Mixer V Audio Interface

Hi Guys
Who uses a mixer to record their bass and who uses a USB AI?
What is the difference and why would you want one over the other?

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I’m very interested in this as well. What is a good starter setup that I can use to record myself and do some basic editing? I don’t even have a decent computer in the house right now since I’ve done everything computing wise on my smart phone for so long… So I’ll need to build from the ground up without spending too much money.

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There is no difference if the mixer has a USB out. Mixers are great to have if you have multiple instruments.

If the mixer does not have a USB out then you will still need a way to get its output (usually a stereo line signal) into your computer.

Some mixers also have built-in recording to internal memory or cards. The same holds true, you need a way to get the data into the computer for editing, unless you want to edit on the mixer (which some can do).

But a USB audio interface is by far the simplest route to get sound from your instrument into the computer at an adequate quality level.

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Three years later and many if not most prosumer and higher mixers now all have audio interfaces built in :rofl:

But mainly I revived this to post Yamaha’s latest, where they have gone all out.

It’s actually 22 channel and has 18 USB in/out channels. Love the touch interface for EQ.

Alas, $2000, which is not bad for this level of gear but maybe $1500 more than I would consider. My $200 Mackie is more than enough for my needs.

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Frankly, the only difference is the ability to get channels separately into your PC. And mixers a lot of times will have some effect unit. (This is not the case for most audio interfaces.)

For example here:

The little one on the right is Focusrite Scarlet Solo audio interface: 1 instrument and 1 microphone input - But you can use only one at a time. So, do you want to record bass and sing at the same time? You cannot with this one. Also, stereo effects (Reverb, Chorus, Delay, etc.) need two inputs to work as they are intended.

The black one is some M-Audio audio interface: 2 inputs you can get simultaneously into your PC/DAW. 2 inputs are the bare minimum IMHO.

The Soundcraft (blue thingie) - It’s a mixer, with 4 separate mono outputs, or 2 stereo, or 1 + 1 mono + 1 stereo etc. It connects via USB and you can set up the input routing as you wish in Soundcraft software.

The 16-fader mixer underneath (YamahaMG16XU) - It has a lot of inputs, but it can only send the Stereo Master OUT via USB. It’s kind of way more dumber than the little Soundcraft.

Behind these mixers, you can see a 2x8 input rack - It’s a chain of Scarlet audio interface with a Behringer expansion set of 8 inputs connected via adat (Optical link). This setup has 16 separate inputs and 20 outputs.

The main differences are the number of inputs/outputs, how well you can address them in different software, and the bitrate it can handle. If you want just to record bass, anything with 2 mono outputs (1 Stereo output) should do the job absolutely fine. The moment you will need something more, you will know what you want.

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Yep, good summary. My ProFX is also only sending the master bus out on USB, so basically it’s not much more flexible than an audio interface with 10 inputs and 2 outputs.

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Soundcraft (mainly MTK series) and Zoom mixers are IMHO the only affordable/quality mixing consoles for multi-output recording available atm. . I love Yamaha and Mackie mixers, but they are kind of dumb most the times. But for bass recording? I would probably go with some 2 channel audio interface or some Mackie/Yamaha mixer and wouldn’t look back.