Nord User Forum

Hello everyone.

First some context : I am at a crossroads in life. I'm on the edge of finishing a masters degre in history. The main thing I've learned doing my degre is that I don't want to keep working in that field, at least not right away. I currently also work part time for the public broadcaster here in Canada : CBC/Radio-Canada where I am a media librarian (archivist) for a regional radio station. Finally, as you might have guessed, I'm a musician! I'm classically trained but in the last 5 years I've been playing more contemporary stuff (right now I play with a rock and roll band). With all this said, after my masters degre is complete I would like to take some time off from my professionnal responsibilities and dedicate more of my time to music. I will be keeping my job at CBC/Radio-Canada (around 20 hours a week) but I'll have my afternoons and evenings and weekends off. With this time, I'm hoping to produce a solo album centered around my own compositions.

What I would like to know is what kind of gear I will need to do this. I already own the following :

- Nord Stage 2 HA88
- Samson Auro (used as a personal monitor when I gig live. Sounds okay)
- A computer with a DAW (Reaper)
- M-Audio Fast Track Pro (interface - I bought it used, it makes some noise sometimes in my recordings and I'd like to replace it)
- Zoom G7.1ut guitar effects pedal (used for recording guitars)
- Guitar
- Shure SM58 Microphone

So as I said in my list, I need a better way to interface with the computer DAW. Ideally, some sort of 4-track mixer that could eventually be used live would be best (my live setup may gain a small analog synth down the line). I also need a set of studio monitors, ideally with a subwoofer. As it stands, I'm looking at a set of Yamaha HS50Ms with a Yamaha HS10W (sub). As for the mixer, I have no idea.

Basically, I was hoping someone could guide me in picking out an 8-track mixer with a USB interface and my monitors+subwoofer. My budget is around 750$CAD. Will this be enough? I'm willing to buy used equipment as long as it works (that's my job of course). The budget is flexible. Worst comes to worst, I can always work a bit of overtime or wait for an extra month's pay.

tl:dr version - Can someone suggest a portable 4-track mixer and a set of studio monitors + subwoofer for around 750$CAD?

Thanks in advance!

See the Zoom H6, 4 channels can be expanded to 6, usually is used with the attached microphone.

Gracias Gustavo! Other than mobility, what are some other advantages of this mixer? Do you have one yourself? I'll do some more research. This is some pretty interesting equipment and reminds me of the stuff at work!

I was also looking at the Mackie Onyx Blackjack (I see in your signature that you have one yourself). How do you like it?

The Zoom H6 looks interesting indeed.

Very recently I was looking for a multi-track recording solution for a band, and ended up buying the Phonic Helix Board Firewire 18 MkII (used for €320). Seems good so far. There is also the Helix Board 12, which is in fact much smaller because some faders are replaced by knobs. Apparently, the "MkII" is very important because the first series had some serious hardware troubles. Also, while it works out of the box in Linux, the Windows drivers tend to cause problems according to reviews. And then there is a USB version, which is more expensive.

I had been looking at the Mackie Onyx-i series as a better but more expensive alternative. The Onyx 1620i was above my budget, but the 820i seems like a good deal if you don't need that many channels.

Is firewire still the standard though? Ideally, I'd prefer a USB connection because that saves me buying a firewire card for my pc.

TBH, I don't know. It seems to be dying a slow death since the appearance of USB 2.0. AFAIK, it still has some advantages, such as lower latency (which is important for live sound but not for recording, obviously), and less potential problems if you record to an external USB drive. Anyway, I probably wouldn't have considered a Firewire interface if I hadn't already owned a laptop with a Firewire socket.

Dugrok wrote:Gracias Gustavo! Other than mobility, what are some other advantages of this mixer? Do you have one yourself? I'll do some more research. This is some pretty interesting equipment and reminds me of the stuff at work!

I was also looking at the Mackie Onyx Blackjack (I see in your signature that you have one yourself). How do you like it?

I bought one!! But it still hasn't arrived. Tried searching stores here and on my trips to the USA with no luck, until I finally ordered one from Japan, since the online stores on the US would not ship Zoom products outside of the USA.

On the Onyx, I have used it for more than 3 years, and it has never given me any trouble. But it is only stereo in and stereo out. What I currently do is I have a mixer (also mackie) and I feed the CTRL room input to the Blackjack and the blackjack's stereo output into the Stereo return input. Not the best solution, but it works. Downside is it is not multitrack. But if you do not care about multitrack and you are ok with only recording the stereo master out, you could also look at the Mackie PROFX line and also the Behringer mixers that have built-in usb interface. When I bought my blackjack I did not know either of those existed and I would honestly trade in my mixer+interface to only a mixer to save up space and simplify the setup.

Also I notice you are also asking fo a pair of studio monitors, why do you want a subwoofer? Also, take a look at this: http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2013/05/ ... ning-test/

Saludos,
Gustavo

I want the sub for the lows. I'm scared that speakers alone won't be enough to power those lows.

Interesting setup with the Onyx though. I guess I'll have to take a look at the mackie profx line. Sounds like what I'm looking for.