[ddots-l] Re: sound card and mixer recommendations

  • From: Nickus de Vos <bigboy529@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:35:54 +0200

Because you mostly mix in the box and not on the outboard mixer I
would recommend getting a control serfice and then a firewire
interface like the focusrite safire pro 40 or the presonus firestudio
or fire tube. Have a look at the Mackie control serfices, from what I
hear they are very good at a reasonable price. I know the safire pro
40s software pannel is accessible by using HSC but not sure of the
presonus cards.
I personally think firewire is stable enough to record with and you
will easally record 8 tracks at the same time with the pro 40 even
with low latencies. PCI can maybe be a better option but personally I
think it is only a better option if you go to a bigger setup like 24,
32 or 64 track recording. If you later want to expand to more than 8
channel recording at the same time, then you can simply buy a pre amp
or rack with8 pre amps with a ADAT output, it will plug in to the
safire pro 40 giving you 16 pre amps to record with at once. A good
example of a 8 channel ADAT pre amp is the presonus digimax but
there's a lot of options out there depending on your needs and budget.
If you really want to add a mixer you can look at the little
soundcraft analog mixers, there's a couple of models ranging in
feetures and channel count, think there's 8, 12 and 16 channels, those
mixers are really nice and compact.
The great thing about this is setup is that you don't have to buy
everything at once. You can first buy the safire interface and get
going with that. As your needs and budget then grow or if you feel you
need it you can then add the control serfice and later also 8 more pre
amps if needed or as said if you feel you want it, also a small analog
mixer.

A question on was why don't you stick with your current setup if it
aint broken why fix it. Well I guess the main reason for your upgrade
is to get better quality gear to get a better sound. Well the
focusrite safire stuff is a huge upgrade in terms of sound quality
over the m-audio stuff and the soundcraft mixer will also be a huge
bump up in quality from the mackie mixer you are using. The great
thing about the control serfice is that it doesn't effect your sound
quality because it only passes command information too and from sonar,
it doesn't pass audio signals, so whether you buy a really low priced
1 fader serfice for $80 or whether you buy a huge avid control serfice
for $70000, it all depends on what you need and what will work for
you.

On 9/21/12, John J. Fioravanti, Jr. <fioresq1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Nickus: I run my hard synths into a mackey 1202VLZ and take the main outs
> into a delta 66. I also have a separate preamp with two outs so combined
> with the Mackey, I can record four tracks at once, unfortunately, not in
> stereo. I use some soft synths. I generally mix in sonar and don't run back
> into the mixer. I use automation all the time. Thanks for everything.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Nickus de Vos
> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 8:02 AM
> To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [ddots-l] Re: sound card and mixer recommendations
>
> Hi
> The focusrite Safire cards are full interfaces in other words you can use
> it
> with out a outboard mixer. The safire pro 40 is basically a 1U sized
> chassy.
> You connect it to the computer via firewire, then you connect your mics
> instruments or synths directly to its XLR/jack inputs and your monitor
> speakers or headphones directly to its outputs. It's basically like a very
> simplified mixer with all the inputs and outputs but without faders and
> channel strips with EQ, aux sends etc.
>
> The advantage of using a control serfice when mixing in the box is that you
> basically have some physical faders and knobs to work with and you don't
> have to do everything on the computer keyboard. A control serfice makes
> tasks like fader automation, muting/soloing/arming tracks, navigation
> through tracks and even plug in control much easyer and hands on.
>
> I won't say that there's a advantage of using a control serfice rather than
> a full mixer. I would still always prefer mixing on a propper analog mixer
> rather than mixing in the box even with a propper control serfice. It
> really
> depends on your work flow and what you prefer, I've heard amazing mixes
> done
> only in the box so it's not really a question of quality anymore like it
> was
> a couple of years ago.
>
> If you can explain a bit about your current work flow then maybe I can
> advise you better. What gear do you have, how is your soundcards connected
> to your pre amps, how is your mixer connected to your soundcard and after
> recording to sonar, how do you currently mix, in the box or do you send out
> to the mixer and mix analog.
> I'm just trying to get a feel for how you do things and your current setup,
> as it sounds to me so far, you prefer a analog workflow rather than doing a
> lot of stuff in the box on sonar.
>
> On 9/21/12, John J. Fioravanti, Jr. <fioresq1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I am having  daw custom built. a
>>
>>
>>
>> From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of D!J!X!
>> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 1:02 AM
>> To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [ddots-l] Re: sound card and mixer recommendations
>>
>>
>>
>> Well, what will you be doing for the most part, recording with mics,
>> playing back lots of tracks (mixing and mastering), or messing around
>> with soft synths, or a bit of all that. Performance wise, PCI express
>> cards run better than firewire or USB, mainly because firewire
>> interfaces for the most part use dice II chipsets which has its
>> limitations; I think you can't go lower than 64 samples buffer. From
>> what I've seen PCIE cards have better latency and can go down to 32 on
>> a system that is properly configured, which is the question, what kind
>> of system are you getting, is it a prepared daw?
>>
>> Bak to interfaces, RME makes some solid stuff, but it's expensive, and
>> you'll have to buy the proper breakout box for your needs; not sure on
>> its preAmps and such, but the drivers, stability and latency is good.
>>
>> In the firewire land, there's the focusrite saffire lines, stuff like
>> the pro40, the liquid mix, the 56 etc. Motu also has some good stuff
>> in both USB and I believe PCIE and firewire.
>>
>>
>>
>> HTH, D!J!X!
>>
>>
>>
>>   _____
>>
>> From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J. Fioravanti,
>> Jr.
>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:50 PM
>> To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [ddots-l] Re: sound card and mixer recommendations
>>
>> Haven't decided on the type of connection yet, either PCI or firewire.
>> Would
>> you recommend firewire? e budget is not the problem.
>>
>>
>>
>> From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of D!J!X!
>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:43 PM
>> To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [ddots-l] Re: sound card and mixer recommendations
>>
>>
>>
>> What's your budget? What kind of  connection capabilities does your
>> new computer have, firewire, PCI express, USB etc.
>>
>> How much controll do you want over control panel and such, do you have
>> outboard gear like preAmps and such or do you need something with good
>> preas already in it?
>>
>>
>>
>> HTH, D!J!X!
>>
>>
>>
>>   _____
>>
>> From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J. Fioravanti,
>> Jr.
>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:33 PM
>> To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [ddots-l] sound card and mixer recommendations
>>
>> Hi: For a few years I've been waiting for caketalking to make 9
>> accessible and although I purchased 8.5 I've never installed it. Been
>> using 6; however, I'm about to upgrade to 64 bit  with a new computer
>> and sonar 8.5. Any recommendations for workable sound cards and mixers
>> to enable me to record at least eight tracks at once? Thanks in
>> advance.
>>
>> John Fioravanti
>>
>>
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