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Originally Posted by
BuyMy809
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I keep posting on this thread to ensure that I am not missing something (please peeps, correct me if I am wrong)... surely the perfect, money no object approach is to combine a new interface and an analogue mixing desk, to give you the best of both worlds? Every instrument has its own channel on a physical, hands on, "old school" mixing desk AND every channel is going into a DAW via an audio / midi interface. I said "money no object" but this approach can be done surprisingly cheaply.
Digital mixers that have 16 tracks and double as interfaces are more like £700 or £800 plus if I remember correctly (second hand is an option).
I think when you say "soundcard" you should really be saying "interface".
soundcard, interface, same thing. Marketing started calling them interfaces to sound hip & cool.
I'm just trying to suggest other approaches that could be considered.
Yes, likely a digital mixer is a good option.
That is, if it allows you to record all channels individually, and works as an 'interface' well, meaning low latency and stability.
I have my doubts about the driver quality and latency time. In my experience the used hardware and driver-set has a huge impact on buffer size and stability.
What digital mixers are there in the 700-800 pound range that have faders? Something like the behringer X18 does not have faders or controls, so you would need an ipad or computer anyway.
The ones with faders i find are more around the 1350 pound mark.
You can have a soundcard like the MOTU UltraLite mk5 with 8 inputs, 10 outputs and adat for just 650 euro new. And later you can expand it with extra inputs over adat if you want.
Focusrite and maybe some other brands will give you even more i/O at that pricerange, but i honestly can't recommend them. The preamp quality is ok-ish, but mostly the drivers, and thus latency and buffersize where they perform without glitches, is not very good.
My personal belief is that analog mixers affect sound quality quite often in a negative way, unless you spend big bucks.
Apart from live mixing, i have little experience with digital mixers in a studio environment.
I myself am perfectly happy using a tablet, mouse or midicontroller faders to do my mixing in the studio.