Mixer advice for an ignoramus

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Hello.

Having recently bought a Korg Minilogue XD and Wavestate as well as an Arturia Drumbrute Impact, I ran out of holes on my existing desktop mixer (a small Behringer) and bought their 802 as a replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000J5XS3C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It’s a nice mixer but the trouble with it, of course, is that I can’t record audio into my PC using it. I am looking for a solution - either buying another mixer (I have my eye on the Behringer Xenyx Q1202USB) or…something else. Despite using computers for decades, interfacing hardware is something I’m ignorant of.

The 802 mixer I have is at capacity for plugging things into (I also put my Amazon Alexa and PC sounds into it) so anything would have to have at least as many holes. So I either need a new mixer that has at least as many inputs as the Behringer 802 or an alternative, if anyone can suggest something?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Tupps

PS: I don’t want to spend hundreds on a solution but, equally, I don’t want to buy something that turns out to be a false economy. I’m flexible, cost-wise, but (having no income these days thanks to being self-employed) I don’t want to go crazy.

PPS: I’m not likely to be recording anything from a microphone, maybe just some direct input from an electric guitar, although that’s not very important.

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You can route the out from your mixer into your interface. It really depends on what you need. You say you dont want to spend hundreds, but how is around £99.00?

The saying usually goes: “Leave some room for growth, cause if you need more inputs youll just need to buy another device.”

If you only need like 2 inputs now, i would plan for 4. That’s why i recommend the UMC404HD. You probably wont even need the mixers until you need to grow some more. Then, you can just hook up various things to your mixer, and then send the output of your mixer into your interface.

The key thing to remember here is that your purchase of a mixer is not wasted, since those effectively increase your inputs. You really cant get a better deal than this thing.

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I worked my way up to the Xenyx 2222 through many of the models you listed here. It’s fine for the way I use it, but just because of the way things worked out space-wise, I’ve been using the Zoom R16 when I track hardware. They both are right at the $400 price point and neither really stands out from the other in terms of audio quality. The features are really the difference. The problem is (as we discussed in the live stream chat) that the second you get more holes, you feel like you have to buy more synths to plug them with, and before you know it you’re back to square one.

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Thanks, Caustic.

Am I right in thinking that I could simply plug the output of my existing mixer (which currently goes to the amplifier) into the UMC and then plug the output from the UMC into the amp? Making the UMC, effectively, a patch?

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I’d guess you’d want to use the stereo 802 outs to two channels of the 404. Keep the cables as short as possible.

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Thanks, Max.

Re. the Xenix 2222 - I could stretch to that amount of money, but (thanks to the stupidly-large footprint of my PC monitor) I’m not sure if I’d have room for it. The Zoom is, I think, a bit overpowered for my needs.

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This should work. I dont plug mine into an amp, so i dont know how those output levels are going to look. Should work though. I assumed you would want an interface for input to a computer, is this not also the case? You mentioned the issue was that you wanted a UBS mixer to record the audio over USB which would imply the recording would be done via a computer.

Are you just asking because you want the mixed audio to all come out of your amp?

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“Are you just asking because you want the mixed audio to all come out of your amp?”,

Yeah that’s the situation. I’m a lazy musician and simply want a mixer that I can plug my two synths & drum machine into when the mood takes me and record (invariably terrible) music into my DAW without any hassle. I’ve looked at the UMC you suggested and it looks promising.

Also - used in the way I want to, am I right in thinking I could simply plug other instruments into the original mixer as well as the UMC and have lots and lots of holes?

EDIT: Also, the UMC has four inputs (which, I imagine, I would need all of to allow two synths with L/R jacks to interface), so I would still need to use at least one input from my existing mixer for the (mono) jack from the Arturia Drumbrute?

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You should be fine doing that yeah. Thinking simply, the interface is just where you can plug in audio cables and audio comes in routed and split across those channels.

Ill show you how my setup looks from a DAW perspective. You may not use FL, but the principals the same no matter what you use.

Make sure you are using the ASIO Driver that is installed when you install drivers for this thing. Its basically just software wrappers for the interface.

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In my DAW’s mixer settings, for any given track i can select an input. The driver lets you select the inputs in two different configurations, you can use up to 4 mono channels, 2 stereo channels, or 1 stereo channel and 2 mono channels. Most of the time, all of mine are mono inputs so this gives be 4 inputs.
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Then, i just plug in what i want to record in the hole that corresponds with the input i associated with the track and just record. The audio will just come in and be mixed with the software mixer no prob, even when you arnt recording.

In your case, you can have your mixers all plugged with the gear you want to be mixed together, and just hook those up when you want to record, or just leave it plugged in whatever. Any other random bits you want to hook in there you can hook up without a mixer too.

Each input of the interface has a volume knob, a pad on/off toggle, and a line/inst level toggle. Use these to get the right volume, since devices may have a hotter signal than others. Just start with the volume knob low, and with the pad enabled, and modify as needed til you get good line in audio.

The back of the interface has your outputs in various configurations and cable setups. something else you may not have realized is that this thing can also input/output midi so you can use it to control your gear with your DAW too.

-edit-
For your situation, i would recommend hooking up both of your synths to your stereo inputs of your mixer.

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Then route the stereo out from that into input 1 and 2 of the interface.

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This setup will let you avoid needing to unhook anything, and if you want to record the wavestation or XD separately, just dont play them at the same time.

This leaves you with another 2 inputs on your mixer, and another 2 inputs for the interface. I would plug the drumbrute into a free input on your interface, then you can have a separate track in your software mixer. Loads of room to grow i would say.

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Caustic, that advice is absolutely phenomenal. Thank you so much - it’s exactly what I needed to know (and I appreciate the effort you put in).

Thomann have a 3-week waiting list, apparently, but I’m buying one from them (I don’t think stock is better anywhere else) before I go to bed tonight.

BTW - I use Reason 10, Mixcraft 8 and - of course - Audacity for my recording needs.

Thanks again - hugely appreciated.

Tupps

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This is the big brother of the UMC404 and I think it’s an absolute bargain for the price !

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But I have to say FL Studio (when I started it was called Fruity Loops :upside_down_face: ) is a good DAW! Every time I say that I’m using FL, I get ridiculed as if it were a toy. This has not been the case for a long time. FL is now a powerful tool and I don’t want to do without it anymore. I’ve tested Ableton and Cubase, but I keep coming back to FL everytime.

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Thanks, Kitty.

I’ve gone for the smaller UMC - that big one is more than I’m likely to need.

Tupps

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@Tuppswahey You´re welcome !
I also accidentally stumbled across it because I´m also looking for an interface and thought that if I buy one, I will take it one size up. :loud_sound: :headphones: :desktop_computer:

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The musician makes the music. The daw is just a set of tools, and fl does what I need it to, and I like the work flow. Detractors can continue using whatever they want and call it a toy, meanwhile I’ll just keep making music.

It’s always funny to me, those same people that call it a toy don’t usually have any good reasoning. I use 3rd party plugins anyways so it’s not as if I used Ableton I suddenly change much. Lol

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That’s my main interface and it absolutely is a steal.

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Kitty, Caustic and Max. (Edit: and Christian!)

Not that you’ll care too much for the update, but thought I’d let you know that I decided, after all, to get the bigger UMC 1820. One can never have too many holes, in my experience. It’s gonna take a few weeks to get here, but I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks again for all the advice - invaluable.

Tupps

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The UMC 1820 is excellent!

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LOL unfortunately I can’t think of a joke inappropriate enough for this setup! You will not regret this purchase though. The Neutrik inputs are super-flexible, and you have MIDI DIN covered with it too!

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