Hi All,

No doubt this has been discussed a million times before but i cant seem to use the right keywords in the search to find the answers, so apologies if i make anyone tread well-trodden old ground again!

What it is, i have the following Equipment:

Roland Virtual Analog Synth (2 Channel Output)
Roland Workstation (A-B Out (4 Channel Output)
Line 6 Pod X3 Live (2 Channel Output)
And 2x Mics (XLR)

What i really want to do is only record 2 of those channels above (Stereo pairing) at once, but have the rest running through the mixer into my headphones/monitors. So for example i have my Workstation banging out it's backing music and my guitar going through the Line 6, but i only want to record the Guitar audio as i'm not happy with my backing.

I have a cheapy mixer (Behringer Eurorack) and i can get very close to what im trying to achieve, but its mono.

I'm basically putting my External Sound sources through the Line ins on the mixer, then im going OUT of the Aux Send to the IN into my soundcard, that way i can adjust the Aux level on whichever channel i want to record, then from Soundcard OUT i'm going to another Line In so that i can route my computers audio with the external devices.

However, the Aux Send on my mixer is Mono which is no good when the majority of my sound sources will be outputting stereo.

I then look around and find out that this is a common occurence, be it FX Sends or Aux Sends they all seem to be mono... So how can i achieve what i'm trying to achieve?!

I've looked at the Alesis Multimix USB 2.0 devices and worked out that this would work a treat, however i dont think i need be in the region of a £250 device thats design for 8 simultaneous channels when i just want one stereo pairing.

I hope the above makes sense, and would really really appreciate some help here.

Thanks in advance.

use the console in reverse. Monitor from you Aux send, put all aux send "pre fader" {if you can} and keep the channels you dont want to record out of the stereo buss. Bring up the required elements from the stereo buss and away you go. A bit arse-about-face but it'll work.

My aux is fixed to being post fader, so i'm guessing this pretty much screws this idea up?!

I know exactly what i want as i've seen it on some Mackie mixers (Alt 3+4) but they're alot of money and didnt really want to be spending that much on something that i thought would be quite simple.

Anyone know if other manufacturers (Behringer etc) do a small mixer ranger with alt3+4 outs or equivalent?

Most behringers I've looked at can be modified to have the AUX Pre-fader (by clipping a soldering point)
Check the manual.

Also, It'd be a rare Behringer if it doesn't have insert point?
Solder two cables: a stereo jack point-to ring and also the point/shield to point/shield on a mono cable and you'd be all set.


And yes, there's about 10.000 small mixers out there that will do what you need for peanuts :-)

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* wossname * ...if .sig's were fish, this would stink *

Thanks for the response, im not sure about modifying it, i will certainly have a look though as the wiring diagram at the back doesnt seem overly complicated if i'm honest.

Any chance you could link me to one of those mixers that you reference at the bottom, cause i cant seem to find one!! I found a tapco 220fx that has the alt 3/4 out, and mute switches on each channel to redirect it to my daw. Looks like it could be a reasonable price.

However, no-one stocks it!! So not a clue on how much.

Would really appreciate anything, this is really starting to stress me out now.

Balls! Just checked the wiring diagram, The Aux bus is only a single channel so there's no way to get a stereo feed through, the actual line in channels have their stereo pairs joined together and the Mono sum of a stereo feed is passed through the Aux bus.

I may just put this on a big soldering iron (aka a fire) and see what it melts itself into, if i'm lucky i may get a transformer. It's evidently clear that it, and countless other mixers, are not up to performing this pretty straightforward job.

I cant see the logic in a mono send with Stereo returns. But then i'm not the one designing and producing them, i'm sure theres a good technical reason other than money!

Anyone got anything cheap they use that could be recommended?

Quote skijumptoes:

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I cant see the logic in a mono send with Stereo returns. But then i'm not the one designing and producing them, i'm sure theres a good technical reason other than money!

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Plenty of effects boxes take a mono input and add quasi-stereo effects. People would complain if the FX returns WEREN'T stereo!

You don't say which Eurorack model you have. But you may have cheaped out just a little too much to do what you want conveniently. If there aren't Channel Inserts (that can double as Direct Outputs) maybe you could connect your source directly to the soundcard, bypassing the mixer altogether?

If you're going to do a lot of this, I'd invest in a better mixer that allows channel routing to an output bus for recording and/or one for monitoring. This is a pretty standard requirement for home recordists, and you shouldn't have to pay TOO much :-)

Hi mate, thanks for the reply.

I was questioning why they would have Mono send and a stereo return, why is the send always mono!? seems crazy to me.

Anyway... I have the Eurorack MX602A, it hasnt got inserts, it is very basic. But when i look around it seems that a huge number of mixers have this Mono Send/Stereo return configuration.

This is what i will be doing all the time, so it's important for what equipment i have around me, i previously was using softsynths and so my only external sources were guitar/mic which i would go straight into the soundcard with.

However, i was fed up with always having to be at a computer to play music and decided to go with some hardware, loving it and been doing plenty on them standalone. Now i'm ready to return to the daw and get some stuff moving.

Trouble is, i now have 2x external synths to cater for and i want to be able to hear them (But not record) when i play my guitar parts in, then, when i'm happy with the synth parts i will record each midi channel in on seperate audio tracks in my daw.

So, plugging the source i want to record directly into the soundcard isnt going to help me as i'll be forever swapping connections over and altering cables/convertors around.

Your last line sums up what i'm looking for, i just cant seem to find anything that falls below £75, above that i would say is too much. Or am i being too tight here?! If i'm not then please link me to something to help get my slightly lop-sided ball rolling!

Quote skijumptoes:

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Hi mate, thanks for the reply.

I was questioning why they would have Mono send and a stereo return, why is the send always mono!? seems crazy to me.

Anyway... I have the Eurorack MX602A, it hasnt got inserts, it is very basic. But when i look around it seems that a huge number of mixers have this Mono Send/Stereo return configuration.

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Yup. How would you send in stereo from a channel strip? The Aux sends are designed to feed an external FX box, or to set up a monitor mix. Not for what you're trying to use them for. Sorry!

Quote:

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Your last line sums up what i'm looking for, i just cant seem to find anything that falls below £75, above that i would say is too much. Or am i being too tight here?! If i'm not then please link me to something to help get my slightly lop-sided ball rolling!

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Not TOO many years ago you'd have been happy to find anything under £750, let alone £75! Behringer are dirt cheap, but maybe not THAT dirt cheap :-)

My mixer does exactly what you want: I work the way you have described all the time. It's a Yamaha MG10:2 - you could get one on eBay e.g. here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-MG-10-2-Mixer-/260704883711?pt=UK_Mixers& hash=item3cb338d3ff.

Mine was about £45 new: it won't break the bank.

Basically you link the Inserts on channels 1 & 2 to your audio interface Left and Right in. This will then give you two channels of 'seperated' recording, while allowing you to monitor the source directly, mixed in with everything else through the other channels, and your soundcards outs through the stereo 'Tape in'.

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

Quote skijumptoes:

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My aux is fixed to being post fader, so i'm guessing this pretty much screws this idea up?!

I know exactly what i want as i've seen it on some Mackie mixers (Alt 3+4) but they're alot of money and didnt really want to be spending that much on something that i thought would be quite simple.

Anyone know if other manufacturers (Behringer etc) do a small mixer ranger with alt3+4 outs or equivalent?

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On the specific point of a Behringer mixer... would this fit the bill?

Behringer 1204FX

Not that I'm recommending it... just an example of what you're looking for (I think).

Cheers. mike

Thanks for all your help, decided to spend some money and got a 16 channel mixer with all the subgroups I needed. (got lucky with my local PMT store having an ex-demo unit becoming available)

Sounds awesome, didnt realise my mic had so much clarity! so a million thankyous! Definite Worthwile upgrade for my whole rig.

Quote skijumptoes:

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Hi mate, thanks for the reply.

Trouble is, i now have 2x external synths to cater for and i want to be able to hear them (But not record) when i play my guitar parts in, then, when i'm happy with the synth parts i will record each midi channel in on seperate audio tracks in my daw.

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Uhm. Why not record the stereo downmix from whatever synth you need, and monitor in Mono using the AUX send?

(ie: mute whatver you plan on not recording)

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* wossname * ...if .sig's were fish, this would stink *