Behringer XENYX 1222 on the 15th. Firewire still sounds great, but it's a premium I don't think I can do just yet. I haven't even done my first podcast yet (at least a public one - the sound issues were just so bad I've been using them for training and practicing), so until my show proves itself, and I get a better Mac than I have now, I'll just have to stick to the USB. However, I will reconsider the Behringer or another USB mixer, but I really need to try to stay under the $210 expected price. Yes, I know that Alesis makes the 8USB, but I really am more comfortable with the slider faders and not the knobs.

This is really great, I'm learning alot! :)

[Luke15_7]

Ok, so I've decided on getting either a Firewire or USB mixer - I just need to justify the extra cost of the Firewire if I do that, though - so maybe the question is more like, "Which brands should I avoid?"

Behringer seems to be a brand that's come up twice to avoid. Mackie seems to be "the" name to get, but it's just too pricey right now. What about Alesis's FireWire and USB offerings? What about the Yamaha MW series?

Thanks for the feedback!

Luke