Advice on recording external gear

[zukenbauer]

I got this little mixer for few days now. Absolutely in love with eq, effects are not bad aswell althought im not using it that much as i thought i will.

Im still finding best workflow with this mixer but i think im gonna use it as its intended to.
I just found out this little problem (which im sure can be solved).

So, i run my minilogue and tanzmaus through mixer inputs into my daw, throw some favorite plugins and then i record everything. After that (here lies the problem) i change outputs in daw channels(into corresponding mixer channels) so i can send audio back to the mixer for analog summing but my volume drops a lot after that step and still havent found solution for it.

Anybody got any tips for this?
Thanks in advance

[Hades]

I got this little mixer for few days now. Absolutely in love with eq, effects are not bad aswell althought im not using it that much as i thought i will.

Im still finding best workflow with this mixer but i think im gonna use it as its intended to.
I just found out this little problem (which im sure can be solved).

So, i run my minilogue and tanzmaus through mixer inputs into my daw, throw some favorite plugins and then i record everything. After that (here lies the problem) i change outputs in daw channels(into corresponding mixer channels) so i can send audio back to the mixer for analog summing but my volume drops a lot after that step and still havent found solution for it.

Anybody got any tips for this?
Thanks in advance

just find the right levels at which you need to record your audio clips.
there is a difference between balanced signals vs unbalanced.
-10dB versus +4dB if I'm not mistaken.
(sorry, would normally look it up, but fucking dirty as hell after a day of garden construction in the heat here,
so don't wanna be sitting here for long before hitting the shower)
Make sure you use the right cables to connect your gear.

I would guess your monologue has balanced outs and your tanzmaus hasn't.
But do look that up.

but honestly, I think it's probably just that you need to find the right levels to record on.

[zukenbauer]

Hey, i think you missunderstood my problem.
My levels are ok when im recording but when i change outputs from master into ext out (corresponding mixer channels) only then level drops.
So when returning from daw back into the mixer level drops.
I can just raise the master fader a little bit and match the volume but i would prefer the other solution if there is one.
Thanks for quick response

[Hades]

Hey, i think you missunderstood my problem.
My levels are ok when im recording but when i change outputs from master into ext out (corresponding mixer channels) only then level drops.
So when returning from daw back into the mixer level drops.
I can just raise the master fader a little bit and match the volume but i would prefer the other solution if there is one.
Thanks for quick response

man, sitting here, literally typing in dust to my keyboard before hitting the shower
did you read up on the balanced vs unbalanced thing ?

if you use the wrong cables between your sound card outputs and your mixer ins,
you could have a huge loss in signal level.

[zukenbauer]

Hmm, im using mixers built in inteface for this so no extra cables or anything..
Althought im thinking about putting my scarlett in the chain

[Hades]

put your scarlett in the chain

[Macca]

The soundcraft records the input signal at a lower level.
When you are recording and putting your plugins and whatnot into ableton, are you listening to the master signal from the soundcraft or the master signal from ableton (as they will differ). This may be your problem?

I done a quick test on mine.

I have my minibrute in abletons channel 1 and I listen to this by sending the ableton master to channel 11/12 on my mixer.
If I change the audio to in abletons channel 1 from master to channel 1 in the mixer (with usb return on) there is no audio drop. If I deselect usb return on the soundcraft and listen to the minibrute there is a significant rise in volume however, but this is normal.

Can you take a screengrab of your settings? Theres quite alot of ways of audio routings and im all mind boggled

[zukenbauer]

put your scarlett in the chain

I will, makes sense

Can you take a screengrab of your settings? Theres quite alot of ways of audio routings and im all mind boggled

Ill pm you

[Críoch]

I've researched this mixer.. don't own it.

Was considering one until I re-hooked up my Mackie CR1604's 8 post eq / fader direct outs to my patchbay. Pretty happy with 8 atm. More outs would be good.. but everything has advantages & compromises of some sort. My soundcard has 8 ins & 8 outs. Makes sense for now & besides, I don't wanna spend any more money.

Mtk : My understanding is that the usb transfer is post gain & pre eq / faders.

The level is designed to be low so as to put it back through the mixer from your DAW & mix OTB. I believe.

Could have it wrong or misunderstood the Q.. but that's what I gathered in absence of ownership. Maybe others could confirm.

[zukenbauer]

Yes, youre right, its made for that type of workflow.. However, im thinking about running only drum machine through the mixer and bypassing its audio interface so i can use scarlett in the chain and drive synths through scarlett.. Also, that would give me ability to use post eq and faders but only master out from mixer to scarlett..
I guess ill need some time to test both workflow options and see what suits me better..

[Críoch]

If it works like that.. Great! Would be interested to hear if you do it & are happy with the results. You'd have both options then.

Me personally... I was really into getting one for a while, but I kept coming back to needing more ins on my soundcard.

If the desk had midi, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

What I have is more than sufficient in reality considering, use, money & all the rest. Everything works fine here right now & I feel I have a system that I understand lol

Keep us posted!

[zukenbauer]

Will do! I never had hardware mixer before but i can tell those eqs are really great, just a really small cut around 120hZ work wonders on my tanzmaus kick

[Macca]

Are you able to record without using it as the main audio device? I think macs allows multiple soundcards but I use windows and so far I dont think thats possible? (as I have the rytm and would love to be able to use overbridge & mtk at same time)

If it helps, this is how I use mine and really recommend it.

(right click view image for better veiw)


Essentially I am just using it to record all 12 channels of my rytm/octatrack/deepmind12/minibrute into ableton, all synced with the midi from the RYTM/ableton. I mute every channel in the mixer bar 9/10 and use 9/10 as the master in ableton. This allows me to use ableton and all my analog gear pretty seamless.

[zukenbauer]

Thanks for pic, we route it little bit different. I already tried using it with soundcard after the mixer and it looks like it works.
I just used scarlett as audio i/o in ableton and route all the chanells on mixer to master, and master out from mixer into input channels in soundcard.
Still not sure in what of those 2 ways i want to work, need to play with it for couple of weeks i guess