Equipment Setup Help (line-in mixer & MIDI Interface)

I'm looking into buying a line-in mixer and a MIDI interface (for ableton) but I just want to make sure I know how to hook up everything before I buy them.

What I want to do:
1) Connect MPC to use with Ableton Live 8
2) Record what I play from my turntables to my MPC directly
3) Connect MPC + Turntables to mixer / connect mixer to amplifier

So, I have:
-an MPC 2500
-turntables (hooked up to an serato SL1 box)
-an amplifier (that my loudspeakers are connected to)

Questions:
1) My amplifier only has RCA inputs in the back. If I buy a mixer, I would need a 1/4" to RCA cable to connect it to my amplifier right?

2) If I connect my MPC and my SL1 box to the mixer, would that be the connection between my turntables and my MPC? Would I then be able to record on my MPC what vinyl I play on my turntables?

3) To connect my MPC to use with ableton, I would need a MIDI interface. Where does that fit in with all of this?

To sum everything, I just make sure how to hook everything up to do what I want.
Can somebody please help me with this? Thank you

Start with this:
http://tweakheadz.com/signal_flow_3.htm

Then, read the guide:
http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

And that's it!

Thank you but I read through all of that and it still didn't answer my 3 questions. Rather, it suggested set-ups for equipment I don't have. I want to know how to setup my equipment that I already have into what I want to do

kpacardo wrote:1) My amplifier only has RCA inputs in the back. If I buy a mixer, I would need a 1/4" to RCA cable to connect it to my amplifier right?

not if the mixer has RCA outs.

kpacardo wrote:2) If I connect my MPC and my SL1 box to the mixer, would that be the connection between my turntables and my MPC? Would I then be able to record on my MPC what vinyl I play on my turntables?

whatever you plug into your mpc RECORD INS is what you can record on your mpc.

kpacardo wrote:3) To connect my MPC to use with ableton, I would need a MIDI interface. Where does that fit in with all of this?

you dont necessarily need a midi interface to connect your mpc to ableton. with a midi interface you can control the notes ableton from you mpc, or vice versa, or you can have them sync to each others tempo. you can still record audio into ableton without a midi interface.

tapedeck wrote:

kpacardo wrote:1) My amplifier only has RCA inputs in the back. If I buy a mixer, I would need a 1/4" to RCA cable to connect it to my amplifier right?

not if the mixer has RCA outs.

awesome, I'm getting this mixer so It should be fine.

tapedeck wrote:

kpacardo wrote:2) If I connect my MPC and my SL1 box to the mixer, would that be the connection between my turntables and my MPC? Would I then be able to record on my MPC what vinyl I play on my turntables?

whatever you plug into your mpc RECORD INS is what you can record on your mpc.

I think I understand now, so...

SL1 --> DJ mixer --> Line-In mixer --> Amplifier.

And then, I would need 1/4" cables to connect the Line-In mixer to the RECORD IN's of my MPC. That would make everything work out right?

tapedeck wrote:

kpacardo wrote:3) To connect my MPC to use with ableton, I would need a MIDI interface. Where does that fit in with all of this?

you dont necessarily need a midi interface to connect your mpc to ableton. with a midi interface you can control the notes ableton from you mpc, or vice versa, or you can have them sync to each others tempo. you can still record audio into ableton without a midi interface.

oh perfect, now I can save my money. I thought you really needed a MIDI/Audio Interface to hook it up to ableton..

Thanks tapedeck for your help! It definitely cleared up my confusion.

kpacardo wrote:SL1 --> DJ mixer --> Line-In mixer --> Amplifier.

And then, I would need 1/4" cables to connect the Line-In mixer to the RECORD IN's of my MPC. That would make everything work out right?

doesn't really matter where the output comes from, and you've got a lot of options there.

i'd take whatever mixer has extra outputs and use those to send to the mpc record in.

your best bet is probably to use a send so you dont have to worry as much about feedback loops. another idea would be to use any extra outputs the dj mixer might have, but if you do that, hook the mpc outs into the line in mixer, not the dj mixer .... you dont want to send the mpc output back to itself, you know? killer feedback loop...