I'm preparing material for a class I will give to essentially non-musicians on learning, playing and recording music in the 21st century using modern tools (YouTube, DAWs, mixers, AI, electronic keyboards, etc.). And I’m finding that my Peavy PV6 portable mixer has USB 2.0 and my Dell laptop has USB 3.2 Gen 1. The two won’t play nice together.
A temporary solution might be a USB converter cable but my instincts tell me that such a band aid might not be a good solution in the long run; a new mixer might make better sense.
Can anyone suggest a portable, 6-input mixer that will be compatible with my laptop? I understand some come with Bluetooth, but I’m thinking to stay with USB if that makes sense.
Are there other features beyond USB that I should consider for hobby-level mixing. I plan to use this for live teaching and demo purposes only.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2025 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Any Class compliant, plug-and-play USB mixer should solve that, since it uses what the system (computer) assigns for USB. I may be wrong .. it's possible the computer itself is at fault, but I doubt it.
There are a lot of choices these days. Mackie, Yamaha, even Behringer seem pretty reliable.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
check them out ...seem to have a good rep. 24 bit//96k if i remember. i understand they will record multiple inputs to seperate tracks ? yep check out zedi10....4/4 usb. contact a/h support/you tube vids for more info.
om
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 09/28/2504:56 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
I'm with rharv on this one - USB 3.2 is backwards compatible with USB 2, so the mixer should work with the laptop. It it doesn't, you need to identify which one is at fault before you start buying new bits.
Yep, plus that H&A muso mentioned specifically says USB2.0, so that's replicating what you think the problem is. Maybe buy a powered USB hub first (just a thought as a cheap test) It could be the device doesn't get enough power from the laptop
Next, in my mind, would be the cable. I had to buy a pretty nice USB cable to get my Focusrite to work where I wanted it (15' cable). Cable may be a mismatch etc.
Last edited by rharv; 09/28/2503:20 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Short story which maybe of interest. Years ago ( in the 90's) in my home studio I had a little Macky 6 channel Mixer which I used as a matter of convienance as a input to Audio Card (too long ago to remember the name). This was before USB devices - it was plugged direction on to the motherboard. I thought it was working fine for my novice ears. Then I had a "pro" come to my house for some guitar lessons. Some of you may know this guy, Johnny Monaco - https://www.johnnymonaco.com/) - one of my early guitar teachers. He took one look at my little mixer on my DAW and said "...what the heck is that doing there?". I explained how I used it. He said lets do a test - sound recording quality with and with out that mixer. Oh, my, I was very surprised at what that mixer was doing to the audio. Johnny explained it was "coloring" my sound, and not in a good way. I had to hear it myself. It has been in the closet for all these years.
Any Class compliant, plug-and-play USB mixer should solve that, since it uses what the system (computer) assigns for USB. I may be wrong .. it's possible the computer itself is at fault, but I doubt it. ...
Class Compliant is a Mac thing. Windows requires drivers but all current interfaces have them.
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I'm with rharv on this one - USB 3.2 is backwards compatible with USB 2, so the mixer should work with the laptop. It it doesn't, you need to identify which one is at fault before you start buying new bits.
That is not correct. USB 3 and 2 are different protocols. Although nearly every PC and all Macs since 2012 support both, USB 3.x is a hot mess and many cables do not support USB 2—still (which is weird). Always check the specs on a cable—if you see 480 Kb/s among the supported protocols, that is USB 2 (some rebranded cables on Amazon will list it but not support it, however).
This is a big problem with office printers. You can now buy USB Printer Cables in all configurations (USB-A to USB-C, USB-B to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C etc.). These support USB 2 and 1.1 (still required by some older MIDI interfaces). Yamaha and a few other manufacturers recommend these for their keyboards and interfaces.
All USB 4 cables support USB 2 which is fine if USB-C to USB-C. USB-C to USB-A & USB-B adapters work with these fine. USB Printer cables cost around $10 less.
BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Can anyone suggest a portable, 6-input mixer that will be compatible with my laptop? I understand some come with Bluetooth, but I’m thinking to stay with USB if that makes sense.
Avoid Bluetooth. Way too much latency.
Nearly every interface introduced since 2020 supports Fast USB 2 — you are looking for this as it is capable of near zero latency. USB-C is a pipe, not a protocol and adapter cables are available if the one you like doesn't match your PC — see my above post.
There are three basic types. 1) Most interfaces nowadays do not have mixers. Your analog Ins have corresponding USB Outs with 1,3,5,7 hard L and 2, 4, 6, 8 hard R. MOTU M2/4/6 and the M•Audio AIR series and many, many others are like this. The mixing is done in your DAW and you hear it over the USB Ins. Most have an I/O Mix knob so that you can hear both while tracking.
2) Another type has a hardware mixer built in. The Mackie ProFX mixers are 6–33 channels In but only 2 Out and 4 In over USB. If you look at these, get gen 3 or 4 as the older ones do not support Fast USB 2. One nice advantage is that these have hardware effects built in. I have a couple but only use them for live performance where I am recording off the board. I made a number of recordings with these but, the second I wanted the keyboard to play stereo on 1/2 while I tracked on 3... well, that doesn't work when you have only 2 Out over USB.
3) The third type is a hybrid with a mixer you set up in the box or through an app. MOTU 828 and the upper end Scarlett are well known. As good as they are, the setup in CueMix or the Focusrite app gets in the way. Fast USB 2 doesn't really require this unless you insist on tracking with effects which I don't. With Scarlett, you want gen 3 & 4 as they have lower latency than the older ones, same as Mackie.
I have many Fast USB 2 interfaces from MOTU, Zoom, Mackie, M•Audio and Neumann. My go-to is the M•Audio AIR 192|14 which is in the (1) category. Not only can it track 8 channels simultaneously but it has 4 mic/instrument preamps on CombiJacks + 2 Instrument Ins + 2 Line Ins + 2 headphone outs + MIDI. You can hook it up to anything including an iPad—which I have done. I also like that M•Audio has telephone support as does Mackie and MOTU.
The AIR 192}14 is a bit over $300 new but used can be had under $200 on Reverb. M•Audio also has 1, 2 & 4 channel versions but plugging a stereo keyboard into 5/6 while tracking 3 singers on 1–3 and a guitar on 4 plus a synth in 7/8 simultaneously is very nice.
BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Class Compliant is a Mac thing. Windows requires drivers but all current interfaces have them.
I do not believe this is true. Windows has a base driver set like Mac.
Windows may, though most base drivers on Windows are, um, patchy at best.
"Class compliant" isn't just a Mac thing, though. Linux and BSD have drivers for class compliant devices, as do a number of other Unixen (which Mac is, actually, of course). It's just MS-Windows that's the outlier of the main OSs. Microsoft tend just do whatever they feel like.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Class Compliant is a Mac thing. Windows requires drivers but all current interfaces have them.
I do not believe this is true. Windows has a base driver set like Mac.
Windows may, though most base drivers on Windows are, um, patchy at best.
"Class compliant" isn't just a Mac thing, though. Linux and BSD have drivers for class compliant devices, as do a number of other Unixen (which Mac is, actually, of course). It's just MS-Windows that's the outlier of the main OSs. Microsoft tend just do whatever they feel like.
I didn't mean this a discussion of Windows vs other drivers quality. Simply that they exist. If I hook up a compliant device Windows will have the driver. If not, an update usually finds them. Focusrite 2i2 for example, I can hook that to any windows system and it just works as expected. At least in my experience.
Last edited by rharv; 09/29/2502:36 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
USB 3.2 is backwards compatible with USB 2, so the mixer should work with the laptop. It it doesn't, you need to identify which one is at fault before you start buying new bits.
Many thanks to all for the useful comments. The most useful was from ROG, I didn't realize that USB is backward compatible. So upon further investigation I discovered I didn't tell Windows the appropriate sound device in the settings plus the Tape/USB To Mix push button on the PV6 has questionable reliability and took some fiddling to get that switch to latch properly. So you could say operator errors on my part.
Bottom line: My setup as shown in the attachment is working properly and as expected. Of course the sound quality thru the Micro Cube amp is not very high but plenty good for classroom and demo purposes.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2025 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
If that interface is starting to display issues, it may still be time to replace it. They're pretty inexpensive, really
I agree on both. For a couple hundred dollars you can get a lot of portable mixer for sure
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2025 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
That's because it's not for the reasons that I already explained.
Glad you got it working.
Backward compatible, in this instance, simply means that if you plug a USB2 device into a USB3 socket you can usually expect it to work, as indeed it is doing in the OPs diagram. It's just not necessary to complicate things by delving into protocols. Similarly, Class Compliant just means that the device does not need a bespoke driver to work, as is the case with most synths and controlling keyboards. Let's keep it simple. All I was trying to do was help Bass Thumper solve his problem, as I'm sure rharv was too, and I'm pleased we've sorted it.
Backward compatible, in this instance, simply means that if you plug a USB2 device into a USB3 socket you can usually expect it to work, as indeed it is doing in the OPs diagram.
Yes, this is my understanding too. Your inputs and USB backward compatability led to the solution of my problem. If backward USB comparability didn't exist I would then need an adapter or new mixer, but my existing [old USB2] mixer works fine with my [new USB3.2] laptop. This is what my AI assistant says on the subject:
"Yes, USB is designed to be backward compatible across generations. That means your USB 2.0 mixer should work just fine when plugged into a USB 3.2 port on your laptop."
ROG, thanks again for clearly seeing this and sharing your knowledge. --Steve
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2025 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Backward compatible, in this instance, simply means that if you plug a USB2 device into a USB3 socket you can usually expect it to work
Oh... usually... except when it doesn't work which is far more often than you think. If the cable doesn't list 480Mbps/480KB/s in it's specs, it won't happen.
A USB 3 cable must also include the cabling for USB 2 for most interfaces and all keyboards to work—only the ground is common to both. Many don't because they are separate protocols and you not thinking it important doesn't mean it isn't. USB 3.2 gen 2 often won't and gen 2+2 almost never does. Old 3.1 (was 3.0) might not while newer ones do. Normally, one checks the USB-B plug but that is not a certain indicator.
I have helped too many people with these problems by recommending what cables to buy to avoid the USB 3 mess. How many times do people ask for help when things work? Right, they don't.
Again, Yamaha and other manufacturers recommend USB Print cables because they only support USB 2/1.1. You can get them in any of the standard configurations including USB-C to USB-C.
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