How do you record your hardware?

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

How do you record your hardware jams? How is the DAW audio interface integrated in the setup? Do you feed your monitors from the interface or from a mixer or something else?

I’ve been driving myself crazy with this simple-seeming issue of where to place the audio interface in my overall setup and where to connect my monitors (mixer vs. interface). I’ve got some hardware synths going to a Mackie 1204VLZ mixer, and a Focusrite 8i6 interface. The problem is that I can either use the interface as the final out, or the mixer, which only suits one of the two use cases (with a computer and without).

I want to be able to record the mix into the interface, but I also want to be able to use the mixer and synths standalone without my laptop, but my interface doesn’t have a “monitor in” button, so I would have to reconnect my monitors straight to the mixer in that case. Frustrating!

I realize it’s a personal thing you work out, but I would like to hear how you solved this in your practice!

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#2

…perfect would be a solid interface with low latency and 8 inputs…
ur daw is adressing all individual inputs from there…
ur hardware is adressing those interface inputs…
and ur main out from theinterface is feeding ur monitoring…or in best case, is feeding into a decent monitor controler, so ur internal main levels can always remain the same, while the loudness ur listening to can be xtra leveled by that monitor controler…
this one more, external main master volume knob right before ur monitoring is one of the most underestimated things in studio gear…

u really get a different feel for how hot ur signals really are, if u control ur overall listening loudness independantly from that…
proper gainstaging at all stages of the signal flow is the homebase of all soundquality…
so, with an external, individual monitor controler, u really learn how to judge overall comparison pretty fast…

besides the fact, that it can adress different sources, not only ur daw sum, offers the only truu mono compatibility real world check and can adress different speaker pairs…

having the option to cross check ur mix with some crappy speakers and backt to ur main monitoring again, with a single button press, is priceless…

#3

I get obsessive about this, but I think it’s a positive and productive thing to be obsessive about recording.

I have recorders placed at different points in my studio, but, whatever goes through my central mixer (an A&H Xone 96 that everything in my studio is fed through eventually) can be recorded into a Denon SD card recorder by hitting one (REC) button.

This has been a game changer for catching mixes/ideas/samples with ZERO hold up, and I’d recommend that approach to anyone… a one button/press record facility is a winner.

I have a bunch of devices that I use regularly (inc my Elektron boxes) feeding into a 1010 Bluebox. This makes it really easy to mix ideas from this set up and keep them separated so I can use the stems later if needed.
Or, I’ll boot up Overbridge on my laptop and catch all the individual tracks that way.

So this is another one press record option that’s really handy.

Then I have the usual audio interface feeding Ableton, so can record that way quite fast, but it’s not one button.

In the computer world, if anyone wants to be able to hit record and catch anything they want, I can’t recommend Audio Hijack highly enough.
This has been a revelation, enables you to grab recordings from any source connected to your computer, and have multiple scenarios ready to record with one click.
Mixes, multitracks, different formats, it’s got it all. It’s amazing.

Edit: this is the Denon recorder I mentioned. I have a Zoom H4n I was using before this, but with it being a portable recorder I’d always move it around and have to reconnect it in my studio for mixing.
I like that the Denon is fixed in place and that’s it’s only job. Also you can grab the SD card instantly and have it on your computer, and in Soundcloud in no time.

https://www.denonpro.com/index.php/products/view/dn-300r

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#4

Zoom LiveTrak series.
take-at-once method (i don’ record track-by-track)

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#5

Everything goes through my Digitakt. I use overbridge. I believe in the W O R K F L O W

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#6

I bought a Fireface Ufx ii in order to resolve this “problem”. Now I have a 12 track recoder, mixer with 12 outputs. I can use it in the studio with the laptop or live without the laptop with a Midi Controller.

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#7

BlueBox (1010Music). No DAW. Works very well for us.

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#8

Just get a Zoom Livetrak. Problem solved.

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#9

I had a focusrite scarlet 6i6 and a 1202 vlz4 mixer. mackie -> 6i6 -> studio monitors
I could set my 6i6 in standalone (1&2 and 3&4, two times stereo input, vlz main out and alt out went in) This way it was possible to jam without turning the computer on.

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#10

Since you already have audio->digital interface, you won’t care, but I use my Apollo Twin for the exact purpose you describe. I have the Main Outs from my Mackie VLZ 1604 go to the Apollo, and from the Apollo back out to my studio monitors. When I use my DAW (Logic or Bitwig on a Mac), I can monitor either way because I have the Mac run it back through the Apollo and then back into the Mackie on Aux returns. So, while in my DAW, if I wanted to, I could monitor either the hardware alone, the DAW, or both (when listening to both, though, if you’re not careful with the amount you let back into the Mackie on the Aux return, you can definitely get into feedback loop territory).

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#11

record directly to this forum.

#12

You already have everything you need.

Page 6 of the Mackie 1202VLZ4 manual (the ‘recording system’ hookup diagram) tells you exactly how.

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#13

I use a XONE mixer which can act as a soundcard - so best of both worlds. I can mix and send to the DAW, or I can use the Record outputs into a Zoom and avoid the computer entirely. Enables me to bring audio into a channel from the computer too which can be handy, and I have a channel I can switch between my turntable and the second output of my eurorack.

#14

MPC Live

#15

Real music is played with feelings, sweat and tears: the computer is made for reading emails
100% analog is the way
You already have a decent mixer, maybe you want to add a bunch of external comp & effects
Then record the master out with a cassette deck.
Enjoy

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#16

There’s lots of options and lots of opinions. Whatever you do, keep it as simple as you can stand. Complexity begets complexity.

Personally, I’m using a Soundcraft MTK12 at home and elsewhere a Bluebox which I can throw in my bag. They work more or less the same way, except one connects to a computer and the other doesn’t.

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#17

Interesting, you had a very similar setup to mine. You mean you set up one pair of inputs for monitoring, and you used the Alt 3-4 selector to select which channels were sent to the DAW (or the monitors)?

Also, what is your recording setup like now?

#18

My setup has been in constant flux for decades but at present I have my primary gear running into a 16 channel Midas Venice by way of patchbays. I have an eight channel audio interface being fed a master out and some group outs (also through patchbays). My monitors are running directly from the mixer because 95% of the time I play I’m not recording and don’t even have my computer hooked up to my rig. When I am recording I can assign which channels of the mixer are sent to the outputs that handle the monitors and just send the feed from the interface.
For whatever it’s worth I also have a two input interface that I use for recording if I’m just sitting on the couch using headphones or if I’m going to be away from the house.

#19

I would use the 4 inserts on the mixer as direct outs and connect those + control room to the 6 inputs on the interface
By using the control room you can choose to record either the alt’s or the main.
Mackie’s XLR to the monitors.
Then you can jam without turning on the computer and record to it when needed.

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#20

We badly need a gif of someone chucking a Moog One across the room one-handed

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