cheap mixer advice

[clare_bear]

Hi all

I think I need a cheap mixer to go between my mic and pc. My budget is small, say, less than £100.

Any suggestions? (as usual, I know nothing!)

Cheers

[ArDee]

what soundcard/audio interface are you using?

how many inputs do you need to record at the same time?

[smokingbeagle]

If you don't need it to do anything like feed headphones or monitors or whathaveyou, for getting the best out of your money for the later expansion you KNOW you're going to want, I'd just look at a voice channel like Focusrite's Track Master / Voice Master or Behringer's Ultragain stuff. If you want it to bring together computer ins and outs with microphones, headphones, monitors, guitars and everything else, there truly are shitloads to choose from; I'm getting too drunk too tyep, must go bed. But cheap now for the former:


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FOCUSRITE-PLAT...QQcmdZViewItem

For more mixer type stuff, I'll come back when mroe comptus mentus.

Do you know, Bruce Springstenn somewhaht good.

[Fretwired]

If your PC has a traditional soundcard then get a Soundcraft Compact 4 - they cost about £59 and have everything you'll need. I've had one for a few years ... top bit of kit.

http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sh...product_id=121

[clare_bear]

Thanks for the replies, sorry i didn't explain more what I needed before!

OK, so I normally use my condensor mic -> Behringer Ultragain phantom power thingy ->Pod XT -> laptop via usb. I can't use the ASIO4ALL drivers as they won't work - I just get a system crash.

I need something so that I can independently alter the level of the inputs and outputs with (I think that's right - I often can't hear my backing or click track very well). And I also need something that will cut down the latency that I get at the moment. I don't think I need many inputs, as that is all I really want it for. I guess I'd use it for recording guitar/bass as well as vocals, but probably not at the same time.

If you can advise me about what I might need etc I would be greatful - I don't really understand what I need to get all this right, but I do know that I can justify it a bit better now that my songwriting seems to be improving!

Cheers


PS. Beagle, that was a very valiant attempt, and it made be chuckle

[Fretwired]

Ditch the PODxt and get a Line 6 TonePort UX2 and upgrade the model packs ... it's a great bit of kit which has won a host of awards. It comes with Gearbox which has guitar amps, acoustic guitar amps, bass amps, effects, vocal preamps and processors - everything for the singer songwriter.

You can connect guitar, bass, mics for vocals and acoustic guitar and the drivers are rock solid. The guitarist in the Kaiser Chiefs has one for song writing.
http://line6.com/toneportux2/

Check out the video http://line6.com/toneportux2/movies.html

Dolphin have them on special offer at £119 which includes Albeton Lite - a decent recording package. You can then buy additional model packs of amps and effects. A few people on here use them.

[clare_bear]

Originally Posted by Fretwired

Ditch the PODxt and get a Line 6 TonePort UX2 and upgrade the model packs ... it's a great bit of kit which has won a host of awards. It comes with Gearbox which has guitar amps, acoustic guitar amps, bass amps, effects, vocal preamps and processors - everything for the singer songwriter.

You can connect guitar, bass, mics for vocals and acoustic guitar and the drivers are rock solid. The guitarist in the Kaiser Chiefs has one for song writing.
http://line6.com/toneportux2/

Check out the video http://line6.com/toneportux2/movies.html

Dolphin have them on special offer at £119 which includes Albeton Lite - a decent recording package. You can then buy additional model packs of amps and effects. A few people on here use them.

It looks good - is it effectively a recording version of the Pod XT? Does that make sense?! Are the tones accessed through the PC only? I'd really rather not spend as much as that, especially as I already have the XT, though - it seems like I;d be doubling up a bit? I don't intend to get rid of the Pod XT.

[ArDee]

Originally Posted by clare_bear

I can't use the ASIO4ALL drivers as they won't work - I just get a system crash.

specs of hardware and software are needed to give a helpful answer.

is the podxt an audio interface?

does it not have its own ASIO drivers?

this and many more questions will be answered next time on 'Cheap Mixer Advice'

[clare_bear]

Originally Posted by ArDee

specs of hardware and software are needed to give a helpful answer.

is the podxt an audio interface?

does it not have its own ASIO drivers?

this and many more questions will be answered next time on 'Cheap Mixer Advice'

Yeas, sorry!

The PodXT works as an audio interface (but I can never quite bypass the laptop's on board soundcard), and it has it's own ASIO drivers.

I'm running it all on quite an old laptop - Celeron 2.5 GHz processor, with 1.48Ghz RAM (apparently! - i've upgraded it from 256Mb). Software I use is Tracktion 2, which I don't want/can't afford to change at the moment.

Thanks

[Fretwired]

The problem you have is the PODxt, while a fine modeller, is not a proper USB soundcard, hence your monitoring problems. The TonePort does duplicate the functionality of the PODxt, but it also acts as a soundcard so you have zero latency monitoring. I tend to go for simple solutions and the UX2 would allow you to connect you guitars and mic in one easy to use unit - it's £109 here - http://www.dv247.com/invt/30066/

Your other alternative is to buy a USB soundcard like this: http://www.dv247.com/invt/36113/

Do you know whether your laptop supports USB 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0?