Line Mixer and Pre-amps

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hey all,

I have the following gear:

Keyboards/Rackmounts: Roland XV-88, Fantom XR, XV-5050, XV-3080
Software: Cakewalk Sonar 4
Midi Interface: Edirol UM-880
Mixer: Samson MDR 1064

My problem is that, when recording, the output from the keyboards is too
quiet. When I pump up the gain on the mixer, it blows it out (the red lights
light, and the sound ends up clipped). But, the sound is simply too quiet
for this to make any sense to me.

What I'm thinking is that I simply have the wrong mixer. That I need a good
line mixer, but I may need some pre-amps.

As for what I record, it is really all over the map. I've been doing a lot
of broadway stuff lately (having recently completed Seussical). But, for
various area schools, I've been doing orchestrations of pieces ranging from
Reggae to Hebrew, and from the Beatles to Gilbert and Sullivan.

Can anyone recommend either:

a- A good line mixer with good pre-amps. It would need to either accommodate
10 mono channels (allowing 2 for mics), or have 5 good stereo inputs and
some mic inputs. But, I need the pre-amps on all the inputs, not just the
mics.

or

b- A good line mixer with the afore-mentioned inputs but no pre-amps, and a
good rack-mount pre-amp that takes the inputs that I need.

Less equipment is better for me as I don't have a whole bunch of room. But,
I understand that in many cases, you want separate amps because the sound of
integrated amps is usually much worse than stand-alone versions.

Since I made a bad decision on the mixer I bought, I'd rather not make
another one. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Marc

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"The Nomad" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:wMORd.102538$JF2.54972@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> Hey all,
>
> I have the following gear:
>
> Keyboards/Rackmounts: Roland XV-88, Fantom XR, XV-5050, XV-3080
> Software: Cakewalk Sonar 4
> Midi Interface: Edirol UM-880
> Mixer: Samson MDR 1064
>
> My problem is that, when recording, the output from the keyboards is too
> quiet. When I pump up the gain on the mixer, it blows it out (the red
lights
> light, and the sound ends up clipped). But, the sound is simply too quiet
> for this to make any sense to me.

Which red lights? On the channel strips, or the output VU meters? Or
someplace else?

> What I'm thinking is that I simply have the wrong mixer. That I need a
good
> line mixer, but I may need some pre-amps.

I suspect your mixer is fine; somewhere, things are set in such a way that
the gain structure is messed up, so getting enough signal into your
soundcard (what kind, by the way?) makes the mixer clip. I'm fairly sure
there is a combination of settings that will get clean results into the
computer.

So, these questions:

When you're recording and it's clipping, where are the master faders on the
mixer set? (In dB if that's how they're calibrated, on a 1-10 scale
otherwise.)

Where are the channel faders set? (ditto)

Where are the trim controls on the channels set?

If there are group/sub masters, where are they set?

> Since I made a bad decision on the mixer I bought, I'd rather not make
> another one. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I doubt that you really made a bad decision choosing the mixer, but rather
some bad settings on its controls. We may be about to save you some money.

Peace,
Paul

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Sorry - I forgot to mention the sound card.

Soundcard: Digital Audio Labs CardDeluxe