A GOOD MIXER? WHAT NEXT?

I am very new to the Mpc1000 I've been getting really familiar with it. I was told I needed to buy a mixer. I know alittle bit about mixers and how it messes with sound countrol, pitch etc. but with the mixer do I need software or other hardware to record my music? (turn it into wave file or mp3). What is a good studio set up? Preciate any help I can get.

wrong section

If you get a mixer with USB or Firewire from Mackie, Alesis, or M-Audio, then any audio inpute go straight into your musical sequencer like Live!, Cubase, Cakewalk, Pro Tools, etc. (Not Reason, since they don't support this feature). If you buy a mixer without a direct input into your computer, fear not. You will just need some sort of breakout box or some rackmount device that will do the same job. If you had to go that route for some reason, get one that supports as many audio ins/outs as you can. Think of it like this, if you bought a keyboard, and your buddy brought his guitar, and his sister brought her bass, how would you go about mixing the beats of your mpc1k, with all the other instruments? This is why a mixer is soooooo essential when you have more than 1 instrument. Most people think they dont need one, but they find it extremely difficult to do everything like mix in mic pres, boost/cut frequencies, and mix more than one instrument in real time without spending more money. The mixer isn't going to alter your sound too much (just shaping high, mid and low freqs), but if the mixer has any built in effects, then it might to a degree. But more than likely your mixer will accept any compressor or effect processor you buy in the future for it.

Good Looking, homie, That was real helpful. All I have is a mpc1000 and a turntable, and I am prolly guna want to plug in a mic, what kind of capacity should the mixer have?

Well again, do you plan to buy any more gear in the near future? How many channels do you see yourself using with your basic setup? A decent 8 channel mixer from Behringer might get your feet wet, or save up and go for 16 channels with room for any future expansion. Your mixer will most likely have a mic pre in the unit, but from what I've heard, the signal isn't the greatest. A dedicated mic pre-amp/compressor would be ideal, and I think the cheapest might go for $200. Oh yeah, I almost forgot one essential thing about your mixer. Make sure it supports audio outs to your studio monitors. If you can't buy them right away, no worries, but do so when the budget allows.

The mpc1000 and turntable seems to be all I need, I could see myself prolly using a midi keyboard maybe but other than that just the mic. Do I need a seperate channel for each track I record off the mpc? I was thiking of getting the Mackie Onyx 1220 and hooking up Audacity to my laptop. What you think about that set up for the few things I have hooked up?

i would just get an 8 channel mixer if i was you if you want only your mpc, and a mic, it still gives room for a little bit of expansion, if you just got a 2 channel one and you had your mic hookedup to it and your mpc, then your friend brought over his guitar to add some stuff to your beat with it, you woluld be screwed..

definetly go with a little bigger than you think youll need

SolusSoul wrote:Good Looking, homie, That was real helpful. All I have is a mpc1000 and a turntable, and I am prolly guna want to plug in a mic, what kind of capacity should the mixer have?

the mixer needs a phono preamp for your turntable so a basic two channel dj mixer would do the trick.
you can always resample your finished beat or songs on your mpc and usb them to audiacity.
if you plan to multitrack your mpc then you need a mixer like the onyx with firewire to the laptop. or just a soundcard with many inputs like a motu ultralite.

peace jo

COo Fo Sho thanx for all the advice, I think Ima go with the Onyx Just in case, I hear Mackie got the good as pre amps. I just bought a USB UNO 1x1 and it didn't work on my computer. It said it is compatable with Xp but ish didn't work. So I just bought an adapter to record from my mpc into my laptop's mic in and record thru audacity and it sounded f'ed up. I definatly will go with a mixer. Preciate the tips!