JimBobTTD Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Hello I'm looking to acquire a mixer for my mini homestudio. It will need to take an input from my computer (which only has a headphone out), a couple of line level inputs from various rack preamps and also a few other inputs for microphones and anything else which comes up. As far as outputs go, it would rock if it could have a USB or Firewire output, but that is not essential at all. Headphones and speakers outs are essential, however. It would also be grand if it would go in a rack too - 1 or 2u. I can't see it being much larger than that. The snag I see is the computer input...unless there is a thingie which can convert it to line level? Any help appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2pods Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) [quote name='JimBobTTD' post='916167' date='Aug 5 2010, 04:38 PM']Hello I'm looking to acquire a mixer for my mini homestudio. It will need to take an input from my computer (which only has a headphone out), a couple of line level inputs from various rack preamps and also a few other inputs for microphones and anything else which comes up. As far as outputs go, it would rock if it could have a USB or Firewire output, but that is not essential at all. Headphones and speakers outs are essential, however. It would also be grand if it would go in a rack too - 1 or 2u. I can't see it being much larger than that. The snag I see is the computer input...unless there is a thingie which can convert it to line level? Any help appreciated![/quote] Is this too over the top for what you need ? You could also use it without the computer, but I have it synced to Reaper via it's midi sockets. For Sale: Korg D1600 Digital Multitrack with HD and CDR (see sig) Edited August 5, 2010 by 2pods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 Cheers, but yes - that [i]is [/i]too over the top for my needs! I'm more after something small which I can leave on all the time. I need to mix the signal from my PC, Line 6 Toneport and Line 6 Pod XT Pro and a couple of other things as and when necessary. Recording is not needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 If it was just line level then there are plenty of options (many only 1U), but as soon as you want more than one mic level input you probably need to go bigger / more complex and expensive. Alesis Multimix 12R is probably a fair bet, but it does come in at 3U... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 That looks nice and chunky (and expensive!). Are there any gadgets to convert the headphone out signal to a line level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 FWIW I run the headphone out from my laptop into a mixer and out to speakers without any problems. In my audio driver panel it allows you to set up the sockets for different speaker configurations (for 5.1 etc.) if you want to- I don't bother and it sounds as good as the crappy a/d converters allow it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 Thanks for the response, velvetkevorkian. I am using a [url="http://www.phonic.com/en/pm801-en.html"]Phonic PM801[/url] mixer right now with the output going into a [url="http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/HA4700.aspx"]Behringer Headphone amp[/url]. The loss of low end and overall volume is tremendous and there is a slight digital noise there too...I thought it had something to do with the PC output being headphone and not line. I can run the PC into the monitor in socket of my Line 6 Toneport and have the Line 6 and the PC coming out the Line 6 headphones - no problems there. But I would also like to include my Pod XT Pro, and also split the output to speakers and other headphones. Is this even possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 It is possible that the headphone out on your laptop isn't up to scratch, so YMMV. What I use is a Soundcraft compact 4 mixer, with all analogue connections- the record and playback ins/outs go to my laptop, the monitor output goes to my hi-fi/speakers. I can plug instruments into the mixer and monitor them from its headphone outputs or through the main speakers, regardless of whether the computer is on or off. I can also record or monitor through software while the computer is on (running through the separate 'playback in' section of the mixer). It seems to me that if you went for something more like what I'm describing, as opposed to the 8 in/1 out approach of the Phonic, you could use the TonePort as your I/O from the computer (bypassing the headphone output issue) and any routing to speakers/headphones/recording could be done at the mixer. Or, if you got a USB/FireWire mixer you could do away with the TonePort. Does that make sense? All this routing makes my head hurt! Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 Hmm. Let me just get this straight, velvetkevorkian: Laptop headphones out to playback in on mixer Other stuff to other ins on mixer Your headphones to headphone out on mixer Your speakers to speaker outs on mixer This might be a better idea. I have no aux in or anything on the Phonic, only line/mic ins. It seems to me that your playback in is for an MP3 player or something along those lines, right? How would I check if my computer has a decent enough headphone out? It's a Dell PC (tower, not laptop) with a Sigma soundcard (the one it came with). Multiple cheers for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Yep, that's pretty much it. The playback in is meant to be for listening back to what you've recorded (as opposed to monitoring what's coming through the preamps directly), although I plug a CD player into one of the channels on the mixer which works too. The only way I know of to check the quality of the output would be to A/B it against another source- do you have a hi-fi you could connect it to along with a CD player, to compare? Glad to be of service! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 Nice suggestion! I'll give it a fiddle over the weekend and report back. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted August 10, 2010 Author Share Posted August 10, 2010 The kind folks at the shop have taken back the mixer and will be sending me a Peavey mixer which has a CD input. Problem solved, hopefully! Thanks again for all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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