Anyone using a good mixer as an interface ?

What kind of interface? The question seems a little vague.

I am looking at getting a mixer to use as a DAW controller and also as a mixer for playing live. I see some USB mixers listed, but not sure if they can be used to control something like Reaper or RB. In other words, can they control the mixer settings in the DAW?

What you seek to integrate the mixer with the DAW is called a Control Surface.

I have one, the Tascam FW-1884, that is a control surface, mixer and digital audio interface all in one. I can't recommend it to anyone now because they discontinued drivers and it runs on FireWire, but it is a terrific unit with SONAR. A current one for about $1,000 is the Mackie Control.

Hey Marty, thanks for providing the additional information. I don't use a control surface myself but I did dig up a good review of them from Sound on Sound that's about a year old. Hope this helps.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov12/articles/spotlight-1112.htm

Be aware that there are issues with a few in that article: discontinued units or no further driver support. This is becoming more of a challenge with Windows 8.1 and each new OS.

There is another approach as well, using an iPad to control your DAW. I do this with V-Control Pro to control my PC remotely from the 'studio' down the hall in my house. I prefer this to many of the hardware-only solutions. The iPad apps are likely the reason many of the hardware-only units are being phased out. The Frontier Design Tranzport was the first to go.

I use a Phonic mixer that has Firewire and it would work 100% but there appears to be a bug in Real Band that we are investigating. It will work up to 8 channels but when I add more it causes an error that says "Could not gave wave in header". Yet after closing the 48 (exactly 48 - the number of available tracks in RB's DAW) error boxes all the channels work. Driver support is there though I doubt they will write new drivers if there is ever the need. They don't make this particular board any longer. Later revisions are available but not this one. I would check them out because it seems you are looking for a board that has both live use (as an analog mixer) and studio use (as a control surface).

Google Phonic mixers.

Anything with a Firewire or USB connection should do. On true control surfaces like the Behringer I use, you won't have audio outs. The Phonic has mains, monitors, and effects buses.

Thanks guys. Mac, I like the idea of an ipad remote control, but what are you plugged into?

Another possibility is the Zoom R8, R16 and R24. They are self-contained recorders but can also act as an interface and DAW controller --$300-500, depending on model.

I've never used one but have read about them -- John

http://www.sweetwater.com/c1008--Digital...NDk2NzI3MCJdfX0

http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/r16/spec/

Assuming that question is for me, not Mac; it is a multi-step process:

You download an app for the iPad. There are several but after trying three I settled on V-Control Pro. It's expensive at $50, but not when compared to the price of a hardware device. There is a limited free version you can use to try all this out.

Then you download the free program for your PC. You run that program and it sets your PC into a sort of listening mode via your home WiFi.

Then you select the remote program as the driver for the Control Surface settings in your DAW. After that, the iPad can be used to do anything that the DAW can do. Rotary controls are difficult, but everything else works great.

There are pretty clear instructions for doing all this, plus an excellently supported forum in the case of Neyrinck, makers of V-Control.

In the case of my preferred program, V-Control Pro, there is also a mode by which you can control the PC remotely, so you could even load the DAW program remotely or do anything else with any other programs on the PC.

Does that help?

Thanks and sorry Matt. What is your mic, instrument, etc. plugged into? If your PC is in another room and you use this as a remote, I am curious how your recorded signal gets to the PC.

I record wind instruments only.

100' mic cable with XLR from my preamp
100' speaker cables
100' headphone cable to monitor signal

Tascam FW-1884 acting as audio interface, mixer and control surface.

Thank you Matt. I understand clearly.

I use a zoom R16 and it works great, it hooks into the computer using usb and I can switch it from controller to a SD card drive which I can transfer files to and from it. It is also a 16 track multitrack recorder that is about the size of a computer keyboard. I use cubase and I can record directly into cubase with it or I can turn on the power to the 16 and record directly into it. I love mine! The zoom 24 has a built in drum machine which the 16 does not. I believe it runs about $100 higher than the 16, they did not offer the 24 when I got mine but my son had one; it also has a built in drum machine, the drums sound great. I have recorded live using only the 16 and it is great. Hope this helps!

Thanks PG Fantastic. I have a Yamaha AV1600, which is similar but a lot heavier and more complicated. I never thought of giving it a try until I saw your reply. If this unit fits my purpose, I can see the zoom r16 being a new addition. Seems much less complicated and more compact.

I want to use this also as a mixer for live use. If I figure correctly, I can record my sound check and play it back while I walk around the room; therefore getting the mix to my liking and save it? Just me (acoustic and vocals), one other guy (also acoustic and vocals) and maybe a cajon that will be looped. I will also crate some backing tracks in RB to play along with. If I move them to the r16, is it easy to recall songs. Me and my counterpart would use channels 1-5 and maybe have some bass, drums and keys/synth in 6-8. Is this possible?

One of the problems is that, as has been mentioned, the companies making the hardware don't always jump and write new drivers for the older stuff as new OS platforms come out.

That is the very thing that snagged me when I was running a D-Man PCI card on W-95. After my OS update for a business application, the D-man PCI card was not recognized by the computer.

I'm not a fan of the multifunction gizmos when it comes to music. The stuff that have mixers, interfaces and other things... two or more functions built into one unit.

I like the plain old one function interface. Maybe I'm just old school, but if something goes wrong, I have to replace only one thing at a lower cost. Besides I have also seen a number of those gizmos have other issues, such as running codecs instead of ASIO drivers.

To the folks who have them and love them..... more power to ya.

I have never used a control surface for my DAW. If that's the direction you wish to go, be sure the control surface you are considering is 100% compatible with your DAW of choice. I have all my stuff inside the box.... I use the mouse & keyboard as my control surface.

I like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to just about everything.

The Zoom R16 and R24 are good examples of "getting it right".


--Mac

Marty,

It would appear that Reaper only supports several control surfaces:

• Behringer BCF2000
• Mackie MCU
• Mackie BabyHUI
• Frontier Designs TranzPort


http://wiki.cockos.com/wiki/index.php/Preferences_Control_Surfaces




“I want to use this also as a mixer for live use. If I figure correctly, I can record my sound check and play it back while I walk around the room; therefore getting the mix to my liking and save it? Just me (acoustic and vocals), one other guy (also acoustic and vocals) and maybe a cajon that will be looped. I will also crate some backing tracks in RB to play along with. If I move them to the r16, is it easy to recall songs. Me and my counterpart would use channels 1-5 and maybe have some bass, drums and keys/synth in 6-8. Is this possible? “



While the Zoom R16 could be used for live mixing, there are better (and cheaper) alternatives. The small Yamaha mixers are excellent, and would be more than adequate for a duo. This model also has a built in compressor circuit on two mic channels, and it actually works quite well to bring your vocals forward.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MG82cx/


You might consider rendering your backing tracks to MP3 and playing them back on a laptop, connected to a small mixer. Then you can mix everything from the stage.

The Zoom is more of a hard disc recorder and less of a mixer or control surface. If you plan on recording in Reaper or RealBand, it would be superfluous.



Regards,

Bob

That...^^^^^..... is the best answer so far on how to do live performance gigs. I would opt instead to use WAVES as opposed to MP3 on a laptop plugged into your live system. They have better fidelity and if the system is a good one, that difference can certainly show up.

In a live situation, you certainly want to limit the number of possible things that could crash a song in the middle ....and using some premixed waves played from a computer really simplifies the process. Selecting the next song is simply a matter of clicking on the song.

Always remember Murphy's Law when performing. If something can go wrong, it will.

I do relatively few live gigs these days but when I do, it's either straight up acoustic/vocal or with the use of a CD backing track. Even if it's just one song..... it's on a stable medium such as CD or a wave file and not running in a DAW or some other multi-channel player.

Actually, I mis-spoke. We do use WAV's live on a laptop. We also have them on CD and Ipod for redundancy.

Another important thing is to practice your songs with tracks through your PA system. They will sound drastically different through a PA than a stereo system.