Anybody know...

][cEMAN**

...of a good standard mixing desk for around under €500? I'm looking to do a bit of simple home recording and am going to be plugging this mixing desk through my PC (I've already got the soundcard I need for the I/O).

I'm not really to knowledgable with the mixing/recording equipment but I would love to find out. I basically have a load of stuff I want to get recorded but can't afford the recording time, and will be playing pretty much all of the instruments and doing the singing myself.

I'll be looking to use Cubase but still have to learn to use that as well. On top of suggesting a good mixing desk, would any of you know any books/websites I could read through in like a self tutoring style to get up to speed on the use of the recording equipment/software?

Many thanks in advance.

dragon_ninja82

What are you after? I managed to get an 8 track behringer mixing desk with phantom power etc for 80 euro off some english website. Ill send u a link when i get back from college.

bombidol

www.thomann.de are dirt cheap

][cEMAN**

Thanks. There's some great stuff on that site but it's all a little pricey. Though the site itself now gives me the chance to see what I want and then just search local stores and see who'll do it the cheapest

derrie

Thomann is about as cheap as you'll get! But the gear can take a while to get to you because there's no way of telling if something is in stock before you order.

If you want to go with Behringer gear - their Irish agents (Rea Sound methinks) will match the Thomann price

As for books - Yamaha sponser a good reference book called the Sound reinforcement hand book but it's technical end will apply to studio as well

][cEMAN**

Well tbh i've shopped around on online music stores and Thomann isn't really that cheap on most stuff.

Yeah i'll admit some of it is cheap but i'll give you an example. They list tab books of albums around £20-£25 yet there's a website I can order from that sell them from £10-£15.

Also they charge £815 for a Marshal TSL 100 head with 1960 cabs for £450, but another website I checked sell it for £699 and cabs for £349.

Doctor J

Is that from an EU or non EU site though? You'll have to pay import duty and shipping on top of the quoted price - Thomann's shipping cost is extremely reasonable. Shipping stuff in from the US can be costly, especially for heavy things (amp heads, etc) - plus all their stuff is rated for 230-240V

][cEMAN**

No the only websites I check for musical equipment are UK websites.

For the lyric books I checked http://www.guitartab4u.co.uk/tablist.html and for the amps I checked http://www.marshallamplifiers.co.uk/acatalog/tsl100headamp.html

I'd say there are loads of other websites out there where you could buy individual items of what you can see on Thomann's website. It just takes a bit of searching. But as I said before, Thomann's is handy because I can get to see what I want there before I go searching for a better price.

Doctor J

Are you going to use Hard disk for recording or something else. I'm doing the same sort of thing at home. I have a Boss BR1180 multi track recorder which I'm synchronising through MIDI to Cubase SX on my laptop. I need to pick up a keyboard, though haven't a clue about them, the guitarist in me finds it hard to part with big money for a lump of plastic

][cEMAN**

Yeah i'm going to use a HDD. I'm using a 7200rpm atm, but if there's a problem with this i'll get a faster one. I'm really just looking for a mixing desk for the instruments - something simple, then i'm putting that through the extra I/O card of my Creative SoundBlaster Live! retail. I bought it nearly 4 years ago for recording, and it can still handle it i'd say

I just have to get used to using the recording s/w as well because all i've done to date is use basic record and dub in another recording application (wasn't for musical instruments). Because of this most of the dubbing comes out sounding very low or distorted.

Besides I can save the files to disk then and put them in a safety deposit box and use that for copywriting

Doctor J

I'd love to be able to record drums but the BR1180 can only record 2 tracks at a time Steinberg have new drum software out called Groove Agent which I'll have to check out soon.

Still, I can mix 8 tracks on the BR1180 and however many in Cubase simoultaneously, and there's a handy mastering setup in the BR1180 too. You should check out the Boss BR8, it's not too expensive these days. It's an 8 track which uses 250mb zip disks and I think it's midi compatible. You can record and mix on that and sync it with whatever software you're using.

][cEMAN**

Yeah a friend of mine was mentioning that one to me the other day now that you mention it. The thing is I already have a PC setup for the recording so all I really needed was some kind of setup that I could put a couple of guitars, a mic or 2 and a bass through. The drums aren't really a viable option at the moment because it's going to be done in a terraced house....and drums are hella loud At least with the guitars I can put them through an amp and keep the volume low, or buy a power brake for my marshall stack.

Though what you're saying is probably a great idea for the fact that at some point I might just get my m8 and go do a 2 piece in local bars.

Doctor J

What I'm thinking of doing is mic'ing a kit and running that into a PA mixer or the like, in a rehearsal studio and use the L and R outputs from that into two tracks in the BR1180, then I can fool around with them on the 1180 or bring them into Cubase and mess with them there. It might sound crap, might not. Led Zep got decent enough results out of 3 drum tracks, so it's worth a bit of experimentation. It's handy to be able to record away from the PC, and for live stuff too.

][cEMAN**

Yeah. There's a mic kit for just that purpose on that site. Did you see it? It's a bit expensive though. Every time we played the drummer mic'd his kit up completely. I don't know why....you could hear him at the other side of the town anyway

Morello

Well, if you want a *cheap* mixer you should buy Behringer, their analogue gear is decent enough, digital stuff is junk.

This is as cheap as it gets:

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_artikel-134699.html

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_artikel-157291.html

There's wide selection of cheap mixers on Thomann. Mind though, you get what you paid for: if you want to make some experience that's grand but you can't expect top notch results.

About the recording process have a look at these:

www.morellorocks.com/album

www.morellorocks.com/resource

Good luck!

Alex