Firewire mixers

We meet again EKT

Myself and fellow band mate are in the market for a solution to our recording woes - we figure the best way to record our music is to have some sort of set up which, when we jam out a song, it simultaneously records each synths line-out as a separate wav, so we can then tidy up and put the finishing touches to the stems in the mix

 

We came across these FireWire mixers, seems they would answer our question,

Has anyone any thoughts or suggestions on these? Are they the right solution, is there any loss in quality or degrading of signal by going from the analog synth signal to the digital system? or is there any other methods? Ideally we just want to be able to simultaneously record at least 6 line outs (the more the merrier) with send effects intact

We came across a M-Audio NRV10, a local lad is selling one for €250. Does €250 seem like a good deal for one?

 

many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!

If I can see a downside as a m-audio 1814 firewire user, it is that firewire is protocol that becomes less and less common these days...Mac are treated better than PC on this matter but it is hard to tell if IEEE 1394 is still going to stay for long... If I had to make a bet, I'll go for usb to avoid bad surprises...

 

I personnaly choose to go with preordering the soundcraft signature 12 MTK for its usb multitrack capability ( not exactly the same price range though)...

 

Regarding th NRV 10, it is said that it is a quality product. Preamps seems decent even if some users often report a lack of punch.No HI input so u'll have to get a DI box if you plan to record basses or guitars...If you're a PC user, be careful as the mixer uses ASIO drivers to run...

 

Price seems ok !

Edited June 6, 2015 by Ded4m

  On 6/6/2015 at 3:11 PM, Ded4m said:

If I can see a downside as a m-audio 1814 firewire user, it is that firewire is protocol that becomes less and less common these days...

Yep was gonna flag that, as a PC user I'd definitely stick with a USB device - Took me ages to find a lappy that even had a firewire board on it for my old audio interface and even when I found one it turned out the chipset was terrible on it so didn't work so I had to get a new (USB) audio interface. Am I right in thinking the new Thunderbolt devices (is that the name?) can be plugged into a cable adaptor to turn it into USB (USB c - whatever that is !) ?

  On 6/6/2015 at 3:11 PM, Ded4m said:

If I can see a downside as a m-audio 1814 firewire user, it is that firewire is protocol that becomes less and less common these days...Mac are treated better than PC on this matter but it is hard to tell if IEEE 1394 is still going to stay for long... If I had to make a bet, I'll go for usb to avoid bad surprises...

 

I personnaly choose to go with preordering the soundcraft signature 12 MTK for its usb multitrack capability ( not exactly the same price range though)...

 

Regarding th NRV 10, it is said that it is a quality product. Preamps seems decent even if some users often report a lack of punch.No HI input so u'll have to get a DI box if you plan to record basses or guitars...If you're a PC user, be careful as the mixer uses ASIO drivers to run...

 

Price seems ok !

Good point! Only my older laptops actually have the firewire port, although my band mate has a Mac Mini which will do...but surely will cause a bit of anguish at some stage

 

USB definitely seems to be the smarter option...is there much of a price difference between the two ranges? (fire/USB)

 

Also, what do you mean by HI inputs? Haven't come across the term before... just aren't built to capture deep basses?

By "HI" I meant High impedance ( if that's the correct english term )also called instrument inputs. These inputs are required to record a correct signal for non natively amplified instruments such as guitars,basses...

 

If you ever plan to record a guitarist, u'll probably have to invest a little amount of monet in a DI box if you go for the nrv10 which has only low impedance inputs...

 

;)